TikTok: A Guide to Overseas E-commerce

With the rapid development of global e-commerce, more and more companies are beginning to expand overseas markets. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China's total exports reached 12.13 trillion yuan in the first half of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%. Among them, cross-border e-commerce performed particularly well and became a new driving force for growth.

On August 15, TikTok for Business held the 2024 SHOPNOW Brand E-commerce Overseas Marketing Summit in Shenzhen and officially released the "TikTok for Business Overseas E-commerce Guide" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guide"). The "Guide" summarizes the development rules of overseas e-commerce and points out that "explosive products" are always the key factor in the growth of merchants. TikTok for Business divides the creation of explosive products into three stages: breaking zero-new products, new products-explosive products, and explosive products-super explosive products. The "Guide" provides methodologies for each stage to help merchants achieve long-term growth in the process of going overseas.

Leveraging TikTok to seize the trillion-dollar overseas market

According to the latest forecast by eMarketer, global e-commerce sales will exceed $6 trillion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 12%. Among them, the US and Southeast Asian markets are particularly important. The US e-commerce market is huge, accounting for more than 25% of global consumption, while the Southeast Asian market is growing rapidly at a compound annual growth rate of 14%.

With the booming development of online shopping around the world, the e-commerce model driven by social media has become a new area of ​​competition for going overseas. TikTok, as one of the most popular social media in the world, has brought new possibilities to online shopping with its unique social e-commerce model. TikTok's huge user base provides a broad market for merchants. Through TikTok Shop, users can place orders directly from the content, achieving a seamless shopping experience.

More and more companies are viewing TikTok as an important step in their globalization. For example, smart imaging brand Insta360 leveraged TikTok’s influencer matrix to co-create content with local users, integrating its products into their lifestyles and successfully driving sales growth. Insta360’s TikTok account grew from 500,000 followers to 1 million in just 100 days.

Small hits drive big business: Three-stage strategy for hits

In "The Book", "hot products" are defined as products that have their own traffic and have considerable sales. Products with an average daily sales of more than 30 orders and a growth rate of more than 30% in the next 30 days are called hot products, and the sales of super hot products are even more significant.

Although hot products account for less than 0.6% of the overseas market, they contribute most of the revenue for merchants. Therefore, creating hot products is a key that every overseas merchant cannot ignore. According to the three-stage division of the "Treasure Guide", for new merchants, breaking through zero orders is the primary goal, and the key lies in choosing the right products and accurately placing advertisements. TikTok for Business provides product card ads (PSA) to help merchants expand exposure and shorten order time.

After successfully creating a new product, merchants need to follow the four steps summarized in the "Treasure Book" to create a hit product: understand the local area, find experts, select materials, and place advertisements. This means that merchants' product selection must first cater to the local market's customs, culture, aesthetics, and category preferences, and fully meet the habits of local consumers.

Secondly, finding the right influencers to promote is equally important for creating hit products. When looking for influencers, it is necessary to balance influencers of different sizes to form a matrix to tell the product story from different angles. When building connections with influencers, TikTok also provides merchants with platforms such as TikTok Creator Marketplace (TTCM), TikTok Creative Challenge (TTCC), and TikTok Creative Exchange (TTCX), for merchants to invite influencers in a targeted manner, launch challenges, etc., to achieve brand building.

Finally, after co-creating materials with influencers, merchants can select high-quality materials based on indicators such as playback volume and consumer preference, and use short video ads (VSA) to achieve greater exposure and extend the cycle of high-quality content. At the same time, using the advertising tool that increases product GMV - Product GMV Max (global promotion product) can help merchants achieve automatic delivery of product card ads and short video ads, without the need for merchants to frequently adjust, and one-click operation can optimize the delivery effect.

Once a business successfully creates a hit product, extending its life cycle becomes an important next task. TikTok for Business provides two strategies: creating super hit products through live streaming, and stimulating consumers' purchasing interest and increasing sales through the "hot product package" strategy.

Seize the key marketing opportunities to expand business opportunities

For merchants going overseas, using overseas marketing nodes to achieve rapid growth is an indispensable part. In the Southeast Asian market, there are many festivals, and merchants need to continue to operate these nodes, especially in markets where live streaming is strong, to drive sales growth through high-frequency daily broadcasts and holiday discounts.

In the US market, important nodes such as Black Friday, summer sales and mid-year sales are particularly critical. Merchants can combine short video content with the festive atmosphere and take advantage of the popularity of these nodes to push sales to new peaks.

Despite the huge potential of the global market, merchants often face challenges such as "difficult start", "lack of orders" and "slow growth" in the early stages of going overseas. TikTok for Business provides business strategies and product solutions at different stages in the "Treasure Guide" to help merchants achieve long-term growth. In the future, TikTok for Business will continue to help merchants going overseas, accelerate their globalization process, and achieve "easy going overseas, winning globally".