Newsletter #64: TikTok Shop vs Amazon

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The weekly newsletter that’s more captivating than a solar eclipse... no special glasses needed!

This week is about TikTok Shop VS Amazon….

In this edition:

• 🛒 AD SHOWDOWN... TikTok Shop Ads VS Amazon! 📈

• 🔍 KEYWORD KOMBAT.…TikTok Shop vs Amazon Showdown

• 🥊 TIKTOK’S AFFILIATES VS AMAZON AFFILIATES…. Who wins?

Let’s get started..... 

🛒 AD SHOWDOWN

TikTok Shop Ads VS Amazon! 📈

What happens if you run a TikTok Shop campaign alongside a TikTok-to-Amazon ads campaign?

CONFUSION!

The TTS (TikTok Shop Ads) point to TikTok Shop and the TikTok-to-Amazon ads point to the Amazon listing.

I shortened the time period to a few days for comparison reasons, but it demonstrates the following:

• Why are the Amazon ads cheaper than the TikTok Shop (TTS) ads?

  • The CPC is far lower when sending traffic to Amazon than TTS…. which does not make sense as you are sending the user off the platform… that generally is generally more expensive.

• Why is the Click-Through-Rate (CTR) better for Amazon than TTS?

  • Maybe the TikTok users have more faith in Amazon than TikTok Shop and hence buy on Amazon rather than TTS.

  • If we look at the sales impact on Amazon, it would appear so:

    

     

But if we zoom out and look at the entire month on TikTok Shop:

The figures don’t match up….. but that’s how ‘broken’ TikTok Shop is…. they are still trying to figure everything out.

So what does this mean?

You cannot compare TikTok Shop Ads and Amazon Traffic Ads…. 2 different platforms and tons of different metrics (it’s like comparing men to women….. one is always right and the other just doesn’t care).

TikTok content converts… if you have highly converting content, you should use it for TikTok Shop ads and TikTok Ads to Amazon.

🔍 Keyword Kombat

TikTok Shop vs Amazon Showdown 🥊

Disclaimer: TikTok is still figuring this out…. they only launched their keyword reports a few weeks ago.

In every TikTok Shop they show you what keywords your store is currently indexed for:

They also give you a recommendation tool:

And they tell you how to create your titles:

But here is the important part…..

I have no idea how to index products on TikTok Shop 😞

I have followed their recommendations and it made zero difference….. I tried the typical Amazon Seller strategies such as keyword rich titles, keyword rich product descriptions and even keyword rich images (alt text).

Nothing…. no results.

BUT….

TikTok Shop is like Amazon from back in the day…

They are still learning and whilst the keywords don’t seem to make any difference right now

In a few months/weeks it will be very different as TikTok is evolving at an incredible rate.

⭕ INFLUENCER INVASION

🥊 TikTok's Affiliates vs Amazon's Influencers

There is one big difference between affiliates and influencers…..

Affiliates know how to sell whilst influencers know how to look ‘pretty’.

That sounds a bit harsh….. but when business is involved and putting ‘food on the table’, I go with my gut…. I want to work with TikTok users that know how to sell!

Quick breakdown:

Let’s look at a TikTok Shop Affiliate:

• They get a fixed commission set by you (industry standard is 20%)

• TikTok pays them directly so you never have to get involved

• You can ‘boost’ their content via TikTok Shop Ads (they still get their commission)

• GMV: Revenue generated by creators from LIVE, shoppable video or showcase in the last 30 days.

• GPM: Total revenue generated per 1000 video views or 1000 LIVE video viewers.

Let’s look at a typical influencer:

• A typical influencer creates content and posts it…. that’s all

• This particular influencer (below) has some awesome stats…. but they don’t mean anything unless I can see the sales

• A post from her would cost $450

• Influencer posts are a ‘lottery ticket’…. I would recommend to have at least 10 large influencers post some content around your brand in the hopes that al least one will perform well (budget arounf $5K at least)

Comparing these 2 profiles…. which do you think would perform better?

Even if the influencer was an Amazon influencer, it is very difficult to find an influencer that converts.

Moral of the story:

TikTok is a platform where ‘QUANTITY IS BETTER THAN QUALITY’

You have to kiss a few frogs until you find your prince…. but using TikTok Shop Affiliates is like having the frog run a DNA test before you kiss them.

TikTok Shop affiliate content costs a ‘sample’ whereas an influencer will cost you money… what are you thinking Scrooge?

That's it for this week 👊

But I need to ask a favour...

Thanks for reading.

- Paul

PPS…. Right now we am launching a TikTok Shop Community, TikTok Shop & Influencer platform and a TikTok Shop software…. we are pretty busy and if you want to come along for the ride, send me an email and let’s chat