TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms and the second most downloaded app in the world! It’s a popular choice for promoting merch amongst creators due to its engagement stimulating algorithm, 800 million+ monthly users, and addictive short-form videos. Check out examples of the top way users are successfully promoting and selling merch on this powerful platform below.
Create brand consistency
It’s important to create brand consistency across platforms so followers can easily recognize you—use branding elements from your TikTok profile across social platforms and within your merch store. Don’t forget merch featured in stores get 58% more views and sell 20% more units on average. If you need help creating design assets check out these design resources to help you get started.
In this example we can see how @edenharvz [187K followers] uses the same name and styling on her TikTok profile and her Teespring merch store, making it instantly recognizable to her fans.
Add store link to bio
Your bio is featured at the top of your TikTok profile and provides information about you or your brand. Your bio is the perfect place to add a link to your Teespring store or listing, and you can add wording such as ‘shop my merch below’ to draw more eyes to the link. To track the number of clicks your bio link is generating you can use a bitly link like @thedottist [30.7K followers] has below. If you want further analytics insight such as the number of visitors and purchases your bio link drives, you can take advantage of Teespring’s Google Analytics Integration too.
Create dedicated merch videos
Creating content all about your products is a great way to promote them. Animator @tootymcnooty [3.7M followers] released a dedicated merch video for the launch of her new collection. We can see she’s using her unique animated style within the video (for consistency with her other content) and wears samples of her products too. She’s also included a link to her store within the description of the video to make it easily accessible.
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In this example @jayguanaka [23.2K followers] creates a dedicated merch video showing the creation process from design to finished product.
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Wear merch samples
Wearing samples of your merch in videos and in promotional content can increase your sales by 50%. It’s a great way to show off your products without specifically calling them out to viewers too. You can order samples of your products at base cost and have them delivered directly to your home.
TikTok couple @candyken [8.1M followers] and @jostasy [3.4M followers] often wear their merch in TikTok videos. In this example, they are wearing their ‘ok boomer’ designs in conjunction with the release of their new song of the same name.
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Announce a sale
Running a sale can boost your conversions by up to 60% and TikTok is a great place to share promo codes with buyers. You can also create a sense of urgency or FOMO by letting viewers know the discount is only available for a short amount of time. Consider updating your bio with the promo code and add it to your store banner to ensure more people know about the special offer. In the example below @purpleedragonn [39K followers] announces a promotion she is running and uses the in-app editing tools to call out the promo code too.
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Use Live stream
Live streaming is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to promote merch. The un-edited, real-time aspect of TikTok live streams increases viewership—creating new ways to promote your products while engaging followers. Consider promoting your merch the next time you’re live. Keep in mind that the Live stream feature on TikTok is only available to for users over the age of 16 with at least 1,000 followers. @abbyrartistry [7.9M followers] often goes live doing makeup tutorials, and uses the captions in her regular TikTok videos to let her followers know in advance.
Crowd-source designs
You can increase sales by crowd-sourcing design ideas from followers. A good way to do this is by live streaming or asking for input in your videos. Below we can see @edenharvz [187K followers] does this with her fans by asking them which products they want her to create and what designs she should offer while live streaming—because followers are included in the design process they’re more likely to purchase when the product is made available.
Collect social proof
Use TikTok to showcase user generated content and social proof. Happy buyers sharing photos or videos of themselves wearing your merch can generate excitement and interest, as well as affirm the value and quality of the products you’re selling. You can ask customers to share selfies wearing your products on a variety of social platforms and feature them in video content on your TikTok account.
@lukasdaley [977.3K followers] creates videos featuring his fans wearing his merch—it’s an effective way of getting his community involved with this content as well as showcasing social proof to other followers.
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