Social media management platform, Dash Hudson, and global consumer data analytics leader, NielsenIQ, have collaborated on exclusive data designed to reveal the potential of TikTok Shop for beauty
Did you know that TikTok Shop has become the 5th largest e-commerce retailer in the UK? What’s more, beauty sales are coming out on top on the platform, with brands and retailers harnessing the power of content creators to translate content into cash.
The e-commerce solution was first launched in 2021, and has quickly become one of the most lucrative revenue streams for beauty brands. ‘TikTok Shop, a global powerhouse in beauty retail, has already achieved remarkable success worldwide. It ranks as the #2 personal care ecommerce retailer in China and the #4 cosmetics retailers in the UK by sales,’ said Anna Mayo, VP Beauty thought leadership, NIQ.
It’s not the classic brands that are propelling growth on the platform though. In fact, the likes of Made By Mitchell – a colour cosmetics brand founded by early-adopter content creator Mitchell Halliday – and BPerfect Cosmetics – which received funding on Ireland’s Dragons’ Den – are leading the way.
These two brands, along with three other social-first beauty ventures hold one-third of all beauty sales on TikTok Shop. They also receive 121% more shares and 82% more video views than the TikTok beauty benchmark.
What does this all mean?
Basically, TikTok Shop is turning the traditional beauty model on its head, implementing a bottom-up approach that is democratising the industry.
Kate Kenner-Archbald, CMO of Dash Hudson said: ‘By strategically curating engaging content, brands now hold the power to not only achieve traditional social metrics such as awareness, engagement and reach on social platforms, but to also leverage the social space as a vehicle to contribute to brand growth. With the right prioritisation, any brand can win.”
Wondering what the ‘right prioritisation’ looks like?
Dash Hudson states that brands must create content that is ‘first and foremost authentic and entertaining’. You have to find what makes your audience stop scrolling in an era when thumbs are rolling from the bottom to the tops of screens at unprecedented rates.
‘Depending on the brand and its target demographic, entertainment is defined by a combination of creativity, timeliness, utility, aesthetics, authenticity and emotion,’ the report reads. ‘When a brand finds the perfect formula for a piece of content or a broader campaign, it not only gets elevated within the algorithm but audience engagement also skyrockets.’
So, in order to perform on TikTok Shop, you have to have your social strategy nailed through a combination of organic, paid and creator channels. But don’t worry if you’re not cracking the channel immediately, it takes trial and error.
Our advice is, take a leaf out of Marcia Kilgore’s book and listen to one of her top three tips in business: ‘Fire a bullet before you fire a cannon ball. If you test something (on social media) and it doesn’t work, you have to be ready to move and change.’
