Turn TikTok views into sales: Essential tips for creators and businesses

With more than 1 billion monthly active users globally, social media platform TikTok offers fantastic opportunities for creators and businesses to build engagement with potential customers. 

TikTok is a short-form video platform where users create and share clips ranging from 15 seconds to around 10 minutes, powered by a highly personalised algorithm that tracks user behaviour to serve content based on individual interests rather than just who you follow.

Marketing and communications executive Shania Edwards advises start-ups and business owners on digital engagement as part of her role with the Initiative for Social Enterprise (I-SE), a not-for-profit organisation which provides bespoke training and advice to any business in Birmingham and the West Midlands that wants to increase its social value.

Based on a recent West Midlands Business Festival workshop which Shania delivered, here are some top tips for turning your content on TikTok into sales.

Shania says research shows that 70 per cent of TikTok users say they discover new brands on the platform.

And those users are 1.5 times more likely to purchase a product after seeing it on TikTok.

For the specific demographics which use TikTok, it is effectively replacing search engines like Google or online business directories.

On TikTok, the algorithm is the technology "engine" that powers the platform’s For You Page (FYP). 

While other social media platforms show you what your friends are doing, TikTok shows you content which reflects what you actually like, regardless of who you follow. TikTok prioritises:

• Video duration and watch time
• Replays
• Saves and shares
• Followers for the content, which is effectively its reach

Shania explains: “TikTok is an interest-based platform, not a follower-based one.”

Authenticity is vital if you are to engage audiences on TikTok, explains Shania. Nobody wants to watch an advertisement so keep to these style tips:

• Do not use overly polished or overt advertising content: If it looks like a commercial, people scroll. Studio lighting, scripted delivery or brand slogans in the first two seconds is an instant no!
• "Buy our product" energy: Hard selling without context is “a vibe killer”. TikTok rewards interest, not intention. If your video exists only to sell then the algorithm will not engage fully.
• Posting without understanding the TikTok culture: Using trends incorrectly, hopping on memes too late or misusing the platform functionality... all this will impact engagement.
• Talking at people instead of with them: No replies to comments, no stitches, no duets, no personality = “dead account walking” to users.
• Consistent posting: Posting five times in one week then disappearing for a month confuses both followers and the algorithm.