TikTok Tactics for Creator-Led Commerce

TikTok Shop is not messing around. At Spree, we're building a shoppable video platform, but also a studio where we help brands and creators onboard, market, and sell through social platforms. Think of it like influencer marketing in a post-cookie world: full funnel from awareness to purchase, but all in one short-form video. Recently, our TikTok Shop partnership has been getting a lot of love. A few interesting learnings from this holiday season: 1. 'Viral' products are a shortcut. We uploaded one 'viral product' into the system and started getting sales before we posted our first video. Naturally, we ordered a few hundred more ASAP. 2. TikTok Shop success aligns closely with the rules of great influencer marketing. Get a creator with an engaged, lean-in audience. Find a product they actually like that their audience will actually like. Sell by telling a story, not by telling viewers to buy. 3. Most brands want to be on TikTok Shop but don't know how. It's complex. But once you've done it dozens of times (per day, in our case) it moves fast. I don't care if you're a mom and pop stationary shop, a creator merch brand, or a Fortune 500: you want to experiment here with a team who knows this market. 4. Live is great, but don't sleep on shoppable VOD. A perfect 30 second video of a product can do the work of a one hour live stream. Both are valuable, but too many people are talking about live shoppable and not enough are talking about shoppable shortform. 5. Trends + Product = Sales. Wednesday Addams' dance is popping? Sell the costume. King Bach flashlight dance is trending? Sell the flashlight. Spotify Wrapped is everywhere? Sell headphones. 6. Creators beware: not all audiences want this. If you make gold digger prank content, don't start selling The Feminine Mystique hardcover. If you are a creator and want to try it, make great content first and let a brand ride along. 7. Create like a creator. This is the rule for every brand on every social platform, but certainly pertains here. Don't do one tentpole shoppable live stream on TikTok and judge TT Shop on that. You need to habituate your audience, build a format, and keep it entertaining. In case you can't tell, this is addicting for a social media wonk like me. Smart influencer marketers are already testing this market understanding it will be a huge part of their ecommerce future. And those who haven't need to start today. #ecommerce #creatoreconomy #tiktok https://lnkd.in/e926z8zm

Here’s why everyone is getting TikTok Shop wrong. Most brands jump in thinking it's just another sales channel like Amazon or Shopify. But after helping hundreds of brands launch on TikTok Shop, I've noticed something critical: The traditional ecom playbook isn’t working. The old approach relies on polished product photos, professional descriptions, and optimized listings. That strategy is bleeding money on TikTok Shop. Why? Because TikTok Shop isn't a marketplace… It's a content-first, creator-driven ecosystem. The brands seeing 5-10x ROI are doing something completely different: • They're partnering with 15-30 nano-creators instead of 1-2 big influencers • They're prioritizing authentic demos over professional product shots • They're letting creators tell the product story in their own voice • They're focusing on entertainment value before selling points The winning formula isn't complicated: 1. Find creators who genuinely connect with your product 2. Give them creative freedom (minimal brand guidelines) 3. Amplify the content that performs, regardless of production quality 4. Repeat with new creators weekly Start treating TikTok Shop like what it really is: A creator-driven content machine that happens to sell products. — Do you agree? Let us know below ⬇️ And follow me → Leo Limin for more insights to stay ahead of the competition. Also check out my company ↓ Joinbrands.com - Hire creators, affiliates and influencers instantly.

Loewe keeps winning on TikTok because they just get “the lore”. The Spanish luxury fashion house has quietly mastered something extremely valuable: authentic cultural integration through strategic partnerships with niche content creators who've built recognizable content formats. The two most recent examples showcase their approach: First there’s @anthonybackup9 who filmed himself literally just standing in front of passing train a bag in a hand and being all melancholic, listening to one of Lorde’s top hits “Buzzcut Season”. This video blew up, as it perfectly captures the nostalgia of this song as Lorde resurfaces in pop culture through her Charli XCX collaboration and upcoming album release. Loewe just asked him to recreate the video, handing him a branded bag and THE tomato bag (that’s a whole story in itself), letting the video speak for itself — no big changes, creative direction. The second example is their collaboration with @antthrowny, who started hammer throwing his boombox while listening to trending pop songs (Sabrina Carpenter’s pLeAsE pLeAsE pLeAsE ᵈᵒⁿᵗ ᵖʳᵒᵛᵉ ⁱᵐ ʳⁱᵍʰᵗ went VIRAL). And again — Loewe didn’t reinvent his content or impose their messaging: they simply integrated their product into his existing, proven format while he wore/threw their pieces naturally. This might be an interesting content formula and cast brands and marketeers could learn from: identify pop culture angles already gaining viral momentum, partner with creators who have cultural relevance (not a follower count!!) and execute product placement that feels native to the platform, creator and format. If you really want to create “authentic” branded content to better engage with potential consumers, this is the way to go. (Plus your marketing dollars might go much further as the cost per collab will likely be much lower than one big celebrity endorsement. (As always, you can find the videos in the comments)

Tiktok Shop is an incredible opportunity for a lot of consumer brands, but few know where and how to get started. Last week I sat down with Zain Ali, founder of Zainith Agency, who lives and breathes TikTok Shop. Here’s are a few insights from our hour long convo: 1. Speed wins. TikTok expects 1–2 day fulfillment. If you can’t ship fast, you’ll struggle. 2. Price matters. $20–30 is the sweet spot to see momentum. 3. Samples are your ads. Expect to send 100–300 per month and give it 3 months before judging results. 4. The halo effect is real. Viral TikToks spike Amazon + retail sales even if you just break even on TTS. 5. Volume is the game. 200–300 creator videos/month is baseline. The biggest brands push 1,000+. 6. Creators = your engine. Outreach bots help, but re-incentivizing your top 10% of creators drives ~90% of revenue. If you want the full deep dive, check it out below: #socialmediamarketing #tiktok #cpg