19 Sep TikTok Shops Officially Launches in The US, Pinterest + eCommerce, NFL Collabs with Creators and IG Reels Gifting Expansion
TikTok Shop Officially Launches in the U.S.
Source: Financial Times
It’s the announcement we’ve all been waiting for. TikTok Shop has officially launched in the U.S. after several months of testing. The social commerce platform has garnered over 150 million U.S. users since launching in November, and TikTok Shop has rapidly introduced countless new vendors to its marketplace in recent months. TikTok has also announced several new shopping features as part of the platform’s rollout including the recently debuted Shop Tab, live shopping, shoppable ads, and its viral TikTok Shop Affiliate Program.
TikTok spokesperson Laura Perez shared with The Associated Press that more than 200K sellers are currently registered on TikTok Shop and more than 100K content creators on TikTok are registered for the Affiliate Program. 3 Affiliate Plans are currently available to creators with more than 5,000 followers. According to a video from @sellwithtiktokshop_us, creators can earn a universal commission rate for all products sold with the Shop Plan, accept exclusive commission rates offered by brands with the Target Plan, or receive commission rates on a product-by-product basis set by brands with the Open Plan. Sellers can have several plans active at once and are recommended by TikTok to select from a wide pool of diverse creators via the Creator Connect Tool. If creators would like to sell their own products, they must verify with TikTok Shop that they produce the products themselves or that they are authorized by a brand as a reseller.
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TikTok shared in its official announcement that TikTok shop has revolutionized social commerce with community-driven trends such as #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt. Creators big and small are encouraged to share with friends and followers their favorite, must-have products and boost growing businesses on TikTok Shop. TikTok emphasized, “TikTok Shop empowers brands and creators to connect with highly-engaged customers based on their interests, and it combines the power of community, creativity, and commerce to deliver a seamless shopping experience.”
The official launch of TikTok Shop has come just in time as brands and marketers are preparing for the holiday shopping season. Affiliate marketing with TikTok Shop not only ties reputable influencers and talented content creators with growing brands but also provides a new monetization opportunity for creators making a living off of brand deals and partnerships. In the meantime, ByteDance is experimenting with social commerce in other corners of the world such as Southeast Asia and Trendy Beat in the UK.
What’s next for TikTok Shop? How will brands balance TikTok Shop affiliate marketing with “traditional” influencer marketing when promoting social commerce? Stay tuned to Spreading the Influence here on LinkedIn for all the latest social commerce news.
Pinterest CEO Discusses E-Commerce at Pinterest Presents
Source: Pinterest
This past week, Pinterest hosted its annual Pinterest Presents advertising summit during which the social platform highlighted a wide range of new advertising products, display options, and creative features. Pinterest announced Premiere Spotlight ads will be available in more locations throughout the platform, direct links to support website traffic, and integrations for Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Adobe Commerce to improve management of shoppable Pins and in-app display types for brands.
One of the central highlights of this year’s Pinterest Presents summit was CEO Bill Ready’s discussion of e-commerce. Ready shared that user engagement with shopping content on Pinterest has increased by more than 50% year over year with shopping integrations on every available image and video Pinned. “We are innovating faster than ever before with a robust slate of relevant, personalized products to reach consumers with intent, and we’re building with the goal to be the industry’s best full-funnel solution,” shared Pinterest CRO Bill Watkins. “We’ve made Pinterest more measurable from first impression to last click and we’re excited to share more about our new products that span the consumer journey, all in a more positive place online.”
Although Pinterest’s lean on revitalizing e-commerce has proven itself to be successful, Pinterest must increasingly strengthen its support for e-commerce to compete with TikTok. Not only is TikTok a search destination for discovering new products, but its in-app shopping platform TikTok Shop further engages and converts users. How can Pinterest leverage the power of inspiration to push more for e-commerce in light of looming competition?
Gifting on Instagram Reels Expands to New Regions
Source: Meta
Instagram has finally announced the expansion of virtual gifting with Reels. Reels creators in 31 newly selected countries across Europe and Asia are now eligible to receive gifts on Instagram. Gifts first launched back in February this year exclusively for U.S. content creators. Now, influencers from Austria to Vietnam have the opportunity to up their monetization game on Instagram with virtual gifts.
Gifting on Reels is simple. Viewers purchase Stars which are sent as gifts to creators of their choice and creators who receive gifts earn a revenue share of $0.01 USD per star from Instagram. Creators based in select regions are eligible to receive Stars only if they have professional accounts with more than 5,000 followers, follow Instagram monetization terms, and are over the age of 18. Moreover, creators must have an active connected account and a balance of at least $25 USD to receive payouts from Instagram.
In light of recent live trends like NPC challenges on TikTok, there has been a recent uptick in users gifting creators more frequently. Although this may be the case, the monetary value of Stars on Instagram is weak in comparison to different Stickers on TikTok. Instagram must introduce higher-value gifts in order for creators to see sufficient cash flow from their Reels content. For more information on gifting and how users play a role in tipping and supporting their favorite influencers, check out the official Influencer Marketing Factory 2023 Creator Economy Report here.
Content Creators Touch Down on Monetization with the NFL
Source: Ivy Liu
The National Football League is embracing the digital age of content creation with a new social media strategy targeted towards the youth. The NFL is opening its Access Pass Program for the first time ever to a select group of content creators and influencers. Creators will have the chance to create original content with officially licensed game footage from the NFL which they can post to YouTube and have the opportunity to monetize there.
So what’s the catch? NFL SVP of Social and Influencer Marketing Ian Trombetta shared that creators will not be permitted to create content using live footage of games since game day streaming is reserved exclusively for NFL broadcasting partners. The NFL is working closely alongside YouTube to identify ideal creators that suit the brands of the teams as well as the League and social video platform. “It’s really important for us that we’re not putting creators in environments where they may not be a fan of that team or have no connection to the city so we really are being thoughtful as to who we are selecting, and that’s in partnership with the teams in the local markets,” Trombetta shared.
Connecting with creators on YouTube not only taps into younger audiences but also allows the NFL to connect with more casual fans of football or even followers of influencers with a newfound interest in the American sport. The NFL is here to meet younger audiences on their terms according to Trombetta, and unlocking a monumental vault of content for social media creators to share with football fans is its key to success.