What is the best way to get organic engagement on TikTok ahead of our full launch?

fisicx said:

Start giving out free boxes to dog loving influencers on TikTok. Get them to spread the word. SMM works best when other people do the talking.

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I would imagine this is the most important one.

I'm no expert, but I don't think any of this is as easy as you might think. We have a customer who has spent years selling online and a lot of time understanding how to get the best out of TikTok - and even they admit it can be completely hit and miss. They've had some products of ours going viral when they really have no right to - and I'm talking unit sales of 1000+ a day for weeks on end. Then they've had others that despite various influencers posting them etc they've just got zero traction whatsoever. I mean, as in selling single units in total across several weeks.

They also have huge issues with cost of returns, fraudulent claims of damaged/not-received goods where TikTok just sides with the customer, TikTok fees etc. To the point that despite their success, the last time I spoke to them they were going to pull the plug on it just because it was becoming almost unmanageable and unprofitable compared to the other platforms they use.

As I say I'm no expert, this is second hand feedback from one of our customers. But it may be worth treading carefully and/or looking if there's any specialist advisors can help you with this.

I’d start by posting short videos with a strong hook that gets people talking before the full launch. Then I’d make sure to reply to comments quickly, because that keeps the conversation going instead of letting the post die after a few views
From what I’ve seen TikTok really rewards videos that hold attention in the first few seconds, fast engagement can make a big difference too. Replying to comments with follow up videos is also a good way to keep the momentum going and give the algorithm more to work with! Good luck

Paul Kelly ICHYB said:

Your focus should be on getting sales, not followers, clicks etc.

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I’d probably look at it slightly differently. For a new brand, especially with a product like a dog mystery box, building some trust before launch can definitely help, but I wouldn’t make follower count the main goal. I’d spend the next 3 weeks creating content around the problem and the emotion behind the product rather than just pushing the box. Things like dogs trying new treats, owner reactions, “what’s inside this month’s box?” style videos, funny dog moments, health tips etc. The product should almost become part of the content, not the whole content. I’d also start collecting emails or launch signups from people who engage. A few hundred people who are genuinely interested in dog products will probably be worth more than thousands of random followers. TikTok is unpredictable though, so I’d test lots of different formats rather than hoping one strategy works. Sometimes the simplest videos perform better than the polished ones.

JimJak said:

We have created a business with a product we are looking to sell through our website. We are looking to do our first round of marketing through TikTok. Our launch is in 3 weeks and we want to grow our followers on TikTok organically as much as possible before we start paid ads in line with our launch date. We plan on utilising TikTok live on and after launch to drive up engagement also.

What is the best kind of content or strategy to do this effectively? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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We're going through exactly this right now for our own launch, so I'll share what we've found (we're a service rather than a physical product, so take it with a pinch of salt).

The influencer route others have mentioned is the one that's worked best for us, but a couple of things caught us out. If you go through the official TikTok Creator Marketplace there's a minimum payment per creator — £75 in our case — even when the creator's own suggested rate is far lower, so it adds up fast if you line up a batch. What's worked better is finding smaller, relevant creators and messaging them directly. You can usually agree something closer to their real rate, and some are happy with a commission/affiliate deal instead of a flat fee, so they only earn if it actually sells — which tends to get more genuine effort out of them too.

The other thing is to let them make the video in their own voice rather than handing them a script. The posts that felt like an ad did nothing for us; the ones where the creator just talked about it naturally did far better. And +1 to what BusterBloodvessel said — it really is hit and miss, so I'd spread across several smaller creators rather than betting big on one.

Happy to compare notes as you go — we're only a few weeks in ourselves.

Going by the dates your launch is about now, so I'll aim at where you actually are rather than the three weeks that have gone.

One thing nobody's picked up that I think matters more than the follower question: you're selling through your own website. That quietly changes a lot of the advice above.

I run a TikTok Shop, so the bit I'd flag hardest is Saleh's affiliate suggestion. It's the best advice in this thread but commission deals through TikTok's creator affiliate programme run on TikTok Shop products. Website-only, that route isn't open to you. You're back to flat fees, or your own affiliate scheme with links that make people leave the app. That's a materially worse deal, because the commission structure is what keeps creators posting after the first video rather than banking the fee and moving on.

It cuts the other way on BusterBloodvessel's warning, though the fees, the returns, TikTok siding with the customer on damage claims that's all TikTok Shop too. On your own site, most of it doesn't apply to you. Worth separating those, because right now they're being weighed as one thing.

So the question I'd want answered before spending anything: is website-only deliberate, or just the default because that's where the site was? Every extra tap between the video and the checkout costs you people, and organic video to external site is about as many taps as it gets. Plenty of brands run both Shop for the impulse buy, site for the subscription.

On the Live plan: genuinely good fit, unboxing is native to the format. But don't let the launch one be your first. Go Live twice this week when nobody's watching, and be bad at it then. Watch time is the thing that matters and it's not a skill you want to be learning with an audience.

And I'd underline NelaKo's point on email capture harder than anything else here. Followers are rented. The list is yours.

And a last point, worth knowing before you decide the Shop question either way.

We have a TikTok Shop, and we get flagged when a video tells people to go to our website. TikTok's redirecting-traffic policy covers calls-to-action pointing away from a promoted product livestreams, videos, bios, descriptions. Once your products sit in the Shop, "link in bio, head to our site" stops being a tactic and becomes a violation.

That doesn't bind you as things stand, because you're website-only. A normal traffic or conversions campaign pointing at your own site is exactly what that ad objective is for.

But it does complicate the "run both" suggestion I made above. Opening a Shop buys you the affiliate route and in-app checkout, and it costs you some freedom to push people to your own site. For a subscription box where the model depends on getting the customer onto your billing, not TikTok's that trade-off is worth working through properly rather than assuming you can run both freely.


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How did you identify TikTok as the best pre-launch platform?