CATEGORY:
ECOMMERCE
CLIENT:
SHOPIFY
YEAR:
2023
background.
TASK: Build a B2B influencer marketing strategy, partnering with TikTok influencers on videos inspiring the next generation of Shopify entrepreneurs. 🤫 Spoiler: My strategy generated 39M views for <$3 CPM.
The Problem
A new generation of aspiring entrepreneurs were graduating into adulthood and searching for what to do next. Yet Shopify's brand awareness amongst 18-24 year olds remained low.
The challenge was two-fold:
Raise awareness of the Shopify brand and establish it as the entrepreneurship company.
Establish credibility within this incredibly fickle audience by using peers to share their own story of building a business using Shopify.
The Insight
First, go where the people are. And in 2021, Gen Z were on TikTok.
Thousands of young business owners were already sharing their stories on #smallbusiness TikTok. We tapped into this thriving community to identify a suite of new Shopify brand ambassadors.
We first identified business ideas that were approachable for young entrepreneurs. Starting a business is hard enough, but if you’ve never done it before and you’ve got no money, it can feel impossible.
To make it feel approachable for our young entrepreneurs we searched for product niches with low startup costs, easy to manufacture products, and a rising popularity on TikTok.
This included:
Slime #slimeschool
DIY beauty #beautyboss
Rug tufting @simji
From there we dug deep into these TikTok communities to scout our creators. We came up with a list of creators who were both Shopify merchants and rising stars within their category.
solution.
Partnering with 12 TikTok content creators, we commissioned a series of 40 videos to inspire and educate their audience about what it takes to start a business.
The result was a series of videos from authentic entrepreneurs, broadcast to an audience that was ready to hang on their every word.
Content was designed to fit seamlessly within the creator’s feed, naturally weaving Shopify’s presence into their story. A brand integration that’s so seamless it’s unskippable.
Creators then directed their audience to a custom landing page, with more information designed to help them take their first step into entrepreneurship.
results.
These TikTok creator campaigns generated more than 39M organic views, with an incredible CPM of less than $3.
More than just TikTok views, these campaign results translated to a surge in website sessions and leads, with >90% of these users visiting Shopify’s website for the first time. This audience was fresh and eager to learn more about starting a business.
By the end of 2021, 18-24 year olds were the fastest growing age segment on Shopify's website, growing 2x as fast as any other age segment.
ETA: In the campaign period, these videos generated 39M views. But the cool thing about TikTok is that the views just keep rolling in. As of September 2023, video views from just the two top performing influencers are at now at over 45M. 🤯
