Please read this section with these questions:
1. Why do companies need to build independent websites when going overseas?
2. What kind of ecological niche does TikTok occupy in the independent website ecosystem?
3. Do you want to be a pure TikTok e-commerce merchant, or do you want to be a global brand enterprise?
I have mentioned independent websites many times in the previous chapters, but I did not spend too much space to introduce them. Because many readers are individual entrepreneurs, or have other transaction platforms, they just want to learn how to do a good job of TikTok’s traffic and transactions. The core of this chapter is how companies can use TikTok to open up overseas markets for themselves. This is no longer a simple question of how to sell goods on a platform, but a comprehensive consideration of systematization and sustainable development. So in this section, I will tell you what an independent website is, why to choose an independent website, and the relationship between TikTok and an independent website.
1. Why choose an independent website?
An independent website, according to Baidu, is a new type of website that is built on the SaaS technology platform and has independent domain names, content, data, and private rights and interests, and has independent business sovereignty and business entity responsibilities, supported by social cloud computing capabilities, and can independently and freely connect to third-party software tools, publicity and promotion media and channels. In layman’s terms, we are very familiar with brands, such as Nike, www.nike.com is its independent website. If you build a brand, buy a domain name, put products and content on it, and let your customers choose and buy it, you have built an independent website.
Why do companies choose independent websites when going overseas? There are two main reasons: long-term and no waste.
1. Look at the long term: refuse to walk on “one leg”
Many people use TikTok to seize the current traffic “trend”, quickly open up a closed loop to make a profit, and then continue to look for the next “trend” after the “trend period” is over. Some people make money, while others lose everything. In addition, if you sell products as a business, if you only rely on a single channel, it will cause many limitations, be restricted by the platform, and limit subsequent development. Therefore, I give you a suggestion if you want to do business overseas: don’t be a pure TikTok e-commerce merchant, but a global brand enterprise.
Build your own brand, establish a brand independent station, publish products, accumulate content, accumulate buyer shows, operate social media on the entire network, so that users all over the world can know and contact your brand. As a traffic source for independent stations, TikTok’s traffic is currently very strong, and the cost of obtaining traffic is relatively lower. While doing this well, also do other marketing and precipitation for independent stations. No matter which channel changes suddenly in the future, your brand independent station has a strong ability to resist risks and can continue to develop.
2. No waste: traffic can be used repeatedly
I believe you have now learned how to use TikTok’s short videos and live broadcasts to obtain traffic and guide transactions, but it is a pity to use these traffic only once. While acquiring TikTok fans, you can make full use of loyal users with a strong willingness to pay to become fans of your social media on the entire network, and subscribe to EDM (email marketing) at the same time to fully interact with your brand. In this way, your brand power
will be stronger in the hearts of fans, and the trust and repurchase rate will be higher.
This is to use TikTok traffic as a starting point, let fans connect with your brand on the entire network, precipitate as your private domain assets, and strengthen brand power. If you only do a simple TikTok e-commerce merchant, you will not be able to undertake this set. Establishing a brand independent station is to build this system, which can be well coordinated.
2. Use the “Seven Ring Marketing Method” of the brand independent station to expand the closed loop of the transaction ecology
Building an independent station is actually building a brand ecology. I summarize the common practices of brand independent stations as the “Seven Ring Marketing Method” of independent stations according to the degree of direct impact on the entire independent station ecology.
1. Offline stores and ground promotion
Offline is the most direct way to gain customer trust. The online sales of many brands are because there are enough offline stores and strong brand power, which feeds back the online brand word search volume. In the United States, when you go to buy goods offline, the cashier usually asks you the first sentence: “Hello, what is your email address?” Then put your email in their EDM (email marketing) list so that they can send you emails later to remind you that you can shop on their independent station.
You may think that cross-border business must be mainly online, but if you have the strength to layout offline, the role you can play in your target market and the real feedback on the market will definitely add a lot of strength to your brand and independent website.
2.EDM
EDM (Email Direct Marketing), email marketing, is to continuously send product promotion emails to customers’ email addresses. This is a very old marketing method and the earliest private domain of independent websites. It will take over the traffic that enters the independent website through advertising and other means. The first interface for users to enter the independent website is the EDM pop-up window, which allows users to fill in their email addresses and subscribe to this brand,
so as to get corresponding discounts.
You may think: Who still reads emails now? I don’t log in to my QQ mailbox for half a year. But abroad, most people check their mailboxes every day, using mailboxes to handle work, hand in homework and contact their friends. Email is very important abroad and has become the main way of communication in everyone’s life. Although it is a very old marketing method, the independent sites that are doing well must have worked hard on EDM, so this part is very worthy of attention.
3. Internet celebrities/experts promotion
Many independent sites will find Internet celebrities/experts to help them promote their products. The most common platforms are YouTube, photo wall, TikTok, etc. Discuss the cooperation method with the Internet celebrity, and then the Internet celebrity will post the display or evaluation of this product on his channel or account, recommend this product to his fans, and attach the purchase link of the independent site in the corresponding place.
Many independent sites are using this method, and some teams even recruit dozens of employees to find Internet celebrities for promotion every day. Internet celebrities use their influence to help promote your independent site, which can not only directly increase sales, but also obtain brand endorsement, and can also increase the weight of SEO (search engine optimization) natural search because of the increase in the number of times they are mentioned on the entire network.
4. Advertising
The advertising mentioned here is a paid advertising specifically for bringing visits and sales to the independent station. Common platforms include: Facebook, Google, YouTube information flow, TikTok advertising, etc. Independent stations are basically inseparable from advertising. Good pitchers, good delivery strategies and good materials can increase ROI (return on investment).
As long as the ROI is “positive” after calculating the cost (for example, if you count all the costs, you can only get back the cost when ROI>1.7, then if it is above 1.8, your ROI can be called “positive”, and a “positive” ROI means that the order revenue brought by the delivery is positive), it can always bring sales to the independent station.
The ROI effect of advertising in the early years was good, and many people made a lot of money. Now the difficulty of this road is increasing, and foreign users have gradually formed their own understanding of advertising materials and copywriting. At this time, it is no longer luck, but real strength.
5. Live streaming
The display of live streaming is more intuitive and more interactive. Now many foreign users are beginning to slowly accept the form of live streaming, so even if the closed-loop car is not yet open in the United States, there are still many merchants who hang their independent stations on TikTok’s homepage, and then use short videos or live broadcasts to arouse users’ interest and let them click into the independent station to buy products.
6. Short videos and long videos
Short videos have more diverse forms of expression, and long videos can explain more thoroughly. The purpose of these two video forms is to arouse users’ interest, stimulate their needs, and finally guide them to the independent station for purchase.
7.SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization), search engine optimization, is to use the rules of search engines to improve the natural ranking of websites in relevant search engines; the purpose is to make it occupy a leading position in the industry and obtain brand benefits; to a large extent, it is a commercial behavior of website operators to move their own or their company’s ranking forward.
I have analyzed hundreds of independent websites. The natural search traffic of those old brands that are doing well is very high. There are very few brands that have low natural search volume and high paid traffic. When a user searches for a certain keyword, if your brand can rank in a certain position, it can basically take over the corresponding traffic of the search engine for this word.
For example, if you are a merchant selling sports shoes, when a user searches for the keyword “sport shoes” on Google, if you can rank on the first page, then the probability of you being seen will be greatly increased. Assume that the keyword “sport shoes” has 2 million searches on Google in a month. If your independent website is on the first page, 30% of the 2 million searches may be received, which means 600,000 people will visit your independent website.
So if SEO is done well, there will be huge search engine traffic, and it is all free. However, SEO is not a matter of one day or one night. It requires a lot of precipitation and accumulation across the entire network. As a global brand independent website, the medium- and long-term layout of SEO must be done. It will help your independent website accumulate little by little and produce continuous results.
Under the joint action of the “Seven Rings Marketing Method”, the ecology of independent websites has been formed. In this ecology, TikTok directly appears in the two rings of short videos and live streaming, and indirectly appears in the two rings of Internet celebrity promotion and advertising. At the same time, TikTok’s traffic will be continuously delivered to the EDM list. Making a good TikTok account will also help SEO. There is a strong interaction between these seven rings. It is necessary to establish this ecology and let them form a positive cycle.
The focus of this book is TikTok. Regarding the independent station, I will only make a basic explanation of the marketing ecology. The focus is to help you understand what kind of ecological niche TikTok occupies in the entire independent station ecology, and how to use the current TikTok traffic and development trend to activate the entire independent station ecology with a good entry point. If you are very interested in independent stations and want to learn more about independent stations, please communicate with me.
Tips
Brand independent stations are a larger ecology than TikTok. While we monetize TikTok, we can inject new traffic into our own independent stations and accumulate loyal fans; at the same time, TikTok can also be “fed back” by this ecology, so as to continuously cycle and enhance the brand.
Third, how to establish medium- and long-term barriers for independent stations and enhance risk resistance? If you have chosen this long-term path and have spent a lot of effort to build an independent station ecology, you must do a good job of branding. Brand is the core of your establishment of medium- and long-term barriers and assets for independent stations and enhance risk resistance.
When the cost of a certain promotional channel increases or it can no longer be used, the brand power and SEO alone can still maintain the basic operation of the entire company or project. This is the confidence that a brand independent station can bring you.
But just putting a trademark on a product does not equal a brand. In the brand power section of Chapter 2, Section 5, I talked about the “Six Elements of Building TikTok’s Overseas Brand”. In fact, many of the underlying logics of brands that build independent stations are similar to it: have a good name, LOGO, independent station decoration, brand story, founder IP, continuous operation of major social media, continuous production of good content with brand tone, do a good job of private domain precipitation operation and buyer show accumulation, repeatedly improve product quality and service quality, do a good job of SEO, and so on.
Building a brand is a long-term accumulation thing, which requires a good layout and budget for it, so it will be taken into consideration as an important factor from the very beginning of product selection and cost estimation. You must be able to endure loneliness, and persist in building your brand even when the effect is not obvious at the beginning, and do not waste resources on things that seem to be shortcuts but are actually pitfalls. Work hard to build your brand, and when others are still exploring shortcuts one after another, you can already have your own brand assets.
So when companies are doing overseas projects, they can choose independent sites to take over ikTok’s traffic, and then build their own independent site ecosystem. The traffic obtained from TikTok and other channels will run together in this ecosystem to form a positive cycle, and build your own brand to become a global brand company.