Research Reveals TikTok’s Impact On Consumers’ Purchase Journeys

TikTok is an excellent tool for increasing brand awareness, generating qualified leads, driving traffic and improving conversions. Here’s why.

TikTok shared the second installment in its Path-to-Purchase Report. This study shows TikTok’s impact on consumers’ purchasing journeys, from discovery to consideration and post-purchase evangelism.

Brands can use the latest research to gain interesting insights about how to harness the platform to drive culturally relevant conversations and increase their sales.

The report also shows how TikTok’s community and platform can have an impact that goes beyond impulse buys.

Consumers share happy content about big-ticket purchases like vacations or new cars. This encourages other consumers to take action and join the conversation.

The latest research reveals that TikTok can have a strong and positive effect throughout the purchase process. TikTok is a marketplace driven by word-of-mouth. Users turn to creators and brands to find new products.

In fact:

• 50% of users say that products make them feel happier, more excited, and more comfortable.
• 58% of TikTok users discover brands and products through the platform.
• 44% found something they wanted to buy and immediately purchased it.
• TikTok and 1.1x are more places for discovery than other platforms.

It is also important to note that TikTok’s content doesn’t always stay on TikTok.

56% of TikTok users are more likely than on other platforms to search for new brands and products, even for larger-ticket purchases such as travel or automotive.

These TikTok-inclusive Journeys can also be viewed:

• 65% of users conduct more online research.
• 57% of users are looking for more information on where to purchase products.
• 54% of users also conduct in-person research.

TikTok’s unique discovery methods and assertive engagement behavior during the research process mean that satisfied customers increase brand and product sales post-purchase.

• 58% of TikTok users convinced someone else to use a product
• 49% of TikTok users recommend products for those looking to buy them.
• 47% of TikTok users persuade others to purchase products they saw on the platform.

In February, Matt Southern, Search Engine Journal Senior News Writer, covered TikTok’s first global research study. He wrote “TikTok: A Key Part of Consumers’ Path to Purchase”.

According to research, the TikTok path to purchase seemed more like an “infinite loop” than the traditional purchase route.

In an article I wrote in December 2020, “SEO’s Future Lies in the “Messy Mid” of the Purchase Journey,” Google’s UK consumer insights team found that consumers move between exploring and evaluating all options until they are ready for purchase.

In my book YouTube, Video Marketing (published in November 2011), I described a similar looping process to discover new videos and share compelling content.

This model of video search was inspired by research done before my birth.

1948: Paul Lazarsfeld and Bernard Berelson published The People’s Choice. This was a study on the 1940 U.S. Presidential Election.

They discovered a two-step process of communication. They found a two-step flow of communication. The first was from media sources to opinion leaders, but the second involved interpersonal influence from opinion leaders and their followers.

To explain YouTube’s operation, I used the two-step flow method more than ten years ago.

This insight allowed marketers and creators to harness YouTube’s unique power, as YouTube is the largest video search engine and the largest video sharing site.

TikTok’s most recent research is supported for over 80 years by similar findings.

Social video is a great way to increase brand awareness, create qualified leads, boost traffic and improve conversions.

Recognizing this is key to digital marketing strategies that harness TikTok’s impact on consumers’ purchasing journeys – from discovery through consideration to post-purchase advocacy.