Lengow Blog

The Top Tips For Your TikTok Product Feed

Written by Sofia Carvalho e Pereira | May 10, 2023, 10:00:00 PM
TikTok , a video-sharing app owned by ByteDance, has become an indispensable marketing tool for many e-commerce businesses.  Why? The reason is simple: With more than a billion users globally each month , it gives online merchants the opportunity to reach new audiences and increase their sales. In order to achieve these goals yourself, you need to ensure your TikTok product feed is always complete and optimised to generate, among others, successful Dynamic Showcase Ads (DSA). Find out everything about this platform-specific product data feed in this article and what good practices you should follow to beat your competition.

What is a TikTok Product Feed?

A TikTok product feed is a document that contains the product data that will be displayed on TikTok ads. Since each online platform (marketplaces, social media etc.) has its own requirements TikTok is no different and recommends using 36 product parameters , from which 9 are mandatory .
Attribute Explanation Example
Sku_id Unique ID for the product, such as the SKU. jeans_item_123
Title Name of the item and further information. Skinny Jeans (For Women)
Description A short description of the item. Made for all sizes and styles.
Availability The current availability of the item in your store. in stock
Condition The current condition of the item. new
Price Cost and currency of the product. 9.99 EUR
Link URL of the specific product page where people can buy the item on your website. https://www.example.com/skinny-jeans
Image_link URL of the image used in your ad. All images should be in JPG or PNG format. https://www.tiktok.com/skinny_jeans_image_001.jpg
Brand Brand name of the item. Levi’s

What Format is the TikTok Product Feed?

The product attributes required for your TikTok ads should be stored in either one of the following file formats:
  • CSV
  • XML
  • TSV
  • GZIP

How Do I Upload a Product Feed to TikTok?

If you followed the previous steps correctly, your product feed must be ready to be uploaded on TikTok. However, there are two ways you can do this:
  1. Managing all your catalogues manually on TikTok Ads Manager (not recommended!).
  2. Using a product feed management tool.

1. Create and Manage Product Feeds without a Product Feed Management Software

The least recommended option and the most complicated and time-consuming one involves uploading the product feed manually on TikTok Ads Manager. The detailed step-by-step instructions you should follow without a product feed management software are: Create a catalog
  1. Make sure your products are eligible for TikTok
  2. Login into your TikTok Ads Manager account.
  3. Go to Asset > Catalog
  4. Click on Create
  5. A form will pop up and you will need to fill in “Industry”, “Catalog Name”, “Default Currency” (must match the currency your products are listed in), and “Targeting location”. 
  6. Once finished, click on “Create”.
  Review the Catalogue Template
  1. Select catalogue
  2. Go to “Manage” > “Products”
  3. Click on “Add products”
  4. Click on “Download Template”
  5. Add product information manually to the template document in order to match the catalog template.
  Add products to a catalogue
  1. Again select “Catalog”.
  2. Go to “Manage” > “Products”.
  3. Click on “Add products”.
  4. Select a method to add your products. You can choose between: “Manually Add”, “Product Feed Schedule” (max. 50GB, max. 20 Milion products), and “Upload File”.
  5. Click “Next”.
  6. Fill in all the essential information needed for each method.
  7. Click on “Import”.
  Create Product Sets (Groups of Products to create easier product campaigns)
  1. In “Catalog” click on “Product Set” on the left side.
  2. Click on “Create Product Set” and then either on “Use Filters” (choose filter rules for each product set) or “Manually Select Products” (choose products one by one). 
  3. When ready click on “Confirm”.
  Catalog Rule Management (Update Product Information)
  1. Select “Catalog” > “Product Sources”.
  2. Click on the Product Source name
  3. Select the “Settings” tab.
  4. Click on “Add Rules”.
  5. Click on either “Value Replacement”, “Default Value”, “Mapping”, “Change Capitalization”, or “Regex Replace”.
  6. When ready, click on “Create”.
  7. If all changes have been made to your catalogue you can then click on “Apply”.
For more information, please make sure to visit TikTok’s Business Help Center here .

2. Create and Manage Product Feeds with a Product Feed Management Software

After going through the last steps you might have felt overwhelmed by all the “clicks” needed in order to effectively create a TikTok ad campaign. To easily distribute your desired products across several channels, like TikTok, you should work with a product feed management system that can automate the process, saving you time and headaches, and connecting the products directly to your TikTok account . Below we explain to you in 9 easy steps how to upload a product feed on TikTok using Lengow:
  1. Make sure your products are eligible for TikTok
  2. Add a channel catalogue to your Lengow account
  3. Use “Category Matching” to match your categories
  4. Match your products catalogue fields with the ones required by TikTok
  5. If needed, set up product offers/sales
  6. Indicate your shipping method and costs
  7. If needed, manage product variations and exclusions
  8. Preview before sending data to the TikTok channel
  9. Launch the Channel Catalogue!

Want to try it yourself? Book a demo!

Lengow’s Recommendation: Be Proactive!

Now that your TikTok catalogue has been launched, make sure to:
  1. Always update your product information.
  2. Create special offers during strategic time periods to increase your competitive advantage.
  3. Be as detailed and complete with your product attributes as possible. 
  4. Stand out by filling in the optional product requirements apart from the mandatory ones.
  5. Analyse your previous campaigns to improve your ROI and sales.

TikTok Success Story: Pimkie

Many brands and retailers don’t think twice when it comes to choosing a feed management tool to automate their marketing activities. One of those merchants is Pimkie . In order to easily promote 2,000 products on TikTok, Pimkie chose Lengow and became the first brand in France to publish Dynamic Product Ads on TikTok . Find out more about Pimkie’s success story below!

Distribute your Products Easily on TikTok!
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