TikTok Shares Three Ways to Create a Meaningful Ramadan and Raya this 2023

TikTok supports local entrepreneurs to win the hearts and carts of users this festive season

TikTok, a leading destination for short-form mobile videos, helps local businesses get a head-start on making their online presence felt for Ramadan 2023. Before the holy month of Ramadan begins in March, TikTok gives businesses a boost by providing them with different avenues to expand and grow, all while driving meaningful celebrations for themselves and their customers for one of the biggest festive celebrations of the year in Malaysia.

Imran Khan, Marketing Communications Manager, TikTok Southeast Asia shares that Malaysians are excited to spend time with their loved ones, be it offline or online - and that TikTok is a platform they are turning to in order to be inspired, as well as inspire.

"Ramadan is an important point of reflection, celebration and coming together of Malaysians. Consumers are looking to be entertained, sharing joy and their experiences in ringing in the festivities on TikTok. With this comes a wealth of opportunities for businesses to tap into TikTok's wider audiences to build lasting relationships with the community, and expand their own digital footprint during a meaningful time such as this," Imran says.

In a study conducted by TikTok on user behaviour during the Ramadan 2022 period, the platform saw a 3.8x uplift in video views, and 2.8x uplift in video uploads during the season. It was also revealed that 96% of users are influenced by TikTok to purchase products or services - and with users being engaged on TikTok throughout the day - what better place for businesses to be this Ramadan?

As such, TikTok is sharing three ways businesses can engage, interact and create lasting impressions to win Raya 2023.

Step 1: Plan the campaign across all stages
Ramadan is a month-long celebration with preparation for the festivities beginning as early as a whole month before. During this period, many often turn their attention to efficiently cleaning and decorating their homes, sourcing for the most beautiful Raya packets, shopping, and exploring quality beauty or personal care that offers the best value, so they can look and feel their best at this time of the year.

As TikTok users gear up to shop more this Ramadan, it is important for brands to cater to their needs before, as well as during the season. By having brand visibility in the online space months before and then amplifying their deals and campaigns in the lead-up to Ramadan, sellers can capture the interest of their buyers throughout the period.

With users looking to liven up their celebrations by shopping online or offline - this festive period is a great opportunity to present them with special and limited-time deals. Upon locking in their interest, sellers can scale their catalog with Dynamic Showcase Ads and feature attractive commercial messages to offer users the best value for their money. By setting up tracking and measurement, sellers can even analyse product performance and promote those with higher engagement for more significant results.

Step 2: Get creative with creators and hashtags
Once the campaign is set in place, sellers can take their digital efforts and presence to the next level by creating even more brand awareness, which can be further amplified through creators. A familiar face can provide for greater brand recall - and this is where TikTok's Creator Marketplace and Marketing Solutions come into play.

Whether the seller is capable of running their own campaign or requires guidance, businesses can get onboarding support from the Client Success team or Creator Solutions programme to find their best fit. TikTok's ecosystem of Creator Marketing Partners can also help in providing managed services according to one's budget and scale.

Using creators can impact any marketing campaign with stronger completion rates, higher likes, shares, and ultimately better conversions. By using creators, well-known hashtags such as #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt - which has since garnered 38 billion views - or even creating a personalised hashtag challenge to get users involved - sellers can create authentic stories that build trust in their brand, which will be beneficial in the long run.

Step 3: Build relevance and connect with the community
In 2022, one in two users discovered something for Ramadan on TikTok, with 87% likely to purchase something they saw on TikTok for Ramadan. Although online shopping is all the rage now, having a face to a name and being available to interact with the community is still important, creating a sense of affinity to the brand instead of just interacting with a catalogue page. The essence of TikTok is to spread joy, and by creating bonds with its audience, sellers can invite more meaningful engagements with them to ignite meaningful celebrations.

Sellers can conduct live selling sessions via TikTok Shop - which can be further amplified with Live shopping ads. Build interest prior to these sessions by sharing teasers with infeed ads to create hype and excitement and ensure that all the promoted products are in stock. Shoppertainment is the way forward for e-commerce, and TikTok Shop presents a one-stop shopping experience where users can be entertained and discover new brands or items daily. With TikTok Shop being within the TikTok app, sellers can bank on the platform's large user base to reach out to their intended audience.

Making a difference in meaningful times
Last year, vivo Malaysia was able to achieve much success for their Ramadan campaign by tapping on TikTok Shop as well as utilising the Live Shopping and Video shopping ads to increase awareness - this led them to be number one in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV) with a 228% uplift as compared to before the campaign. Their live sessions allowed them to rake in more than 660,000 page views and sell over 300 products during the campaign.

Jeremy Lin of vivo Malaysia shares that they have been able to interact with audiences and express their creativity to further boost their sales engagements

Jeremy Lin, sales director of vivo Malaysia shares, "Going into TikTok Shop, we were hopeful about reaching new consumers in the community - and we were pleasantly surprised by how well our customers took to our content. Customers are used to seeing advertisements about our products, but being able to interact with them through our live shopping videos and also expressing our creativity through video ads has helped us gain a larger following and achieve the top spot in sales during Ramadan last year. We can't wait to show even more of what we have to offer this year, and look forward to providing even better deals for our customers' needs."

Each business has its own needs, and TikTok intends to be a part of that growth journey this festive season and beyond. By tapping on to TikTok's aim of spreading joyful moments, sellers can create meaningful engagements to inspire users, as well as win the hearts - and carts - of users this Ramadan and Hari Raya.