TikTok, the platform rife with controversy but loaded with ad budgets, wants to be a marketplace.

The company is striving to make it easier for users to make purchases on TikTok, courting advertisers with shopping advertising inventory and ambitions to expand its live-shopping capabilities, like the kind already popular in China.

“They’re going to become a store,” Amie Owen, UM’s head of shopper in the US, told Marketing Brew. Though some of its shopping inventory is new and still being tested, advertisers are confident TikTok has an audience worth reaching, but to what extent that audience will embrace shopping on the platform is TBD.

Zoom out: Social commerce—buying stuff on or through social platforms—has a somewhat complicated history in the US.

• Meta brought virtual storefronts, “Shops,” to Facebook and Instagram in 2020 with high expectations, but, according to The Information, is expected to soon remove the Shops Tab from Instagram, reportedly citing sales that weren’t meeting expectations.
• Meanwhile, Pinterest and YouTube have bolstered their on-platform shopping capabilities.

TikTok’s Chinese equivalent, Douyin, has been successful as a live-shopping platform, but that success hasn’t quite spilled over to US audiences. According to the Financial Times, TikTok was set to abandon its live-shopping efforts in the US this summer but reversed course in October, partnering with TalkShopLive.

Trial, error

In the meantime, advertisers are still using TikTok for brand awareness via in-feed ads.

Offering lower-funnel inventory, like an ad that says “Buy here,” can provide advertisers with an opportunity to drive sales. In August, TikTok introduced three new kinds of shopping inventory: “video,” “catalog listing,” and “live shopping.” The inventory is currently being tested with advertisers and isn’t widely available yet.

Some buyers toying with the platform’s shoppable offerings have run into hurdles. Read the full story here.—RB

Not long ago, brands like Asos, Bumble, and Casper were dabbling in the magazine space, creating branded publications as part of their marketing strategy. Some brands even created multiple: Uber started with Momentum, then Arriving Now and Vehicle; Airbnb had Pineapple, then Airbnbmag.

But in the last few years, all of these brands have either sold or stopped publishing their magazines, and only a handful of brand magazines seem to remain in circulation.

Perhaps one reason? Branded magazines aren’t great at driving sales, Polly Wong, president of direct marketing agency Belardi Wong, told Marketing Brew.

Now, it looks like some brands—such as Recess, Jones Soda, and Oatly—are turning to smaller-scale, mostly unbranded publications, hoping to tap into a niche audience as marketers seek to build brand communities via organic interactions.

We talked to Jones Soda and Oatly about their recent endeavors in the publishing space. Read the full story here.—KH

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Beat the bot: Stay up to date with the Facebook algorithm by perusing this explainer, which also includes tips for outsmarting it.

Tips for Twitch: Another explainer, this one breaking down options and best practices for advertising on Twitch.

LinkedIn level up: How to get your brand’s content noticed on LinkedIn.

Ask a marketer: Learn how to personalize your customer journey and use data dynamically at Iterable’s upcoming webinar. Some of the brightest marketing minds will share their expertise on what makes an extraordinary campaign. Register here.*

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Calling all modern marketers: The Brief: A Marketing Brew Summit is coming to NYC in just a few days! In one day away from your desk, you can expand your professional network, gain perspective from the world’s most recognized brands and influential marketers, and head home with strategic insights. Come learn about how to maximize your ROI, establish brand values, engage your audience, and so much more.

Grab your tickets while there’s still time.

It is *shudders* almost 2023, and Forrester recently released a report of consumer predictions for the year to come. The TL;DR, per the report’s landing page: “Consumers will spend more and demand better.”

Spend more: Americans are concerned about inflation, the report’s authors wrote, but they’re also sitting on pandemic-era savings that could make them feel comfortable spending more next year.

• Consumers saved as much as three to six times more during the pandemic than they did during several past “prerecessionary periods,” according to the report.
• Forrester predicts a 5% increase in spending on average across categories next year.

Demand better: Shopping has gotten a little chaotic in recent years (remember the supply-chain crisis?). Consumers might be fed up.

• According to Forrester’s Customer Experience Index, the average customer experience index score increased annually from 2018 to 2021 but fell this year.
• “A dip in CX performance during 2022 and expected softening in 2023 presages a drop in tolerance and brand forgiveness (which trails CX performance),” the authors wrote.

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• TV’s scatter market has gone from bad to worse as advertisers curtail extra spending
• 400 creators reveal what’s most important in a brand partnership
• Why sports podcasts could be a slam dunk for advertisers who know how to navigate the in-demand space