Douyin Marketing Guide

Welcome to our guide on Douyin, the popular Chinese short-video app. Douyin, also known as TikTok in other countries, is a social media platform that allows users to create and share short videos set to music, filters, and special effects. With millions of daily active users, Douyin has become a go-to platform for people to share their creative talents and engage with their audience in fun and unique ways.

But Douyin is much more than just a social media platform. With over one billion monthly active users and vast e-commerce capabilities, Douyin has become a crucial platform for brands seeking to expand their reach. Its engaging and addictive content, potential to generate viral content, personalized recommendation system, and vast e-commerce capabilities have attracted over 300,000 brands to join the Douyin e-commerce platform in the first half of 2022, with a YoY increase of 20%. Moreover, the platform has witnessed an impressive 150% increase in total sales and 142% growth in volume.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the simple steps to open a Douyin official account and provide helpful tips on how to make the most out of this exciting platform. By creating a Douyin official account, brands can establish a strong online presence, promote their products, attract and gather customers, and boost sales. We will also explore the benefits of opening a flagship store on Douyin, which can help you to monetize your content and drive sales for your products or services.

So, let’s dive in and explore the exciting world of Douyin together!

How to open a Douyin official account?

1. Create a Douyin official account – the first step to start your business on Douyin

1.1 What is a Douyin official account?

Douyin offers three types of official certification: 

  • Individual certification: celebrities, experts, and KOLs
  • Organization certification: companies, national institutions, media, and other non-profit organizations
  • E-commerce certification: top e-commerce KOLs and organizations

1.2 Why should brands open a Douyin official account?

Opening a Douyin official account can help brands:

  • Establish brand image and enhance brand awareness
  • Attract and gather customers
  • Promote products
  • Boost sales via live-streaming and campaigns
  • Access additional analytics functions available only to verified stores.
  • Manage fans more effectively.

Open a Douyin store and sell products on the platform. (Please refer to our guide below on how to open a Douyin store)

2. How to open a Douyin official account?

Opening a Douyin brand account is a simple process that can be completed in just a few steps. Below, we provide step-by-step guidance for registering your account on either the PC or Douyin app.

Before you begin, please note that there are three criteria that must be met to open an official account:

  • Your company must be verified (a business license is required)
  • Your homepage merchant section must be open to the public
  • You must have at least 500 followers

The same enterprise is limited to registering a maximum of two Douyin official accounts.

2.1 How to open an official account via PC?

Step 1. Visit the Douyin brand account website at douyin.com (http://renzheng.douyin.com/)

Step 2. Click “start immediate certification” (立即认证) button to enter the PC certification process

Step 3. Scan the QR code on your Douyin app to log in to your account

Step 4. Check if you have achieved the criteria. If not, click blue captions under each criterion

Step 5. After clicking them, scan the QR Code to qualify yourself 

Step 6. Fill in the form, pay the service fees and wait for validation

Step 7. Log in to the management back page to use your brand account

2.2 How to open an official account via Douyin APP?

For Android users, you can download Douyin by merely finding the APK via a search engine, or via the following link: https://douyin.en.softonic.com/android

For iOS users, there will be extra steps. If your iOS store location isn’t already in China, you must switch region before downloading the App:

Step 1. Open the Douyin app, click “Me” (我) at the bottom bar

Step 2. Unfold the side column and click “Douyin Creator Service Center” (抖音创作者中心)

Step 3. Click “All” (全部) and “Open official account” (企业号开通). An on-trial brand account will be opened immediately without any requirements 

Step 4. Start free trail for 60 days with limited functions

Step 5. Follow the three steps and fill in the form, upload the required certifications:

  1. Type of account (company or individual)
  2. Industry category
  3. Region of registration (supports oversea companies)
  4. Region of operation
  5. Presence of offline stores
  6. Business license
  7. Operator name
  8. Operator phone number
  9. Operator email

By following these simple steps, you can quickly and easily open a Douyin official account and start reaching millions of potential customers on this popular platform.

Need support to create your Douyin account and store?

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How to open a Douyin store?

1. How to leverage your Douyin stores?

Douyin provides multiple channels for selling products:

  • Open shop windows with links to other stores: It is how KOLs earn commission fees by leveraging their popularity to sell products targeting fans precisely.
  • Open shop windows with links to products on third-party platforms such as Taobao, Tmall…
  • Open your Douyin store and sell your products directly to customers: Some e-commerce players choose to open an in-built Douyin store. For customers, it saves the trouble of transferring to a third-party platform. For merchants, Douyin has assured all-rounded support, benefiting them to make their business more successful.

2. How to open a Douyin store?

Step 1: verify a Douyin official account. 

We have already created a detailed step by step guide for the opening process that you can access via this link

Step 2: select your store type.

Once your account is created, you’ll be able to access the Douyin back-end on PC for registration via this link:  https://fxg.jinritemai.com

As you log in your Douyin account, please select your correct Douyin store types. Select correct entity type and fill in the store information

  • Enterprise store (企业店): sell one or more authorized/own brands with complete brand or distribution authorization but can without brand qualification.
  • Franchise stores (专卖店):  sell one or more authorized brands but must provide a secondary brand authorization. 
  • Specialty store (专营店): sell two or more authorized/own brands but must provide a tertiary brand authorization or distribution authorization.
  • Flagship store (旗舰店): sell one or more authorized/own brands but must provide exclusive direct brand authorization. 
  • Official flagship store (官方旗舰店):sell one or more authorized/own brands but must provide exclusive direct brand authorization with clear “open flagship store” words. 

Step 3: wait for verification and complete identification 

After choosing the right store type, pay the required money and finish the registration process. It takes 1-working day for the platform to conduct qualification audit. The following account verification requires 1) private bank card number and  bank reserved cell phone number or 2) public account payment verification

Step 4: Pay the margin and start the business

After paying the required margin, you can start the business. The process is to open the management page and click “channel management” or “official account” to associate your multi-channel brand account or Douyin brand account and add your products or just download Douyin store app.

3. What is the cost of operating your Douyin store?

The costs include two parts – technical service fee and margin. 

3.1 Technical service fee

Technical service fee include “basic technical service fee” and “stepped technical service rates”. 

Regarding the basic technical service fee, Douyin will charge a 0.6%-5% commission sales based on different industries, see the specific amount via this link. (e.g. 4% for skincare & makeup, 5% for female clothing, 5% for luxurie)

The step technical service fee varies according to the unit price of the commodity settlement.

3.2 Margin

Margin refers to the money deposited by the merchant to the platform to ensure the fulfillment of the platform rules and platform agreements and to guarantee the quality of goods and services, including basic margin and floating margin.

The basic margin is determined by the type of qualification of the main store and the category of operation. When the store operates multiple categories, the amount of the basic deposit payable is the highest amount according to the current store operation categories. 

The basic margin ranges from 2,000 RMB to 300,000 RMB for enterprises depending on the industry, see the specific amount via this link.  (e.g. 5,000 RMB for skincare & makeup, 2,000 RMB for female clothing, 50,000 RMB for luxuries)

The floating margin is determined by the sales of the store’s online payment in the past 30 days. The range is from 0 RMB to 20,000 RMB.

4. Douyin store functions

The Douyin store provides comprehensive tools for you to operate your business. Functions covering campaigns & promotion, customer service, data analysis, and product management brings efficiency and convenience to your business operation.

Moonie Zhu

Managing Director Europe

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