Social Selling: Launch Your Product to A Crowd of 32 Million on TikTok

Candeeze is a small husband-and-wife D2C brand that sells freeze-dried candy online. 

They ran a unique launch strategy on TikTok, and their most-viewed video got:

• 32m+ views

• 3.5m+ likes

• 54.8k+ shares

• 15.7k+ comments

It also gained them 280k followers in seven days.

There are many reasons why their launch was so successful and gained the attention of millions. Let’s dissect the viral founder video that kicked off their entire account... 

Source: TikTok

What Made the Video Go Viral

Right off the bat, it tells a concise story that retains the viewer’s attention while including elements that make them want to keep watching: 

• The opening frame is clear and relates to a topic people usually like to support (small business)

• The second frame of the founders’ wedding stops the scroll for viewers. The owners having been recently married kicks that support to a higher level in the emotional response part of the brain (limbic system)

• Then they bring people behind the scenes and show how the candy is made, introducing an interesting element — the freeze dryer.

Source: TikTok

In the process, @candeezeco continues stacking viral elements to their video…

👀 The product itself is eye-catching, holding the attention of viewers when they see their favorite candies being turned into puffs

👂 When the founder eats the freeze-dried Jolly Rancher with a crisp crunch, an element of ASMR is added to the video

🎉 Their enthusiasm over having received 10 orders makes people want to support them further (It’s also an invisible CTA, subtly letting people know the candies are for sale)

💬 The novelty of their product, and its captivating visuals and audio, give people something to comment on, driving engagement and reach for the video

Finally, the CTA at the end doesn't feel like selling, but rather a suggestion of support and is only presented once trust has been cultivated with the viewer. 

Mentioning their sample pack has free shipping most likely got a lot of people to come to their website. (Source: TikTok)

How They Converted Viewers to Followers

Many people get millions of views, but the conversion to followers is typically low. So how did these two gain so many followers in so little time?

A couple reasons:

• The first video landed an emotional connection with the audience — people wanted to support them.

• They structured their page like a TV-show, where each TikTok is an episode in their show's season.

Instead of using TikTok trends that give them one-hit wonder videos, they were able to get people interested in them on a personal level, then start posting other videos revealing more about the candies and the ups and downs of their business-building journey. 

Those add layers to their story. Once a person watches their highest viewed video (the one we’re dissecting) and begins to see the others, they want to follow them to see how the story develops.