After studying abroad, I worked as a cargo anchor in TikTok.

"core tips"

TikTok live broadcast with goods opens up a new employment path for English college students in teaching and training and foreign companies. Although TikTok was once again banned in the United States in March this year, this fertile soil is still worth reclamation. So, what is the current situation and prospect of TikTok live delivery?

Author | ?Zhao ruoci

Edit | ?Yang Liu

At 3 o’clock in the morning, Zhan Zhan got up early and sat in front of the makeup mirror to prepare for the live broadcast of the day. Zhan Zhan is a post-00 student who graduated from Zhejiang Communication University majoring in bilingual broadcasting. Now, as a TikTok cross-border e-commerce anchor, Zhan Zhan appears in front of the camera with a vibrant image every day.

At 5 am Beijing time, corresponding to 5 pm new york time, during this prime time, Zhan Zhan started broadcasting on TikTok on time. Coordinates Hangzhou, Zhejiang, in this office building where Zhan Zhan is live, 80% of the tenants are in the e-commerce industry, and there are also many cross-border e-commerce anchors who get up in the early morning like Zhan Zhan.

In the past few years, TikTok has braved the wind and waves all the way to attack many countries and regions, among which cross-border e-commerce live broadcast also came into being. At the end of 2023, it was reported that TikTok would hit the GMV target of $50 billion in 2024, of which North America would shoulder the burden of $17.5 billion, accounting for one third.

Although since last year, TikTok has been repeatedly caught in the ban, for cross-border e-commerce practitioners, this fertile soil is still worth reclamation. At the same time, this new industry has also created new employment opportunities for many British college students and international students.

After studying abroad for five years, I sold popcorn machines in TikTok.

English is one of the absolute advantages in TikTok live broadcast.

Previously, English-related majors generally chose education or foreign companies in the direction of employment, in addition to taking the exam, taking the postgraduate entrance examination and studying abroad. butAfter the rise of TikTok, there was another employment path for English college students and international students.

Ba Ba is a 2024 graduate of a 211 college in Beijing. While her classmates are still trying to teach English as a part-time job, she has already tried the TikTok live broadcast early.

"At first, I thought it would be very profitable to be an anchor. When I was looking for a job in Boss direct employment, the salary of many anchors would be marked as 1,000-1,500 yuan a day. butOnly when I really did it did I find that, after all, an inexperienced anchor actually earned less than tutoring or teaching."Ba Ba told Leopard Change," In Beijing, even in undergraduate tutor, parents are willing to pay at least 150 yuan’s hourly salary, but if a part-time TikTok brings goods, the initial salary is less than 100 yuan, and a full-time anchor with less experience usually has a basic salary of 6,000 yuan plus commission. "

In addition, according to Leopard Change, the average salary of part-time anchors in Hangzhou, where the live e-commerce industry is relatively developed, will be a little higher, about 130-200 yuan.

The live broadcast area with goods is Southeast Asia, and there is basically no big time difference, but the working hours are basically in the evening, and staying up late is also the daily life of part-time anchors. Baba’s hourly salary does not include the time for reciting the manuscript, understanding the products, selecting products, making up and rewinding. It only counts the time from the camera on to the end of the broadcast. From 8: 00 pm to 12: 00 pm, she carries goods for more than 4 hours continuously. Every day after work, Baba will drag her tired body back to the dormitory.

Ba Ba, who is still in her senior year, regards anchor as an attempt on her internship.Although she recently got Offer from Columbia University and Penn University, she decided to enter a big factory for an internship. She said: "Part-time anchor may be more like a physical activity. I hope I can do more complete planning or operation in the future than working hard in the live broadcast room, so I still want to explore more in all walks of life."

"I sold popcorn machines in TikTok for foreigners", "I sold sweaters in TikTok after being reborn" and "I sold cups in TikTok after studying abroad for five years", which is different from the striking title, recording the dribs and drabs of full-time anchor Yangyang’s live broadcast in TikTok. Today, she has been promoted from anchor to partner of this live broadcast company.

"I first learned about this industry on a short news from CCTV. A little girl spoke fluent English in front of the camera and sold goods abroad." Yangyang, a cross-border e-commerce anchor from Zhengzhou, Henan Province, recalled.

In 2022, she learned about this industry because of a short message. This year,On the social platform, many mature TikTok anchors have been sharing their experience in bringing goods.Yangyang is one of them.

Before the outbreak, Yangyang, who returned from studying in Britain for five years, was working as a stable and profitable teacher in his hometown. When the epidemic situation collided with the contraction of the education and training industry, a stone was thrown on the originally calm lake, and Yangyang’s stable life was also facing challenges. Therefore, after paying attention to overseas live broadcast, Yangyang, who is cheerful and talkative, decided to stand in front of the camera and become an anchor.

"At first, I joined a Chinese-language company, which was regarded as an entertainment anchor. My daily work was to teach foreigners to sing and say tongue twisters on TikTok, and finally to buy Chinese courses. Later, it turned to bringing goods, and the income share changed from gifts to GMV. " Yangyang told Leopard Change.

The change of identity also brings about the change of work experience. In the entertainment-oriented live broadcast room, Yangyang’s audience can easily reach hundreds, but when it comes to live broadcast with goods, the audience is only basically stable at 20 to 30 people. At the same time, the pressure of sales also followed.

It’s easy to enter the business, but difficult to stay.

A resume, a 3-minute English introduction video and a broadcast interview can basically get a part-time job as TikTok English anchor. From part-time anchor to full-time anchor, the salary model of basic salary plus commission allows Zhan Zhan to get more than 50 thousand yuan a month, but as Zhan Zhan said: "TikTok anchor is simple to enter the business, but it is difficult to test the will later."

First of all, like any form of live broadcast, emergencies are inevitable, andThe ability to improvise is only the first level to become a qualified TikTok anchor.

Yangyang found in the process of bringing new anchors that many graduates with good spoken English often can’t read users’ comments during live broadcast. "The colloquial expression in the live broadcast room is very different from that in the textbook. Sometimes their words have no head, no tail, no subject and no object, and various abbreviations of online terms often appear. Without overseas life experience, many anchors are difficult to cope with these situations."

Yangyang observed that there were many anchors with poor English on TikTok last year, but after more and more people paid attention to this track this year, the anchors they could basically see were very fluent in spoken English and their daily communication was very smooth.

In addition to being able to read users’ comments, the most important thing for bringing goods is to be able to clearly introduce the goods.Yangyang said that she had sold wigs in the live studio for a while. Although she was an English major, when she was unfamiliar at first, she had to memorize the names of each wig, including how to introduce the hair color, curl, bulkiness and various wearing scenes. These words needed to be prepared in advance.

In addition, in overseas live broadcast, China anchor is often troubled by discriminatory remarks. In Zhan Zhan’s live broadcast room, overseas users often screen some discriminatory remarks within one minute. In other words, only by understanding the meaning of these words can we deal with them more calmly and peacefully.

"The anchor’s selection ability is very important. Because the colors and categories that consumers like are the first feedback to the anchor. The audience is very enthusiastic about which product is broadcast, and when it is broadcast, the audience has left, and the anchor knows best. " Zhan Zhan said.

In the process of being an anchor, Zhan Zhan found that many TikTok merchants have relatively blocked information on product selection."For example, selling a piece of clothing, such as black and gray, is not good in the United States. On the contrary, those fluorescent greens and phosphors we don’t like sell well. It is very important to understand the regional differences."

Consumers’ preferences are based on cultural differences between different regions, and for TikTok anchors, the understanding of market differentiation needs to be accumulated slowly by time and practice.

Live broadcast in the United States is not so much selling "goods" as selling "people".Zhan Zhan found that consumers in the American area pay more attention to the cordial, pleasant and real feeling in the live broadcast room. They are keen to "make friends" with the anchor. Although they are anchors with goods, there are often old customers in Zhan Zhan’s live broadcast room who confide in Zhan Zhan. "For example, if they have quarreled with their husbands and their sons are in conflict, these parents and short-term users will say it in the live broadcast room."

As a result, consumers and users in the United States who become friends with the anchor are more sticky. Zhan Zhan said: "Sometimes the account is changed and no new customers come. At this time, the old customers will say,’ Oh, why are there only two people here? Do you have no sales? Let me buy one for you.’ "

There are obvious differences between consumers in Southeast Asia and the United States. "The obvious performance is that the trust in TikTok is actually not so strong, and I don’t want to buy products with high customer price. And everyone will be very concerned about the strength of the gifts, hoping to receive more gifts. " 咢咢咢 said.

The anchor plays a very important role in the whole process of product selection, broadcast, interaction and resumption, which is a test of mentality and ability.

"At the beginning, only two or three people were watching the whole show. Facing an empty live broadcast room, you couldn’t sell a penny after a show. For three or four hours, no one paid attention to you and interacted with you. It was not easy to keep high spirits in front of the camera." Zhan Zhan said.

Anchors who are braving the wind and waves in change.

On March 13th, local time, the U.S. House of Representatives passed TikTok-related bills with an overwhelming majority of 352 votes to 65 votes. The bill requires China technology company ByteDance to divest control of its short video application TikTok, otherwise TikTok will be banned in the United States.

The turmoil in TikTok America has become a hot topic on social media throughout March, andTikTok anchors, it is normal to ride the wind and waves under the changes of various policies.

Looking back at the development of TikTok e-commerce, from the initial semi-closed loop, local stores, to fully managed and independent stations, domestic businesses have to move randomly.

"At first, it was a semi-closed loop, broadcast live on TikTok, and jumped to a third-party store. It was closed in the first half of 2023, and TikTok had its own yellow car, which was a local store. All the transaction processes were completed on TikTok, and there was no guidance outside the station. At that time, merchants also followed the policy and made local stores. Later, after the TikTok factory moved in, it was fully managed, that is, everyone helped Tik Tok to take the goods and get the commission. We also tried it, but in the end we turned to an independent station. "During the two-year live broadcast experience in Yangyang, with the change of TikTok live broadcast policy, there have been several ways to bring goods.

"Now many TikTok players are guided to their own websites outside the station to place orders. Although there is a little violation, because the remittance of local stores is very slow, the proportion of my boss’s redistribution is even lower. " Yangyang said.

Different from the blue ocean imagined by outsiders, for the new TikTok live broadcast merchants, the network problem must be solved first. Because TikTok live broadcast in China has high requirements for private network lines, the traffic of a number is often abnormally low due to network problems, but for the account weight, the anchors can only face the live broadcast room with only one or two sporadic people.

After the passage of the bill, Zhan Zhan can clearly feel that the live broadcast risk control is very strict, and the short video traffic has also dropped a lot. In the past, the average hour was over 1,000, and recently the live broadcast was only about 20 people per hour."The recent review is much stricter, which should be related to the turmoil in TikTok America."

According to Tiger Sniff’s previous report, since the third quarter of 2024, the proportion of live broadcasts will begin to rise, and the traffic of live broadcasts in the fourth quarter may reach a new peak in the United States. The platform will support this direction more vigorously. Moreover, TikTok was originally planned to be in the fourth quarter of 2024, and the proportion of live broadcast goods in the GMV of the United States should be increased to 40% (according to FastMoss data, in 2023, the proportion of live broadcast goods and shopping malls in TikTok GMV of the United States was only 20%, and 80% came from goods in Daren’s short-sighted frequency band).

Despite the constant turmoil, the US area is still the focus of e-commerce layout.As Yangyang said, the consumption power of users in the United States is higher than that in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

For the future, Zhan Zhan remains optimistic: "Some friends who are working as TikTok shop service providers say that many people are really on the sidelines recently, and some anchors have turned to Australia. But the bigger the wind, the more expensive the fish, and my mind is still full of hope. If I persist for more than 100 days, it may be victory. " ?

(At the request of the interviewee, the characters in the text are all pseudonyms.)

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