NEWSTurning Followers to Dollars: How Geling Guo Helps TikTok Influencers Build E-Commerce Empires
Sept. 30 2024, Published 1:34 a.m. ET
Many recent trends in social media have been spearheaded by TikTok influencers, who have learned to take advantage of their large followings to make money. There’s potential for financial success on TikTok, but it can be hard to capitalize on the hard-earned online fame of influencers without guidance on how best to grow and thrive.
That’s where Geling Guo excels.
Who is Geling Guo?
Geling (Belle) Guo is a co-founder of the New Beginnings Creator Network (NBCN), a company specializing in content-driven e-commerce strategies, particularly for resources like the recently introduced TikTok Shop. She provides comprehensive services for brands looking to monetize themselves, helping them build a complete sales cycle. Geling empowers creators to maximize sales on TikTok Shop using the latest tools and strategies. These include shop management, affiliate marketing, ad promotion, and official account content creation.
How Geling Started NBCN
After graduating from China’s top media school, the Communication University of China, Geling discovered her passion and genuine talent for production management while working on several prominent Chinese TV shows. She then moved to the United States to study film production at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film, one of the top four film schools in the country. At Chapman, Geling produced the short film “Drifting Boat,” which won several awards, including the New York International Film Award for Best Short Film and the Toronto Indie Shorts award for Best Student Film.
After graduating from Champan, Geling got an opportunity to work at a leading TikTok talent agency. During her eight months there, she helped grow the agency from a minor player to the 5th ranked TikTok talent agency in the world, signing and managing over 150 influencers.
It was in this role that she realized the potential of TikTok Shop and how e-commerce could transform the current retail model, inspiring her to leave her previous role and co-found NBCN, a new venture focusing on comprehensive services for brands on TikTok Shop.
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How Content Creators Are Building Brands
Many TikTok influencers have become more than just content creators, and are able to leverage their platforms to launch entrepreneurial ventures or take advantage of strategic partnerships. As the market continues to warm up to social media, the apps which host these influencers have integrated new earning opportunities into their platforms. The most recent and successful of these initiatives is TikTok Shop. As a talent agent, Geling witnessed the impressive growth of TikTok Shop’s daily Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV).
She saw the trends and knew exactly how to help the influencers she worked with capitalize on them.
“These influencers, before this, hadn't earned much through social media. I vividly remember one influencer with 800,000 followers on TikTok who even asked to borrow $40 for gas. But today, when I look back at these people, I feel a great sense of satisfaction, as some of them have become top e-commerce influencers in the U.S. on TikTok… I consider myself fortunate to have witnessed the rapid growth of this market and, along the way, met many partners and clients who trusted me,” reflects Geling.
Strategies for Financial Success on TikTok Shop
So, how does she do it?
Geling is able to help influencers transform their followings into financial success with a few key strategies. It starts with creating engaging, shoppable content. With TikTok Shop, a content creator must put out authentic, naturally integrated product promotion which demonstrates that they back the product as a brand. Of course, an influencer must also be able to utilize TikTok Shop’s features. With full knowledge of the platform’s ins and outs, they can create a seamless shopping experience for their followers. As with any business venture, an influencer’s brand must be personal, something which extends beyond social media and into their followers’ lives.
Following her success in the industry, numerous brands and influencers have learned to utilize this highly efficient means of promoting products and generating income. When these brands and influencers recognize the potential in this model, Geling feels that she has witnessed a miraculous moment.
“We assisted a T-shirt supplier for TJ Maxx in finding 200 influencers to create short videos for their products… [and] last month, we helped PacSun with a six-day TikTok Shop live-streaming event… TikTok Shop is a perfect blend of marketing and sales, where every marketing strategy is planned based on sales data. It's a brand-new way of marketing, but we firmly believe it is the future!”
The rapid personal and financial growth which these influencers have experienced is reflected in the incredible rise of TikTok Shop, whose GMV has increased over a thousand times in less than a year.
A Vision for NBCN’s Future
Building off this initial success, Geling aspires for NBCN to become the absolute leader among TikTok Shop service providers in the United States. To do so, she and her company will pursue two main strategies. First, Geling will help more U.S.-based and multinational brands embark on the path of content-driven e-commerce and open up new sales channels. Second, she will strive to support TikTok Shop sellers in growing their businesses and achieving full-channel brand development.
By empowering influencers to monetize their platforms more effectively, NBCN is poised to transform the e-commerce landscape, driving growth and innovation throughout the industry.
