How To Go Live on TikTok: A Guide for Business Owners

Streaming isn’t just for gamers anymore. Some of your favorite brands are going Live on TikTok to sell their products with QVC-style livestreams.

Take David Protein, which sold more than 50,000 protein bar packs on TikTok Shop within nine months of launch, thanks in large part to livestreams it hosts on the platform multiple times a week. TikTok is quickly becoming one of the biggest players in livestreaming, second in popularity only to YouTube Live, according to viewership data from Streams Charts. 

For brands, livestreaming is an opportunity to take “TikTok made me buy it” to a whole new level. Learn how to go live on TikTok and what to do once you’re there, with examples and advice from experts.

What is TikTok Live?

TikTok Live lets you stream video to your followers and connect with them in real time. TikTok users discover live videos in a dedicated infinite-scroll Live feed, or the For You feed, making the format helpful in increasing reach.

Viewers can comment, interact, and engage with you directly while you’re livestreaming, and you are encouraged to do the same with them. This way, you can speak directly to your target audience, answer questions they may have about your product, and build a community.

How many followers do you need to go live on TikTok?

To host a livestream on TikTok, the account owner must be 18 years old and have at least 50 followers (though these requirements can vary by region). 

To run TikTok Live Studio, the brand’s free Windows app, gaming creators in the US need a minimum of 1,000 followers, while non-gaming creators must have at least 10,000 followers.

Once you meet these criteria and accept TikTok’s terms and conditions for livestreaming, you’ll see the option to livestream on your toolbar, allowing you to broadcast videos to your audience.

How to go live on TikTok 

For businesses, going Live on TikTok can be a powerful marketing tool that significantly boosts engagement, enabling you to promote products, answer customer questions, and cultivate a personal connection with your audience in real time. Here’s how to use TikTok Live:

1. Open TikTok and access the creator tool. Tap the plus sign on the toolbar menu (at the bottom of the screen). It’ll automatically open to the camera view. Select the Live option (you may need to scroll) on the menu at the bottom of the screen. 

2. Prep your TikTok Live. Add a title, image, topic, and goal. You can also collect rewards and use different effects, such as filters or overlays. 

3. Start streaming. When you’re ready to livestream, tap the Go Live button at the bottom of the screen. Once selected, the countdown will begin. When it ends, and you’re on air, followers can join your stream and may be notified that you are livestreaming. 

4. End your livestream. To end your livestream, select the power symbol in the top-right-hand corner of your window, and you’ll receive a message reading “End Live? We’re notifying more viewers that you’re Live.” Choose Cancel or End now. Before you end your livestream, let your viewers know that you’re wrapping up. 

5. Save your livestream. TikTok will save your livestream for 30 days. In the TikTok app, tap the Menu (three horizontal lines) button at the top. Select TikTok Studio and go to the Live tab. Locate the video you want, and then you can either download, clip, or delete the replay. 

How to join someone’s TikTok Live

Whether you’re scouting TikTok influencers for your next brand campaign or checking in on your competitors, joining another creator’s TikTok Live lets you chat with them and fellow viewers. Note that you need a TikTok account to join; some creators may have age restrictions for their broadcasts. 

Here is how to join another creator’s TikTok Live:

1. Open the TikTok mobile app on your smartphone.

2. Select the Live icon in the top left corner, or search for a specific creator you know is livestreaming.

3. Once in the livestream, you can watch the host and see comments from other viewers in real time.

4. To interact, type your comment in the text box at the bottom of the screen and hit Send.

5. To like the livestream, double-tap the screen to leave a heart for the host and viewers to see. 

6. You can request to be added as a multi-guest (tap the two-person icon next to the text box) to join a creator’s livestream as their cohost. However, you’ll need to meet the follower threshold to go live.

7. To send a gift, tap the gift icon and choose from the available options, including roses and galaxies.

8. To exit the livestream, tap the “X” in the top right corner.

6 TikTok Live ideas

• Host a Q&A session
• Demo your product
• Cohost with a brand collaborator
• Give a behind-the-scenes tour
• Sell products on TikTok Live
• Package customer orders

There are myriad creative ways for brands to connect with customers on TikTok Live. Livestreaming doesn’t need to be a full production—in fact, less is often more when going Live on TikTok. Some of the most authentic livestreams are spontaneous and unfiltered, allowing viewers to interact genuinely with the host. 

Here are a few TikTok Live ideas to experiment with: 

Host a Q&A session 

Consider hosting a TikTok Live Q&A with your brand’s founder, CEO, or another company representative who can speak authoritatively about your products. The goal here is to break barriers and connect customers directly with a face behind the brand. 

If you have an upcoming product launch, use a Q&A session to generate excitement about the release. Tease your upcoming collection by dropping hints about its theme, key features, or what inspired you to create it. Consider offering a discount code exclusively to livestream viewers, giving them first dibs on the new line when it drops.

Prepare for questions about product sizing and specifications, upcoming promotions, restocks of popular items, or details about new releases. While it’s wise to think about the common questions that pop up in your comments or customer service emails ahead of time, aim for authenticity, something TikTok viewers appreciate. 

Demo your product

TikTok Live is full of creators doing their makeup, cooking dinner, or making crafts while responding to viewers’ questions. If you have a product that lends itself to demonstration, consider hopping on TikTok Live to show viewers how it works.

Theresa Spencer is a makeup artist and the founder of cosmetics company Makeup A Murder. She regularly livestreams herself using Makeup A Murder products to create elaborate looks. As she does her makeup, Theresa answers questions from her audience.

Before going live, build excitement by posting about your upcoming livestream on TikTok Stories and any other social channels you use.

Cohost with a brand collaborator 

Collaborations and co-marketing can expand your brand’s reach. A fitness brand might launch a new collection with a popular fitness influencer. At the same time, a coffee machine company could team up with a trendy coffee roaster for a limited-edition espresso pod line. 

TikTok Live is a creative opportunity to reveal these partnerships with a cohosted livestream, bringing two hosts together on a split screen. When you collaborate on a TikTok livestream, followers of both host accounts will be notified, broadening your Live videos’ reach.

Have a rep from each brand on camera during the livestream. During the Live event, reveal when the collaboration will drop and why it will benefit customers. Bring audiences in by answering viewers’ questions about the collab and sharing behind-the-scenes stories of how it came to be. 

Give a behind-the-scenes tour 

Customers are often curious about the inner workings of their favorite brands. If you run a shoe company that manufactures handmade leather footwear, they might be interested in seeing the leather-cutting process or artisans hand-stitching the soles in your factory. If you own a trendy makeup brand with an urban HQ, viewers might want to meet the team behind the products and see where the magic happens.

Before livestreaming with your building tour, give your team a heads-up so staff can prepare (or opt out) and ensure that confidential documents or unreleased products aren’t visible. Asking permission is necessary, as Rachel Karten, a social media consultant and author of the newsletter Link in Bio, explains. 

“Most employees don’t have ‘appear on camera’ in their contracts,” Rachel says. “Just assuming that every employee at your brand wants to be on camera, wants to be a personality, is something to watch for.” 

If they agree, consider doing mini interviews with team members you encounter on the tour, asking their names and what they do at the company. A TikTok Live tour can give your followers a glimpse behind the curtain, helping them feel more connected to your brand. 

Sell products on TikTok Live

TikTok Live Shopping allows brands and creators to sell products directly through their livestreams. This feature integrates with TikTok Shop, letting viewers browse and buy items without leaving the app. In 2024, the number of TikTok Shop Live sessions in the United States almost tripled. 

Internet personality Stormi Steele set a record in 2024 when she became the first seller to make more than $2 million in sales for her brand, Canvas Beauty, on TikTok Shop in a single stream. 

During a livestream, you can present products, answer questions, and offer discounts, all while a pinned product carousel displays featured items for easy purchase. To make the most of TikTok Live Shopping, set up your TikTok Shop and ensure your product inventory is up to date.

Think of livestream demos as your own mini QVC or home shopping TV show. You’re using your products, chatting with viewers, and keeping the conversation casual. As you work, keep an eye on the comments and answer questions as they pop up on the livestream. This laid-back approach demonstrates what your products can do while letting you answer the questions at the same time. 

Jewelry brand Pavoi uses TikTok Live to sell its products. As a company rep explains how the pieces are made and how to style them, viewers can see the product at the bottom of the screen. They can also click on the shopping basket next to the text window to see more items.

Package customer orders 

Going live on TikTok is an opportunity to be casual and captivating. Set up a camera while you package customer orders to provide a behind-the-scenes look that your followers will appreciate. You can shout out to customers as you pack their orders, but protect their privacy by not revealing full names or addresses.

While packaging, you can chat with your viewers and answer questions about your products or business. Alternatively, you can work in silence, creating an ASMR-like experience with the sounds of tissue paper rustling and boxes being taped. This genre of content can be soothing for viewers and offer a way to connect while completing a necessary task. 

The Cozy Book Box, which sells books and book accessories, goes live to show customer orders being packed. In one Live, it prompted users to order a blind date option (a mystery book in a genre of the viewer’s choosing) and see it wrapped in real time. As the stream played, viewers requested extra trinkets (like bookmarks and stickers) to include in their order.

7 TikTok Live best practices

• Prepare a livestreaming set
• Test your equipment
• Focus on engagement
• Use TikTok Live features
• Add hashtags
• Host a giveaway
• Partner with influencers

TikTok Live can help you boost engagement. When planning your livestream, here are a few tips for optimizing the experience: 

Prepare a livestreaming set 

Before going live on TikTok, spend some time creating a streaming space that keeps your focus on your audience: 

• Choose a quiet place to set up your livestream, free of distractions and background noise. 
• Check the audio in the room to ensure good sound quality. 
• Choose a well-lit room or set up extra lighting. If a viewer can’t make out their screen, they might scroll past your livestream.

To go the extra mile, consider creating a backdrop or operating multiple cameras, as Phlur does below. For most of the stream, viewers see a wooden background with the fragrance brand’s logo and shelves of Phlur products artfully arranged with faux fruit and flowers. A second camera makes it easy to zoom in on the products under discussion.

Test your equipment

Always take the time to set up and prepare your gear before starting your stream: 

• Double-check that you have high-quality video and clear audio streaming from your phone. 
• Adjust the camera angle and use overhead lighting or a ring light to achieve high-quality live videos. 
• Test that you have a steady internet connection—that will prevent your stream from breaking up or losing connection while livestreaming. 
• Keep your phone and other gear connected to a charger so they don’t die during your livestream.

Focus on engagement

The best Live creators know that attracting new viewers and driving traffic requires engaging audiences before, during, and after the stream. 

Here are some ideas to boost engagement during your TikTok livestreams:

• Before the stream, frequently post content relevant to your followers during the best times to post on TikTok to maximize engagement and drive traffic to your account. 
• Schedule your stream and announce it in a post so followers know you’ll be on air soon. 
• Share a schedule of topics or events to keep your stream engaging. 
• Respond to comments as they come in to show you are listening and value your followers. 
• After the stream, post a TikTok recap of the highlights and announce your next stream. You can also cross-post a highlight reel to your Instagram or other social accounts.

Use TikTok Live features 

TikTok Live offers fun real-time features. If you team up with influencers to sell your products on Live, they can also turn on TikTok Live Gifts in the settings to monetize their livestreams. Followers can send virtual gifts using TikTok Coins, a type of virtual currency. These gifts will convert to “diamonds,” which you can exchange for cash, one way to make money on TikTok.

Another engagement feature is screen effects that change your screen background or alter how you look—access filters by selecting the magic wand icon in the bottom toolbar while livestreaming. You can try a background that makes it look like you’re sitting on a sunny beach or a face filter that adds bunny ears or a fancy mask. 

Add hashtags

Make it easy for audiences to discover you by adding relevant hashtags to your streams. Add your hashtags after the title of your stream, in your introduction (a summary of what the stream will cover), or in the first few comments. When people search for them, they will be able to find you. For example, if you stream and post knitting content, you might add #knitting or #yarnlove to your title. 

Hashtags can increase your stream’s visibility by telling TikTok what your content is about, helping attract new viewers. 

Host a giveaway

A live giveaway gets customers, especially those just learning about you, excited about your brand. Skin care brand Kopari uses TikTok Live to give away mini versions of popular products. 

A giveaway can encourage viewers to return for future livestreams and to comment. For example, in one livestream, a viewer shared that they had won a few days earlier and that they were looking forward to receiving the product.

It can also make viewers new fans, as long as you have a strong product offering. 

“Ultimately, you have to have a product that people love and will come back for,” Toral Patel, Kopari’s vice president of marketing, says on an episode of Shopify Masters. “You might be able to get it into their hands once, but for them to actually come back, it really genuinely has to be a product that they love.” 

Supplement brand Golí makes its giveaways interesting by filling a container with colored balls, one for each viewer’s order. When the container is full, they host a new giveaway, encouraging viewers to purchase during the livestream.

Partner with influencers

Another way to increase brand awareness on TikTok Live is to work with influencers. You can authorize them as sellers and provide them with a letter of authorization to sell your products on TikTok. For example, @britthashtagmomlife sells Glamnetic products on TikTok Live. Using TikTok Live has proved fruitful for creators, who are collectively earning $10 million in revenue each day through livestreaming, according to TikTok.

You can also ask an influencer to co-host a TikTok Live with you and compensate them for the time they spend on the livestream. Finding an influencer in your community can make for a more compelling, authentic collaboration. When Stratus, which sells anti-fog balaclavas, works with influencers, it seeks influencers who fit its niche. 

“We really look for people who would strike that balance of being authentic and close to our core audience as well as have that reach,” says Stratus owner, Ricky Jones on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. 

Not only can influencers bring you viewers, but when they understand your brand, they can speak to your products with authority.