TikTok aims to help brands enhance their visibility on the platform during the holiday season by providing an opportunity to be featured in the TikTok Shop "Holiday Emporium Gift Guide," which will showcase a variety of products.

However, brands must invest significantly in TikTok ads to apply.

The "Holiday Emporium Gift Guide" will be promoted as part of TikTok Shop, with additional visibility through influencers and various in-app marketing efforts, maximizing exposure for the brands and products included in the guide.

Selected brands will also have the chance to appear in "hero" videos within the app, promoted by TikTok, and TikTok staff will be informed of your brand's participation, aiming to provide priority exposure when possible.

To qualify, brands need to commit to substantial ad spending on TikTok in the coming months.

TikTok offers two tiers for brands to meet the requirements for inclusion:

- Silver: Brands must spend $12,500 on TikTok ads over the next three months.
- Gold: Brands must spend $19,500 on TikTok ads over the same period.

As you can see, there are additional advantages to reaching these spending thresholds, but the primary incentive is the potential to be featured in TikTok’s holiday gift guide and gain increased visibility within the app.

However, there’s no guarantee that your products will be included, as TikTok will exercise discretion in selecting which items make it into the guide. This can feel somewhat unfair, especially considering that brands will be investing thousands in TikTok ads without a certainty of reaping the promised benefits. Nevertheless, this is the approach TikTok is taking, and they likely need to establish some criteria to ensure that only certain products are promoted in the guide.

It also raises questions about the authenticity of TikTok promoting the season's top gifts based primarily on the advertising budget of the brands. This means that the featured products may not necessarily be the best options, but rather those that have invested the most in advertising, making it feel less like a genuine “guide” and more like an advertisement showcase.

Ultimately, it’s open to interpretation, but TikTok is clearly aiming to drive more ad spending, and this is one way they are attempting to achieve that.

This could be an effective strategy to enhance visibility in the app and showcase your products to a broader audience. It may indeed justify the ad investment to reach more TikTok users, but it is a costly endeavor, and there’s no guarantee that you’ll receive all the benefits outlined.