TikTok for small product businesses: what to post when you don't want to dance

Everyone tells you to get on TikTok. You open the app and see people dancing, lip-syncing and pointing at floating text. You make candles. Or wallets. Or dog collars. You'd rather not dance about them, so you don't post at all.

Good news: a lot of what works for product businesses on TikTok has nothing to do with dancing. People watch because they're curious how things are made, what's in the box, or whether the product actually works. You already have all of that. This guide shows you what to post, how to film it on a phone and the one music rule you need to know.

Before you start

• Personal or business account. TikTok offers both. A business account gives you business tools such as analytics, but it changes which music you can use (see below). Check TikTok's own help pages for what each account type includes before you switch.
• Film vertical. TikTok is built for full-screen vertical video, 9:16. Hold the phone upright.
• Your bio. Say what you sell in plain words and where people can buy.

The music rule for business posts

This catches a lot of small shops out. From TikTok's support page on commercial use of music:

"When you post content that promotes a brand, product, or service, we recommend that you only use music from our Commercial Music Library (CML), as it's pre-cleared for commercial use. The licenses we hold for music outside of the CML don't cover the commercial use of music in content."

So if a video promotes your product, use music from the Commercial Music Library, your own original sound or no music at all. A popular song that's fine for a personal video may not be covered when the video is selling something.

12 TikTok ideas that don't need dancing

The examples below are made up. "Ember & Ash Candle Co." isn't a real brand. Ember & Ash makes candles at home.

Show how it's made

1. Start to finish in 20 seconds. Speed up the whole making process. Example: wax melting, pouring, wick trimming, label on. Sped up to fit.

2. One satisfying step. Pick the most watchable part and show only that. Example: a slow pour into a glass jar, real sound, no music.

3. "How long does it take?" Show the real time it takes, with a timer on screen. Example: "One candle, start to finish: 3 days, because wax needs to cure."

Show the product

4. Close-up details. Texture, finish, small parts, sound. Things a photo can't show. Example: the crackle of a wooden wick, recorded close.

5. Does it actually work? A plain test, filmed in one take. Example: burn time test, a clip every hour, with the clock in shot.

6. Size check. The product in your hand or next to everyday items. Example: all three jar sizes next to a phone.

Show the business

7. Packing an order. One of the easiest videos to make, and it shows buyers what they'll receive. Example: wrapping a candle in tissue, adding a note and sealing the box.

8. A day in the shop. Short clips from a real day: making, packing, the post office run. Example: 8 clips, 2 seconds each, from first coffee to last parcel.

9. Mistakes and rejects. What went wrong and what you did about it. People like honesty. Example: "These 12 came out with sinkholes. Here's why, and here's how I fixed them."

Talk to camera (or don't)

10. Answer a comment. Reply to a real question with a short video. Example: "Can I burn it for 8 hours straight? No, and here's why."

11. Voiceover with hands only. You talk, the camera shows your hands working. No face needed. Example: explaining how scents are chosen while mixing oils.

12. Text on screen, no talking. Silent clips with a few short lines of text. Example: "Things I wish I knew before selling candles" over clips of the workbench.

A simple filming setup

• Light. Face a window. Natural light is free and looks better than most cheap lamps.
• Steady phone. A cheap phone stand, or the phone leaned against a stack of books.
• Clean background. Your table, cleared. A real workspace is fine; a messy one distracts.
• Sound. If you talk, film close to the phone in a quiet room.
• Short clips. Film lots of 2 to 5 second clips. Joining them up is easier than cutting a long video.

A routine you can keep

Watch which videos people finish and comment on, then make more like those. One idea that works can become ten videos with different products.

If you also sell on TikTok Shop

Posting videos and selling on TikTok Shop are separate jobs. If you list products there too, our guide to the TikTok Shop product listing covers titles, descriptions and images.

For other platforms, see Instagram post ideas for products and Pinterest for Etsy sellers. Many of the same ideas work there with small changes.

Where YelloShelf fits

Filming on your phone and editing in TikTok's own editor is free, and for video that's still the way to go. YelloShelf doesn't make videos. What it does is make image posts and carousels from your own product photos, with captions and hashtags for TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and X, which can fill the gaps between videos. You download each post and publish it yourself. It doesn't have a free plan or trial. You buy a credit pack, starting at $10, and your first purchase comes with a money-back guarantee. We're helping you remove the manual, tedious, time-consuming work. You still read it, edit it and paste it in yourself.

Quick checklist

• Vertical video, 9:16.
• Bio says what you sell and where to buy.
• Business posts use Commercial Music Library music, original sound or no music.
• Short clips filmed in good window light.
• A mix of how it's made, product close-ups, packing and answers to comments.
• 3 to 4 videos a week you can actually keep up.
• Comments answered, best questions turned into videos.