A team at Wired tested out some of the most popular products trending on TikTok to find out if they really work.

Here are some of the products they tried out.

Revair Reverse-Air Dryer that both dries and straightens your hair after a shower.

Another TikTok product Wired tested out and found amazing was the KVD Beauty Good Apple Skin-Perfecting Foundation Balm that made redness and dark circles disappear.

Another product they found to be helpful was Bissell’s Little Green Carpet Cleaner which cleans spills and stains that have been absorbed into furniture.

A popular pet product found on TikTok is the ChomChom Roller which picks up the fur on furniture, rugs, and clothing.

Digital marketing is set for significant changes in 2022, according to an article by Forbes, which lists the top 12 trends to watch for.

1. Marketers should pay attention to Facebook’s new parent company Meta and virtual and augmented reality development.

2. Influencer marketing is booming and is projected to reach 13.8 billion this year. B2B brands also are using influencer marketing successfully.

3. Adapt to changes in privacy updates such as iOS that make tracking and gathering ad data more difficult.

4. Marketers need to plan which platforms to use as the options continue to grow.

5. Linkedin is a growing space, and you should utilize the platform.

6. Search engine optimization continues to advance as the search algorithms change. Try to create content with value for users.

7. Marketers should focus on social media proof and word-of-mouth to grow, not only rely on paid advertising.

8. Marketers need to keep learning to stay up to date in the digital marketing space.

9. Facebook is still strong and will continue to lead.

10. As websites go mobile, it is crucial for you to make sure your websites are optimized for it.

11. Digitial marketing is dominated by algorithms, and so you must have a user experience that is in demand.

12. Focus on a few digital marketing platforms and don’t get stretched to too many.

13. Don’t chase every new trend or app. Stick to the basics.

PayPal is one of the leading payment platforms used on e-commerce websites as it is fast, easy, and secure.

However, according to an article in Search Engine Journal, some negatives of the service are: it is hard to reach customer service, digital goods do not have seller protection, high fees; PayPal suspends accounts without warning; and transferring money to your bank account can take time.

The article lists what it sees as the top alternatives:

1. Google Pay App

2. Square

3. Wise

4. Stripe

5. Payoneer

6. Shopify Payments

7. Authorize.net

8. Braintree

9. 2Checkout

10. Dwolla

11. QuickBooks Payments

12. Amazon Pay

13. Skrill

There is also the option of using multiple payment gateways to allow consumers to choose how they would like to checkout.

Marketing professionals worldwide still prefer email marketing, with 81% sending newsletter emails.

Almost the same amount of marketers (79%) send welcome emails, according to a report by Insider Intelligence/eMarketer.

According to the statistics, 75% send emails about products, 72% for sales and promotions, 71% for events, and 62% for onboarding or post-purchase.

Meanwhile, Insider Intelligence/eMarketer also reported that digital media is behind the increase in advertising spending in 2021.

US marketing spending is projected to increase 8.7% to $539 billion. Worldwide, it is predicted to increase by 7.2% to $1.376 trillion.

Digitial and alternative media is projected to rise 12.6%, much more than the 3.3% rise in traditional media.

TikTok announced on Wednesday that it is allowing creators to make money from their content.

The new feature is going to allow users to accept payments and gifts when they are not livestreaming. Currently, creators can get virtual gifts during live videos.

The new features come with a platform within TikTok called “Creator Next,” where all monetization options are concentrated.

The new tips feature allows people to reward creators for their content, and the creators will receive 100% of the tip value, TikTok said in a statement.

As shipping logistics remains a problem this 4th quarter, shoppers are willing to change their plans if a product is unavailable.

Between August and October, most US shoppers bought from different brands or products (39%) or switched retailers (32%) when their desired product was out of stock, according to a report by Insider Intelligence/eMarketer.

Only 13% of customers waited for the item to be back in stock, and 16% decided not to purchase the product at all.

According to preliminary data from Sensormatic, data from Black Friday show that e-commerce is cooling off, with shopping down 28% compared to 2019.

According to data from Sensormatic Solutions, the coronavirus crisis led more people to purchase online, but the strong growth in e-commerce may be slowing.

It appears that visits to physical stores on Balck Friday were up as shoppers looked to avoid shipping delays. According to the study, 65% of US consumers plan to shop in physical stores this holiday season.

However, traffic was up 47.5% compared to last year, according to Sensormatic.

“While in-store shopping is still not back to 2019 levels, more shoppers felt comfortable visiting stores in person this Black Friday than in 2020,” said Brian Field, senior director of global retail consulting, Sensormatic Solutions.

“One driver of this increased traffic could be ongoing supply chain challenges and shipping delays, which are resulting in consumers shopping earlier to ensure their gifts arrive on time.

This came after Shopify announced that it sold $2.9 billion worldwide on Black Friday, a 21% increase from the previous year.

The Canadian-owned e-commerce platform Shopify announced on Saturday that it sold $2.9 billion worldwide on Black Friday, a 21% increase from the previous year.

The company said that the top cities with sales were New York, London, and Los Angeles. The top-selling countries were the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.

Apparel and accessories were the best-selling product category.

“Every year, Black Friday represents one of the largest single-day sales moments for entrepreneurs around the world, and this year it was bigger than ever,” said Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify. 

“From in-store retailers, to online, and even viral TikTok must-haves, these Black Friday sales show that independent businesses are having a massive impact on global commerce. Consumer support of independent brands is at an all-time high,” he added.

Mobile made up 72% of sales and only 28% on desktop. Last year, the company said 67% of sales were on mobile and 33% on desktop.

The average cart value was $101.20, higher than the last Black Friday average of $90.70.

Despite the growth of mobile messaging apps and social media platforms, email still is an essential tool to communicate with customers and potential customers.

According to an article in The Nation Roar, email marketing is much cheaper and more efficient than other media, and results can easily be tracked.

The email newsletter to customers is an important marketing tool and should provide value. However, email can serve different purposes. It can be used to inform, market, educate.

Email campaigns are also easy and quick to create and are the most used digital marketing tool.

Getting potential customers on your email list is a great way to turn visitors into customers.

Google Ads launched four new features that give businesses more data on the Insights Page.

Google says that 53% of consumers plan to shop more online this year than last, reported SEJ-Search Engine Journal.

These four features are going to be rolled out worldwide.

First, Demand Forecasts, which predicts six months ahead in search trends using machine learning and past seasonal search data.

Second, Consumer Interest Insights gathers the top search themes in your campaigns and includes the number of people who searched the theme and its growth.

The third is Audience Insights, where you can learn the interests and affinities of your customers, such as which ads they prefer.

And fourth, Change History Insights & Auction Insights can be used to see how auction competition is changing, or account changes impact your campaign performance.