With an abundance of engaging, funny, and viral content that can be generated by anyone with a phone, TikTok has emerged as a social media staple.
TikTok users open the app on average eight times a day and spend 46 minutes browsing content -- more than Instagram and Facebook -- according to digitalmarketing.org. Appannic.com projected TikTok to have more than 1 billion monthly active users in 2021.
That amount of engagement and interaction provides great potential for growth marketers, and using TikTok ads can help take a campaign to the next level.
TikTok commissioned a study through Nielsen which revealed that 52 percent of users said they find new products from TikTok ads and 61 percent of users find TikTok advertising unique.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN USING TIKTOK ADS
TikTok is primarily used by the younger generation and sixty percent of users are female, according to wallaroommedia.com. Among overall users, 80 percent are between the ages of 16-34, while 86 percent of users are between the ages of 16-44, according to the report. If your brand targets a younger demographic, TikTok’s audience certainly fits that criteria.
TikTok is also best suited for top-of-the-funnel marketing metrics and may not be as effective for companies using lower-funnel metrics, such as eCommerce companies.
BRAINSTORMING THE RIGHT TIK TOK APPROACH
Your brand needs to be willing to allocate creative resources to ensure success on TikTok.
The advertisement must be a video that includes music, and TikTok has a library that can be used if you opt not to use licensed or user-generated music. You want the ad to feel natural. There needs to be an authenticity that resonates with the younger audience.
The TikTok Creator Marketplace can be used to help align your brand with the right content creator or make yourself available to content creators. While viral TikTok content can be created by anyone no matter the size of their following, you can target specific partners who can help with your specific target audience and/or message. Creators with a larger audience will cost more to collaborate with, so find the right partner that fits within your budget.
CREATING THE PERFECT TYPE OF CONTENT
Your goal should be to hook someone within the first few seconds of your ad. You can’t rely on someone watching the entire video. Win their attention from the start.
TikTok provides this useful article to help generate the biggest engagement. One notable tip is to use full-screen, vertical content compared to horizontal. TikTok reported a 63 percent average ad recall for vertical videos compared to horizontal. That’s a significant difference.
Your ad can use up to 48 characters of text, so be sure to be concise and powerful with your messaging. Don’t waste any characters.
For mobile apps, it’s recommended to showcase actual clips of the product, along with your logo, name, and the top-selling points. Ecommerce brands can thrive via user-generated content or influencers showcasing the product and logo alongside eye-catching text.
While TikTok provides the chance to take risks, do not get too risque or there’s the potential your ad could be pulled.
TikTok can sometimes be slow in its approval process, so be sure to have a few assets ready to go in order to get them out there quickly instead of having to keep waiting. We recommend creating new ads roughly every two weeks to help ensure you’re reaching a wide audience.
TikTok’s top ads page is a fantastic tool to use in the brainstorming process since it allows organizations to see which types of content are thriving.
HOW TO GET STARTED USING TIKTOK ADS
TikTok's ads manager is set to optimize for conversions, video views and app installs, and even includes traffic campaign optimizations. Web conversions are limited to a single-session attribution window, which is less than that of Instagram and Facebook.
TikTok also does not automate ad placement optimization, an important detail to note. North American companies are best suited to use TokTok and News Feed App Series placements.
Targeting options include: Lookalike, interests, demographics, and behavior. Lookalike searches for an audience that corresponds with your existing base, while behavior links to users who performed an action within your ad’s specific category. The Lookalike option is considered the top targeting function, especially for those companies working with smaller budgets.
FINDING THE RIGHT Settings
At the start of a campaign, the ad will remain in the learning phase until it registers 50 conversions in seven days. Make sure to allocate an amount that allows you to gather the data necessary to learn how the ad is performing and whether any adjustments may be needed for the campaign. We recommend a daily budget of at least 4X your CPA target.
TikTok offers two initial billing options: Cost per click (CPC) and cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM). Once your ad achieves the 50 conversions in the seven-day window, optimized options (oCPM and oCPC) are available for specific actions such as installments.
Achieving the 50 conversions in the seven-day window is the key to fully optimizing and realizing the potential of your ad on TikTok. It’s recommended to set your budgets at the ad set level compared to the campaign level to provide more control over strong-performing content.
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Digicom is a boutique digital marketing agency based in New York City. We are a team of versatile growth marketers with the ability to turn early-stage companies into household names. We act as a high-touch agency, managing the growth of our clients' marketing channels and advising across all aspects of their customer acquisition programs.