Definitely, advertising on TikTok has become one of the main priorities for many brands this year. It’s one of the digital marketing trends that we mentioned, as TikTok’s accelerated growth and increasing market share are impressive. The platform has managed to capture the attention of both users and brands, thanks to its high visibility and engagement levels. This phenomenon has sparked envy from other social networks, including Instagram. Undoubtedly, TikTok is revolutionizing how products are discovered and marketed. Learn a little more about TikTok ads below.
What is TikTok Ads and how does it work?
TikTok Ads is the advertising platform that allows you to reach TikTok’s global audience through the creation of ads and measure the performance of your advertising campaigns.
Understanding how it works organically is essential for achieving effective TikTok ads, although many advertisers tend to overlook this. TikTok is a platform characterized by the predominance of short, spontaneous, and entertaining videos.
Key features:
- TikTok uses an algorithm to detect users’ interests and preferences based on their interactions with content.
- The algorithm analyzes interactions such as “likes,” shares, comments, accounts followed, and videos where users linger, creating a user profile that shows content tailored to their preferences.
- On TikTok, the most common videos are between 15 and 60 seconds long. Although videos ranging from 3 to 10 minutes are now allowed, TikTok users seek immediacy and brevity in content.
- Videos on TikTok can include voiceovers, music from the platform itself, filters, and stickers.
- The first 3-6 seconds of a video are the most critical, as they will determine whether users stop to watch it or continue scrolling.
- The “For You” section is one of the best ways to understand how it works. In this section, you’ll find content and people based on your interactions, as well as trends and videos from people you’ve visited or interacted with, even if you don’t follow them.
- When you post a video, it directly appears in the “For You” section. The words you use in the video, the text you add, the description, and hashtags will influence who sees the content. Videos related to the hashtags and topics you’re interested in will also be shown.
- TikTok first shows your videos to your audience, that is, to people who follow you. If these people don’t react positively to your content, the reach of your videos will be reduced to reach people who don’t know you.
- The first 20 minutes are crucial to determine whether a video has the potential to go viral, although TikTok may take between 48 and 72 hours for videos to gain momentum.
- Understanding these features will help you make the most of TikTok Ads and design effective strategies to reach your target audience.
Why invest in TikTok Ads in 2023?
If you’re still undecided about whether to invest in TikTok or continue focusing your advertising efforts on Facebook and Instagram, here are some data points that might help you make a final decision:
- TikTok has more than 1 billion active users worldwide (Source: TikTok).
- 92% of users take some action after watching a video on the platform.
- Users are 1.5 times more likely to make an immediate purchase of something they discovered on TikTok.
- 68% of users think ads on the platform are unique and different from those on other social networks (Nielsen).
- 9 out of 10 users discover new content while on the platform, and nearly 50% do so through ads.
Additionally, it is a very effective channel for generating brand awareness and consideration among users.
These data points are just a small sample of the importance of mastering TikTok Ads, especially if you’re a marketing professional. Now, let’s take a look at the different types of ads available on TikTok.
Types of Ads on TikTok
When entering TikTok for Business, you’ll find a value proposition you should keep in mind:
Ads that entertain. Campaigns that connect.
Read that phrase again, as it contains one of the keys to creating an effective TikTok Ads campaign. It is the social network of entertainment par excellence, and all advertising approaches must revolve around this premise. Otherwise, ads will simply be perceived as commercials, and that doesn’t work on this platform.
In-Feed Ads
This is the most common ad format on the platform, also known as “the typical one.” It can be adapted to any type of business or brand. To give you an idea, it is similar to Instagram Stories ads and can last up to 60 seconds.
This format is suitable for various objectives, such as:
- Coverage.
- Traffic.
- App downloads.
- Video views.
- Conversions, among others.
The image sizes for TikTok Ads for this ad are:
- Image sizes for feed ads: 9:16, 1:1, 16:9.
- Duration: From 5 to 60 seconds for In-Feed ads. No limit in BuzzVideo, TopBuzz, or Babe.
TopView
With this format, you can achieve a great impact by showing your ad as soon as the app is opened. These ads take up the entire screen and can last up to 60 seconds. They autoplay with sound and include a call to action (CTA). It’s important to note that this type of ad is not available to all budgets, as only one brand is allowed per day and country.
Shopping Ads
This format is relatively new on TikTok and aims to help brands interact with shoppers at every stage of the buying process. It consists of three formats:
- Video Shopping Ads: Allows you to place videos in the “For You” tab to take users directly to the product description.
- Catalog Listing Ads
- LIVE Shopping Ads
These formats are available through the “Product Sales” objective in the Ads Manager.
Branded Hashtag Challenge
This format invites the TikTok community to participate in a specific challenge or trend created by a brand. The interesting thing is that it leverages user-generated content. The brand proposes a challenge via a hashtag, and users participate by creating their own content related to it.
This format is mainly intended for brand awareness campaigns. If done successfully, the brand can gain great visibility. However, it’s important to note that this format may not be economical and might not be within everyone’s budget.
Spark Ads
With this format, brands have the option to turn their organic posts or user-generated videos into ads that appear in the “In-Feed” or “TopView” sections. In other words, brands can turn organic TikToks into ads to promote their content.
It’s interesting to note some statistics about Spark Ads:
- Spark Ads achieve a 30% higher completion rate and a 142% higher engagement rate compared to conventional “In-Feed” ads.
- They also have a 43% higher conversion rate and a 4.2% lower CPM compared to standard “In-Feed” ads.
Branded Effect / Branded Lenses
This format allows brands to create custom augmented reality effects to attract TikTok users. These effects, such as stickers, filters, and special effects, carry the brand’s logo and can be used by users in their videos.
Promote
If you want to run quick ads, TikTok Ads offers the “Promote” option, which allows you to turn any organic video into an ad directly from the app. This option lets you reach new audiences, gain new followers, and drive traffic to your website.
There are two ways to use this option:
- Select the video you want to promote and click on “Promote.”
- Go to the “Settings and Privacy” option and select “Business Suite.” There, you will find the “Promote” option. This option is specifically designed for content creators.
TikTok Ad Structure
Just like on Facebook, TikTok Ads Manager is divided into three levels: campaigns, ad groups, and ads.
- Campaigns: At this stage, you must choose your campaign objective and set the budget. You’ll also create your ad groups.
- Ad Groups: Here you’ll select placements and audiences you want to target. You’ll set the budget, schedule, optimization objectives, and bidding methods. You’ll also create the ads.
- Ads: Each ad group can have one or more ads. Here, you will configure the ad name, format, images or videos, text, and calls to action (CTA). You’ll also set the destination URL.
Unlike Facebook, you don’t need to be logged in with a personal account to open an advertising account on TikTok. This means you don’t need a profile to start doing TikTok Ads.
Remember to adapt your content to entertain and connect with TikTok users. Good luck!
Author: Sergio Álvarez
