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TikTok

Blend This TikTok Marketing Strategy With Your Current Efforts

TikTok can be an important part of your 2022 social media strategy if you want to build a successful one. Although you can have a separate TikTok marketing strategy, incorporating it into your existing social media marketing strategy is important and can improve results.

TikTok had over 1 billion monthly users and 173 million first-time installs in the last quarter of 2021, making it an app to consider.

TikTok is all about using genuine content from genuine creators; it has far less fluff than any other social media platform and is preferred by millions of users.

The main difference between TikTok and other marketing options is that it is fashionable! The user-generated content, the filters, the music – it’s just plain fun to use. All of this contributes to an excellent connection with the audience.

Boost Your TikTok Marketing Strategy with a TikTok Embed

It’s a goldmine for creators, and the power of TikTok should not be underestimated.

Of course, TikTok may not be appropriate for every brand and business owner. Still, numerous businesses have used and continue to use a TikTok marketing strategy to achieve successful marketing campaign results.

The most surprising aspect of TikTok is that much of its viral content happened by chance.

There is no way to fool the algorithm, which means that if your post goes viral among your potential customers, it is due to chance as much as it is to the right hashtags, video length, and content.

The good news is that even if you haven’t found TikTok fame yet, you can still do so with the help of this guide.

Boost Your TikTok Marketing Strategy

What is TikTok Marketing?

In a nutshell, TikTok marketing is all about promoting your brand, product, or service. There are numerous ways to make your marketing stand out, ranging from influencer marketing to TikTok advertising.

The most important thing to remember about TikTok is that it is all about video and original content. TikTok’s trademark is short-form videos; no one wants to scroll through social media while watching long, drawn-out videos.

TikTok videos can last anywhere from 10 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on your target audience. This means you can convey information to your audience quickly and effectively.

Content creators create videos on their own or with the help of the app’s sounds, filters, and effects.

Some TikTok videos are only one minute long, but new features constantly added mean that videos can be slightly longer.

Users interact by scrolling down what is known as a ‘For You Page.’ TikTok collects information from its users’ usage and recommends relevant videos based on its algorithm.

Users stop liking, commenting, and sharing videos based on their preferences. They also use a variety of hashtags to promote their videos so that when others search for the same hashtags, their videos are more likely to be seen.

TikTok covers trending topics in an engaging and fun way, from dancing and fitness videos to tutorials, fashion tips, and even cooking videos. With the right algorithm, the right TikTok marketing strategy can ensure that your business is showcased to the right people.

TikTok has enormous marketing potential, and businesses are finally recognizing it. It’s not just about sponsored content; free content on TikTok frequently attracts a larger audience.

TikTok For Business was launched in June 2020.

This program allows businesses and brands to promote their products and services through paid advertisements. It is an effective marketing strategy that can improve brand content.

You can use paid ads to allow viewers to shop for your products, connect with customers, get website visitors, or generate leads.

You can get people to sign up for your email list and build a long-term relationship with them if you get creative with your ads and offer value, such as a webinar.

You can increase revenue from comments, shares, likes, and other interactions. TikTok’s revenue has been rapidly increasing, with an estimated $58 billion in revenue for 2021. TikTok has become the new way to advertise and raise brand awareness; the numbers don’t lie.

Why Does It Matter?

Marketing is important in your business, particularly social media marketing. The other major reason is that the $58 billion we mentioned earlier is a sizable chunk of the marketing strategy pie!

Of course, there are other, more important reasons why your TikTok marketing strategy matters, and we’ve listed all five of them below:

1. Reach A Larger Audience

One of the most compelling reasons to develop a TikTok marketing strategy is the increased likelihood of reaching a larger audience and gaining more followers. TikTok is available on most smartphones, and while it can be accessed via a desktop computer, it is easier to use on a tablet or smartphone.

This allows you to reach people on the go, such as during their morning, lunch, or evening scroll. TikTok is also popular among younger people, so if your company’s services are geared toward this demographic, this platform is ideal.

2. Boost Engagement

TikTok user engagement rates aren’t just the result of a double-tapped heart on each video. Users can leave comments on videos, participate in thread conversations, stitch videos to express their opinions, and even share them on other social media platforms.

For example, the creators of the graphic design software Vectornator post engaging and entertaining videos on their TikTok page for both existing and new users. The videos are centered on creativity and practical advice, and they never fail to entertain and educate.

All of this engagement is beneficial to your business, and you can reach a completely different audience segment when you post.

3. Go Viral

You’ve probably heard the phrase before, but going viral on TikTok gives it a new meaning. TikTok viral means that millions can see your videos and comments of people.

It means that your video will appear on the ‘For You Page’ of millions of users who are searching for the same hashtags and seeking the same information as you. Going viral is a huge deal for a company, and your TikTok marketing strategy can help you achieve it.

TikTok viral

4. Connect With Other Creators 

TikTok creators can connect with other creators, which is a huge benefit for marketing campaigns. When you connect with other creators, you can use both their and your platforms to grow your audience.

Other creators may have a market segment you don’t yet understand, but when you connect with other creators, you can also share in their segment.

You can match the types of content you create to what other content creators post and appeal to more active users this way.

This will help your video content thrive and increase engagement rates.

5. Develop A Brand Voice

Another compelling reason to develop a TikTok marketing strategy is the ability to truly develop your brand’s voice.

Whether your company is new or not, you can get your message across in a fun way with higher-than-usual engagement rates.

There are numerous options for developing your brand voice as part of your digital marketing strategy, and you can better align with viral trends. A social presence is important for your brand because a large portion of your target market uses it daily.

11 Ways You Can Make Your TikTok Marketing Strategy Succeed

To succeed, you must have a marketing strategy, and with the right TikTok marketing strategy and social presence, half the work is done.

You have the opportunity to make your marketing strategy stand out and reach your target audience, and if you want your business to be seen by a large number of people, TikTok is essential. Here are ten tips to help you succeed on TikTok:

1. Use Hashtags

Hashtags aren’t just for Twitter and Instagram; you can use hashtags to find creators and videos and then use those hashtags to promote your videos to go viral.

You can even participate in the various hashtag challenges available and demonstrate that your company can have fun!

Just keep in mind that you should use hashtags, ideas, or topics that are relevant to your brand’s image.

2. Keep Up With And Get Involved With Viral Trends

You want your videos to go viral, and TikTok is a great place to track viral trends. Your videos of you participating in challenges on your TikTok channel make your company stand out and appear more relatable and interesting.

The more you participate in changing viral trends, the higher your engagement rate will be. A new viral trend emerges every couple of months or so; keeping up with the latest is also essential.

3. Launch Competitions

In the world of TikTok, business competition is fierce, but the element of fun counts. You can run competitions that your audience will share on other platforms, promoting your company in the best possible light.

4. Use Sounds That Are Trending In Your Videos

If you look at the example above, it is a great example of one of the trending songs on TikTok, and you can see all the users who have added it to their videos below the song.

TikTok sounds appealing. Every creator picks up a song or sound and makes a video with it when a song or sound goes viral. Using trending sounds is the quickest way to expand your reach.

If you can imagine a challenge with the right sound floating around on TikTok and incorporate it into your strategy, you’ll improve customer interaction while also gaining new interests.

5. Reach Out To Influencers

Your company needs a voice; you can get it from influencers and other content creators.

Reaching out to other influencers will help you go viral while improving your marketing options.

Influencers, whether micro-influencers or larger TikTok influencers, can help you improve and showcase your brand, as well as help you create creative content.

6. Target Your Audience

The majority of your target audience is most likely on TikTok. TikTok allows you to create a custom audience, whether young or old, to help you reach your marketing goals.

When you create your TikTok strategy, you can curate your audience demographics and create content to appeal to them.

7. Use Video Effects 

The TikTok short-form video options will help you expand your brand’s reach and connect with your favorite creators, but the effects tab has the most influence.

You can enhance your videos with filters, colors, GIFs, and other effects to make them more appealing and eye-catching.

8. Post Regularly 

The TikTok algorithm is designed so that unless you post frequently, your content will most likely not be seen or will be seen for a short period.

Social proof is one of the most effective ways to increase your brand’s reach and image, and regular posting will yield positive results. You can appeal to your business objectives by providing regular, relevant content.

TikTok algorithm

9. Comment Regularly

In addition to posting regularly, you should comment as much as possible to improve your marketing efforts, which should be part of your content roadmap strategy.

Don’t just comment on the specifics of your video comment sections; the current trends and video ads out there need your voice on them.

Build your marketing in a way that will increase your reach and allow you to show off a little, and your regular comments will help you establish a presence on the platform.

10. Set Goals

To make your marketing strategy work, you must set realistic and simple goals that can be executed on time and consistently.

Your social content goals on your social platform will assist you in developing a content strategy that is meaningful and reaches your target demographic. Organic content objectives can help your business thrive.

11. Embed TikTok Content On Your Website

TikTok does not appeal to everyone, and the app displays content in full-screen mode, which some users find unsettling or too different. These individuals can still be served entertaining content via a TikTok embed.

Including a TikTok feed on your website allows you to show visitors the variety of content your brand produces. You’ll capture your visitors’ attention whether you embed TikTok content or a mix of content from all social platforms. As a result, your brand awareness and website retention will improve!

The Future of TikTok Marketing 

Your TikTok marketing strategy’s success depends on whether you use a combination of free TikTok content and paid ads with the appropriate daily budget.

The projections in your marketing goals should determine your daily budget. When you don’t see the results you want with TikTok at first, you may want to give up.

However, even if you don’t get the initial reaction you were hoping for, you must be patient and give your strategy some extra time to work.

You must give yourself time to build community engagement and your digital marketing campaign so that your community engagement can grow.

TikTok is a promising platform; if you are consistent, your TikTok advertising will succeed. Your valuable content will reach the right people, and this social platform has completely transformed the current digital marketing landscape.

More full-service influencer marketing agency reps will come forward with TikTok in their arsenal, and the social media marketing world will be shaken even more.

The type of content you create with TikTok ads could be exactly what your audience is looking for.

Categories
TikTok

Start Trend on TikTok: What Brands and Creators Need To Know?

“It’s all about drive and power.” Drilla’s Opps and Blocks “TikTok forced me to buy it.” If you’ve recently been on TikTok, these will all sound familiar, and you’ve likely seen these trending TikToks all over your FYP. It’s great to be aware of current trends, but where can you learn how to start your trend on TikTok?

Quick TikTok Stats

TikTok, as a concept and app, is one of the most influential trends in history. TikTok was launched in September 2016 and was the most downloaded app in the United States in October 2018. TikTok surpassed 3 billion downloads in less than four years and reached one-third of all social media users worldwide. It took nearly a decade for Facebook and Instagram to reach that user base. TikTok appears to have mastered the social media growth formula, and you’d be wise to follow in their footsteps.

Because there are profits to be made from creating unique content, let’s look at some TikTok stats to understand your potential audience better when you figure out how to start a TikTok trend:

  • TikTok has been downloaded 3 billion times and was the most downloaded non-game app in the first half of 2021, with 383 million installs between January and June. Between January 2018 and July 2020, the number of users in the United States increased by 787.86%. TikTok has 73.7 million monthly active users in the United States, according to eMarketer (and is forecasted to reach 88.7 million by 2024).
  • Daily, TikTok has 50 million daily active users in the United States, equating to 18.68 percent of mobile internet users.
  • Young demographic – Sixty percent of TikTok’s population in America is female, while forty percent is male. Sixty percent range in age from sixteen to twenty-four. Two-fifths are between the ages of 25 and 44. Eighty percent of those polled are between the ages of 16 and 34. A younger audience can spend more time per day viewing media.

 

Quick TikTok Stats

Top creators earn more than $5 million per year, so knowing how to start a trend on TikTok is useful information for both individuals and brands. TikTok trends with hundreds of millions (or even billions) of views and thousands of participants are common. A trend is a visible and reproducible movement, sound, or hashtag (or all three): a behavior is performed by one user, then by another, etc. The behavior can be modified or changed to suit each creator, but the core concept and execution remain unchanged. On TikTok, trending sounds and hashtags almost always reflect a newly accepted behavior or cultural meme.

Why Are TikTok Trends Generating So Much Interest?

Creating a TikTok parodying someone else’s work is so simple that it leaves plenty of room for other forms of creativity. Do you want to make a video with someone else’s sound? Simply add the sound to your video as an audio track. Do you want to comment on someone else’s content? Simply use the duet feature. Using the app, you can shoot, edit, and manipulate videos in minutes.

How to Start a TikTok Trend vs. How to Find a TikTok Trend

TikTok’s Discover page includes a curated list of the most recent trends. It concentrates on the most popular sounds and topics. The best-performing material is given priority placement within these trends. As a result, everyone is on the lookout for the next big thing. Users join trends to advance in their careers and gain more followers. This, in turn, encourages others to follow suit. Even the biggest names in music parody trends started with smaller accounts.

Many users go out of their way to search TikTok for new trends. As a result of its widespread use, #trendalert has become a popular hashtag in its own right. Following this hashtag gives you the advantage of being able to capitalize on whatever trend others have identified.

Do you want to know how powerful trending content can be for your account?

If jumping on the bandwagon of someone else’s content isn’t your thing, but you still want your content to go viral and aren’t sure what to upload, look at previous trends to find common ground. Some of them are required for a TikTok video to become a genesis video or the beginning of the trend. To start a trend on TikTok, your video must include the following elements:

  • Simple

The Dreams trend, which featured skateboarding, Ocean Spray Cranberry juice, and Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, was a great example of simplicity. These three elements are all fundamental to the Dream trend. However, to create recognizable remixes, each of those factors may be replaced with substitutes. TikTok frequently featured people driving or walking, and participants frequently consumed beverages other than Ocean Spray. On occasion, there were those skateboarding with Ocean Spray, but the music wasn’t Dreams.

  • Universal

Your video must be comprehended (and usually makes everybody smile). The greater the friction (i.e., the less universal), the less likely it will become a trend. Take, for example, Khabane Lame’s videos, mostly duets in which people make something more difficult than it needs to be, and he responds with a simple solution paired with a deadpan face.

How to Start a TikTok Trend
  • Reactive

Any popular TikTok craze has an X-factor, and there’s a nagging feeling that something there will cause a visceral reaction (good or bad). The typical tones of viral trends are “surprising, emotionally complex, or extremely positive.”

Looking to launch an epic TikTok influencer marketing campaign? NeoReach has the most experience in creating viral social media campaigns that convert.

  • Large Following

While having many followers isn’t required, it does appear to correlate (to some extent) with the likelihood of making a genesis video. This is intuitively correct, and more visibility means more opportunities for people to participate. The great thing about TikTok, however, is that it is optional. Many genesis videos are created by people who did not have a large number of followers before beginning their trend.

Final Thoughts

Starting a TikTok trend has a huge payoff, whether you are a brand or an individual. There is no simple answer to starting a trend on TikTok, though studying trend characteristics may help you start one yourself. Every trend has one thing in common: creativity. Creating new, unique content, studying the reaction, and working from there is arguably the best move you can make.

Categories
TikTok

Ultimate Guide: How do you make a TikTok sound go viral?

If you’re addicted to TikTok, chances are you have at least one sound that you can’t stop repeating to yourself. TikTok sounds have ruled what types of videos go viral for quite some time, whether it is a new song or just a sound from a video all over your For You page.

When someone uploads a video to TikTok, they also upload a sound that anyone can use in their video. This means that only sounds will go viral on the app. Original videos, such as a scene from Girls in which Adam Driver eats soup and then says “good soup,” can then be used as the background vocal to a video of someone brushing their teeth, with the text “7 year old me drinking water from my toothbrush” overlaid on top. The same sound but entirely different meanings. Eventually, you start to hear people saying good soup and other viral sounds in real life in contexts completely different from the original video – and it is precisely this that makes saying the sounds in real life so appealing.

Brands and influencers looking to increase engagement may benefit from using popular sounds on the app. Consider this: that’s very berries and cream of you. To explain what this means, I must first introduce you to the youngster. The video, which is based on a Starburst commercial from 2007, was re-uploaded to TikTok and featured an adult man in white tights and a black outfit doing a “little lad dance” that he used to do for his mother when he wanted to be berries and cream. “Berries and cream, I am a little lad who loves berries and cream,” the man sings. The TikTok tag has 1.7 BILLION views, indicating that it is funny and popular.

The trend became uncontrollable, with nearly every song ever made being remixed with the berries and cream song. Because the sound was so popular, videos incorporating the song into new contexts went viral. Brands such as Duolingo have had great success using viral TikTok sounds in their videos and adapting them to their contexts.

viral TikTok sounds

How to Find a Trending TikTok Sound?

Trending TikTok sounds are typical sounds used by many users on the app. This can include songs like The Ting Tings’ “That’s Not My Name,” or sounds like berries and cream or the good soup. When you go to film a video on TikTok and click “add sound,” an entire page of the app’s most popular music and sounds will appear. This is the best way to find out what current sounds are popular.

Furthermore, when sounds go viral, you will typically hear them repeatedly on different videos on your for you page. If you hear them frequently, you can click on the sound to see how many videos were made with them. This will also show how people are adding new context to the sound and where it originated in the first place.

You Have a Sound. Now What?

The viral videos usually have a twist or add a different context to an already viral sound. For example, one of the most popular TikTok songs this week is “Major Bag Alert” by DJ Khaled and Migos, which features a 15-second loop of the lyrics “bag alert, major bag alert.” Over 155,000 videos have been created using sound. Look for intersections between your content and brand and the sound to see if you can create a viral video. Consider what would be both amusing and appropriate for your brand.

Beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueria, for example, who has 10.3 million TikTok followers, used the sound with the caption “beauty brands when my videos reviewing their products go viral.” Her video received over 2.6 million views and 300,000 likes. Her use of sound is relevant to her brand and makes fun of her success and collaborations with other brands. Excellent use of the trend that will connect with her audience while also being amusing to a larger group.

Looking to launch an epic TikTok influencer marketing campaign? NeoReach has the most experience in creating viral social media campaigns that convert.

Creating Your Viral Sound

Using already viral sounds is a great way to increase engagement and reach new audiences. Still, if you discover that you have a very specific niche with your content, you could try to create a sound that would be liked by your audience and would most likely be widely used.

Most TikTok sounds are created naturally. For example, YouTuber Chris Klemens posted a TikTok of a fork he saw at a restaurant and fell in love with, saying, “you’re coming home with me.” The sound has been used in over 100,000 videos and has over 600,000 likes on TikTok. This sound was amusing and relatable enough that more people could use it, with more and more users taking videos of things they wanted to take.

Creating Your Viral Sound

If you are thinking of creating your sound, consider the following:

  • Is this something that will come across authentically to your audience? TikTok users are good at picking up when something is created simply to be reused, trying to remain as authentic as possible. 
  • Do you think many different people in new contexts could use this? 
  • Is something already out there that sounds too similar to what you want to make? 

A Warning for Brands

Because of the fast-paced environment and the way things spread on TikTok, it is critical to determine how relevant the sound is when creating a video. First, consider when the original sound was posted and how frequently people have used it in the last week. Second, act quickly and work on creating a video that fits your brand and audience.

Music and copyright are also important considerations, as copyright laws will almost certainly continue to apply to brands even on the app. Consider your brown copyright infringement and the rules you must regularly follow when posting videos with music on social media when using viral music.

Using TikTok sounds is a great way to broaden your current audience while potentially creating content that will appeal to new audiences. Consider how your content and brand align with the sounds you’re creating and how you can add new twists to existing viral sounds to use them properly.

Categories
Digital Marketing TikTok

How to Create Killer TikTok Ads Campaigns That Works

TikTok, like any other ad-supported platform, has an algorithm that determines which ads are shown to which users and when.

Fortunately, TikTok followed in the footsteps of Facebook and Google’s ad ranking algorithms and did not simply serve up the ads with the highest bidder. TikTok’s algorithm also considers the ad’s quality and the likelihood that TikTok users will interact with it. All platforms—TikTok, Google, Facebook, and others—love to keep their algorithms under wraps, but we still know how TikTok ranks ads.

In this article, we’ll explain how the TikTok ad rank algorithm works and walk you through getting started with TikTok advertising, from TikTok advertising options to creating a TikTok video.

TikTok Advertising Structure

Campaigns, ad groups, and ads are part of TikTok’s advertising structure.

Doesn’t this sound similar to Google Ads? This section will walk you through how to use this structure to create a successful advertising campaign that your TikTok fans will engage with.

When you understand how your campaigns are structured, you can create better target audiences, design better creativity, and spend your advertising budget more effectively. Finally, this enables you to broaden your ad reach, improve ad performance, and meet your TikTok ad campaign objectives.

Campaign

Creating a Campaign is the first step in creating a TikTok ad. Setting a campaign objective, or what you want your ads to do for your brand, is part of this.

TikTok offers a variety of objectives to choose from, such as traffic (increasing traffic to your website) and App Install (increasing the number of people who install your app), among others. You’ll choose your objective and budget before creating your ad group for your TikTok ad campaign (daily, lifetime, or limitless).

You can have multiple ad groups within each campaign, allowing you to optimize your ads and track their performance.

Ad Group

TikTok lets you choose specific ad placements, set campaign budgets, target specific audiences, set optimization goals, and bid for each ad group.

Here’s how to set up your ad group:

  • Choose your TikTok ad placements
  • Fill out the ad details
  • Choose your target audience
  • Set up a budget and schedule for your TikTok ad
  • Choose optimization goals and a bidding method

From there, you start creating ads!

Each ad group can house a single ad or multiple ads. This means you can compare different ads and optimize your TikTok ads based on their performance.

Create campaign for Ad Group

Ad

Here’s the part that’s the most fun for us creative types—creating your TikTok ad! Ads are what your target audience will get to see as they use TikTok.

Setting up your TikTok ads involves just two steps:

  • Uploading images or videos that will be used in your TikTok ads
  • Add ad copy and call-to-action buttons

TikTok’s advertising platform gives you basic video creation tools, making it easy to create engaging ads without a production team or video editing experience.

Once you’ve created your ad, that’s it! You’re ready to run.

TikTok Advertising Options

TikTok is still a relatively new platform, as are advertisements on it. TikTok, on the other hand, has a few mobile advertising techniques that brands will appreciate.

To run promotions on TikTok, you must currently work with a TikTok advertising representative. This isn’t ideal when you’re used to using a self-service bidding platform and managing your advertisements.

This is likely to change as the platform develops. TikTok has a self-serve ad platform in beta testing, and the consensus is that it’s simple to use and helps increase brand awareness, but targeting, interface, and metrics are still lacking.

TikTok offers a variety of advertising options even without a self-service advertising platform.

Biddable Ads

In-feed video ads are TikTok’s only biddable ad option. These are the ads that appear in TikTok users’ video streams.

In-stream biddable ads aren’t as disruptive as other ad formats, but they can also be easily overlooked.

You can buy biddable ads using the following models: CPC (cost per click), CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions), or CPV (cost per view) (cost per view, 6 seconds).

The following audience targeting strategies are available for TikTok’s biddable ads:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Location
  • Interest
  • Device type

You can use your targeting lists if you have them. TikTok also intends to broaden its targeting capabilities to include more demographics and behavioral components.

Biddable ads have a $500 minimum campaign spend requirement, but TikTok encourages advertisers to invest the amount necessary to collect enough data to produce results. This appears to imply that ad spend should be significantly higher than the $500 minimum.

TopView

TopView is a TikTok ad format that uses video to reach and engage a large audience through visually appealing ads. These audio-on, full-screen ads can last up to 60 seconds and maximize visibility and brand exposure by appearing when a user opens TikTok.

TopView advertisements can be linked to either an external or internal landing page.

Brand Takeover

Brand takeover ads are the advertisements that appear as soon as you open the TikTok app. Because the ad appears as soon as you open the app, you can be confident that your ad reaches its target audience.

These ads are limited to a single advertiser per day, which makes sense given that they can be used to send paid traffic out of the app immediately.

Brand takeover ads have a high entry barrier and are significantly more expensive than biddable ads.

Hashtag Challenge

TikTok thrives on difficulties.

Brands collaborate with TikTok advertising representatives to create a unique and engaging hashtag challenge, encouraging TikTok users to participate in the campaign by creating related TikTok videos and including the hashtag in the content.

These advertisements will run for six days.

Because TikTok users are naturally drawn to creating and sharing videos, hashtag challenges are an excellent way to increase engagement with user-generated content.

There is also a Hashtag Challenge Plus for eCommerce retailers. Users can browse and even buy products related to the sponsored challenge using this ad type.

Kroger was the first company to try TikTok shopping. The retailer’s #TransformUrDorm campaign yielded several positive results:

  • A large increase in ad recall
  • An increase in those associating Kroger as a back-to-school shopping destination
  • An increase in users’ likelihood to shop at Kroger in the next three months
  • KPIs of views and engagement rate above the brand’s benchmarks
Hashtag for tiktok

Branded Effects

TikTok, like Instagram and Snapchat, provides branded filters and lenses.

Brands create their filters, 3D objects, and other interactive elements. The elements are then made available to TikTok’s users. TikTok users then use the elements, increasing brand awareness.

Shoppable TikTok Videos

Shoppable TikTok videos are one of the advertising options available for TikTok influencers to test.

Similar to Instagram’s Shoppable posts, these ads allow brands to add a URL to their TikTok advertising videos and direct traffic to their eCommerce site and product pages.

This advertising option is highly sought after by eCommerce brands and retailers, but there is no set date for Shoppable videos to become available, if at all.

How TikTok Ranks Ads

Now that you’ve learned more about TikTok’s advertising structure and options let’s look at how TikTok ranks ads.

While TikTok prefers to keep the details a secret, we can learn about TikTok’s ad ranking system from the experiences of ad buyers familiar with the platform. TikTok ad rankings are determined at a high level by ad relevance, ad quality, and bid price.

This is similar to many other advertising platforms in that, while the bidding is important, higher quality, more relevant ads will be displayed more frequently. The idea is that better ads will generate more engagement and generate more revenue for the advertising platform.

Now that you better understand TikTok’s advertising structure and options let’s look at how TikTok ranks ads. While TikTok prefers to keep the details a secret, we can learn about TikTok’s ad ranking system from the experiences of ad buyers who are familiar with the platform. TikTok ad rankings are determined at the most basic level by ad relevance, ad quality, and bid price.

This is similar to many other advertising platforms in which, while the bidding is important, higher quality, more relevant ads are shown more frequently. The idea is that better ads will elicit more engagement and thus generate more revenue for the advertising platform.

As TikTok expands, we can expect to see the launch of a self-serve advertising platform open to all and new ad formats and measurement tools.

Increased competition for ad rank will result from this expansion.

How to Create a TikTok Advertising Campaign Step-by-Step?

Sign up For a TikTok Ads Account

Begin by going to the TikTok Ads homepage and clicking on the Create an Ad button. TikTok advertisers must go through a TikTok advertising representative, so you’ll need to fill out a form with your company’s information.

Following that, within 48 hours, a representative will contact you to set up your TikTok advertising account.

Create a TikTok Advertising Campaign

You’ll have access to the TikTok Ads dashboard once your TikTok advertising account is ready.

Select the Campaign tab at the top of the TikTok Ads dashboard and click Create.

Next, decide on a campaign goal. You have the following options:

  • Traffic
  • Conversions
  • App Install

Create a TikTok Ad Group

You’ll need to create an ad group after setting up your TikTok ad campaign. This is where you select ad placements, define ad details, select a target audience, and fine-tune your budget, schedule, bidding method, and delivery method.

Placement and Ad Details Placements are the locations where your ads will appear. TikTok recommends using Automatic Placements so that its system can optimize ad delivery across placements and reach more people.

Select Placement allows you to select where your ads will appear manually.

TikTok also provides a block list option for Japanese advertisers (Pangle). You can add unwanted placements to your block list to prevent your ads from appearing there.

Next, you’ll need to fill out details in the Ad Details section about what it is you’re promoting.

Here are the details you’ll need to include:

  • Promotion Type: Depending on the campaign objective for your TikTok ad, you can choose from two promotional types, app install, and website.
  • Display Name: Add a brand or app name to display to your audience.
  • Profile Image: Upload a profile image to be shown to your audience as part of the ad (no more than 50KB, aspect ratio of 1:1).
  • Category: Choose an ad category that best describes your promotion. This will help TikTok’s advertising optimization model run more effectively.
  • Ad Tags: Add keywords to describe your App/Website (up to 20 tags). TikTok’s algorithm will use the tags to match your ads with the right audience.
  • User Comment: Enabling this feature lets your audience comment on your TikTok ads.

Set Creative and Targeting

TikTok has an Automated Creative Optimization feature that will automatically generate combinations of your creative assets (images, videos, ad copy), delivering only the highest-performing combinations.

After you’ve uploaded your ad creative, you’ll need to define your target audience. TikTok Ads provides several targeting options to help you reach the right audience for your ads.

TikTok, like Facebook, allows you to create and exclude a custom audience or lookalike audience. You can also narrow your audience by age, gender, interests, operating system, and even mobile carrier by targeting users based on demographics and devices.

You can also target your audience by demographic and device, such as age, gender, interest, operating system, and carrier.

Again, if you have a list you want to target, you can upload a CSV, TXT, or ZIP file here.

Set a Budget and Schedule

After you’ve decided on your goal, you’ll need to set a budget and a timetable for advertising. You can set the budget for your ad group under the Budget & Schedule tab by selecting Daily Budget or Lifetime Budget from the dropdown.

Set the duration of your ads next. You can specify specific times of the day or week and the dates you want your ad to run.

You must now establish a budget pacing strategy. You have two options here: 

  1. The Standard delivery method distributes your budget evenly throughout your ad campaign.
  2. The Accelerated delivery method uses your advertising budget as quickly as possible.

The retailer can then select an optimization goal, and bidding will then be fine-tuned in accordance with those objectives.

Various optimizations will be billed in various ways. For example, you will be charged on a cost-per-impression (CPM) basis if you optimize for impressions. When optimizing for clicks, however, you will be charged on a CPC basis.

Conversion fees are based on an optimization cost per click, ensuring that ads are only shown to people who are most likely to convert. You’ll bid on the expected conversion cost for conversion goals but pay per click.

If you choose to optimize for conversions, you must first create conversion events in the Library section by tapping on Conversions and setting up conversion tracking with a pixel.

You’ll also be able to enable TikTok’s Smart Optimization feature. If you enable this feature, TikTok will constantly optimize your video.

Set up a TikTok Ad

It is extremely simple to create a TikTok ad. Simply upload your edited videos or images, or use the ads platform’s simple video creation tool to create eye-catching ads.

Add Your Imagination

On TikTok’s ad platform, you can select an image or video ad format.

You can upload media from your computer, add media from your library, create a new video, use a video template, or use the Smart Video feature, which analyses your media to create great videos.

Finishing Up

Once you’ve got your ad creative uploaded, choose a cover photo and preview your TikTok ad.

You’ll also need to enter a name for your ad, add text to your ad, and finally add a call-to-action.

When you’re all done, click Submit.

marketing on TikTok

Summary

TikTok’s user base continues to outpace all other social media platforms, creating a huge opportunity to generate sales and boost your brand via the platform.

Do your homework before diving into TikTok advertising, but if your target audience is already on the platform, there’s no reason not to get in early.

Are you looking for more ways to leverage this rising star? Our ultimate guide to marketing on TikTok (we can link one of TikTok Advertising blogs here?) will teach you everything you need to know.

Categories
Social Media Marketing TikTok

How Do TikTok Ads Work? Their Cost and Review Process

Musical.ly, a music-sharing app, was purchased by Chinese tech firm Bytedance in 2018 and merged with the company’s new app, TikTok.

It began as a video-sharing social network in which users posted short clips of themselves lip-syncing and dancing to popular music. It has since grown to house a wider range of videos and serve as a creative outlet for brands.

TikTok’s active user base increased by nearly 800% following the merger. The platform has over 1 billion monthly users, and brands are reaching out to them through TikTok ads.

This article will go over everything you need to know about TikTok’s advertising platform and discuss whether it’s worthwhile to use.

What is TikTok For Business?

TikTok For Business is a one-stop shop for marketers looking to advertise on TikTok. Instead of requiring marketers to develop their strategy, the platform guides them through the entire process of creating advertisements, setting budgets, reaching target audiences, and analyzing campaign data.

The platform’s stated goal is to assist businesses in unleashing their creative side by teaching them how to use the app through their e-learning service and guiding them through the Ads Manager platform.

What is TikTok For Business

Types of TikTok Ads

Businesses can only use video advertisements as a marketing format on TikTok. Marketers can create these advertisements using the TikTok For Business Ads Manager platform, and they can choose from five different formats.

#1. TopView Ads

TikTok TopView ads are videos that appear once per day, immediately after a user opens their app for the first time. This is an example of a TopView ad created by the candy company M&M to promote a virtual Halloween experience.

TopView ads can run for up to 60 seconds, longer than the typical TikTok video runtime. As a result, it’s ideal for companies that want to advertise products or services that require longer periods of attention, such as TV commercials.

#2. In-Feed Ads

In-Feed advertisements are videos on a user’s discovery page, also known as the “For You” page. This is the first screen that users see when they launch the app. The TikTok algorithm believes that videos on the For You page will interest the user based on their app activity.

These ads appear as the fourth video in a user’s feed as they scroll through it. This type of advertisement is comparable to those in a user’s Instagram feed. Here’s an example of an In-Feed ad created by GrubHub, a food delivery service.

Because the videos can include a call-to-action, In-Feed ads are especially useful for marketers looking to use TikTok to drive sales conversions (CTA). Acorns, a finance company, used the In-Feed CTA feature to encourage viewers to download their app.

Some brands have created their version of In-Feed ads by directly collaborating with influencers. Raising Cane’s Restaurant, for example, collaborated with well-known TikTok influencer Chase Hudson to promote their restaurant.

#3. Branded Hashtags

Branded Hashtags are advertisements used by businesses to encourage TikTokers to create content centered on a brand-related hashtag of their choice. Businesses that use this ad format have exclusive access to the hashtag, which is unavailable on other social media sites. Its exclusivity comes at a high cost; reported average costs for six days are around USD 150,000.

Assume you own a sportswear company and have recently introduced a new athletic shirt called Blue Shirt. You could make a branded hashtag called #InMyBlueShirt and encourage TikTok users who own your product to post videos of themselves doing physical activities while wearing it.

Jennifer Lopez, a singer, used the Branded Hashtag feature to promote her song, Pa Ti. The hashtag is #PaTiChallenge, and Lopez posted a video of herself dancing, encouraging other TikTok users to participate in the challenge by replicating her dance.

The hashtag #PaTiChallenge has received 2.4 billion views.

TikTok’s Discover page, where users can discover new creators and browse trending hashtags, may include Hashtag Challenges. The Discover page is similar to the Explore page on Instagram.

The Major League Baseball-sponsored hashtag challenge #WorldSeries is featured on TikTok’s Discover feed, and the hashtag encourages users to post videos showing how they’ve celebrated baseball games. When users click on the hashtag, they are taken to an internal landing page that includes the sponsors’ logo, challenge description, and other videos that use the hashtag.

#4. Brand Takeovers

Brand Takeovers are an ad format that combines TopView, In-Feed, and Branded Hashtags. They can also be videos, animated gifs, or still images. The takeover aspect of these ads is that TikTok only features one business per day, with a starting cost of USD 50,000 per day.

Guess a fashion company used TikTok to promote their denim jeans by running a Brand Takeover. Over six days, their TikTok account gained over 12,000 new followers and generated a total engagement rate of 14.3 percent. Top View, Branded Hashtag, and In-Feed ads were all part of their Brand Takeover.

#5. Branded Effects

Branded Effects ads insert images of your products into TikTok videos in 2D, 3D, or AR. Brands typically create stickers or filters of their products for TikTokers to use when creating videos. Because they typically involve playing brand-specific games, these filters and stickers increase engagement and brand awareness.

Puma, a clothing company, advertised their new soccer shoes using the Branded Effects feature. Their 3D sticker prompted users to play a virtual reality soccer ball game. They used their Branded Effects sticker in conjunction with a hashtag challenge, which resulted in over 100,000 videos of user-generated content.

How Do TikTok Ads Work?

It is relatively simple to create a TikTok ad.

First, you must set up a business account from which you will build, manage, and track your ads. The following step describes your company and sets up your payment method.

 

Now comes the exciting part. There are two ad manager modes to choose from simplified and custom.

In both cases, you create your ad in levels. You start by sketching out your campaign, defining your ad group, and finally creating your ads.

The following is the distinction between these two modes:

  • The simplified mode takes a straightforward approach to ad creation, relying on Tiktok’s algorithm to do the heavy lifting.
  • The custom mode gives advertisers complete control over their ads, including advanced customization options such as A/B testing, audience targeting based on video and creator interactions, and ad combinations.

You can change modes at any time.

Now that you understand how TikTok ads work let’s go over creating an account and your ad.

How to Set Up Your TikTok Ad Account

  • Create a business account.
  • Describe your business.
  • Enter your billing information.
  • Set up your payment type.
  • Select your ads manager mode.
  • Build your ad.
  • Review and submit your ad.
  • Create a business account.
  • Describe your business.
  • Enter your billing information.
  • Set up your payment type.
  • Select your ads manager mode.
  • Build your ad.

Pro-tip: When building your ad, consider Promo, the video marketing tool that allows you to find video templates and create high-quality promotional videos.

  • Review and submit.

TikTok Ad Review Process

When you submit an ad for review, it usually takes 24 hours to review. To avoid any delays, you want to make sure your ad meets the platform’s ad requirements and follows its policies.

TikTok Ad Review Process

Here’s a checklist to use when reviewing your ad before submission:

  • The landing page:
    • Is functional and mobile-friendly.
    • Delivers on what it outlines in the ad.
    • Matches the product name in the ad.
    • Is in the language of the region it’s targeting.
    • Doesn’t automatically download files to a user’s device.
  • The ad:
    • Is free of spelling and grammatical errors.
    • Contains audio.
    • Is between five to 60 seconds.
    • Doesn’t include excessive use of symbols, spacing, numbers, or capitalization.
    • Matches the caption.
    • Is in the region’s language it’s targeting (or includes subtitles.)
    • Doesn’t include any prohibited products or services.
    • Is not blurry or pixelized.
    • Follows standard video sizes: 9:16, 1:1, 16:9.

TikTok Ad Examples

#1. Fly By Jing

Fly By Jing collaborated with food influencer TiffyCooks in this TikTok ad to show how simple (and tasty) it is to use the brand’s product.

Using a well-known influencer is a great way to increase brand awareness and build trust with your target audience. Another great feature of this ad is that the offer is straightforward: users can save 10% by clicking the CTA and entering the code.

#2. Tiffany & Co.

To promote its latest collaboration with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, the brand has released a series of advertisements featuring the artists. The advertisement is straightforward but effective, and it directs users to a landing page where they can learn more about the campaign.

#3. Omsom

This food brand accomplishes a lot in 20 seconds.

The video effectively demonstrates how the company’s product is used. The caption also provides users with background information about the brand and tells a story in a few words. Furthermore, the CTA directs users to a product page (rather than the homepage) where they convert.

Finally, too often, advertisements appear jarring because they do not fit the feel of the platform. That is not the case in this case. The ad looks so natural in the feed that you’d never guess it was an ad if the #sponsored tag and CTA were removed.

TikTok Advertising Cost

Here’s how much money you should spend on Tiktok advertising. You can set a daily or lifetime budget, which can be adjusted during your campaign.

At the campaign level, you must have a minimum daily and total budget of USD 50, and your daily budget must be greater than USD 20. TikTok has not released its pricing policy for advertising. There is, however, some information available.

TikTok had a cost-per-mille as low as $1 in 2020, according to Digiday. JungleTopp reported that their cost-per-click was $0.19, significantly lower than Facebook and Instagram.

You can select several optimized bidding strategies for specific objectives with this platform.

Should You Leverage TikTok in Your Marketing Strategy?

TikTok has become a preferred advertising platform for many brands since its peak in 2020. The number of ads users saw increased in lockstep with the number of users, rising from 19% in 2020 to 37% in 2021.

TikTok Marketing Strategy

According to a Kantar report published in 2021, the short-form video platform surpassed Amazon, Instagram, Google, and Twitter in ad equity. It’s not the first time they’ve held that position – they also did so the year before.

Despite this high ranking, data suggests that marketers are still skeptical of the platform. According to the report, many marketers see TikTok as innovative but untrustworthy.

Many people still prefer to use tried-and-true media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. TikTok is popular among consumers because of its authenticity and sense of community.

According to a 2020 Nielsen survey of global TikTok users, 59 percent said they feel a sense of community when they use the app. It’s also a major source of consumer discovery, with 85 percent of users discovering new content they like on the app.

As a result, the platform’s advertisements are more creative and less “commercial.” According to the study, 68 percent of TikTok users worldwide believe that the platform’s ads are unique and distinct from those on other social media platforms. In Indonesia, that figure rises by 23%.

So, the audience has arrived and is ready to participate. However, the decision to include TikTok For Business in your marketing strategy is ultimately determined by your company’s goals and desired campaign outcomes.

To help marketers make this decision, we’ve compiled a list of pros and cons.

TikTok For Business Pros and Cons

Let’s start off with the pros.

The Pros of TikTok Advertising

What makes TickTock tick? Here are the top TikTok pros that should hook your interest:

#1. Brand Exposure to Millions of Users

With 1.5 billion downloads, TikTok was the third most downloaded app worldwide in 2019, gaining more app store action than Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. That number of downloads equals millions of potential customers, with TikTok offering one of the largest social media audiences on the market. If you’re looking for new marketing channels, perhaps it’s time for TikTok?

#2. Chance To Get Creative

TikTok is all about fun, and creating your creative videos is an affordable way to stand out from your competitors. Unless it contradicts your brand image, you should think about going wild with your company’s smartphone or launch a catchy hashtag challenge. Unlike Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, TikTok allows you to think outside the advertising box, which could help your business go viral!

#3. Reach New Markets

TikTok is available in 155 countries and 75 languages, with most of its users based in the US, China, and India. This user diversity offers the chance for your business to expand to new markets. With such a wide range of available languages on TikTok, you can create effective ads that resonate with almost any audience.

#4. Ads Play Automatically

Your adverts will play automatically to keep the user’s experience ticking along, and with users spending 52 minutes on TikTok per day, you’re guaranteed advert exposure. Your ads will be identified with a “sponsored” or “promoted” tag to maintain transparency with the user base. 

Remember that posting too many ads can be annoying for the users. Suppose you’re concerned about what users say about your adverts on social media. In that case, you should think about using a social media listening tool to gain real-time insights into the perception of your brand online.

The Cons of TikTok Advertising

TikTok is flying high, and there’s no doubt about that. But what goes up must come down. Here are the top TikTok cons that you should be wary of:

The Cons of TikTok Advertising

#1. Expensive Ads

Startups, look away now. TikTok ads are expensive compared to Facebook and Instagram adverts. According to Voluum.com, the average cost of TikTok’s ads are as follows:

  • Brand takeover (5 million impressions guaranteed) – $50,000 per day
  • In-feed native videos (minimum 600 impressions prepaid) – At least $6,000 and then $10 per impression
  • Hashtag challenge – $150,000 per week
  • Influencer post (with 2.5 million+ followers) – $600-$1,000 per post

TikTok isn’t viable for cheap and cheerful viral campaigns. Rather, it’s a premium advertising option that demands a relatively large digital marketing budget.

#3. Not Suitable for Audiences over 30 years old

16-24-year-olds primarily use TikTok. The younger generation responds to the platform’s culturally relevant status – remember that TikTok is rife with social media influencers, and it’s often used to create lip-syncing videos to the latest pop tracks. If your main audience is over 25, you might struggle to connect with the TikTok audience. If your customer base is over 30, you shouldn’t bother. 

#3. Advert Censorship is Common

Owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance, TikTok has been known to censor videos that could be seen to be firing up the political climate. Since then, the platform has also removed seemingly appropriate videos without explanation. TikTok isn’t known for its customer service, so you are left in the dark regarding advert censorship – which could cost your business a significant amount of money.

Summary

TikTok can be a valuable tool for growth if you incorporate it into your advertising strategy. While the app does require niche content, brands and businesses can diversify their strategy and reach a new audience.

Whatever decision you make, TikTok For Business is available to those who want to capitalize on the app’s advertising potential.

Categories
Social Media Marketing TikTok

The Complete Guide to Understand TikTok Ads Deeply (2022)

You’re most likely running ads on more established social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. You could even use paid search through Google Adwords. You’ve decided to run advertisements on TikTok, the fastest-growing social media platform.

There are already many articles available on the internet about running advertising campaigns on platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. However, there are few good articles about TikTok ads.

This is because many marketers are unfamiliar with the TikTok platform. TikTok got off to a fast start, and most brands and marketers are still catching up.

This article will walk you through creating a TikTok advertising campaign from start to finish.

Let’s get started.

Why You Should Advertise on TikTok?

Why You Should Advertise on TikTok

TikTok ads are sponsored short-form mobile videos posted to the TikTok platform to reach a larger audience. TikTok ads are typically used to increase brand exposure, increase website traffic, and generate new leads.

TikTok is a social platform dedicated solely to short-form videos. You are not permitted to post images or text ads on the platform. To reach your target audience with ads, you can only use videos or videos with text overlays.

We’ve seen a quick overview of how TikTok works. Let’s look at some statistics to see why you should advertise on TikTok.

  • TikTok is the world’s sixth most popular social media platform. TikTok has a user base of over 800 million people. The platform has a larger user base than Reddit, Snapchat, and LinkedIn combined.
  • TikTok is popular in over 154 countries.
  • TikTok has received over 1.5 billion downloads. TikTok’s lifetime user spend has also surpassed $175 million globally. (Sensor Tower
  • More than one-third (37%) of TikTok’s unique visitors come from households with a total income of $100,000 or more.
  • 29.5 percent of TikTok users are between the ages of 20 and 29.
  • According to Influencer Marketing Hub research, TikTok has the highest social media engagement rates across 100,000 user profiles.
  • The platform can be accessed in 39 different languages!
  • Ninety percent of TikTok users use the app multiple times per day.

These statistics demonstrate the value TikTok can add to your brand. If you haven’t already included TikTok in your social marketing strategy, you should!

Are TikTok Ads Right For Your Business?

Are TikTok Ads Right For Your Business

This is a critical question to ask. Before investing in TikTok ads, make sure it’s the best move for your company. TikTok may not be the best platform for you, depending on your audience demographic, and TikTok’s audience is younger than most social media platforms.

Teenagers have the highest proportion of users, according to Statista. 32.5 percent of users are between the ages of 10 and 19, while 29.5 percent are between 20 and 29. Users aged 10 to 29 account for 62 percent of total users. Only 16.4 percent of TikTok users are between 30 and 39, and 7.1 percent are 50 and older.

The platform has a small gender gap. Males account for 56% of TikTok users, while females account for 44%. If your company provides services to people over 50, the app may not be the best option for you. TikTok ads work best if your target audience is teenagers or young adults.

Even with a young audience, you shouldn’t dismiss the platform entirely. As TikTok grows in popularity, more people flock to the platform, and older demographics are likely to begin using the app over time.

You can also target the older demographic directly, as with other social media platforms. TikTok allows you to target your ads based on demographic factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and device type.

How Much Do TikTok Ads Cost?

How Much Do TikTok Ads Cost

Getting started with TikTok ads is not cheap, and it is more expensive than most social media platforms. While you can create In-Feed ads on your budget and schedule, a minimum campaign budget of $500 is required to get started. The bare minimum for an ad group is $50. TikTok is more expensive than Facebook, where you can start a campaign for as little as $1.

TikTok advertisements begin at $10 per CPM. According to the adage, the cost of advertising on TikTok can range from $50,000 to $120,000, depending on the ad format and duration.

These ad costs may be prohibitively expensive for small businesses or solopreneurs. The good news is that, aside from TikTok’s native paid advertising program, there are other ways to advertise on the platform.

TikTok Ad Formats

TikTok has five ad formats, and let’s look into how each type works. 

  • In-Feed Ads

In-Feed Ads look like the ads you see while scrolling through your Instagram feed. When a user scrolls through the For You section of TikTok’s homepage, In-Feed Ads appear.

In-feed video advertisements can range in length from 9 to 15 seconds. To increase conversions, you can also include a call-to-action.

The call-to-action can be a link to your website (to increase website traffic), a link to your online store (to increase sales), or a link to a landing page (to help increase subscriptions to your service). When it comes to calls to action, the sky is the limit. If you want, you can even include multiple calls to action.

TikTok In-Feed Ads also allow users to interact with the videos by liking, commenting, sharing, and commenting on them. Therefore, in-Feed Ads are a good option if you want to increase engagement with your followers.

  • Branded Takeover 

TikTok ads with branded takeovers appear immediately when a user opens the app, and the ad would be displayed as a full-screen video on the user’s device.

Because your ad appears as the first thing the user sees when they open the app, this ad format is more direct than In-Feed Ads. Another benefit of this ad format is that your ads can be displayed as videos, GIFs, or still images on the For You page.

You can also include a clickable link that takes users to a Hashtag challenge within the app or a landing page.

Guess Jeans used the clickable link feature to direct users to their viral #InMyDenim challenge.

Guess Jeans promoted the hashtag challenge campaign with a Brand Takeover ad that included a clickable link. Consumers were challenged to show off their denim fashion sense.

After six days of running the Brand Takeover ad campaign, 5,500 users created videos with the hashtag #InMyDenim. The videos received over 10.5 million views, a 14.3 percent engagement rate, and 12,000 TikTok followers.

Please keep in mind that Brand Takeover Ads are one-of-a-kind, and this means that each user only sees one Brand Takeover ad per day. Because of this, the cost of Brand Takeover Ads is high.

  • TopView

TopView Ads and Brand Takeover Ads are very similar, and the only difference is that TopView Ads appear 5 seconds after the app is launched.

TikTok’s longest video ad format is also this one. Videos on TopView can last up to 60 seconds. The videos are in full-screen mode, with sound and auto-play. You can include links to internal or external pages in the advertisement.

Balenciaga drove traffic to their shopping pages using the TopView ad format.

The advertisement displayed a beautiful full-screen video of their product overlaid with bold text to draw attention. They added a call-to-action button that directs visitors to their shopping page.

Over 23 million people saw the advertisement in the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. The ad’s average CTR was about 18%.

  • Branded Hashtag Challenge

Sponsored hashtag challenges on TikTok’s Discover Page have branded hashtag challenges.

When a user clicks on the sponsored hashtag, they are taken to a landing page that includes the sponsor’s logo, website link, challenge description, and the most popular videos with the hashtag.

The only drawback to this ad format is its high price. To be featured on TikTok’s Discovery banner, you may need to pay $150,000.

The good news is that you can run a Branded Hashtag Challenge for a low cost. Instead of promoting your branded hashtag through TikTok’s advertising program, you can collaborate with influencers to promote it.

  • Branded Effects

Brands can customize their ads using AR filters, stickers, lenses, and branded shareable stickers with this ad format. You can also build a custom filter right in the app.

Branded Effects can help you add personality to your advertisements. Your goal is to capture the user’s attention and persuade them to take a specific action. Branded effects such as stickers and augmented reality can help you increase ad engagement.

Setting Up Your TikTok Ads Campaign

Here are the steps to follow in setting up your TikTok Ads campaign:

Create a TikTok Ads account

Create a TikTok Ads account

The first step is to go to the TikTok Ads home page and press the Create an Ad button.

If you are not located in India, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, or Indonesia, you must first contact a TikTok advertising representative. You’ll need to fill out a form with your company’s information.

After you fill out the form, a TikTok advertising representative will contact you.

Create Your Ads Campaign 

When you open the TikTok Ads dashboard, four tabs will appear Campaign, Library, Reporting, and Insights. To begin, go to the Campaign tab and click the Create button.

Following that, you select your advertising goal. The goal of your ad will be the advertising objective. You have the following options:

  • Traffic
  • Conversions, and
  • App Installs

The following step is to create a budget. You can choose between a daily and a total budget under the settings tab. It is important to note that your daily or total budget cannot be less than $50.

Create a TikTok Ad Group

After you’ve determined your advertising goal and budget, you’ll need to create an Ad group. Set up your ad placement, details, targeting, schedule, bidding method, and delivery type here.

Configure Your Ad Placements: This is when you decide where your ads will appear. You have the option of using Automatic Placements or manually configuring it.

Create Ad Details: You’ll fill out the ad details section, and you must provide a detailed description of your ad.

The following information is included in the ad details:

  • Promotion type: Here, you choose the advertising objective of the ad. You have the option of installing an app or visiting a website.
  • Display Name: Enter the name of your company.
  • Profile image: This is the image that your target audience will see when they see your ad. It must have a 1:1 aspect ratio and a file size of no more than 50KB.
  • Category: Select the appropriate category that best describes your promotion.
  • Ad tags: TikTok algorithms will use the tags (keywords) you select to match your ad with the appropriate audience. Each ad can have up to 20 tags.
  • User comment: If you want users to be able to comment on your ad, you can enable this feature.

Set Up Targeting: You can control who sees your ads in this section. The parameters you specify are the audience, gender, location, age, languages, interest category, connection type, and OS versions.

TikTok allows you to upload a custom list as a CSV, TXT, or Zip file to show ads to a specific audience.

Make A Budget And A Schedule: The next step is determining your campaign’s budget and timeline. You have the option of creating a Daily Budget or a Lifetime Budget.

Then you decide how long you want the ad to run. After selecting the dates for which you want the ad to run, you can take it a step further by specifying the times of day the ad will run.

Choose Your Pacing Options

You get to choose how fast your ad will run at this point. There are two delivery methods to choose from: standard and accelerated.

  • The Standard delivery method would evenly space your ad across the campaign’s duration.
  • Your ad budget would be spent as quickly as possible with the Accelerated delivery method.

Select Your Optimization Goal

Your optimization goal should be consistent with the overall goal of your campaign. Conversions, Clicks, or Impressions are the three ad goals you can select. The optimization goal you select will also influence your bidding.

If you select Conversions as your goal, your ads will be shown to people most likely to take the action you have specified. The CPC bidding method is used (optimization cost per click), which implies that you would bid on the expected individual cost conversion.

If you select Clicks as your optimization goal, the algorithm will optimize your ad to get the most clicks. Clicks are bid on using the CPC method (cost per click).

If you select Impressions as your goal, your ad will be optimized to receive the most impressions possible. CPM is the bidding method for Impressions (cost per mile or cost per thousand impressions).

It’s worth noting that if you select Conversions as your goal, you’ll need to install a conversion tracking pixel. You can configure this in the Library section by selecting Conversions.

It’s also critical to enable TikTok’s Smart Optimization feature, ensuring that TikTok keeps optimizing your ad for conversions.

Design Your Ad Using TikTok’s Video Creation Kit

The TikTok ads platform includes a tool called the Video Creation Kit, which provides you with image and video templates to use when customizing your posts. It also includes over 300 free background music tracks.

After uploading your media from your computer or adding it from your Library, click on Create a Video.

You can write your text copy and call-to-action button after you’ve finished making the video.

After that, click Submit, and your ad will be live on the scheduled date.

How TikTok Ranks Ads?

How TikTok Ranks Ads

Relevance, ad quality, and bidding are the three main factors TikTok considers when ranking ads. While bid price is important, high-quality and relevant ads are prioritized because they generate more engagement and revenue for the platform. TikTok ad buyers claim that engagement factors such as shares, comments, and likes are also considered.

TikTok is most likely determining relevance through watch time and watch loops (the number of times a user watches an ad). To increase your watch time, you must regularly create high-quality videos for your advertisements.

Types of TikTok Advertising and Marketing 

You can use several strategies to advertise and market your brand on TikTok for business. Apart from using TikTok’s paid advertising program, you can advertise your brand in the following ways:

Partnering With Influencers

On TikTok, this is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your brand. You can promote your brand by collaborating with influencers, and Influencer marketing is extremely effective at raising brand awareness.

Working with social media influencers can boost your company’s ROI by 11%. According to another study, businesses earn $6.50 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.

After collaborating with influencers, CashApp used a song to go viral and promote their brand on the app.

It is critical to partner with the right influencers. Don’t choose an influencer solely based on their number of views or followers. It is best to choose influencers who post content relevant to your brand and goals.

Partnering With Influencers

Choose influencers who have a direct relationship with your niche or industry. For example, if you are a fitness brand, working with a health influencer makes more sense than a tech influencer.

Examine their engagement rates as well. Audiences who trust influencers with consistent engagement rates are more likely to trust their content. The goal of your campaign is to get users to interact with your brands. The more trusted an influencer is on the platform, the higher the level of engagement they receive.

You can easily find the best influencers to work with by using influencer marketing platforms. These platforms would do all of the legwork in locating influencers who are a good fit for your brand, product, or service.

Instead of a one-time payment, use a commission-based payment to encourage influencers to continue promoting your brand. Similar to affiliate marketing, influencers are compensated per lead.

Sharing Your TikTok Content on Other Channels

You can expand the reach of your TikTok content by posting it on other marketing channels. You can share your TikTok videos on other social media platforms, your brand’s website, YouTube, etc.

TikTok videos are extremely popular on YouTube and Twitter, and TikTok is responsible for half of the viral videos I see on Twitter.

Sharing your content on other channels will increase your brand’s visibility and reach. If you have a small marketing team with a limited budget, you can use this strategy to raise brand awareness instead of spending money on paid ads.

Promoting Your Brand’s TikTok Channel

If your target audience is on TikTok, you should consider creating a TikTok channel. This will assist you in connecting with your target audience and developing a relationship with them.

The key to success is to provide value and entertainment through your TikTok channel. You can then use paid ads or influencer marketing to promote your TikTok channel. Keep in mind that TikTok users use the app to be entertained and have fun. You will receive little engagement if you only show ads that promote your product or service.

The more engaging your videos are, the more people will watch them. Users’ attention spans are short. You must create videos that pique their interest, or they will move on to the next video in the feed.

Creating a TikTok Challenge

The most popular video format on the platform is challenging. The app’s viral challenges typically receive millions of interactions. Running a TikTok challenge campaign is one of the most effective ways to market your brand.

Here are some examples of brands that have used TikTok challenges to raise brand awareness.

OPPO

When OPPO unveiled its new F11 Pro smartphone, In 2019, they launched the #LightUpF11Pro hashtag challenge to raise awareness of the device in Malaysia. The hashtag challenge required participants to create a dance video while illustrating a “taking a photo” gesture with their hands. The challenge’s winners received a new F11 Pro device and cash prizes.

During the 6-day campaign period, the challenge generated over 7,000 user-generated videos, 6 million video views, and 326,000 likes.

REXONA

Rexona launched the #RexonaChallenge to raise awareness for their new summer line of teen-targeted products. The challenge was first launched with a top influencer, Kate, and she composed pop music for the challenge and posted a video of herself dancing to it in her unique style.

Rexona then awarded prizes to those who shared their unique music video interpretation. During the 6-day campaign period, the challenge generated approximately 93 million views, and Rexona’s TikTok account also gained 14,000 followers.

TikTok’s Paid Advertising Program

We’ve already gone over how TikTok’s paid advertising program operates. Earlier in this article, we discussed the various ad formats that TikTok provides and how to set up your TikTok Ads campaign.

Conclusion

TikTok ads are a great way to raise brand awareness, increase leads, and generate sales for your online store. The key is to target the right audience and upload video ads that pique users’ interest.

This article should assist you in getting started with your ad campaign.

While TikTok’s native paid advertising program can be pricey, there are other advertising opportunities on the platform, such as Influencer marketing.

Categories
Social Media Marketing TikTok

Why & How to Use Marketers TikTok For Business

TikTok is the most popular and well-known new social media trend. TikTok is now more popular on app stores than Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other well-known social networking platforms, with over 2.6 billion downloads and 1 billion active monthly users.

The platform features 15-second and 60-second videos that can be edited in-app and integrated with other major social media networks. Although most of its users are between the ages of 16 and 24, don’t dismiss the app as a fad for Gen Zers. TikTok has evolved from a platform for users to express their creativity to an advertising and marketing haven since its inception.

This blog will guide you on using TikTok for business to promote your brand and grow an audience on the social media marketing platform that has taken the world by storm.

How can marketers use TikTok?

How can marketers use TikTok

TikTok provides a fantastic opportunity for marketers to reach out to younger audiences worldwide in a highly creative and playful environment. Many social media memes start on TikTok, and brands can increase their credibility by being on the cutting edge of these cutting-edge trends. TikTok also does not require large budgets for video content creation, as spontaneous content produced in everyday settings has just as much chance of breaking through. Many TikTok videos were shot in bedrooms, parking lots, or gardens.

TikTok levels the playing field for marketers in terms of reach and engagement. Unlike social media platforms like Instagram or YouTube, TikTok accounts with zero followers can receive millions of views on a new video due to the algorithm’s viral nature. Engagement will occur as long as the content is appealing to the audience.

TikTok engagement has higher rates from the app’s followers than on other social media platforms (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2019), so marketers can generate a lot of buzz with a well-planned campaign that uses content that appeals to the app’s audience.

Marketers can use TikTok For Business in four different ways:

#1. Start a Branded Channel

Make a branded page and start experimenting with different content types. Content can be created quickly and on a shoestring budget. The best thing you can do is follow trending hashtags, participate in the latest memes, and apply them to your brand. Use the app’s built-in filters, effects, soundbites, and editing tools to create and share authentic content. TikTok has a massive organic reach, but meaningful engagement can only be obtained if your content truly resonates with your audience and follows the platform’s rules. It is simply not possible to post your corporate brand messaging here.

#2. Collaborate with Influencers

Make a branded page and start experimenting with different types of content. Content can be produced in a relatively short period and on a shoestring budget. Follow trending hashtags, participate in the latest memes, and apply them to your brand. To create and share authentic content, use the app’s built-in filters, effects, soundbites, and editing tools. TikTok has its Creator Marketplace, but meaningful engagement can be obtained only if your content truly resonates with your audience and follows the platform’s rules. Simply posting your corporate brand messaging here will not work.

#3. Start a Hashtag Challenge

Creating a challenge for users to enter is an excellent way for brands to kickstart a cultural trend or meme. Top-performing challenges entice millions of users to create campaign videos. The E.l.f cosmetics #eyeslipsface campaign, which received over 4 billion views and 5 million video contributions, is a great example. According to AdWeek, it is the most successful TikTok marketing campaign.

#4. Run TikTok Advertising

TikTok is one of the most exciting new advertising channels because it has the scale of other platforms like Instagram, but it isn’t yet saturated with advertisers. As a result, generating impressions and clicks may be more affordable.

Marketers can use the app’s homepage to run in-feed ads, sponsored hashtag challenges, and banner ads. Advertisers can target people who have viewed similar content to theirs and age, location, and demographics. TikTok for Business allows advertisers to run self-serve advertising campaigns.

Another social app to consider is WhatsApp when communicating with a young audience. The instant messaging app is gaining popularity worldwide and offers excellent marketing opportunities when integrated with Facebook and other social media platforms.

TikTok for Business: Try Different Kinds of Content

TikTok for Business

After you’ve researched your competitors and determined that your target audience is on TikTok, it’s time to start creating content for your company. While a funny lip-sync video is entertaining, there are many other ways to promote your business:

  • Introduce yourself and your team with a catchy theme song that encapsulates your company’s essence.
  • Give your followers a cheeky tour of your workplace to see where the magic happens.
  • TikTok is an excellent platform for sharing motivational stories. Do you have a success story about how you got your business started?
  • Instead of telling people how great your product or service is, ask if any of your most loyal customers would be willing to share a few words on video.
  • Is your company’s name distinctive? Make a video explaining why you chose that name and its significance.
  • Pets can be found in a variety of small businesses. TikTok users enjoy watching cute animal videos.
  • Does your company give back to the community in time, money, or products? Tell us about it and why it’s important for your company.
  • How is your product created? Display the step-by-step procedure to users. TikTok’s time-lapse videos are extremely popular.
  • Do you want to motivate others to start their businesses? Provide tutorials on how to do that.

On TikTok, you can share information about your company in various ways. Remember that TikTok users enjoy entertaining and creative videos. They don’t want to hear a talking head explain how to use a product or why your product is the best; instead, they want to hear an engaging story about a product with catchy music in the background.

Why You Should Be Advertising on TikTok?

Why You Should Be Advertising on TikTok

Because of TikTok’s overwhelming popularity among younger generations, some marketers remain skeptical of advertising on the platform. This viewpoint, however, is extremely misguided and stems from a misunderstanding of the social platform itself.

If marketers took the time to research TikTok thoroughly, they would discover that advertising on it can be extremely beneficial. Here are a few reasons why you should advertise on TikTok.

#1. The Power of Influencer Marketing

Although some marketers frown upon self-proclaimed influencers, they have power, and TikTok has created a platform to connect businesses and influencers through TikTok Creators Marketplace (TCM). This is a platform where companies can interact directly with verified influencers to match organic content to their products and services.

The obvious advantage of this type of marketing is that users are far more likely to trust the opinion of someone they follow, like, and respect than the opinion of a single brand endorsement.

TikTok’s influencer advertising works especially well because the platform is known for showcasing authentic and natural content.

Watching an influencer record themselves trying out a new shampoo in their own home, for example, feels more authentic than watching an overly stylized “hair flicking” advertisement on TV.

Collaboration with well-known influencers is another excellent way to keep your ad campaigns current, relevant, and cost-effective. TikTok’s Discover page makes it simple for influencers to promote a branded hashtag. Boosting a hashtag without the assistance of an influencer can cost up to $100,000!

#2. User Engagement Is at an All-Time High

For your social media advertisements to be effective, your targeted users must fully engage with the social media platform, and users can’t get enough of TikTok!

And the data speaks for itself. 90% of TikTok users use the app multiple times per day, and these users spend approximately 45 minutes per day scrolling on the app itself, making the cost of TikTok advertising appear more than worthwhile.

TikTok, in contrast to other social media platforms, appears to attract an active and engaged audience, which other social media platforms struggle to replicate. If your users are engaged, they are far more likely to respond positively to advertisements, especially if they are non-intrusive.

Millennials and Generation Z are much more technologically savvy, and the majority of them use ad blockers in their apps. Due to the high volume of user engagement, TikTok, on the other hand, provides marketers with an excellent way to advertise their brand.

Instead of focusing solely on a marketing strategy, TikTok can be used to promote consumer advocacy. You can create strong brand awareness with an actively engaged audience by offering what you have.

#3. International Reach Is Still on the Rise

TikTok has dominated the global social media world. TikTok has over one billion users and is available in 150 countries and 75 languages. With these figures, it should go without saying that TikTok could be an excellent choice if you’re looking to expand globally.

Covid-19 played a significant role in the rise of TikTok users, and its audience is expected to grow further. People were trapped at home due to country lockdowns, looking for new forms of online entertainment.

Even though some parts of the world are reopening, demand for this type of social media is not slowing due to the world’s shift to online spending.

Buying online appears to be the preferred option for billions of users worldwide, and TikTok is a key player influencing spending decisions and shaping purchases.

Advertising your product or service on this platform could help your eCommerce business grow globally and reach audiences you never imagined.

#4. It’s Easy to Use

Making a video advertisement can be intimidating, especially if you are a beginner. On the other hand, creating video content is incredibly quick and simple with TikTok.

TikTok always strives to promote authenticity, which means that your ads don’t have to be perfect, nor do you have to throw everything and the kitchen sink at them. Over-the-top and over-produced advertisements have previously turned off TikTok users, so keep it simple.

#5. Ecommerce Capabilities

Ecommerce Capabilities

While TikTok is best known for its awareness and engagement solutions, the company is determined to provide marketers with a full suite of full-funnel offerings.

TikTok expanded its partnership with Shopify to 15 countries at the end of last year. Shopify merchants can now access the TikTok For Business Ads Manager without leaving the Shopify dashboard with this new feature.

This is a significant strategic benefit for eCommerce businesses. It enables them to reach prospective customers early in their decision-making journey when they are researching on TikTok while also seamlessly driving them to a conversion point with the help of Shopify.

The capability is also appealing from an execution standpoint because of these four features.

  • Unified Campaign Planning

Shopify merchants can plan TikTok campaigns, target TikTok audiences, and track results all in one place.

  • Scalable Creative Tools

TikTok’s powerful creative tools are integrated into the capability allowing merchants a scalable way to create engaging ads without needing to invest in extra development resources.

  • “Turn-Key Pixel Tracking”

Shopify now allows its merchants to link their TikTok Pixel with a single step simplifying conversion tracking.

  • Retargeting Using Hashed Customer Data

Shopify merchants can now retarget audiences and more accurately track TikTok ad conversions by leveraging customer data, all while maintaining user privacy thanks to the data being hashed.

#6. Brand Effects

brand effect

Layer in Brand Effects to distinguish your ads. This is an AR feature for video overlays, similar to Snapchat lenses, and it is specifically intended to highlight brand-specific elements.

The most intuitive applications are in the CPG, retail, and entertainment industries, but this adaptable feature can also be used in other industries like travel or automotive.

Taking advantage of users’ proclivity for self-expression is just one feature that will increase engagement, brand recall, and the likelihood of your content being shared.

#7. Growing Adoption with Older Users

One possible counter-argument to advertising on TikTok is that its user base is very young, with low purchasing power compared to other social media platforms. After all, 59% of TikTok users are aged 24 and under.

TikTok’s fastest-growing segments, believe it or not, are older. This is similar to what we saw with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and almost every other social media platform at a similar stage. 

TikTok’s fastest-growing age demographics are 25-34 and 35+, according to the company. From January 2021 to April 2021, 25 to 34-year-olds increased 22 percent to 24 percent as a share of total monthly active users, and the 35+ demographic increased from 19% to 25%.

Participate in TikTok’s growth by incorporating its most engaging, innovative solutions into your digital strategy!

As with all channels and platforms in digital marketing, being first to market has some advantages. While your competitors concentrate their efforts elsewhere, you can use the powerful features and benefits listed above to engage a new audience and grow your business.

Summary

TikTok’s global dominance has only recently begun. The fact that it only entered the top 5 downloaded apps in early 2021 demonstrates that it is still very new and exciting for users.

This ever-expanding audience of engaged users provides marketers with an invaluable opportunity to reach new audiences worldwide and increase brand exposure. TikTok advertising will become a part of your marketing strategy once you see how simple and effective it can be.