TikTok Ads
Maybe you think TikTok is just for kids? We all know the silly but highly popular dance routines that took the world by storm during the pandemic, but TikTok isn’t all fun and games. TikTok is a massive social platform with an even bigger audience. This captive audience is the perfect place for businesses to launch an ad campaign. eCommerce businesses are especially successful on the platform due to the nature of the videos shared.
TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021 and surpassed 1 billion users late last year (data.ai) TikTok’s audience is huge, according to Statista, its largest is over 120,500,000 users in the United States. Statista also reported that almost half (43%) of TikTok users are aged 18 to 24 and that women in that age category make up nearly a quarter (24.7%) of TikTok’s advertising audience.
For eCommerce businesses, you should know that the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has over 5 billion views on TikTok and has been responsible for viral sales! To learn more about this craze and how to get in on the action check out the TikTok Shopping: #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt blog.
TikTok is becoming the advertising platform of choice for marketers. Placing your ads on TikTok will help you reach a young, vibrant audience that loves great content. If you haven’t considered TikTok ads for your business yet, it’s time to harness the platform’s surging popularity to reach your customers in a new, fun, and creative way!
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Types of TikTok Ads
TikTok Ads offers various options of ad types to suit many different marketers. These include:
Infeed Ads
In-feed ads feature autoplay videos that blend into the “For You” feed of TikTok users.
TikTok Brand Takeover Ads
These ads pop up as soon as users open the TikTok app and take over the screen for a few seconds. As we know, TikTok is used so much that people open the app many times a day, making this a great choice of advertisement.
Top View Ads
Top view ads place up to 60 seconds of video on the best and most prominent feeds on TikTok. These are a fantastic way to get your brand out there to the masses!
TikTok Branded Hashtag Ads
Users are asked to videotape themselves performing something like a dance or doing something in line with the product and posting it with a defined hashtag to encourage engagement and brand awareness building.
TikTok Branded Effects Ads
These ads allow businesses to create an ad with their own custom filter and/or special effects on the app. It is a great and fun way to enable users to engage with your business.
If you’re interested in finding the right type of ad for you, perhaps you’d find this All Facebook & Instagram Ad Formats 2022 article useful. It talks through all the ad types for two of the biggest advertising platforms in the world.
How much do TikTok Ads cost?
TikTok ads are based on a bidding model similar to other platforms such as Meta. You can control costs through daily and lifetime budgets for campaigns and ad groups.
The minimum budgets for each type of ad campaign are:
Campaign level
Daily budget: $50 USD
Lifetime budget: $50 USD
Ad group level
Daily budget: $20 USD
Lifetime budget: Calculated as daily budget multiplied by the number of days scheduled
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating your first TikTok Ad
So you want to make your first TikTok Ad but you don’t know how? Follow our step-by-step guide below.
TikTok Ads are created on the user-friendly TikTok Ad Manager. Thankfully, this makes the process of creating, delivering, and optimizing ads simple.
Before you get started
Firstly, install the TikTok pixel on your website. This is a key first step as the TikTok pixel allows you to effectively monitor your ad performance and conversions based on the events you define. These events may be page views, add to cart, check out, newsletter signups, etc. This will help you to target users who will be responsive to your ads. Once you’ve installed the pixel and signed up your business to the platform, you’re ready to go.
The pixel also helps you to create Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences for your website users. This is useful for retargeting. We spoke about this concept more in-depth in our “Do Facebook (Meta) lookalike audiences still work after iOS 14.5?” article.
There are 3 steps to creating a TikTok ad. Create a campaign, create an ad group, and then create the ad.
#1 Create a campaign
Login to your TikTok Ads Manager and click on “Campaign.” Then click on “create.”
Now choose the objective of your campaign. What action do you want people to take when they see your TikTok ad? You need to choose the right objective to produce the result you want for your campaign. For instance, if your objective is to generate more traffic to your website, then choose “traffic.”
#2 Create an ad group
Here you specify the ad placements, audiences, target audiences, campaign budgets, optimization goals, schedule, and bids for your ad group. Just follow the steps to create your ad group.
Note, that TikTok allows you to create both Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences, just like Facebook. Using TikTok ads targeting, you can target your audience using their age, gender, interest, operating system, location, language, behavior, etc. When setting your budget for the ad, you can choose a daily budget or a lifetime budget. The schedule specifies the start and end times for the ads.
#3 Create your ad
Ad creation on TikTok is easy. Upload your images or videos and you can design great ads in minutes using the features of TikTok Ads Manager. There are two types of ads you can create on TikTok – image and video ads. TikTok has an ad limit of 20 ads per ad group. Follow the steps to choose ad name, ad format, ad details, etc. At the end, click Submit. Once your ad is approved, it will go live and you can watch your sales grow!
Make sure you follow all the TikTok rules and regulations for your ads and remember, TikTok appeals more to the younger generation that loves interesting, entertaining, and fun content. Ensure you strike a balance while creating content for them.
You can learn how to create amazing marketing content in the Growing your Shopify Store with Content Marketing blog!
Optily's Expert - TikTok Ads
This week, I sat down with Shruti, Optily’s expert on TikTok Ads. I wanted to get her opinion on TikTok as a social platform and pick her brain about the best tactics for launching your first TikTok ad.
Here’s what Shruti had to say:
TikTok Ad Growth Potential
“Tiktok has the incredible potential for growth in 2022. It reminds me of Facebook ads back in 2017 and we all know how big Facebook ads became!”
A Genuine Atmosphere
“The ease of access to create user-generated content in a fun simple way in a way that feels as if you were hearing it from your best friend is a key selling point. It makes it more engaging for the consumers on the platform.”
Top TikTok Ad Creative Tips
“One of my most recommended ad creatives is the use of Tiktok response bubble to test different angles, benefits, etc. You want to keep it casual and use the Tiktok native font and emojis. This can be followed by a strong testimonial about the product/service with a strong CTA. You can also use the green screen with a variety of how-to content; this is something that TikTok does well, and the same content can be repurposed to use on Facebook or Instagram.“
Conclusion
TikTok is everywhere and marketers need to keep up with it if they want to stay at the top of the game. This is especially true for eCommerce stores as the partnership between TikTok and Shopify is growing year on year!
TikTok ads may be a new concept to some people, it may also be an aspect of digital ads that others might want to expand into more. Whatever your needs, Optily is here to help.
If you’re interested in diversifying your marketing mix to other channels including TikTok, our experts here at Optily would be happy to chat about your business needs. Click the button below to sign up today.
