TikTok Ads: Everything You Need to Know About Marketing on TikTok
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard the buzz about social media app TikTok. And with its easy-to-consume content material being watched by way of hundreds of thousands of people each day, it’s easy to apprehend why there’s a developing buzz approximately TikTok ads.
With the app attracting 500 million lively customers worldwide, TikTok is a marketer’s dream, but how exactly do TikTok commercials work? And is it even viable to promote it on it as a small business?
If you’re curious about advertising on TikTok however don’t realize in which to start, we’ve were given you covered. We’ve achieved the research, scrolled the motion pictures, and put together this helpful guide a good way to come up with the equipment you want to apprehend TikTok ads, its user base, and its various capabilities and quirks.
Read directly to learn extra about the bizarre and amazing world of TikTok and the way your commercial enterprise can grow to be part of it.
TikTok Ads: What is the TikTok App?
TikTok is a social media app that enables users to create and think about short videos set to track or custom-made soundtracks.
Perfect for massive use, even as users can honestly passively browse TikTok – scrolling and watching different users’ content without contributing – the app has also made it incredibly smooth for customers to create videos.
But before we jump into the app’s features, you is probably wondering wherein TikTok even got here from – and with correct reason, its adventure to worldwide recognition is an exciting one.
The app is owned via ByteMedia, who first launched a Chinese version of the app called Douyin in September 2016. TikTok – which makes use of the equal software program as Douyin – changed into launched as Douyin’s international counterpart a 12 months later. Not long after this, ByteMedia received lip-syncing app Muscial.Ly and, after combining the 2 apps in August 2018, it fast gained recognition.
With such speedy growth, some TikTok creators have turn out to be wildly popular and have attracted outside attention. One consumer become even signed with a talent business enterprise off the lower back of a viral put up.
Other large organizations had been clambering for a chunk of the movement as well.
In September 2019, the NFL signed a multi-12 months partnership to proportion recreation highlights and behind-the-scenes fabric with TikTok users. Meanwhile, a mixture of high-profile human beings, groups, and retailers have also emerged as famous TikTok profiles which includes Will Smith, Gary Vaynerchuk, The Washington Post, and Korean boy band, BTS.
Who Uses TikTok?
So, who’s watching all of those random content creators? Well, it’s on the whole those under 30, mainly those belonging to Gen Z – a large 41 percent of TikTok customers are among the a while of sixteen and 24. And with this age variety having increasing purchasing electricity, it makes know-how TikTok advertisements and advertising all of the extra vital.
With all of this in mind, how can businesses harness the strength of TikTok?
How to Use TikTok for Marketing
Having simplest been around in its cutting-edge shape since late 2018, it’s very an awful lot early days in the TikTok advertising international. While there might be big adjustments to come inside the future, right here are the cutting-edge ways a logo can use the app for marketing:
- Creating a Profile
Probably the cheapest way to get worried in TikTok advertising is by using growing a profile, producing content, and constructing an audience. However, there’s a best artwork to making movies that no longer most effective sell your emblem however additionally entice viewers. Users don’t use the app to look at TikTok classified ads, so any logo seeking to get worried have to have an awesome grasp on the form of content material that’s famous earlier than beginning an account (don’t worry, we’ll provide you with a cheat sheet below).
- Paying for Official TikTok Ads
This appears like the obvious solution while speakme approximately TikTok ads, however in the meanwhile this feature is simplest to be had in sure international locations and has a restrictive charge tag. Paid TikTik advertisements can come in several forms, along with:
Pre-roll ads: Videos that starts offevolved as quickly as users open the app
In-feed commercials: Videos that seem as users scroll
Promoted hashtag challenges: Videos encouraging consumer submissions using a custom hashtag
Branded effects: A custom impact filter out for creators to use in movies – much like the ones on Snapchat and Instagram however featuring brand-specific information
As mentioned, TikTok advertisements are expensive – if you’ve were given $50k to $100k to spend on ads or $150k for a promoted hashtag challenge then this is a great option, but presently, TikTok app advertisements seem the domain of manufacturers like Universal Pictures, McDonald’s, and Guess.
- Working with Influencers
Working with a proven, applicable TikTok influencer to promote your product is a happy middle floor among spending heaps on TikTok advertisements and trying to produce your personal content. This is something that each one kinds of agencies have began doing, from established manufacturers like Elf Cosmetics and Petco to smaller marketers looking to sell a single product.
However, due to the fact you can’t include clickable URLs in TikTok video captions, it’s now not usually easy to direct traffic to web sites from these movies. You can attempt to work round this by way of having influencers link to your keep in their bio or the video comment section, but as you could imagine, adding this extra step reduces comply with through.
- Shoppable Videos on TikTok
You would possibly have heard whispers of shoppable films being to be had on TikTok. This is a ultra-modern option this is currently being tested by means of a few TikTok influencers however has been available on TikTok’s sister app, Douyin, for some time. Akin to the “swipe up” function and shoppable posts on Instagram, shoppable movies would allow customers to attach a URL to their TikTok advertising videos so that users can be taken to their store with a unmarried tap.
While TikTok has confirmed it's miles trialing the function, it hasn’t confirmed whilst – or if – it will be rolled out to a much wider audience, so for the time being shoppable movies can’t be taken into consideration a viable option. However, if this option is released worldwide, it'd open TikTok up to influencer advertising and make it less complicated to promote at once from your business’ profile.
No count number which of the options for marketing on TikTok appeals to you, you’ll still want a applicable and smart ad to make an impact. With the majority of TikTok users having grown up in the net age, they’re savvy on the subject of advertising and don’t want to watch some thing overt. But, that doesn’t imply they’re necessarily adverse to advertising and marketing – it just wishes to fit in.
So what’s the pleasant manner to put it on the market in TikTok for brands? Make use of the app’s unique features and consumer culture.
Advertising on TikTok: Using App Features
Unlike social media websites like Facebook or Twitter, TikTok customers frequently base their content on traits and memes. It can change rapidly – what’s popular one week won’t necessarily be warm the next – and the key is jumping on the trends as quickly as possible. While authentic content is appreciated, reactionary content material is additionally fantastically rewarded. Here are many of the extraordinary sorts of content material you could don't forget on your TikTok advertising.
Hashtag Challenges
A hashtag undertaking is while a specific challenge is ready out via one person and other TikTok users are advocated to attempt it and submit the end result the use of the related hashtag. Any user can attempt to create a hashtag project, although whether or no longer others join in and it spreads isn't always guaranteed.
When brands pay for hashtag challenges, their hashtags are promoted for some days and are normally accompanied through a microsite wherein customers should buy the brand’s products within TikTok. This is what grocery chain Kroger did once they ran the #TransformUrDorm hashtag venture at some stage in the returned to school buying season.
If there may be a famous hashtag undertaking that fits your brand or product, this can be a extremely good possibility to jump at the bandwagon and attempt to get a few views. Be sure to browse different videos the usage of the hashtag to get a feel for the different methods you can get concerned.
Creating and Reusing Sounds
This might be a vestige of TikTok’s Musical.Ly origins, but a huge part of TikTok is the use of “sounds” to accompany videos. This could include snippets of songs, speeches, TV or movie dialogue, or random person commentary. The genius element is that when a sound is utilized in a video, it’s stored on TikTok and can then be reused by way of different creators.
Having a valid grow to be popular on TikTok has catapulted some musicians into mega-stardom, which includes Lil Nax X, whose music “Old Town Road” become first a success on TikTok earlier than going mainstream, getting remixed, and charting at primary at the Billboard Hot a hundred for 19 weeks – the longest in history.
Sounds are frequently used at the side of other TikTok features which includes hashtag challenges, as seen inside the #yeehawchallenge above, and dance challenges, as seen inside the git up undertaking below.
Dance Challenges
Considering the popularity of music on TikTok, dance challenges appear a no-brainer. These are spread when one author dances to a selected music and others recreate it. The dance itself may be elaborate, or it is probably recreated in an elaborate way -– or both.
Take, for instance, The Git Up challenge in which humans dance a selected recurring to Blanco Brown’s track of the equal name. Although the task wasn’t created by way of Brown or his team – that turned into the handiwork of TikTok consumer Harvey Bass – videos using the hashtag #thegitup acquired over 157 million views. And the flow-on impact became Brown’s song clocking up over 127 million streams on Spotify.
On the other side of things, you have the popularity of the dance achieved to “Chinese New Year” by using the band Sales. The dance itself is extremely uncomplicated, leaving customers to expose off their creativity in more and more implausible methods. Much like Blanco’s tune, “Chinese New Year” additionally had a large boost in streams on Spotify.
Duets and Effects
TikTok has a wide variety of filters and special effects that customers can feature in their videos.
Duets are a popular style, allowing customers to take one video and record a partner video to go along with it.
Duets are often used when different users attempt to replicate some thing the original TikTok consumer has accomplished, consisting of cooking or crafting. Or, it'd act as a funny or innovative counterpart to the unique video.
TikTok often updates its filters and there are continually new ones for users to discern out creative approaches to use. The nine-digicam split impact currently became famous after a creator used it in mixture with the Chordettes music “Mr Sandman.” Others soon jumped on the layout with the fashion attaining its height when a cat changed into featured, prompting a slew of literal copycat motion pictures.
Whether you need to pay, do it yourself, or use influencers, all of those features have a ton of potential for brands to jump on board and begin marketing on TikTok.
However, this listing is by no means exhaustive and due to the fact it’s all so new, it’s crucial to remember, there’s no one manner to create the high-quality TikTok commercials.
Finding Your Groove With TikTok Ads
If none of those capabilities and formats fits your brand, you may usually browse TikTok to look what else is popular and soar in after you see a format, sound, or hashtag that you like.
As TikTok is such an area of creativity, the sky’s the restrict in terms of TikTok marketing. And because the excellent manner to create TikTok ads still isn’t definitely clear – especially for brands with smaller advertising and marketing budgets – there’s no better time to begin experimenting and testing some thing that might work.
Above all else, TikTok customers want clever and amusing films, so if you’re hitting the ones notes with the films you’re growing it need to most effective be a depend of time earlier than you grow a following. Don’t assume it to be instant though, even as some users can go viral from simply one video, for most it takes more than one attempts before it all comes together.
Are you the use of TikTok to sell your store? Have you made a sale the usage of TikTok? Tell us approximately it inside the comments below.