TikTok Ad Strategies: The Ultimate Guide For Beginners

Why Advertise on TikTok?

Many social media marketers have expressed reluctance to use TikTok as a medium for their advertisements.

They disagree that the platform is ready for advertisements. The platform, in their opinion, does not have the right demographics. They doubt their ability to produce the necessary content.

But we’ve heard those justifications before. 15 years ago, the same things were said about Facebook. Feeling a bit jaded yet?

Those justifications continue to be false. TikTok provides a surprisingly adaptable ad platform with a wide range of options for producing or finding content that benefits your brand. It now competes fiercely with social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and others that provide paid advertising.

How TikTok Became a Major Competitor for Other Social Media Platforms

Contrary to what most people think, TikTok has actually existed for a longer time. Musical.ly, the app’s initial prototype, was made available in 2014. Since then, TikTok has undergone mergers and rebrandings, but the core concept has remained the same: brief, selfie-style videos with an accompanying backing track.

The social media network has experienced exponential growth over the last few years. TikTok has started concentrating on making money. To set up the TikTok advertising options, they have taken a lot of cues from other social media platforms. The fundamentals will be familiar to you from Facebook Business Manager: campaigns arranged according to objectives, the creation of custom audiences, the use of pixels to monitor ad results, etc.

It has been very successful to combine cutting-edge content with well-established advertising techniques. Recently, TikTok overtook Google as the most popular website in the US for web traffic. In response to the competition, other social media platforms have shifted their focus to short-form video and invested hundreds of millions in creator funds. But for the time being, TikTok retains the advantage as a new, emerging platform.

Who Does TikTok Marketing Reach?

TikTok is typically thought of as a teen app. They are not mistaken. There is a tendency for TikTok users to be younger.

But that might be about to alter. The over-30s are currently the group on the TikTok platform that is growing the fastest. Even Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are utilizing the social network.

Advertisers are still playing catch-up. TikTok marketing isn’t utilized by many brands. Brands that target older age groups will find this to be especially true. Therefore, right now is a great time to start running TikTok ads because there is less competition.

TikTok Marketing Campaigns Offer More Reach for Less

Another strong argument in favor of TikTok is presented here.

Currently, TikTok ads are significantly less expensive than those on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. Every social media marketer is aware of the skyrocketing costs of Facebook ads and the declining effectiveness of their targeting and return on investment.

A TikTok ad campaign typically offers a cost per lead that is about half that of Facebook. Your net sales figures on TikTok will appear healthier even though it doesn’t have higher conversion rates due to the drastically reduced cost of ad inventory.

TikTok will boost your social results even more if your Facebook ads were successful. But a word of caution: TikTok and Facebook cannot both run the same content. For a successful TikTok marketing strategy, you’ll need different content and targeting strategies.

Let’s get started.

How to Create a Native TikTok Ads Strategy

Although it isn’t particularly challenging to use, the TikTok app is very different from other social networks. It is solely concerned with short-form video. High production values are less important than the right sound, and the TikTok algorithm’s method for surfacing posts also differs. Making the most interesting, relatable content is your aim rather than concentrating on gaining followers.

1: Video Ads on TikTok

You don’t need to get bogged down in the details of picking placements, times of day, and targeting parameters because TikTok’s ad platform is quite sophisticated. The automated suggestions typically function perfectly.

You should concentrate your efforts on producing content instead. numerous contents Then see which of your TikTok videos performs best by setting the system to optimize for the lowest cost per view or cost per engagement.

The daily minimum for TikTok ads is $20 per ad campaign. However, you can watch a lot of TikTok videos with $20. There can be several ad groups and numerous ads inside each campaign. A cost per view of roughly 1 to 5 cents is what you want. Look at the videos that perform best and try to figure out what makes them effective.

What Should Your Videos Look Like?

On TikTok, you can upload videos that are up to three minutes long for your advertisements. The platform has recently started experimenting with videos that last up to an hour.

However, you don’t actually need to create content that long. So that you can maintain a high video completion rate, keep your videos to under 30 seconds. One of the main metrics TikTok uses to evaluate your content is this. You want viewers to stay engaged throughout.

Does that seem overly brief? Don’t stress over it. The key is to jam-pack each clip with information. Even better news for your video completion rate comes if viewers decide to keep watching the video in order to learn more from it.

On TikTok, the most popular videos are snappy, funny, and relatable. To engage your audience, use humor, popular audio, and selfie-style camera angles.

Editing tools can be used to combine various clips or add effects. Try to complete the majority of your editing on TikTok, though. Users are rewarded for in-app editing by the algorithm… but penalizes them for using recycled or foreign content.

How Targeting Works for TikTok Ads

Compared to the majority of other social marketing platforms, TikTok offers less precise targeting. Prior to recently, you could only target a national audience.

However, it is not a problem. Why? because of how strong the TikTok discovery algorithm is.

TikTok excels at delivering content that matches users’ interests. Additionally, it makes use of cutting-edge technology for background recognition, like AI. This implies that if you include nearby landmarks in your videos, more local viewers will see your content.

Therefore, you should concentrate on content rather than worry about location targeting or the best times to post. Produce and distribute videos that are pertinent to your brand, sector, and audience. The rest will largely be handled for you by the TikTok algorithm.

Which Type of Ads Should You Use?

There are several different ad types available on TikTok.

For now, we’re going to focus on the two most useful ad types: spark and lead ads.

• Spark ads are great for increasing reach, working with user-generated content, and raising brand awareness.
• Lead ads are great for converting views into leads and sales.

Both types function very differently. We’ll see that you might not even need to create content for some advertisements.

2: Using TikTok Spark Ads

Spark ads resemble Facebook’s “boosted posts” in some ways. You choose a video that is performing well and spend money on advertising it to reach more people.

These advertisements are unique because you can do this with any video. Even if it comes from a TikTok profile that has nothing to do with your brand or if you have only set up a TikTok ad account and don’t actually have a TikTok profile.

Because of this, spark ads are a fantastic option for brands of all sizes. Small businesses occasionally experience anxiety when creating content. Large organizations and agencies occasionally find it challenging to work on a project as small-scale as a short-form video. However, with spark ads, you are not required to produce any content unless you choose to.

Spark ads, according to TikTok, now make up 70% of all platform advertising expenditures. This ad format is used by brands because it works well and requires little effort to reach a larger audience.

How Do Spark Ads Work?

To turn someone else’s content into a spark ad, you’ll need their consent.

Here’s how it works:

• You speak with the author and ask for their consent to boost their post.
• They must then enable the Ad Authorization toggle in their privacy settings in order to opt into spark ads.
• The creator can then generate a special code specifically for the concerned video once that’s active.
• The post is imported into TikTok Ads Manager using the code, where you can configure ad spending and decide whether to include a call to action.

A post will have a small “Sponsored” tag at the bottom of the screen once it has been promoted with spark ads. Nothing else about the original organic content will change.

How to Choose Videos for Spark Ads

There are several different ways you can source content to use in spark ads.

• societal hearing Find key phrases that are pertinent to your brand and industry, then reach out to people with content that is pertinent. You can also search for creators who mention you using TikTok’s analytics.
• TikTok Marketplace for Creators. The goal of TikTok’s search engine is to link businesses and creators. However, the creators on the market place tend to charge more and cater to an older audience. Every brand won’t be a good fit for this.
• Make original content. Spark ads can also be used to promote videos on your own TikTok account. Use spark ads to expand your audience if you’re just getting started and to determine which videos work the best. When you’re more established, you can be pickier and only promote the videos that have had the greatest organic success.

When you look for videos posted by other TikTok users, watch out for a few key characteristics:

• immediate hook Does the video immediately grab your attention? It probably won’t work as an advertisement if it doesn’t immediately catch the viewer’s eye.
• hardly any time. Keep in mind that you want to keep your video completion rate high. The most successful clips are those that are under 30 seconds.
• Genuine style. The entire point of spark ads is that they don’t appear to be advertisements. Not high production values, but real organic content, is what you’re after.

Many creators will be happy to work with you. After all, spark ads mean their content gets more attention, too. You can offer free gifts or gift cards as extra incentives. However, be wary of creators who ask for high fees. Real customers or employees with small followings will often have more impact than expensive influencers.

How to Edit and Use Videos for Spark Ads

Because the content for Spark ads has already been created, little editing is needed. Additionally, since your target audience produced the video, the targeting is already taken care of. Nothing is more specific than that.

You must, however, exercise caution when it comes to copyright. A post with background audio protected by copyright won’t be eligible for boosts. Thankfully, TikTok gives you the choice to turn off the audio. You can use music from TikTok’s free collection of advertisement sounds in place of the copyrighted music. Alternately, open the post’s sound settings and adjust the volume of the original audio while lowering the music.

Once your post is prepared to go live… What do you want to achieve?

For top-of-funnel marketing, spark ads typically work best. They work well for brand recognition and word-of-mouth marketing, but less well for sales. The number of views and video completion rate are the metrics you should pay the most attention to.

When you use spark ads to boost a post, you do have the choice to include a call to action and a link to the landing page. This may be effective for online stores. However, lead ads will be a more effective conversion tool if you’re primarily interested in lead generation or work with a B2B company.

3: Using TikTok Lead Ads

Again, the majority of social media marketers will be familiar with Facebook lead ads. Lead ads on TikTok function similarly, but they only have a brief amount of short-form video to persuade users to click.

How Do Lead Ads Work on TikTok?

A link appears at the conclusion of a TikTok lead advertisement. Users who tap it are directed to a form that has already been pre-filled with the personal information they have already given TikTok. After that, you can extract that data and begin lead nurturing in your CRM.

On TikTok, your cost per lead will probably be between $3 and $4. Even though it is much higher than the average cost per view, it is still a good source of leads for businesses offering professional services.

How to Create Videos for TikTok Lead Ads

In a lead ad video, your main task is to convince viewers that the advertisement is pertinent to them. If the offer is location-based, mention the location in the video and give viewers visual cues. If the offer has a deadline, emphasize it with audio and text.

You can tell a story that resonates with your target audience in even a brief video clip. Show them your abilities and what working with you will be like.

A chiropractor, for instance, might compile clips of the initial consultation, the adjustment, and the outcomes. A subscription box service may demonstrate the home unpacking, delivery, and packing procedures.

After that, you can direct people to a lead form and urge them to try out what they’ve just seen.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How effective are TikTok ads?

TikTok ads can be effective in terms of raising awareness and increasing sales, among other things, because they typically have emotional empathy, which can persuade potential customers to trust your brand and purchase your products or services.

2. How much money should you spend on TikTok advertising?

According to a 2019 Adage report, the cost of advertising on the TikTok app can range from $50,000 to $120,000, depending on the type of ads used and their duration.

More specifically, the cost starts at $0.50 per mile (the amount you pay per 1,000 views) and $0.02 per click. Furthermore, a $500 minimum spend is required for your TikTok social media marketing campaign.

3. What are some of the advantages of TikTok advertisements?

Advertising on TikTok has numerous advantages, including:

1. Increased brand awareness
2. Enhanced brand awareness
3. Allows you to target the appropriate audience
4. Easy viral content creation More sales generated

Wrapping Up!

TikTok provides a variety of affordable and widely accessible ad options. TikTok can be intimidating to some social media marketers, but it couldn’t be simpler to create ads, especially since you don’t even have to create your own content!

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