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| How to Create and Optimize TikTok Ads that Rock: A Complete Guide |
TikTok is a short-form video platform where users can create and share content that showcases their creativity, talent, and personality. It is one of the most popular social media apps among young people, especially Gen Z and millennials, who use it to discover new trends, connect with others, and express themselves.
If you want to reach this highly engaged and influential audience for your business, you need to advertise on TikTok. TikTok offers various ad formats and features that can help you showcase your brand’s story, products, or services in a fun and authentic way.
According to TikTok’s website, the app has over 1 billion monthly active users in more than 150 countries and regions. It also has an average daily watch time of over 52 minutes per user and an average of 30 billion video views per day. These numbers show that TikTok is a powerful platform for reaching a large and diverse audience that can boost your brand awareness, conversions, and loyalty.
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The different types of TikTok ads and how they work:
In this section, we will explore the different types of TikTok ads and how they work. TikTok offers five main ads formats that you can choose from depending on your goals, budget, and target audience.
Let’s take a look at each one of them:
- In-feed ads: These are the most common and affordable type of TikTok ads. They appear in users’ For You page, which is the main feed where users see personalized recommendations based on their interests and behaviors.
In-feed ads can be up to 60 seconds long and can be skipped or interacted with by users. You can use in-feed ads to drive traffic to your website, app, or landing page, or to encourage users to follow your TikTok account. - Top View ads: These are premium and immersive type of TikTok ads that show up when users open the app and take over the full screen for up to 60 seconds. They have a high impact and reach as they capture users’ attention right away.
You can use Top View ads to showcase your brand’s story or product in a captivating way and to generate brand awareness or consideration. - Brand takeover ads: These are another type of full-screen TikTok ads that display a static or dynamic image or video before an in-feed ad. They have a high frequency and visibility as they appear once per day per user.
You can use brand takeover ads to create a strong impression on your audience and to drive them to your website, app, or landing page. - Branded hashtag challenge: These are one of the most engaging and viral type of TikTok ads that invite users to create content using a sponsored hashtag and participate in a contest or campaign.
And they appear on the Discover page, which is where users can find trending topics and hashtags on TikTok. You can use branded hashtag challenge to increase user-generated content (UGC), social buzz, and brand affinity for your business. - Branded effects: These are creative tools that allow users to add stickers, filters, or lenses to their videos featuring your brand’s logo or product.
It appears in the effects panel within the TikTok camera interface. You can use branded effects to enhance user interaction with your brand and to increase brand recall and recognition.
Best practices and tips for creating effective TikTok ads:
Now that you know the different types of TikTok ads and how they work, you might be wondering how to create effective TikTok ads that can reach and resonate with your younger audience.
Here are some best practices and tips that you can follow to make your TikTok ads stand out and drive results:
- Align your ads with TikTok’s creative style and tone: TikTok is a platform where users can have fun, be themselves, and discover new things. Your ads should reflect this spirit and match the content that users are already watching and enjoying on TikTok.
Avoid being too formal, boring, or salesy in your ads. Instead, be fun, authentic, engaging, and trendy. Use humor, music, challenges, or trends to capture your audience’s attention and interest. - Use vertical videos with high-quality sound and visuals: TikTok is a mobile-first platform where users watch videos in full-screen vertical mode. Your ads should also be optimized for this format and have high-quality sound and visuals that can deliver your message clearly and effectively.
Use bright colors, catchy music or sounds effects, clear text or captions, and eye-catching transitions or animations to make your ads more appealing and memorable. - Include clear calls to action and incentives for users to take action: Your ads should not only entertain your audience but also persuade them to take action. Whether you want them to visit your website, download your app, follow your account, or join your hashtag challenge, you should include clear calls to action (CTAs) in your ads that tell them what to do next.
You can use buttons or stickers within your ad creatives or add voiceovers or text overlays that direct users to swipe up or tap on the screen. You should also provide incentives for users to take action such as discounts, coupons, free trials, rewards points etc. - Test different ads formats audiences' creatives budgets optimize performance: TikTok offers various options for you to customize your ad campaigns according to your goals budget target audience preferences You test different combinations of ad formats audiences' creatives budgets see which ones perform best for you.
Use TikTok’s analytics tools track measure optimize performance key metrics such as impressions views clicks conversions engagement etc. You also use A/B testing split testing experiment different variables such as headlines images videos colors etc. find optimal solutions. - Collaborate with influencers creators large loyal following TikTok: One of the most effective ways reach younger audience TikTok collaborate with influencers creators who have large loyal following platform Influencers creators can help you create authentic engaging content that showcases your brand product service positive way.
It can also help you amplify reach exposure word-of-mouth recommendations reviews testimonials You choose influencers creators who relevant niche industry shares similar values vision audience yours You also establish clear goals expectations guidelines collaboration ensure mutual benefit satisfaction.
Examples of successful TikTok ads that you can check out for inspiration:
- Guess Jeans: The #InMyDenim hashtag challenge was one of the first of its kind on TikTok in the US and is still one of the best. The challenge invited users to show off their denim outfits using the hashtag and a catchy song. The campaign generated over 38 million views and increased brand awareness and engagement for Guess.
- Kung Fu Tea: Kung Fu Tea’s Boba Challenge is another example of a viral hashtag challenge that leveraged user-generated content (UGC) and influencers. The challenge asked users to create videos using a branded effect that showed them drinking boba tea and spitting out pearls. The campaign reached over 100 million views and boosted brand affinity and loyalty for Kung Fu Tea.
- Gushers: Gushers used an in-feed ad to promote its candy product with a humorous twist. The ad showed a user transforming into some fruit after eating Gushers, using a popular TikTok trend called “fruit surgery”. The ad was funny, relatable, and engaging for the TikTok audience.
- Red Bull: Red Bull used a Top View ad to showcase its brand’s story and values in an immersive way. The ad featured various clips of extreme sports and activities that aligned with Red Bull’s slogan “Gives You Wings”. The ad captured users’ attention right away and generated brand awareness and consideration for Red Bull.
- Ralph Lauren: Ralph Lauren used a branded hashtag challenge and a branded effect to launch its new Polo collection on TikTok. The challenge encouraged users to create videos using the #WinningRL hashtag and the Polo filter that added a virtual polo shirt to their outfits. The campaign reached over 700 million views and increased product awareness and sales for Ralph Lauren.
- BMW: BMW used an in-feed ad to introduce its new electric car model, the iX3, on TikTok. The ads featured an influencer who demonstrated the car’s features and benefits in a fun and informative way. The ad also included a clear call to action that directed users to swipe up to learn more about the car. The campaign achieved over 10 million impressions and over 2% click-through rate for BMW.
- Elfyeah: Elf Cosmetics created a viral song called “Eyes Lips Face” that became one of the most popular sounds on TikTok. The song was catchy, simple, and relevant to the brand’s products. Elf Cosmetics also collaborated with influencers who created videos using the song and promoted its products. The campaign generated over 5 billion views and increased brand recognition and sales for Elf Cosmetics.
- Washington Post: Washington Post used TikTok as a platform to showcase its behind-the-scenes stories and personalities in an entertaining way. Washington Post created videos that featured its journalists doing funny skits, challenges, or trends related to current events or news topics. Washington Post also interacted with other users and commented on their videos. Washington Post gained over 1 million followers and increased its credibility and relevance among younger audiences.
- Magalu: Magalu is an online retailer from Brazil that used Top View ads to boost its brand awareness and engagement among the TikTok audience. The campaign revolved around a catchy song and captivating design that showcased Magalu’s products and services. The campaign achieved over 200 million video views at an average click-through rate of 19.60%.
Now that you have seen some examples of successful TikTok ads, you might be wondering how to create your own TikTok ads that can reach your target audience and achieve your marketing goals.
The first step is to sign up for TikTok Ads Manager, which is a self-serve platform where you can create, manage, launch, monitor, and optimize your ad campaigns easily and quickly.
Here are the steps to sign up for TikTok Ads Manager:
- Go to https://ads.tiktok.com/ and click on “Create an Ad” or “Sign Up”.
- Fill in your basic information such as name, email address, phone number, country/region etc. and click on “Next”.
- Choose your industry and business size from the drop-down menus and click on “Next”.
- Choose your advertising objective from the options such as traffic, app install, conversion etc. and click on “Next”.
- Choose your billing method from the options such as credit card or PayPal and enter your billing information. You can also choose to skip this step and add it later.
- Click on “Submit” to complete your registration. You will receive a confirmation email with a link to activate your account.
- Once you activate your account, you can log in to TikTok Ads Manager and start creating your ad campaigns.
Once you have created and launched your TikTok ads, you need to monitor and optimize their performance to ensure that they are delivering the best results for your business.
TikTok Ads Manager provides various tools and resources that can help you with this process.
Here are some of them:
- Dashboard: The dashboard is where you can see an overview of your ad campaigns’ performance metrics such as impressions, clicks, conversions, cost per result etc.
You can also filter and sort the data by different dimensions such as date range, ad group, placement etc. You can also export the data to CSV or PDF files for further analysis. - Reports: The reports section allows you to create custom reports that can show you more detailed and granular insights into your ad campaigns’ performance.
Then choose from various report templates such as campaign summary, audience network, video analytics etc. or create your own report using different metrics and dimensions. You can also schedule the reports to be sent to your email address regularly. - Insights: The insights section provides you with valuable information and tips on how to improve your ad campaigns’ performance based on TikTok’s best practices and industry trends.
And can access various insights such as creative optimization, audience network optimization, bid strategy optimization etc. that can help you fine-tune your ad campaigns’ settings and creatives. - Learning Center: The learning center is where you can find various tutorials and guides on how to use TikTok Ads Manager effectively and efficiently.
Learn about different topics such as how to create an account, how to set up a campaign, how to use different ad formats etc. You can also access various case studies and success stories that can inspire you with new ideas and strategies for your ad campaigns.
Another way to optimize your TikTok ads performance is to collaborate with influencers and creators on TikTok who have a large and loyal following on the platform.
Influencers and creators can help you reach and resonate with your target audience in a more authentic and engaging way. They can also generate user-generated content (UGC) that can boost your brand awareness, conversions, and loyalty.
TikTok Ads Manager allows you to find and connect with influencers and creators who are relevant to your brand’s niche, goals, and budget.
The Creator Marketplace feature which is a platform where you can browse through thousands of verified influencers and creators based on various criteria such as category, location, followers etc. You can also view their profile details such as bio, content style, audience demographics etc.
Once you find an influencer or creator that matches your needs, you can contact them directly through the platform and negotiate the terms of collaboration such as deliverables, timeline, payment etc. You can also track and measure the performance of their content using various metrics such as views, likes, comments etc.
Collaborating with influencers and creators on TikTok can help you amplify your ad campaigns’ reach and impact while building trust and credibility with your audience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, TikTok is a powerful platform for reaching a younger audience that can boost your brand awareness, conversions, and loyalty. TikTok offers various ad formats and features that can help you showcase your brand’s story, products, or services in a fun and authentic way.
To create effective TikTok ads that can reach and resonate with your audience, you should follow some best practices and tips such as aligning your ads with TikTok’s creative style and tone, using vertical videos with high-quality sound and visuals, including clear calls to action and incentives for users to take action, testing different ads formats audiences' creatives budgets optimize performance.
Collaborating with influencers creators large loyal following TikTok If you want to start advertising on TikTok today drive real business results you need sign up for TikTok Ads Manager or contact us for more information.
TikTok Ads Manager is a self-serve platform where you can create manage launch monitor your ad campaigns easily quickly You can also access various tools resources help you plan execute optimize your ad campaigns effectively efficiently Contact us today learn more how we can help you grow your business with TikTok ads.
