BLOG | Online Marketing How to Grow Your Business with TikTok Ads

Do not let your business fall behind in the online competition.

In the first quarter of 2019, TikTok came first as the most downloaded app both in the Apple App Store and Google Play with over 2 billion total downloads. It has 800 million active users worldwide at present. Statistics found that about 41% of its users are teenagers, ages 16 to 24, and people are using the app at an average of 52 minutes per day. TikTok is now accessible in 155 countries. With the fact that above 80% of its users access the app daily, businesses should already start using the app for business purposes.

TikTok does not just challenge people to do the epic dance moves or sing along with the latest catchy lines of a song. It is also a great way to reach your audience fast and effectively. If you already have the app, you will see that more and more users are using it for more than just the purpose of popularity or bandwagon. Useful content is merged with trending filters and editing styles to create an effect that is enticing to teenagers and adults alike.

The Pandemic Effect

With more and more people staying at home and exploring the power of social media, including this app, there is a higher chance your business can get a bigger exposure. This can be a silver lining for your business in these trying times. While many users are on their screens trying a new filter or making their TikTok videos, it is time to sneak in and take part in the smartest way to grow your business reach even amidst the pandemic.

Cross-Platform Success

TikTok videos can also be seen on other social media platforms, including Facebook. In fact, the videos in TikTok are also accessible and shareable on Instagram. Using TikTok as a platform for your advertisements does not box you in the platform itself. It provides gateways through which your ads can sneak into and gain speed and business potential.

You can also pick up speed in promoting your products or services on TikTok by driving your traffic to YouTube. Influencers would do this by putting links in their bios for easy following. You can do the same with your business.

What to do to get TikTok at the side of your business

1. The Influencer Technique

   Many people have been tapping influencers to get exposure for their business. While this can be a bit expensive, this works well if you know how to look for an influencer and how to get that person to say yes. Influencers already have followers who support their choice of products. They are often popular for the beauty regime or product purchases they talk about online. Select the best influencer depending on what the target of your business is. The popularity of your product also depends on how popular your influencer is. Is it worth the risk? Yes! Generation Z is no longer that attentive to mainstream ads they see online. They want something engaging, challenging, and popular. This gets us to the next way.

2. Challenge: Just a Challenge or a Challenge for a Cause

   The ice bucket challenge videos flooded on Facebook a few years back to raise awareness on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Hollywood actors took on the challenge and posted on the social media platform with their versions to support the advocacy. Others immediately caught the challenge. The idea of a challenge continues to be the main ingredient in the virality of a video.

   Let us talk TikTok. Short clips made possible by TikTok can also be used in making challenges that promote a product. And if you want to increase the possibility of getting more people in, bring in a cause! Chipotle had partnered with the influencer David Dobrik for a campaign intended to increase views and very possibly, increase sales. The challenge went viral and caused more than 100,000 submissions and 230 million views.

   Another strategy you might want to use is to create a cause for a challenge. The ice bucket challenge was for ALS awareness. Dig into what cause you want to promote with your influencer, the challenge you want to make, and your product.

3. The Power of Hashtags

   Once you have figured which influencer suits your business goals, product, or service, you should already have in mind what challenge you want to make. Couple the challenge with a great hashtag to make it trending
   . The hashtag way of challenging people invites TikTok users to recreate content and submit the videos for views.

   Guess used #InMyDenim to increase their popularity among TikTok users. Now, what makes a good hashtag for your business? While hashtags simplify the idea of advertising through TikTok, they can be overpowered by other trending challenges if not made well. Make sure that your hashtag represents your niche. Then, check if it is short and catchy enough to go above your competitors. How to do this? Simply check on similar words used in your niche and create or revise a hashtag that represents your business well.

4. The TikTok Advertising System

   If you are a small business taking a step to widening your brand’s reach, TikTok is quite an affordable option. TikTok’s ads are more affordable compared to its bigger social media platform rivals. You can make your running time from a 10-day campaign to a longer one. They offer budgeting options from daily to lifetime lengths and you are free to adjust your budget within the period of your campaign. TikTok’s ads can target an audience based on your business. You can tailor your ad according to the gender, location, age, interests, and many other variables you want to consider.

   Its “Custom Audiences” and “Lookalike Audiences” help you reach your target audience to reach numerous audiences throughout your campaign. All these are more affordable compared to Facebook and Instagram Ad Manager.

TikTok Ads are categorized to 5:

• Infeed Ads
• Brand Takeover
• TopView
• Branded Hashtag Challenge
• Branded Effects

Infeed Native Content

The video ads allow you to get creative with your content. With a span of 9-15 seconds, your video can have multiple calls to action. These videos that appear in the For You Page of TikTok are scrolled past or skipped very quickly. Your audience can see a glimpse of it for 2-3 seconds so these first few seconds should be well-crafted to keep their attention. Infeed Ads are best set in full screen and inviting enough to keep your audience from scrolling right away.  

Sawyer Hartman, TikTok’s CEO of Cameras, suggests that texts on TikTok videos should establish a problem or grab attention right away. If the viewer is watching your video with the sound off, you should think of what text you can put and what story to tell to convince them to turn their sound on.

Look forward to responses. TikTok ads through Infeed can get you likes, comments, and shares.

Brand Takeovers

Brand takeovers work as TikTok users open their app. A full-screen video plays right away to your targeted audience. This is considered one of the best options because this delivers mass awareness and easily converts your ads to sales by getting your target audience to watch.

The For You page also contains these ads as still images, GIFs, or videos. Links are placed in these ads to lead your audience to landing pages or hashtag challenges in TikTok.

Brands get to take over TikTok for the day. Images, GIFs, and videos that contain links to landing pages are used to promote the business in the said platform.

With Brand Takeover, TikTok makes sure that users do not see more than one single brand takeover per day. Viewers have their eyes on your ad for a while getting you enough exposure without competition.

This option is more expensive compared to the other TikTok ad counterparts. So, if you have a limited budget, this is not the best option.

TopView

This ad option builds on Brand Takeovers, just a little bit different because users of TikTok do not get your ads as soon as they open their app. This ad only comes as the first in-feed post after 3 seconds.

Branded Hashtag Challenge

You can opt to use promoted hashtags to get a wider reach. You can always choose to make your own hashtag and make your name viral, but this option could be a great one too. A hashtag takeover is a popular option to man businesses because you have the option to set an end goal or a prize for the participants.

Branded Hashtag is a unique advertising technique by TikTok and has become quite popular. In fact, you might have come across this type of ad on TikTok’s discovery page. If you want to depend on user-generated content and building brand awareness, this is a great option. This ad is widely used for its fun element making its use seamless and easy to integrate into the TikTok user community.

As you use this TikTok ad, it would be smart to look for a few important points. What do you want to do? To create a reputation for your product, generate fresh leads, or increase your product’s popularity are three of the most common reasons to use this ad. Check on Houseparty and Freal Milkshakes’ use of this ad in showing off their business products.

Branded Effects

You can also use branded shareable stickers, AR filters, and lenses in your ads. Snapchat also offers this. TikTok caught up with the trend and allowed businesses to design custom filters on their app. This is also one of the seamless options for encouraging users to directly connect with your brand. Branded effects can stay up to 10 days at a time.  

How to use this? Branded Effects are a lot like the Snapchat 2D and 3D lenses for faces and photos. These may come as filters that TikTok users can use in their videos. By far, users find this ad more fun!

TikTok can help you reach your target audience using any of the fiveTikTok advertising types.

Fun Is a Key Ingredient

There is a common denominator among the many trending videos in TikTok and even on other social media platforms. Where there is fun, there is popularity. Identifying your target market in TikTok helps you tailor a fun challenge that will engage your viewers very quickly. How do you make sure your content is fun? Show your behind-the-scene videos. While TikTok users are fun-loving, they are also curious. Show how your TikTok Videos are done and keep your viewers and doers coming. If you have no idea which challenges to do, check out what is trending and tweak it, or follow it. You already have your goal, try to find a way to make it fun.

A Great Time to Start Using TikTok for Ads

TikTok is new. The population of TikTok users does not yet surpass the number of those who use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter so there is no 100% guarantee that there will be exponential growth in the sales of your products or services. A great thing to remember in using TikTok is that there are not that many influencers in TikTok so advertisements are relatively more affordable than using other platforms to increase your reach.

Once you have decided to use this app for your advertising, you can just make a free TikTok Ads account and make your Infeed ads based on your budget and schedule. TikTok ad campaigns range around $500 with a minimum ad group budget of $50. In some reports, the cost of their advertising runs around $50,000 to $120,000. This is based on the type and duration.

To start making your ads, TikTok needs to approve your account, which will take a few but very easy steps. Just head to their Ads homepage, enter your country, and account type. Do not forget to click “Next.” Fill the contact information carefully. TikTok ad self-service might not be available in your region, so you can click between the two choices – “Make a Reservation” or “Inform me of Future Updates. After, you can simply wait for TikTok’s message in your email.
The verification email will ask you a few questions about your business and advertising objectives. Someone will be in touch with you over email as you complete the process. Now you are ready to create and run your campaigns, specify your focused audience, choose your bidding methods, and design your product’s ad creatively. Although it is not yet sure if you can make your Hashtag Challenge campaign or with the help of a sales rep, you can always contact the TikTok ad managers for help.

How to Create an Ad in TikTok

After creating your account, go to the Campaign tab and start creating your ad campaign. There are three levels: campaigns, ad groups, and ads.

• Ad Campaign

  At the top, you will find the campaign. This is where you define your campaign’s objective and target budget. There are a few more things you need to define, such as ad groups, target audiences, and schedule. You can create a video content ad for your target audience in your ad group.

  Take note that your country limits the availability of ad campaign objectives. Once you have selected one, pick a name for your campaign and specify your lifetime or daily budget. What is the difference between the two? The lifetime budget makes your ad reach more people quickly while the daily budget moves steadily towards your target market.

• Ad Group

  If it is your first time making an ad in TikTok, you will find it easy to navigate. For example, you will find creating a new ad group quick to set up by simply choosing your ad group’s ad placements. A bonus you can enjoy here is that TikTok can help you choose placements automatically so you can get better results. Your ad group can help you make your ad appear on partner apps, such as TopBuzz, Babe, and the News Republic.

  You should not forget to configure your audience targeting. You can do this by specifying your target audience based on general demographics, interests, and devices.

• Audience Targeting

  You can use the custom audiences offered by TikTok in a few ways. The contact data, website traffic, app activity, and ad engagement are a few things you may consider in customizing your ad audience. With a minimum website traffic data audience of 1000 users, your ad can go a long way.

  Installing TikTok Pixel can help you launch an ad campaign if you decide to retarget your TikTok Ads. It helps you gather traffic data and correspond it to TikTok users. Make sure to install TikTok Pixel before you retarget your ads. You can also use this to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns, optimize your ad delivery, and remove audiences who have already converted. Installing this can help you save money spent on trying to get clicks.

• Bidding and Optimization

  Take note that the higher you bid, the more the chances your ad is visible to your target audience compared to your competitor’s. In this case, you might need to allocate a higher bid for the sake of optimizing your ads. Be certain about the optimization you want. Do you want to optimize for conversion, for clicks, or for impression? Conversion allows you to reach people who will most likely convert to your product or service. This is tracked through app downloads or form submissions. Optimizing for conversion requires you to set up via TikTok Pixel.

  You can use the Smart Optimization of TikTok. If you decide on Click or Impression as your ad goal, do not bother using Smart Optimization. This way, your bidding will not be constantly adjusted and optimized for increased conversions.

• Creating Your Ad

  Ads come as videos or images. If you opt for images, TikTok regroups the images you have selected to appear as a video. You can also choose from the image and video specifications offered to suit you and target your audience better. If you are ready with the images already, take time to check on the following recommended specs for your videos:

  Aspect Ratio: 9:16/1:1/16:9
  Resolution: Greater than 720px x 1280px, 640px by 640px, 1280px by 720px
  Length: 15-19 seconds
  Brand Name Length: 2-20 characters (English)
  App Name Length: 4-40 characters

  Do not forget to preview your ad to check how it looks like on mobile devices. Previewing will save you time and effort and bring you the best results.

• Pacing Option

  The pacing of your budget determines how your budget is spent. You can choose from the Standard Delivery option or the Accelerate option. The Standard Delivery option will space your budget across the length of your campaign while the Accelerate option will spend your budget fast during the scheduled time.

• Creative Tools

  To make the ad stand out, use the creative tools available in TikTok Advertising. The right content should be suited well to your target audience. You can pick from a variety of creative tools, such as video creation kit, landing page to video, smart video soundtrack, and TikTok Ad Studio.

A Few Reminders Before Your Ad Launch

Your ads should use high-resolution images. They will take over the screens of TikTok users and an impressive ad looks more authentic. Your ad only needs one call to action. Adding too many calls to action looks aggressive to your audience. If not aggressive, it will be confusing. For example, making your audience access a coupon or go to your app’s download screen can be very confusing.

Lastly, keep things short and simple. TikTok allows you to use only 80 English characters. You have to be creative enough to get your message across.

Stay tuned for more updates on how TikTok can be a great tool to grow your business!