How to Advertise on TikTok

TikTok has been a popular app for many people, with many of them spending hours scrolling and viewing different videos that pique their interest. There are so many people on the app that as of July 2022, there are over one billion active monthly users.

The sheer reach that this platform has makes TikTok a great social media platform to advertise on. However, it can be tricky to know where to start and how to use the platform effectively, so, we have created a complete guide to TikTok ads that will help you get up and running.

Steps to set up a TikTok Ad campaign

TikTok ads are a great tool if you are an influencer or if you have a business and you are looking to promote your products or expand beyond your audience’s boundary. However, if you have no idea what you’re doing, don’t worry. Here are the steps you should take to set up a TikTok ad campaign.

• Create a TikTok ads account

The first step is to create a TikTok ads account on the TikTok Ads Manager, select your billing country/region, and then determine whether you’re using the account for a business or as an individual.

Before the account is fully set up, providing basic information like your email address and setting up a password is required. Once you have inputted this information, a verification code will be sent to your chosen email, and once that’s completed, and you have agreed to the terms and conditions, your account will be ready to go.

• Install TikTok Pixel

Installing TikTok Pixel is crucial when creating a TikTok ad campaign as it is a powerful tracking tool that collects information on user activity and location, tracks sales and measures the impact ads have on your website. It is also a tool that helps you reach the right audience, which in turn will lead to a higher conversion rate on the ads you put out.

Select either “Standard Mode” or “Developer Mode,” and then set up a “Web Event” in the TikTok Ads Manager to create your first Pixel.

Before installing the Pixel, don’t forget to examine your cookie consent settings. Next, download or copy the Pixel code and paste it into your website’s header.

• Create an ad campaign

After giving your campaign a name, choose your campaign objectives. There are seven different campaign objectives you can choose from – reach, traffic, app installs, video views, lead generation, community interaction, and conversions.

The different ways you would use these options:

• • Reach: you want to show your ads to as many people as possible.
  • Traffic: you want to use your ads to drive traffic to a specific URL.
  • App Installs: you want to use your ads to encourage people to install your app by sending them to the app store.
  • Video Views: you want to get as many plays of your ads from the right audience.
  • Lead Generation: use a fully customisable form on your TikTok ads to generate leads for your business.
  • Community Interaction: you want to use your TikTok account to engage with the community and boost brand awareness.
• Conversions: use this objective if you want to encourage specific actions from users – this can be anything from just visiting your site, to making an enquiry or purchasing products from you.

• Create an ad group and set your TikTok ad placement

You might be wondering why it is essential to create an ad group. The reason is that it’ll help you or your business determine its audience, campaign budget, and ad placement.

Choosing the proper ad placement will help your business reach the correct audiences and its partners’ platforms. 

Unlike other social media sites, TikTok allows you to advertise on other platforms like Vigo Video (India), BuzzVideo (Japan) and many more.

If you’re new to TikTok ads, starting with “Automatic placement” will get TikTok to maximise the reach and value of your ad. However, if you want to do it yourself, you can choose “Select placement” to manually control where your ads appear.

Determine your creative type

When you use the “Automated Creative Optimization” function, TikTok will generate different versions of your content and gauge how well it performs. But, of course, this function can always be turned off if you don’t like it.

Audiences

Choose the area, gender, and age range of the audience for your ad. You can add users with specific interests, those who speak a particular language, and those who have already interacted with your content.

• Finally, create an ad

You can configure your first ad after creating your ad group. You have the choice of either uploading a video or an image file as your ad creative on TikTok. It is wise to follow the suggested ad specifications for the best outcomes as it will guarantee that your advertisement looks great on TikTok and other partner platforms.

The different types of TikTok ads

If you have a business, a great way to promote and increase product sales is to advertise them on TikTok. It has many active daily users, which allows you to reach your target audience and raise awareness of your business. 

It is worth getting familiar with the different types of TikTok ads available, so here is a list of the various types of TikTok ads that you can choose from to boost your business.

• In-Feed Ads

TikTok ads are an excellent way to promote your business. In-feed ads appear on the “For You Page” (FYP) as people scroll through their app, usually lasting 60 seconds.

However, it’s ideal if you aim between 9 – 15 second videos because this will blend into what users see so seamlessly that viewers won’t even realise they are consuming sponsored content!

• Brand Takeover Ads

Brand Takeover ads present a full-screen video and drive direct sales by generating mass awareness, which causes immediate reactions. Think fast-paced entertainment with high-quality images, videos, or GIFs that encourage user engagement. 

They can appear anywhere within the FYP, so you’re less limited by where there’s space for an ad message. Plus, if someone clicks through one of these links, they’ll be taken directly to your landing page.

• Branded Hashtag Challenge Ads

Branded Hashtag Challenge Ads are sponsored challenges by brands that ask TikTok users to create a video of them performing the challenge using the sponsored hashtag (e.g. #TheSplashDance; #PlayWithPringles). It is a great way to build engagement with the community, and helps build brand awareness.

• Branded Effects Ads

This type of ad allows brands to create customised and sharable stickers, filters, and special effects. They are a fantastic way to encourage engagement and create a unique identity on the app.

TikTok ads budget

When advertising on TikTok, pricing starts from $10/CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions). You’ll also need at least $500 to start your campaign.

While creating your ad campaign, it is essential to determine your budget because the ads for your business will only run for the duration of your budgeted timeline. Once the budget runs out, the ad for your business will stop running.

there are two budgets available.

Lifetime Budget: The maximum amount you’re willing to spend on a campaign during the entire period. 

Daily Budget: The maximum amount you’re willing to spend on a campaign or ad group daily.

If you’re a business thinking of using TikTok ads, it is crucial to determine your budget before starting an ad campaign.

TikTok advertising best practices

To run a successful TikTok ads campaign, you should understand the different types of TikTok ads and adopt some good practices for your business to grow and reach more audiences.

Vertical Videos

Your video content should comply with the recommended specifications so that your ad appears authentic and seamless. 

If the content does not meet the specifications, TikTok will most likely reject your ad. And, even if they do accept it with the wrong specifications, the ad won’t have the same impact as they can appear crooked or be cut off at the edges.

Include impactful visuals

Some TikTok users mindlessly scroll their FYP, so it is in your business’s best interest to include attention-grabbing visuals that attract and retain the user’s attention.

Work with influencers in your niche

An influencer has built up a large and engaged following on TikTok, meaning they can reach many potential customers for your product or service. 

Followers tend to trust the influencers they follow and see them as being reliable sources of information. It makes influencers more effective than traditional advertising, as people are likely to pay attention to and believe a recommendation made by an influencer. 

Working with influencers to promote your product on TikTok can be a very effective way to reach your target audience.

Incorporate a Call-to-Action

A TikTok ad is not complete without a call-to-action (CTA). When used in TikTok ads, CTAs can help increase conversion rates by motivating customers to take action.

Successful TikTok ads examples

PepsiCo Australia

To promote the upcoming release of their new flavours in Australia, Pepsi Max started a campaign on TikTok by utilising both In-Feed advertisements and Brand Takeover. 

The ad attracted 2.4 million users in one day with a click-through rate (CTR) of 24%. Additionally, this brand takeover ad received over 10 million impressions by the end of the campaign, with an overall CTR of 17%. 

Mercedes-Benz 

During the #MBStarChallenge Hashtag Challenge, Mercedes-Benz used Brand Takeover, In-Feed ads, and Branded Effects to increase brand awareness and engagement with Gen Z and millennials. 

The campaign was a huge success with over 185,000 films uploaded by 73,000 users, and 180 million people watching them. The Brand Takeover CTR was 17.5%.

They obtained 30,000 new followers and a post-campaign analysis that revealed a 66.3% increase in ad memory and an 18.2% rise in brand favorability. 

Need help with TikTok ads?

Are you looking to grow your business or follower numbers but have no idea where to start? First Page offers a wide range of digital marketing strategies, including social media marketing, SEO, paid Google advertising, and TikTok marketing. We have the tools to help you grow and reach your target audiences and put you in the front of the market, contact us today.