Welcome back to our series on TikTok advertising! In our first installment, we explored TikTok’s meteoric rise and compared its advertising landscape to other major platforms. Today, we’re shifting gears to dive into actionable strategies that will help you tap into TikTok’s full potential. 61% of TikTok users discover new brands on the platform, making it an exciting playing field for advertisers willing to get creative and think outside the box. Here’s how you can make the most of it:

1. Embrace the Power of Trends

TikTok thrives on trends. In fact, the platform’s algorithm actually goes out of its way to promote content that aligns with current trends, making it a fertile ground for brands to engage with audiences. So trend away, but remember to:

• Stay Current: Trends don’t stick around for long. Monitor the Discover page and For You feed regularly to catch trending sounds, challenges, and hashtags to ensure your content remains relevant. Better to not engage at all than put effort into an asset that is yesterday’s news. 
• Participate Creatively: Create content that integrates trends in a way that aligns with your brand’s identity. But be discerning when determining which trends to engage with; it’s impossible for a brand to align with every single trending topic. Authenticity and originality are key!
• Learn from Others: Tarte Cosmetics, a brand with high name-recognition, found success in creating TikToks related to the trending controversy surrounding its own marketing tactics. A more emerging brand might start by engaging with others’ trending content – this is how Zaria Parvez, Duolingo’s Senior Global Social Media Manager, developed the brand’s iconic presence on the platform.  

2. Create Authentic and Engaging Content

TikTok users value genuine content. TikTok’s format thrives on relatability rather than overtly promotional ads. To create content that resonates:

• Show Behind-the-Scenes: Give your audience a peek into your brand’s daily operations, product development, or team activities.
• User-Generated Content (UGC): Encourage your audience to create and share content related to your brand. This can include challenges, reviews, or creative uses of your products.
• Interactive Features: Use TikTok’s interactive elements like polls, Q&As, and duets to engage directly with your audience.

3. Leverage Influencer Partnerships

Influencers on TikTok have the power to exponentially amplify your brand’s reach. To collaborate effectively:

• Choose the Right Influencers: Look for influencers whose content and audience align with your values and target market. 
• Collaborative Content: Work with influencers to create assets that feel natural and authentic to their own content. Consider what could fit seamlessly into their regular posts. That could look like a tutorial, review, GRWM, etc.
• Utilize TikTok’s Network: If your brand spends $10K or more a month, you are eligible for the TikTok Creative Challenge, or TTCC. TTCC provides high-performance and easy-to-use creative content, at scale, for performance-driven advertisers. By simply creating a creative challenge on the platform, advertisers can receive up to 30 assets generated by TikTok creators, and the videos can be synchronized to your TikTok Ads Manager accounts.

4. Utilize TikTok’s Ad Formats 

TikTok offers several ad formats designed to engage users in various ways.

• In-Feed Ads: These ads appear in users’ For You feeds and can include call-to-action buttons. Craft compelling, visually appealing ads that fit seamlessly into the TikTok experience. In-feed ads are the most important type of unit to incorporate into your plan because they are the most seamlessly interwoven with organic content as you scroll through the For You feed. However, because in-feed ads are typically consumed quickly and then scrolled past, heightened creative fatigue is a consequence.
• Branded Hashtag Challenges: Create a branded challenge that encourages users to participate and share their content. This can drive high levels of engagement and brand visibility.
• TopView Ads: These ads appear when users first open the app, offering maximum visibility. Use this format for impactful, attention-grabbing content.
• Branded Effects: Develop custom filters or effects that users can incorporate into their own videos. This can enhance brand recall and encourage user interaction.

Regardless of ad placement, creative fatigue is more prevalent and frequent in TikTok due to the short lifespan of trends and the shortened attention span of consumers. It is considered best practice to have anywhere from 3-5+ creative variations running at a given time, and to refresh the creative roughly every 6 weeks to maintain relevancy.

5. Test New Product Offerings

TikTok is constantly developing new product offerings to stay up to date with the diversified manner in which consumers are using the app. Just as content trends can become prevalent extremely quickly, trends within marketing tactics are also quick to evolve. It is always better to be ahead of the curve by testing new products than finding yourself left behind due to lack of adoption. 

• Search Campaigns: This campaign type offers a new ad format that is keyword-based which triggers the ad to display in the top placement on the organic search results page. These are designed to capitalize on the fact that consumers are using TikTok like a search engine to research, find inspiration, or simply explore various subjects. 
• Smart Creative: Per TikTok, this is an “automated creative solution that optimizes ad creative combinations through ad group fatigue detection and auto-refresh strategies”. This tool was designed to help combat creative fatigue which in turn will help improve efficiencies over time as ad groups will have less turnover thanks to the automation of ad rotation. 

6. Leverage TikTok Shop and Affiliate Marketing

TikTok Shop and affiliate marketing offer new ways to drive sales and expand your reach:

TikTok Shop Integration: Utilize TikTok Shop to enable in-app purchases directly from your videos. Feature products in your content and provide seamless shopping experiences for users.

• Live Shopping Events: Host live shopping sessions where viewers can purchase products in real-time. This format can drive immediate sales and foster direct interaction with your audience.
• Product Showcases: Create engaging videos that showcase your products in use, highlighting their features and benefits. In analyzing creative leveraged for one of Arm Candy’s retail campaigns, we found that TikToks focusing on physical products had a 27% stronger CTR than those with a brand/lifestyle focus.

Affiliate Marketing and Commission-Based Promotion: Encourage users to promote your products in exchange for a commission. This approach can enhance brand visibility and drive sales.

• Affiliate Programs: Develop an affiliate program where users earn commissions by promoting your products through their content. Provide them with unique discount codes or affiliate links to track sales.

TikTok offers a dynamic and evolving platform for advertisers, with unique opportunities to engage audiences in fresh and creative ways. By applying the strategies listed above, you can harness TikTok’s potential to drive meaningful results for your brand. Happy TikToking, and we’ll see you in Part 3 of our series!