It’s Time to Start Using TikTok Ads

My thumb is currently sore as I type this blog post, thanks to TikTok and just how addictive it truly is. 

I know what you’re thinking, “how old is this guy?” Well, to be honest, this guy is a 30 year-old, middle Millennial, who was introduced to the social media phenomenon by none other than my father-in-law. 

If that doesn’t illustrate TikTok’s popularity in today’s social media culture, and the unique opportunity businesses have to reach multiple generations through the channel, I don’t know what will. TikTok is the latest platform to take the digital world by storm, and that’s exactly why your business needs to be using TikTok ads.

Why Should TikTok Ads Interest Your Business?

TikTok represents everything users and businesses tend to love about new social media platforms. It’s the new frontier in which the algorithm for organic growth and paid advertising haven’t been manipulated by TikTok itself for maximum profits. 

What’s more, the data around TikTok users and TikTok advertising to generate user spend is headed in the right direction.

Download and User Spending Data for Organic and Paid TikTok Ads

According to a recent blog post from the data source, Sensor Tower, there are many compelling reasons to get in on the action of TikTok Ads. Let’s look at some of their highlights from an April post:

• Over 2 billion active users have downloaded the app from the Google Play Store and the App Store.
• 315 million users downloaded the app in quarter 1 of 2020 alone (probably a result of the COVID-19 pandemic).
• India, China, and the U.S. make up the majority of the app downloads
• User spending is growing exponentially and is highest in China ($331 million), U.S. ($86.5 million), and Great Britain ($9 million).

What is TikTok?

For those of you who are new to TikTok, let’s give you a brief introduction to the latest social media platform. 

TikTok is a free social media platform created by ByteDance that is solely app based, similar to Instagram or Snapchat. Users generate short, 1 minute maximum length video content that is heavily associated with a song or unique audio pairing. 

Oftentimes users are lip syncing or performing one of the viral dance routines for a particular song. 

However, as the platform has increased in popularity, the creativity and breadth of content types have expanded. Now comedians take advantage of short skits, artists and skilled trades workers show off projects with cliffhangers that invite you to watch the next video, plus an overload of all the cute pet videos you could ever want to see.

Viewers swipe up to go to the next video with the ability to follow creators they enjoy and like content that they believed was good. The algorithm begins to learn the content that you enjoy watching, and frequently mixes up popular videos with new, “undiscovered” videos.

When videos receive likes, they continue to be dispersed, resulting in huge viewing numbers for any type of silly video you might come up with.

Common Types of TikTok Ads and Advertising Strategies:

• Brand Takeover Ads
• TikTok Influencer Marketing
• In-Feed Paid Ads
• Hashtag Challenges
• User Generated Content
• 2D Lens Filters

10 TikTok Ads Best Practices for Your In-Feed Video Content

By now, we’ve probably convinced you to start making videos for TikTok, but where do you start? Let’s look at some of the most recommended best practices for you to create and share your brand’s content:

1. Shoot Your TikTok Ads as Vertical Videos

While TikTok will allow you to submit horizontal videos, the platform experience for your viewers is best when it is in a vertical video layout. Users don’t turn their phones sideways to use the app so anything shot horizontally will appear smaller on phone screens.

2. Always Be Thinking about Audio

Unlike other video apps or video capable platforms, TikTok automatically plays audio. Scrollers on Facebook or Instagram often watch videos silently, encouraging the use of subtitles. Subtitles are less necessary on TikTok videos as most users are logged on for the audio visual combination of the platform.

Although subtitles are still great for any hearing impaired users of the TikTok app!

TikTok originated as a lip sync or karaoke style platform. The ability to garner more upvotes or likes can be enhanced by playing into the latest dance craze or viral TikTok song. 

3. Your Subject Should Be in the Center of the Screen

The bottom of your viewers screen is typically taken up by either an ad button or the description and hashtags. While shooting video, be sure to center your subject for the best possible user experience.

Also be sure to maintain continuity and angles. If the video is shot with only one person who is having a fake conversation between two characters, then make sure the video shows the two characters facing each other while engaging in dialogue.

4. Be Interesting, Quickly!

Be concise, use all your tools and get your viewer’s attention quickly. Don’t expect users to make it to the end of your one minute video. Utilize suspenseful audio, play up emotions, and use cliffhangers to your advantage.

Colorful clothing, relatable environments, and immediate movement can all be leveraged to encourage users to stick around.

Don’t forget that you also have a caption at your disposal.

5. Leverage Influencers and Popular Creators

When running a paid video ad on TikTok, users immediately understand that they are watching an ad. However, users are often more willing to hang around to see what’s being advertised if it features a creator they love. 

Think of the “David Dobriks” of the world and the Vlog Squad. Yes, it’s a real thing.

6. Make the CTA Clear

As is always important in marketing, but just to be sure we say it, make your call-to-action clear. Tell the users exactly what they need to do.

7. Paid Video TikTok Ads Need to Be Short

Similar to the reddit community, TikTok users are particular about their ads. Even TikTok themselves recommend keeping your ads short. Try keeping them less than 15 or even 10 seconds in length.

8. High Quality Audio and Video is Important

Whether you are using a GoPro, a phone, or the latest DSLR from Canon, make sure your audio and video is focused, shot in 720p or higher quality.

There is nothing more annoying than audio that has not been enhanced or recorded properly. Your users will immediately move on. 

Also, if you are going to feature a song or audio clip from another source, be sure that the audio from your video recording isn’t distracting or taking away from the clip you want people to hear.

9. Lighting

Videos need to be well lit, either naturally or by the use of lighting equipment. Having good lighting is one of the easiest ways to make your videos appear professional!

10. Use Humor, Insane Skill, or Valuable Learning

Some of the most viewed videos are either teaching audiences, showing off a nearly impossible trick, or making users laugh. This can be done by sharing industry how-to videos, spending a day trying to hit a golf ball into a cup and making it look like you did it on the first try, or performing relatable, funny skits that play on your audience’s personality.

How Different Companies use TikTok Ads with Video Examples

This Reese’s Puff TikTok ad is a great example of a big brand understanding the importance of getting in front of a lot of people. It features a custom song created by the brand. The vibrant orange colors of the clothing and cereal box immediately draw the eye in, and the ad features a lot of quick video cuts and motion. 

It clocks in at just over 15 seconds in length. We don’t need a lot of time because we all know what Reese’s Puffs are. Delicious, of course.

Truth’s TikTok ad acts on our insatiable appetite for trick shots and scenarios made possible only by technology and video edits. It features one young man cloned all over our screen. 

His multiple selves are all wearing that bright orange shirt to draw the eye across the screen. Then one at a time, each self shoots a vape pen into a cup. The action in the advertisement begins immediately, and is done in about 14 seconds. 

This TikTok Advertisement is a great way for brands to show off the utility of their product, immediately by demonstrating how great the product looks, and exactly what it offers the customer. 

In this video, the ad quickly shows how simply you can insert your cell phone into the protective case. We see water poured over to illustrate that it is waterproof and the hammer seemingly illustrates added durability when dropped or crushed. A quick and simple ad that clocks in at about 11 seconds.

This advertisement is a great example of a company who has their own “organic” TikTok account. As you might have noticed in the above paid ads, there is a call to action button that allows you to push traffic to a given product, but not every type of marketing or advertisement requires an immediate purchase CTA. 

This video, for example, showcases the luxury that Royal Palm Properties provides to its guests. Not many people have ever had a television birthed from a bed frame to be perfectly placed at your feet. It features a hype hip hop track to make you feel like you’re a queen or king. 

Check out the number of likes the video has in the corner, too. Nothing like 6.7 million likes and 512,200 shares to make production of an eight second video well worth your time.

If you’re ready to start advertising on TikTok, contact us, today. And stay tuned for our next blog post about TikTok Advertising coming next week.