Is TikTok the Right Platform for Your Ads? 4 Important Points to Consider
Statistics show almost half of the world’s population is on social media, with approximately 4.2 billion users. The main players in social media circles have always been Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, and Instagram until 2018, when TikTok entered the social media space.
Initially, the app was called Musical.ly but was rebranded as TikTok by Bytendanace, a Chinese tech firm that purchased the app in 2018. Since then, the app has grown in popularity, reaching over 2.6 billion downloads and over 1.5 billion active users every month.
Despite the massive growth, many marketers are hesitant to run ads on the platform, but this attitude is changing fast. If you are considering placing your ads on TikTok but are unsure if it is the right thing to do, this article is a good read for you.
Why Should You Be on TikTok?
Marketing is about placing your products in front of as many eyes as possible. With over 1 billion users every month, TikTok is one platform you cannot ignore.
But many active users on the platform may not be reason enough. You may consider other factors before choosing TikTok to run your ads, and here are some of them.
1. Do You Want to Target Gen Z?
Placing ads means spending money without knowing whether you will achieve the intended goal. The best way to ensure that you achieve the intended goal is to place your ad on a platform where your target audience is.
According to statistics, approximately 43% of all TikTok users are aged between 18 and 24, falling under the Gen Z bracket. Another 32 percent are aged between 25 and 34. Only 3.4% of TikTok users are older than 55.
So if your primary target group is Gen Z, placing your heart on TikTok presents you with the best opportunity of reaching your audience. If your target audience is older than 34, placing your ads on TikTok may not be a worthwhile investment.
Even when the target audience is the right one, success is not always guaranteed if you do not know the ins and outs of TikTok advertising. The good news is that Hello Social’s TikTok advertising guide can fill you in on all there is to know about advertising on this platform to ensure you get value for your money.
2. Will Your Ads Resonate With TikTok Users?
If you are sure that your target audience is on TikTok, then you have a good reason to place your ads on the platform. But before you do, seek to know if your ads will resonate with your target audience and the platform.
Unlike on other platforms where being overtly sales-oriented or corporate-sounding may work, such an approach will not work on TikTok. In other words, your ads on other social media platforms may not work for TikTok. So, it’s best to consider the content type that works for the platform and if your team can deliver.
If not, it’s best to have the team get some training on TikTok marketing first. Alternatively, you could contract a marketing agency to do the hard work.
3. What is Your Budget?
TikTok can be a goldmine for marketers. But the costs involved can be prohibitive for small businesses. First, you must uphold the highest quality standards to make your ads stand out. Second, your videos will need to be well-shot and attention-grabbing, which may require you to use professional video editors, pushing up the cost.
Also, the CPM can be significantly high at $1.82 per 100 impressions. Impressions are the times an ad is displayed to a viewer. This means the cost of advertising will depend on the number of people who see your ad.
If your ad gets in front of many eyes without making conversions, it can translate to a fairly high cost. TikTok also requires a base budget of $500, so it would be best to ensure that you have the budget first before investing.
4. What Types of Services and Products Are You Marketing?
The type of products and services you sell is important to consider before choosing a marketing platform. Typically, TikTok users are a little lax and always on the lookout for what’s trending.
This means that if your product has nothing to do with what’s trending, TikTok may not be the best platform for you. Some products that have been seen to perform well on TikTok include beauty products, jewelry, books, kitchen appliances, android and iOS apps, and electronics.
If you sell any of these products and services, TikTok advertising is worth considering.
Different Ad Formats
Every social media platform is unique in terms of the content that performs well on it and its advertising approach. TikTok offers several methods for placing ads on the platform, with each format having different outcomes. Below is a list of the different ads you can run on TikTok.
Top-View Ads
Top-view ads are arguably the most effective ads for building brand awareness. This ad appears at the top of the page and will be the first thing users will see when they open the app.
The TikTok user cannot skip this ad until after the first three seconds. Therefore, the goal of every marketer investing in top-view ads should be to capture the audience’s attention within three seconds if they hope to have them pay attention. These ads are more like organic posts, allowing users to interact with the advertiser.
Brand Takeover
Brand takeover ads are static and take up the entire screen. Like top-view, the ads pop up when a user opens the app and are not skippable, similar to the non-skippable ads on YouTube.
The “non-skip” feature ensures that users will have the time to get the ad’s content and click on it if they are interested. This approach is great for brand awareness and works best when matched with other formats.
In Feed Ads
In-feed ads appear on the user’s “For You” page, meaning they can be disguised as organic content. Like organic feed, users can comment, like, and share the ad.
Also, you can add clickable links to your post, such as a call to action button, to drive traffic to your landing page.
Branded Hashtag Challenge
Hashtags are very popular on TikTok and are responsible for viral posts. Marketers on this platform can also leverage the power of hashtags by running branded hashtag challenges.
These ads tap into the audience’s passion for creating content, with the goal being to have the audience create content around your hashtag. When done right, branded hashtags can have thousands of users participating, which can be pretty effective at building brand awareness and trust.
Final Words
While a relatively late entrant into the social media scene, TikTok has become a formidable force in the social media space. Traditionally, the platform was considered a Gen Z-only platform, but acceptance for the social media giant is growing in all age groups.
While it may not be the perfect marketing ground for everyone, it is one of the places you want to keep close tabs on, especially if any of the factors highlighted in this article apply to your business.
Sell more, understand your customers’ journey for free!
Sales and Marketing teams spend millions of dollars to bring visitors to your website. But do you track your customer’s journey? Do you know who buys and why?
Around 8% of your website traffic will sign up on your lead forms. What happens to the other 92% of your traffic? Can you identify your visiting accounts? Can you engage and retarget your qualified visitors even if they are not identified?
