How To Create a Killer TikTok Campaign

What is TikTok?

TikTok is taking the digital and advertising world by storm. With more than 500 million users worldwide, it is more popular than Twitter and Snapchat yet still has fewer ads. So it represents a great advertising opportunity for the right brands and products. It is a visual app that allows users to edit and share 15-second videos using an array of effects, filters, and music. Although TikTok is cutting edge, and many marketers are adding it to their digital strategy, it is not for every demographic or product. You must assess whether it is a fit for your brand before digging into the how and why.

Is a TikTok campaign right for me?

To create an effective advertising campaign, always begin with a great understanding of your target demographic – the more targeted, the better. That target must be aligned with the demographic of the platform you’re considering. For example, Facebook will resonate with an older crowd and largely be ignored by the younger demos. Approximately 66% of TikTok users are younger than 30 years old, while 41% are aged 16-24. So clearly, this is a platform for a youthful target. Some examples of the trending videos are those relating to school or homework. But remember, the audiences of platforms do develop and change. Consider Facebook. So if it is not a fit right now, you may want to learn about TikTok to stay current and monitor to see when it may evolve into a better fit. Large companies like Nike and Disney have dedicated huge budgets to TikTok.

Is a TikTok campaign expensive?

TikTok campaigns can be costly. Ads are still relatively new on the platform and are at a premium cost, starting at an average of $10 per CPM, and more extensive campaigns may carry a budget of up to $300K. TikTok campaigns have a minimum investment of $500, so this is not the fit for someone seeking affordable options with very predictable results. It is just too new, and still in beta.

Here are some ad type costs examples from 2019.

• Infeed video – $25,000 minimum with $30,000 daily maximum
• VAriable based on influencer and campaign types – $600 to $1000.

How do I sign up for TikTok ads?

If you decide that TikTok is right for you, here’s how to get started. Visit the TikTok Ads home page and click on the “Create an Ad” button. This process can’t yet be fully accomplished online since they are still in development. A form will pop up asking for the details needed to set up your account. Once you have submitted this information, you will hear from a representative who will help you complete it. The rest is pretty simple. Here are the steps to follow

• In the TikTok Ads Dashboard, click on the Campaign tab at the top and then click on Create.
• Choose your campaign objective or the primary goal of your campaign. The three options are Traffic, Conversions, and App Install. (More about setting goals below)
• Select Daily Budget or Total Budget under settings to set your budget. Again, both your daily and total budget must be at least $500.
• You are now ready to set your ad placements, details, and targeting.
  • Create an ad group
  • There is an option to chose platforms like TikTok, BuzzVideo, or the News Republic. You can set this to auto-placement and leave it to TikTok to decide.
  • The prompts will walk you through the set up of URL’s, images, and categories. You’ll choose from up to 20 keywords to describe your website, which will be used to match your audience.
  • You can create a custom audience if you have a list of existing TokTok ID’s
  • Set your budget and schedule, and you’re started.
  • There is online training to learn more about optimization, audiences, and other helpful topics.

Setting optimization goals for my TikTok campaign.

You set your optimization goal to reflect the key metric you’ll be focusing on. You can optimize for Conversion, click, or Impression.

Selecting Conversion as a goal will see that your ad is served to those most likely to convert for your product. Conversion could be downloading your app or submitting a form. You can set up conversion tracking on your landing page using pixels. If you select Click as an option, you will be billed on a CPC basis. If you set Impression as your goal, you will be billed on a CPM basis.

How to design a TikTok ad

TikTok ads can be horizontal, vertical, or square and with images. They have a great tool called Video Creation Kit, which provides templates you can use to customize your images. There are over 300 options for free background music as well.

• They support brand takeovers – meaning an ad will appear instantly when a user opens TikTok. The ad redirects to internal or external links.
• They support in-feed ads – native ads placed at the bottom of organic videos or in the video queue feed. The average $10 per CPM, so they are more affordable than a takeover.
• A final option is a hashtag takeover where you create a sponsored hashtag encouraging users to share content on behalf of your brand for a week or so.

Some specs:

• The recommended aspect ratio is 9:16/1:1/16:0
• A resolution of greater than 720px x 1280px, 640px, or 1280px x 720px.
• A video of 5 to 60 seconds in length, with a recommended length of 9 to 15 seconds.
• A brand name that is 2 to 20 characters in length or an app name that is 4 to 40 characters in length.
• A description of the product or service that is 12 to 100 characters.

And as always, monitor your campaign results. You can monitor this in your Dashboard. Utilize the filters to slice and dice the data, and learn how the ads are performing on all relevant dimensions and metrics. Filters include ad creative, audience demographics, device, and placement.

What is the best TikTok marketing strategy?

Once you have determined your campaign’s goal, there are numerous components you can use when developing your TikTok strategy.

• Challenges or Hashtag Campaigns. This is a great way to build brand awareness and urge users to engage with you. Be sure it is not too difficult or too easy. Allow for creativity with your challengers so they can show their individuality.
• Duet – This allows a performer to interact with his or her audience or have a conversation with them
• Influencers – Influencers can be beneficial in spreading your message to their followers. You must be sure to pick the right influencer to be sure they are aligned with your brand in tone, style, and content.

How to create TikTok ads that convert

The basic tenets of advertising apply to TikTok, of course. This means having absolute clarity on your target audience and being sure they align with the platform demographic. You must also be very clear on your campaign’s goal and what stage in the funnel you are targeting. This will help ensure that you are optimizing for the right goal – clicks, conversions, or visits. Much of this will also depend upon your brand’s maturity and whether this is a new demographic for you.

TikTok best practices and tips

Tiktok provides a TikTok Inspiration section that features various case studies highlighting some very successful campaigns. Please review them carefully. There are some great ideas and are sure to get your creative juices flowing.

Browse TikTok like your target would and use the Discover page to see what is trending. Check out the advertisers using the Hashtag Challenge campaigns.

Use the search box to see top users, videos, sounds, and hashtags related to your business.

Study what other advertisers are doing on the platform. See where you’ll fit in. Even if you are not ready for your TikTok campaign yet, stay updated and relevant, so you’ll know when it is time to join the many advertisers on the growing platform.