TikTok blew up in 2020. It was first popular with Gen Z, but it didn’t take long for the older lot to join. It was meant for fun, socializing, interacting, and just passing time. But since, it has grown beyond that.
And now, businesses have seen a great opportunity on the platform. With over 30 million daily users, it is quite commendable to use the platform for your business and generate profits.
If you are new to this and want to try it out, this article is the best guide of TikTok ads. Find out all about TikTok ads manager, TikTok advertising best practices, types of TikTok ads, and the benefits of TikTok advertising.
Where to Get Started
You probably already have set up your TikTok account for your personal brand or business. So where do you go from there?
Step 1
The very first step is to set up your TikTok ads manager. To create your ad account;
- Go to the “TikTok for Business” page
- Enter your billing information (country or region)
- Choose whether it is for business (promoting goods and services) or individual (promoting personal websites and pages)
- Enter your email and password
- They will send a code to your email to verify that account, enter this code on the same page you are filling in your personal info (email, password, etc.)
- You can also choose to sign up with your number. This means the code will be sent to your phone
- Agree to the terms and conditions and sign up
Step 2
Install the TikTok pixel. This is a code found on your website that collects all the information about events on your sites. For example, how users get to your site, the devices they use, from which regions they are from, and more.
To create the pixel, select the standard or developer mode. Then in your ads manager, create a “Web Event”, and you are good to deploy your pixel. Just remember to carefully check your cookies’ consent settings before you download the pixel.
Step 3
Create your campaign.
- Log in to your TikTok ads manager
- Hit “Campaigns”
- Click “Create”
- Choose your campaign objectives (app installs, traffic, or conversions)
- Give your campaign a name and set your budget
- Define your audiences, budgets, and ad placements
Create your Ad
At this point, you can upload your ad creative. This can be a video or image. You can check out the TikTok recommended ad specs for the best results.
Once you have previewed and customized your ad to your satisfaction, choose your call to action. You have options depending on your goal. You can ask your audience to “Book Now”, “Download Now”, “Shop Now”, “Learn More”, “Sign Up”, or “Apply Now”.
Click “Submit” to start running your ad on TikTok.
Types of Tiktok Ads
There are different types of TikTok ads that you will be required to choose at some point in the process of creating your campaign. This basically means where and how you want your viewers to see your ads. If you don’t know what they are, check them out below
Infeed Ads
These types of ads will show to your viewers amidst the native or main news feed (For You). You can create these to be up to 60 seconds. However, the sweet spot on TikTok is always up to 15 seconds as users don’t really have a long attention span.
Viewers can like, comment, and even share these types of ads. It works well if you are trying to drive more traffic to your site. They are also the most common type of ad so they are ideal even for new users wanting to advertise physical goods and services.
Brand Takeover
These are full-screen ads and they appear on the “For You” page. They are usually 3-5 second videos, meant to direct your audience to a landing page or a TikTok hashtag challenge. You can choose either of these Call To Action depending on your objective.
Spark Ads
If you are not looking to create videos and images from scratch for your ads, then this is your perfect option. TikTok spark ads are meant to promote content that you already have on your account. They also appear as organic content as they don’t interrupt your users’ scrolling experience.
These ads are best linked out to another account (your business’ accounts), as all the engagements (likes, shares, comments, and even follows) are attributed to the original account. However, you can still add a CTA to your website or landing page to get more traffic.
TopView Ads
Just as the name suggests, these types of ads appear at the very top of the main feed or the For You Page (FYP). This means they are a must-see for users. They can be up to 60 seconds long and appear on full screen.
They also preview with sound, and you can include your Call To Action within the video/ image. While they may seem a great deal (which they are), they are not the best TikTok ads option if you want your ads to be seamless and feel “organic”.
Tiktok Advertising Best Practices
Ever wonder why some campaigns are successful and others are not?
There are rules when running ads and you must follow TikTok advertising best practices to see a good ROI (Return on Investments). These are strategies you use to ensure you get the desired results from your TikTok ad campaigns.
Some of these practices include
Interest Targeting
This means creating your ads, based on audiences’ specific interests by analyzing TikTok interest targeting list. The good news is that there is an abundance of interest categories on TikTok, including travel, pets, games, fitness, apparel, sports and outdoors, appliances, and more.
While creating your ad, think about what category your product or service should be in and target users who belong to these categories of interest. Chances are you will have more success with this strategy.
Participate in Hashtag Challenges
Actually, you have the option to either create a hashtag challenge or participate in one. Whatever the case, make sure you include this in your marketing campaigns.
Hashtag challenges are a chance for your brand to go viral, which translates to more followers on your pages, more traffic on your website, more sales, and more profits.
Use your CTAs Correctly
You probably already use Call to Action on your ads. But if you haven’t been successful yet, it is probably because you don’t use your CTAs correctly. Or something as simple as your viewers are not even seeing it.
Before you even think about CTAs make sure to create content that your viewers can relate to and engage with. After all, if they can’t sit through your 60-second video, how do you expect them to hit your CTA button?
Then, conveniently place your CTA depending on the type of ad you choose to use. This may be within your ad or at the end.
Conclusion
If you have done other social media advertising, then TikTok shouldn’t be any difficult. This is the best guide of TikTok ads to get you started. As long as you create excellent content that your audience is able to connect and engage with, then you are good to go.
The rest is to create a strategy that will work particularly for you, determine the type of TikTok ad you need to run, and measure your performance while you make adjustments accordingly.
