For those who’re creating an internet promoting technique in 2023, you’d be remiss to miss TikTok. TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021, surpassing over one billion lively customers in the identical 12 months.

However TikTok customers aren’t simply on the app for memes and dance challenges—they’re additionally prepared to buy. TikTok reported that its customers are 1.5 occasions extra prone to buy a product after seeing it marketed on TikTok.

Which means the TikTok platform is a great place to go if you wish to place adverts that attain a extremely engaged and huge viewers, particularly members of Gen Z.

On this information, we’ll stroll you thru methods to create TikTok adverts, and share some wonderful recommendation from Parade, a model that’s made an enormous splash with its personal marketing campaign.

TikTok promoting 101 

Let’s begin with an summary of promoting choices TikTok provides, in addition to some technical particulars you’ll have to know earlier than making an advert of your personal.

What sort of adverts are you able to place on TikTok?

The bread and butter of TikTok adverts are in-feed adverts—adverts that seem as somebody is swiping by means of the app to look at movies. These are probably the most reasonably priced and accessible adverts supplied by TikTok, and likewise those we’ll be specializing in on this tutorial. They take advantage of sense for small to medium-sized companies and are an important place to begin for a TikTok marketing campaign.

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In-feed adverts match seamlessly into the expertise of utilizing TikTok. They appear precisely like a user-generated TikTok, apart from a small Sponsored tag beneath the video’s caption. After a number of seconds, a call-to-action button seems, corresponding to Store Now or Be taught Extra, that’s decided by whoever locations the advert. This can be utilized to hyperlink on to your web site.

Though a person can instantly swipe previous an in-feed advert, ones which might be made nicely and match into the tradition and elegance of TikTok will be capable to generate views, likes, shares, and feedback, identical to every other TikTok.

You’ll be able to create and launch an in-feed advert your self utilizing the TikTok Adverts Supervisor, which we’ll dig into under. TikTok additionally notes that adverts can seem in a number of completely different locations, together with: in-feed, on the element web page, post-roll, and by way of story. This is dependent upon what placement you choose. 

TikTok additionally provides extra premium advert choices to its managed accounts, together with choices like: 

• Branded Hashtag Problem. Challenges are a preferred a part of TikTok’s tradition, and this marketing campaign has manufacturers create their very own with a hashtag that’s then promoted, giving this feature built-in viral potential.
• Branded Results. TikTok’s enormous library of enjoyable video results may be added to with a branded impact created in partnership with an advertiser. Like a hashtag problem, a branded impact encourages customers to work together immediately along with your branding.

Whereas these choices can lead to excessive engagement, they’re additionally out of attain for many manufacturers. They’re usually utilized by main firms, like Apple or McDonald’s, or to advertise a brand new film. As you possibly can most likely guess, which means a excessive price ticket, extra technical experience required, and the necessity to work immediately with TikTok.

What about promoted TikToks?

For those who’ve already spent a while making TikToks, you’ll have seen the possibility to advertise a TikTok. This isn’t the identical as inserting an advert, however there are some similarities.

TikToks may be promoted natively on the app by tapping the three-dot image by yourself TikTok, then tapping the Promote button with a flame form. From there, you possibly can select a purpose on your promotion (corresponding to directing customers to your web site), outline your audience, and set a price range on your marketing campaign.

This technique makes use of “cash” if in case you have an iPhone, the identical foreign money customers should purchase to present presents to their favourite creators. That is the most cost effective strategy to pay for placement on TikTok, with the most cost effective possibility being a one-day marketing campaign of 200 cash—about $2. For those who use Android, you’ll pay along with your native foreign money. 

A promoted TikTok might be used as a strategy to take a look at the waters on the app, however its choices are much less subtle than the TikTok Advert Supervisor interface, which provides extra exact viewers focusing on and permits you to add a model new video to function an advert. The advert supervisor will even present extra detailed analytics in regards to the success of your marketing campaign, permitting you to A/B take a look at completely different spots. These promoted TikToks are additionally out there to all customers, not simply these with a enterprise account. You’ll be able to solely promote TikToks you’ve already posted to your personal feed, versus importing a video that’s solely meant to be an advert.

How a lot do TikTok adverts price?

TikTok’s self-serve in-feed adverts help you set your personal each day price range, beginning at $5 per day when utilizing TikTok’s simplified advert placement choices. Clearly, the extra you spend, the extra potential you must attain new clients.

For extra skilled entrepreneurs, there are extra customizable choices that embrace bids, however you don’t want to fret about that when you’re new to promoting on TikTok.

General, your price range will probably be decided by many components, corresponding to how a lot what you are promoting has allotted to advertising and which platforms you’re focusing on.

TikTok advert specs

Let’s get to the technical particulars. There are necessities for any video you place as an advert that you simply’ll want to meet. You’ll be able to see a full listing in TikTok’s assist middle, however listed here are some highlights:

• Side ratio: 9:16, 1:1, or 16:9
• Video decision: Decision have to be ≥ 540 x 960 px, ≥ 640 x 640 px, or ≥ 960 x 540 px.
• File kind: .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp, or .avi
• Size: As much as 60 seconds, however TikTok recommends 9 to fifteen seconds.

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Tips on how to create your first TikTok advert

There are two methods to create campaigns on the TikTok Adverts Supervisor—a simplified model and a customized model. The customized model is designed for knowledgeable entrepreneurs and has extra choices, like creating an advert group or utilizing a bidding technique. However for a small to medium-sized enterprise, the simplified model is easy, simple to make use of, and doesn’t require technical experience.

For this tutorial, we’ll be wanting on the simplified model. While you navigate to the TikTok adverts supervisor, ensure that to pick “Simplified Mode” on the primary web page when prompted. 

Step 1: Be sure you have a enterprise account

In an effort to use the TikTok Adverts Supervisor, you’ll have to have a enterprise account for the platform. Switching over is each free and straightforward.

Within the app, merely go to Settings and Privateness, then Handle Account, and faucet Change to Enterprise Account. As a bonus, this will provide you with entry to analytics that may let you know the perfect time to put up on the app, in addition to different options, corresponding to a hyperlink in your bio.

Step 2: Activate TikTok integration on your Shopify retailer

When you have a Shopify retailer, set up the TikTok app. This provides different choices for automated advert creation. As nicely, when you’re situated in choose international locations, you’ll be capable to launch a procuring tab in your TikTok profile.

Step 3: Open the TikTok Adverts Supervisor

The TikTok app is constructed for cellular, however utilizing your TikTok adverts supervisor account is one thing you’ll need to do on desktop. Navigate over to adverts.tiktok.com and log in along with your TikTok enterprise account.

Step 4: Set your promoting purpose 

When you choose Simplified Mode, TikTok will current you with 4 choices to find out a purpose (or marketing campaign goal) on your marketing campaign:

• Improve site visitors. Decide this when you’re hoping to get folks to your retailer to be potential clients. 
• Drive group interplay. An excellent possibility in case your purpose is to easily develop your presence on TikTok.
• Generate buyer leads. This methodology is designed to seize data from viewers by way of a contact kind that can be utilized to retarget potential clients and nurture present followers.
• Get web site conversions. Good when you’re seeking to drive extra conversions in your retailer’s webpage. 

Step 5: Choose your viewers

The subsequent display will allow you to determine who precisely will see your advert. You’ll be able to choose “automated viewers” to let TikTok determine for you, but it surely’s additionally simple so as to add a number of parameters of your personal when you’d moderately go the “customized viewers” route.

You’ll be able to choose your viewers based mostly on gender, age, languages, and placement. Based mostly on what you choose, a helpful slider within the high proper nook of the web page will let you already know the scale your viewers will probably be. 

You can even drill down additional into areas of curiosity, corresponding to clothes, cooking, or pets. You’ll be able to goal customers who’ve a historical past of interplay with TikTok content material, corresponding to liking and commenting.

Then, TikTok will ask when you’d like to point out TikTok adverts on simply TikTok or add placement on Pangle, which the adverts supervisor refers to as a “Premium world writer community.” 

📚Be taught extra: Tips on how to Outline and Attain Your Goal Viewers

Step 6: Set your price range and schedule

Subsequent, you’ll decide your each day price range, beginning at a minimal of $5 per day or $70 for lifetime. You’ll then determine how lengthy to run your marketing campaign for. You can even choose “no finish date” to run your marketing campaign indefinitely and cease it afterward whenever you really feel it’s finished its job.

Step 7: Create your advert

You’ve made it to the enjoyable half. On the following display, you possibly can both choose certainly one of your present TikToks to run as a video advert or add a brand new one which received’t seem in your common TikTok feed. 

You’ll additionally be capable to write a caption on your advert and create a call-to-action button, corresponding to Store Now, with a hyperlink to your web site.

Listed here are some issues to bear in mind on your advert:

• Adhere to TikTok’s technical tips for vertical video adverts
• Don’t place textual content within the video that will probably be lined by the caption
• Authenticity is essential on TikTok, so your advert ought to match into the appear and feel of different TikToks

When unsure, the perfect recommendation is to spend time on the app attending to know the tradition and developments on TikTok to create a TikTok advert that blends in seamlessly. Scrolling your For You web page will even carry up different adverts to get a really feel for the way numerous manufacturers are utilizing the platform.

📚Be taught extra:

Step 8: Submit

You probably did it! While you hit Submit, your TikTok advert will go right into a overview course of earlier than it goes reside to the world.

As your advert runs, you’ll need to monitor your outcomes to study what works and what doesn’t, so you possibly can optimize on your subsequent marketing campaign.

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Case examine: Parade lingerie

Parade makes reasonably priced, sustainable underwear and bralettes in daring colours for millennials and Gen Z. Unsurprisingly, it’s taken an enormous wager on TikTok promoting.

@Parade

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♬ Promoted Music – Parade

Its marketing campaign was dealt with by Darya Dziadzenka, a progress advertising supervisor at Parade. Darya gave us some perception into how she ran the marketing campaign, together with the way it set its purpose and created the precise video adverts, and recommendation for budding TikTok entrepreneurs.

Parade tried quite a lot of objectives for its marketing campaign, together with a mid-funnel method that was merely optimized for getting a possible buyer to provoke a checkout. However on the finish of the day, Darya says conversion grew to become their purpose.

“It’s one of many strongest progress channels for us,” she says. “So the whole buy was the conversion purpose.”

Supply issues greater than follower depend

For the marketing campaign, Darya targeted on recruiting smaller influencers to star in Parade’s adverts. 

“I discover it to not be tremendous necessary what the follower depend is, however extra so the supply and if the creator feels genuine to the model,” she says.

The advantage of that’s the adverts really feel like every other trend TikTok you may discover on the app, in order that they mix in seamlessly when somebody is scrolling.

“The important thing factor to success on TikTok is making the content material as natural to the platform as it may be,” Darya says.

That additionally meant incorporating humor into the adverts to create a relatable model voice. Parade selected the sounds or music for every video and gave every influencer a short with steering on what kinds to mannequin, however every star was in a position to lend their very own aptitude to every advert. Once more, it’s all within the identify of protecting issues genuine.

Errors are alternatives to study

Darya says there have been some stumbles alongside the best way. At one level, they tried creating extra editorial-style adverts that you’d usually affiliate with a trend model, with extra calming music and fewer humor. However they didn’t carry out nicely.

“They only didn’t scale as a lot because the trending enjoyable sounds that really feel extra on model and extra aligned with what Gen Z desires to listen to,” Darya says. 

“I feel the sounds which have phrases in it play very nicely, as a result of individuals are much less prone to scroll previous these.”

Authenticity reigns

Darya says that to make your adverts work, it’s worthwhile to assume like a creator. Which means spending time on the app watching TikToks and interacting with content material to know what folks like watching. Merely bringing over an advert that may work on one other platform doesn’t lower it.

“Attempt to make adverts that don’t sound like adverts, however one thing that you’d truly take pleasure in watching on TikTok your self, and incorporate the message inside that,” she says.

Begin your first TikTok advert marketing campaign

Now that you already know the fundamentals of making a TikTok advert marketing campaign and have some nice recommendation from Parade, you’re prepared to start out doing it your self.

Keep in mind that each advertising technique will take some trial and error. Begin small, overview your metrics, and optimize as you go to create a TikTok advert marketing campaign that may work on your model.