What is TikTok?

TikTok is a video sharing platform where users can record, edit and share short videos of 15 or 60 seconds with musical overlays, sound effects and visual effects. The platform is mainly known for its viral content with popular dances, hashtag challenges, comedy skits and life-hacks. Similar to apps like Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok has become a creative outlet for many teens and young adults.

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Why advertise on TikTok?

With more than 500 million active monthly users worldwide, and currently more than 3.5 million monthly active users in the Netherlands, it is easy to understand why TikTok has also become a serious player among social media apps.

Now that the platform also offers businesses the opportunity to promote their products and services to the TikTok community, it could be the ideal next step to give your business an online boost!

TikToks have quickly become a big hype among younger target market segments. The largest group (35%) of TikTok users in the Netherlands are 18 to 25-year-olds. This is followed by 13-17-year-olds (28%) and 25-34-year-olds (22%).

This broad reach makes TikTok an essential platform that businesses can use for their advertising campaigns. Does your target group largely consist of people under 30? Then advertising on TikTok can be a strong addition to your marketing strategy!

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Growing organically on TikTok

In addition to the many benefits of advertising on TikTok, it can certainly be worth your time to create organic content for the platform.

TikTok connects users to videos based on their interests and viewing habits. So instead of the user having to search for relevant videos themselves, TikTok’s videos find the users.

This allows the organic reach of companies to be maximised far beyond their own followers. So when people see these videos they are more inclined to like, share or leave comments. Comments on videos are also good indicators to check how your content is being received by your target audience!

TikTok's For You page

TikTok's For You page is another way the platform sets itself apart from Instagram. The For You page is the main screen that opens when the app is launched. In this feed, users will find a constant stream of videos of which the TikTok algorithm ‘thinks’ the user will like. This is, hence, also the page where users spend the most time in the app.

With Instagram, many users spend most of their time on their Instagram feed, rather than the explore page. This means that it is more difficult for brands/users to reach new target groups/users who are not yet following their account.

This is what makes TikTok such a powerful organic content platform. Brand and users don’t need to have followers in order for people to see their content on the platform. Videos from accounts without followers can still go viral and receive millions of views.

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How can you advertise on TikTok?

Now that you know the benefits of advertising on TikTok, let's take a look at how this actually works.

TikTok is a new channel for many marketers. That is why it’s important to get to know the platform well before you decide to dive in.

Types of ads on TikTok

In-Feed ads

‍In-Feed ads are auto-playing videos of up to 60 seconds long, which are displayed in users' news feed on the For You page. They are similar to normal TikToks, which means they blend organically in the feed.

In-Feed ads are an ideal way for businesses to reach TikTok users in a fun and informative way. For In-Feed ads you can select the reach, traffic, app installs, video views or conversion goal.

Brand Takeover

‍Brand Takeover Ads are displayed in full screen after opening the app, but they can also appear on the For You page as still images, GIFs or videos with clickable links. In addition to being good for boosting brand awareness and stimulating direct sales, Brand Takeover ads are also directly engaging and cannot be missed or skipped by users!

TikTok shows users only one Brand Takeover ad per day. Because of this, you can expect a lot of eyes on your ad with little competition. However, this is also the reason that you probably don't want to start with Brand Takeover ads when you start with TikTok advertising because while they are super effective, they also come with very high costs.

Brand Takeover ads come with an expensive price tag making them great for big brands (or companies with a larger marketing budget) looking for maximum brand awareness.

TopView ads

‍TopView ads can actually be seen as slightly delayed Brand Takeover ads. Unlike Branded Takeover Ads, TikTok users will not immediately see the ad as soon as they open the app, but TopView ads will be the first to show In-Feed posts after 3 seconds.

This ad format is effective for brand awareness objectives as it guarantees a very wide reach and a high number of impressions.

Branded Hashtag Challenge

‍The Branded Hashtag Challenge is a way to engage the public with your business or brand by encouraging the co-creation of content (user-generated content or UGC). The Branded Hashtag Challenge has three placements within TikTok.

First, they are displayed as a standard In-Feed placement. For example, users will see it on their For You page, encouraging them to participate in the challenge. Then there is a featured banner on the Discover page, which directs traffic to the Hashtag Challenge page.

This Hashtag Challenge page is, therefore, the third placement, serving as the centrepiece of the challenge, with videos from around the world submitted to the challenge.

Branded Effects

‍Branded Effects enable businesses to create custom stickers, filters and special effects that TikTok users can use in their own TikTok videos. This ad format is recommended in combination with a Branded Hashtag Challenge to increase the engagement of your business or brand even more!

* Each new Branded Effect is available for 10 days.

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Create a campaign on TikTok

TikTok Ads Manager divides ads into three parts: campaigns, ad groups and ads. Creating a campaign is the first step in which you have to set an ad objective, campaign name and budget.

To find out how to create a campaign on TikTok, follow the steps below:

1. Create a TikTok business account
   
   
2. Create a campaign
   Log into TikTok Ads Manager and click the "Campaign" button at the top of the page. Then click on the "Create" button to set up the campaign.
   
   
3. Choose an objective
   Before creating an ad, it's important to consider your business goals. Your ad goal is what you want people to do when they see your ads. That’s why selecting the right objective is important for creating a good campaign. All objectives fall under three categories: awareness, consideration, and conversion.
   

4. Enter a campaign name and budget
   With the campaign budget, you can set a specific amount that you are willing to spend on showing ads. Based on the amount you set, your campaign will be stopped when they reach the budget. You can always edit the budget later.
   
   
5. Set the TikTok placements, details and targeting
   The next step is to create an ad group for the campaign and choose the placements and targeting. After choosing the placements, you can enter any other details necessary for your ad to appear (relevant URLs, display names, images and categories). You can also select up to 20 keywords to describe your website or app, which will then be used to match your products to the right target audience.
   
   With Targeting, you can define the target group for the ad. Set details for location, age, gender, languages, interests, devices and more to attract the most relevant audience for your ads.
   

6. Set up a budget and schedule
   In the Budget and schedule section, set the budget for the ad group. You can choose a daily budget (the amount you are willing to spend each day) or a total budget (the total amount you are willing to spend during the duration of the schedule). Also choose the planned duration for the ads here.
   
   
7. Select an optimisation goal
   Here you can choose to optimise the ad group for conversion, clicks or impressions, after which the bids will be optimised based on the goal you have selected.
   
   
8. Create the ads
   After you have set up the ad group, you can now create the first ad. TikTok gives you the option to upload a video or image file for your ad creative. After you have set up the ad completely, you have the chance to see a preview of what the ad will look like to TikTok users, and you can still choose between different calls to action.

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Advertise on TikTok with your business

That’s it! We've gone over the basics of advertising on TikTok, so you should now have a better understanding of TikTok's advertising options and why this platform might be a great addition to your marketing plan. Once you get the basics, TikTok can deliver impressive results for your business!

Do you want to get started with advertising on TikTok and are you looking for a team of experts to achieve the best performance for your business? Then The Next Ad is the advertising agency for you! Feel free to drop us a message and speak to our team to discover what TikTok can do for you!