TikTok is the world’s newest addiction, and if you thought it was only just for dancing along to the latest trend like me, you would be wrong. TikTok has something for everyone: recipes, life hacks, beauty tips, cute puppy videos, and so much more. I avoided it for so long, that when I finally caved and logged in, I was in a scrolling trance. The platform’s algorithm does a great job at giving you content that is meaningful based on your interactions. If you are not advertising on TikTok, you should be. And if you have had success advertising on other social platforms, then you need to give TikTok Ads a test.
If you have decided to give TikTok a try, here are some simple steps on how to create your first campaign.
Create Your Campaign
Once you have your account created, you can get started creating your first campaign. Similar to other social platforms, there are objective options for where you want to fall within the funnel: awareness, consideration, or conversion. You can choose from a few different objectives including Reach, Traffic, Video Views, and Conversions which can be tracked after placing the Pixel on your site. A newly added objective is Lead Gen, which allows you to collect info with an instant form.
Once you have selected your objective, you can name your campaign and pick a budget.
TikTok Audience Targeting
TikTok has a decent selection of potential audiences to target. You can create a custom audience based on an uploaded list, site activity, or engagement. You also have the ability to create a lookalike audience. These custom audiences can be powerful tools for remarketing or finding new potential users. Your custom audience size does need to be 1,000 to target them.
You can reach new customers by incorporating audience targeting based on interests, behaviors, or creator interactions.
I recommend exploring the options and testing different audience ad groups to find your ideal market.
After you have selected your audience, it is time to pick your ad group budget and bid strategy. Depending on your campaign objective, you can choose a bid cap to achieve a cost per acquisition goal or one with a focus on maximizing results. If you do decide to test bid cap, make sure that the amount you select is within reach. If you notice your campaign is not spending its budget, you may need to bump up your cap to gain traffic. I recommend slightly increasing your cap every few days if you are struggling with traffic.
Create Your Ad
TikTok has some pretty great video tools that help you create your content, add in music, etc. We have had the most success with User-Generated Content. It fits the platform and has a more authentic feel.
When you are creating content, make sure you keep in mind the platform. TikTok is full of user videos, and your goal should be to stop the scroll. Use eye-catching content and short, simple messaging.
You also need to keep in mind the ad itself. Below is the preview of an ad. These will show up on the For You page on TikTok. You will upload your brand logo that shows up as your profile image. Your brand name/display name shows up just above the ad copy. For the ad copy, keep in mind the length as it won’t all show if it is too long. The CTA button is at the bottom and there are several different options to choose from.
As always, test everything! Test videos, music, CTAs, etc. When you are creating your video, keep in mind the placement of the ad copy. If you have captions, emojis, or anything on the bottom of your video, it may not be visible with the ad copy over it.
Once you have your ads uploaded, you are ready to launch!
Stay tuned for more updates, tips, and tricks for TikTok Ads and other platforms!
