Why TikTok Ads are the Future
We’re now getting comfortable with 2021, and TikTok is still growing. Those who originally thought TikTok would enjoy a few moments in the spotlight and then fade away are now hiding in the shadows embarrassed with their predictions. Despite many uncertainties with the platform, marketers are investing heavily in TikTok, and this is a trend that doesn’t seem to be changing with time.
For those who haven’t been following the news, the Trump administration spent lots of time and money trying to get the ByteDance platform banned from the United States. At each attempt, however, the effort from the former President was met with resistance. In both October and December, judges blocked moves from the Trump administration. Now that the presidency has changed hands, TikTok is still a force in the country and the platform has even removed videos relating to Trump.
With this in mind, TikTok is only growing in importance for marketers and businesses of all sizes.
Benefits of Advertising on TikTok
Since the days when Facebook started to outshine MySpace, we’ve seen lots of changes and evolution in the world of social media. However, aren’t we all comfortable with our marketing strategies? Aren’t we accustomed to advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and others? The beauty of the marketing niche is that professionals always look for the best opportunities to reach customers, and TikTok is quickly emerging as one of the best opportunities.
For many platforms, the balance between keeping consumers and marketers happy is an impossible one to manage. As soon as a platform has too many ads, users get frustrated (nobody wants to be interrupted by an ad every few seconds!). Thankfully, TikTok almost sneaks their ads into the experience in a way that young users don’t mind.
Many business owners love advertising on TikTok because the users of the platform consume the ad without realizing it most of the time. The ads feel a part of the overall experience and aren’t too disruptive, and this means a responsive audience.
How do ads appear on TikTok? Rather than interrupting videos, most ads are displayed in the feeds of users. However, the important detail is that they look just like every other video on the feed. Rather than looking obviously different and standing out, brands make videos that fit into a feed nicely. Just like all the videos the user sees that day, they have the option to either watch it or skip to the next one. Either way, they don’t feel as though the experience has been violated.
One of the benefits of advertising on TikTok, and one reason why experts are claiming TikTok ads to be the future, is because they offer something completely different to advertising on Facebook or YouTube. On these two platforms, users are very aware of when they’re watching ads. Often, the ads are obtrusive and negatively impact the experience. As brands, we don’t want to cause this distress to users. Therefore, having TikTok as a means of advertising in a positive way is a huge advantage.
If you need another reason to advertise on TikTok, over 30% of their users are Millennials. While millennials might earn less than those over the age of 35, they actually spend more.
In 2021, the platform is expected to keep blossoming and businesses need to grow their brand on TikTok before the inevitable commerce model comes.
See Related: TikTok Ad Campaigns — How It Works
Types of TikTok Ads for Brands
As a business, how do you get started with advertising? There are actually two methods; some people use the self-service platform while others talk to TikTok directly and negotiate this way. If you take the former option, you’ll bid on ad placements and enter auctions as with other social media websites. If you have any experience advertising on social media, you’ll be absolutely fine with TikTok.
How much you spend depends on the broadness of your target audience; CPM increases as you choose specific niches and demographics.
The main difference between TikTok and other social media platforms is that TikTok encourages businesses to engage in the experience. On Facebook, for example, it’s easy to advertise on the platform without actually joining groups, conversing with consumers, posting, and engaging with the wider Facebook service. However, advertisers on TikTok are told to produce authentic ads either themselves or by working with an influencer. TikTok doesn’t want businesses that have no interest in producing authentic content for users.
If you don’t want to produce authentic ads and invest in this way, we recommend using the Creator Marketplace as this is where you’ll find collaboration opportunities with influencers. Like we’ve mentioned before, TikTok would rather passionate influencers create content for the platform than a business only interested in generating sales.
Ad Formats
The ad formats on TikTok you can choose from are:
Brand Takeovers — When a user opens the app, the brand takeover format will appear on the full screen. Although this might sound obtrusive, this is now part of the TikTok experience, and users are only targeted once per day. Therefore, they won’t keep getting the ads every single time they log in.
In-Feed Videos — As discussed earlier, this is a simple video appearing in the feeds of users.
TopView Ads — Similar to a brand takeover, this is a full-screen ad that shows for users when they enter their feed for the first time.
Branded Augmented Reality (AR) — As we all know, user-generated content is hot right now, and you can encourage interaction using branded lenses, filters, and stickers.
Sponsored Content — Teaming up with an influencer, you can essentially sponsor their content and get your name in front of their followers.
Sponsored Hashtags and Challenges — Finally, a fun way to get exposure is to sponsor a hashtag or challenge. We’re sure you’ve seen them before, but this is where you focus on a particular challenge or hashtag and encourage everybody to take part and use them.
ROI for TikTok Ads
Is the ROI for TikTok ads important? Right now, the ROI for TikTok is still unknown because we don’t have too much data in the area. Yet, some businesses simply aren’t interested in ROI with TikTok ads because they just want to get exposure on the platform. If you seek a precise return, it might be wise to hold off on TikTok and advertise elsewhere. As time goes on, we’ll learn more about ROI on TikTok. If exposure is your goal, ROI isn’t as important and there’s no reason why you can’t advertise on TikTok tomorrow.
In one survey of 30 companies, ROI on TikTok was lower than on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. This being said, it wasn’t the worst performer because this accolade went to Snapchat. One reason for the poor performance could be the motivation of TikTok users; at the moment, they aren’t going onto TikTok to shop. Fortunately, this was also the case for Facebook and Instagram when they first entered the market; therefore, this is likely to change as advertising becomes more prominent.
See Related: TikTok x Shopify: A New ECommerce Resource
Potential Risks of TikTok Advertising
ROI is a potential concern for some businesses, and another risk is brand safety. The company itself is in a constant battle with leading figures in the United States and TikTok has also been forced to defend itself against claims of election interference, misinformation, and more. Many users have complained about scams and negative experiences on the platform, but this is a risk that exists across all social media platforms.
If you advertise on TikTok, there is a chance that your video will be sandwiched between two videos that are harmful to the brand. Although the risk of appearing next to hazardous content is present, most experts believe this is a short-term problem and only amplified because TikTok is new to the market.
With advertisers always appearing in a feed, users know better than to link an advertiser to malicious content just because of its position in their feed. This risk is also present on YouTube, Facebook, Google, and all other platforms.
The Future of TikTok Ads
TikTok ads are the future and the future of TikTok ads is bright. Despite all the concerns about TikTok’s longevity in the market, it continues to attract masses of people. Marketers will always advertise where their audience is present, and this location just so happens to be TikTok. Though consumers might not visit TikTok to spend money right now, the same was also once said of Instagram and Facebook. Now, the shopping sides of these platforms are vast.
As Grammarly found out, a simple video from an influencer sitting on their patio in a garden chair is more successful than a high-polished production on TikTok. TikTok ads are the future because they come in different formats, they aren’t intrusive, and they often add to the platform rather than taking away from the user experience!
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