With over a billion users and a daily impression rate of more than 300 million, TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular platforms to advertise your brand.
In fact, it’s the fastest-growing social media app in the world. The app has seen over 3 billion downloads since its release in 2016 and ranked as the top ad platform in terms of ad equity for two years in a row.
What does this mean for your business?
In a nutshell, it means that TikTok could be the most effective marketing strategy because people are more likely to engage with your brand than they are on other platforms.
But here’s the thing: advertising on TikTok isn’t for everyone. There are also some significant drawbacks you need to know before diving in headfirst, including content format limitations and high cost.
If you’re trying to decide whether or not advertising on TikTok is right for your brand, then read on! We’ll lay out all of the pros and cons, so you can make an informed decision.
How does TikTok advertising work?
Advertising on TikTok is similar in some ways to doing it on other platforms like Instagram or Facebook: you can run ads on TikTok’s main feed or through their partner networks.
However, there are two key differences that make the platform unique:
- Ads on TikTok are mostly full-screen, vertical videos. They can be anywhere between 9 to 15 seconds long, and they play automatically when a user opens the app or scrolls past them.
- TikTok offers six main types of ad formats:
- In-feed videos: In-feed ads are placed directly in a user’s newsfeed as they scroll through using artificial intelligence.
- Brand takeover: Brand takeover ads appear when an user opens the app, and they fill the screen with your video, GIF, or image with a link to an external website.
- Spark ads: Spark ads let you boost both your organic content and other TikTok creator’s videos.
- TopView: TopView ads show up at the beginning of a user’s feed, with a video of up to 60-seconds that automatically plays and sounds.
- Hashtag Challenge: This hashtag challenge ad type consists of a 3 to 6-day campaign encouraging users to create and share content on a branded hashtag challenge page.
- Branded AR Effects: Branded effects can be super fun and interactive, like stickers they can use in their videos. Or they could be more subtle and just give off a vibe that reminds you of the brand, like a filter.
Setting up your campaign on TikTok’s Ads Manager is easy, though —you create a free account, set up your budget, and create ads by choosing from the types mentioned above.
Once you’ve completed your ad settings, all you have to do is target your audience based on age, gender, location, or interests, and hit “Publish”. TikTok’s algorithm will then deliver it to people who match your criteria for the time period you specified.
Pros of advertising on TikTok
Generation Z uses TikTok as a primary social media platform
The nature of TikTok advertising makes it particularly well-suited for brands with edgy images or those who want to reach young consumers (about 13-25 years old).
In fact, 60% of their user base is made of millennials and Gen Zers, who are looking for ways to express themselves and connect with others online.
So if your product or service is fun and playful —like apparel, music, or games—, there’s a high chance your ads can get viral quickly and increase your exposure and chances of making money online with your brand.
Some examples of brands that advertise on TikTok to take advantage of this young demographic include Adidas, BOSS, or Guess.
TikTok offers authentic user-generated content that helps increase ROAS
TikTok’s native ads allow you to reach your target audience with authentic and engaging branded content they can create themselves.
This authenticity draws in viewers who want to see what other people are doing and how they’re doing it —and since 52% of internet users want brands to be authentic, this is also something that advertisers should be excited about because it means that their message will have more of an impact.
TikTok’s hashtag challenge is a great example of this.
Using this ad format on your campaign, you can encourage your fans to create an original piece of content based on your brand and share it with their friends. This makes them feel like they’re part of something special and gives them a sense of ownership over the campaign.
In fact, a recent Nielsen MMx study found that CPG companies experienced a 2X return on ad spend when they used branded hashtags to increase organic engagement.
TikTok ads are highly engaging
TikTok ads are short, fun, and easy to digest. And while you may think that 9 to 15 seconds is a short amount of time to promote your product or service, that’s not true at all.
Research shows that in-feed videos get 23% higher detail memory than TV ads. And 25% of TikTok users around the world have purchased or researched a product after seeing it advertised on their feeds!
This is because TikTok ads are designed to feel like an extension of the user experience and not just something that interrupts it, which makes it easier for people to engage with your Tiktok video and pay attention to what’s being advertised.
TikTok’s Spark Ads are the best way to do this. According to TikTok research, Spark ads are also one of the most engaging ad types they offer. They get 24% more people to watch them, and 142% more users to interact with them than in-feed videos.
Advertising metrics on TikTok are easily trackable
TikTok’s Ads Manager platform provides a wide range of metrics that give you insights into how well your ads are working.
This includes impressions and clicks, which are both valuable data points for determining the success of a campaign.
You’ll also be able to access demographic information about who has seen your ads and whether or not they clicked through to your site or app after seeing it.
For advertisers, the ability to easily track ads’ performance can make a big difference in how successful your campaigns are.
Because you can optimize TikTok ads on a rolling basis as you go along, rather than waiting until the end of the campaign to find out whether or not it was successful and relying on third-party apps to do so, you can adjust your campaign goals and strategies more easily.
Cons of advertising on TikTok
Ad costs can be high
One of the biggest pitfalls of advertising on TikTok is it can be fairly expensive.
While it’s true that the platform does offer some affordable options for getting your ad out into the world, if you’re looking to make an impression —and you want to do it without spending a ton of money— you may need to look elsewhere.
There are two pricing options when it comes to advertising on TikTok: cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and cost per click (CPC).
The lowest CPM rate is $0.50 every 1,000 views, while CPC ads minimum is $0.02 per click.
Advertisers are required to spend $500 per ad campaign at least, and $50 per ad group budget.
Even though this may not sound like a lot of money, it could add up to $50,000 or even $150,000 depending on your goals.
That’s why it’s important to know what kind of results you want from your TikTok ads before you start your campaign.
Are you looking to reach an audience that’s more likely to be receptive to your brand? Or do you just want a lot of impressions?
If the latter is true, then you might be able to get away with spending less money on impressions —but if you’re trying to target specific demographics or people who already know about your brand but haven’t converted yet, then your budget will likely increase significantly.
Not suitable for B2B brands
TikTok is a social media platform that’s popular with younger people, and as such, it’s not the best platform to advertise on if you’re trying to reach a more mature audience. This is especially true if your business is B2B oriented.
It’s important to note that TikTok is a fast-moving platform —it’s built around short videos and the idea that they’ll be consumed quickly. You need to keep your video short, punchy, and engaging if you want it to be popular enough for people to watch when they’re scrolling through their feeds.
This means that if your business sells more complex products and services that can’t easily be demonstrated through video, TikTok may not be your best bet.
For instance, if you sell something intangible like insurance, legal counsel, or debt collection automation, that’s going to require more of a relationship with the person buying it than just a quick demonstration of what the product does on camera —and it’ll be hard to show your audience what kind of value you can add in just a few seconds of video.
It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle of competing brands
TikTok is a massive platform with an enormous amount of content being uploaded every minute. This means that if you’re not careful, your ad can get buried under the onslaught of other ads on TikTok.
And while there are some ways to make your brand stand out —like creating unique, high-quality content and using hashtags that aren’t already saturated by other brands— there’s no guarantee that your post will be seen by anyone.
You can draw attention to your posts by using TikTok’s partner program, which lets you pay to have your videos featured under certain hashtags. This is a way for brands to get more views, but it can be expensive if you’re not getting much in return.
You’re limited to three paid postings per day, and it only gets more expensive from there. If you want more exposure than that, then you’ll have to pay even more money for an even bigger audience.
This may seem like the best way to get the most out of your advertising budget, but the problem is that you still won’t be able to compete with the big-budget brands who will spend thousands of dollars on this app in hopes of getting their name out there.
The data available to advertisers isn’t as robust as on other platforms
Another downside of advertising on TikTok is that it doesn’t have the same level of audience segmentation that you might find on Instagram or Snapchat.
Most notably, there’s no ability to separate out how many impressions your video received in comparison to how many people actually watched it through to the end.
If you’re trying to get a sense of whether your ad is being seen as a quick blip in someone’s feed or if they’re actually watching the whole thing, this metric can be very helpful.
So, is TikTok advertising worth it?
In the end, TikTok advertising can be a great way to get your brand in front of a new audience.
The platform is growing fast, and it’s clear that all the right pieces are falling into place for it to become the most popular app to advertise your products.
Besides, as it continues to expand, more and more influencers will come on board, and this will create new opportunities for brands to showcase their products and services.
However, it’s not always the right choice for every business or campaign.
TikTok is more about entertainment and less about promotion than other social media sites, so it’s not the best venue for B2B brands.
Now, if you’re a consumer-facing brand hoping to reach a young demographic of social media users, TikTok ads are your best bet. In fact, 84% of people have bought a product or service after watching a branded video.
The key takeaway here is that while advertising on TikTok might not be for everyone, it’s definitely worth considering if you’re looking for an alternative way to reach your audience or engage with customers!