How to Advertise on TikTok
Advertising on TikTok is HUGE now; we’ve been getting some incredible results for our clients by creating ads on TikTok.
There is SO MUCH more to TikTok than trending dances; you can find recipes, cleaning hacks, workouts, outfit inspiration, marketing advice and tips about just about anything. If you haven’t used TikTok before, we think you’ll be surprised by just how much quality content there is on this platform.
At Firebelly, we live and breathe TikTok! Why? Because we want to ensure we are on top of what’s trending, what’s hot and what sounds and transitions are popular in real-time. Did we mention that it’s also a really enjoyable platform? Even as users, we feel we benefit from the content we consume on TikTok!
Should you advertise on TikTok?
Have you ever been influenced by a video you’ve seen on TikTok? Maybe you’ve seen a TikTok of a restaurant, a hotel, a cleaning hack or a recipe and thought, ‘YES, I need that’ and then gone out and bought it or visited that restaurant; in that case, you have been influenced.
As you can on all platforms, you can pay to advertise your product or service on TikTok! Unlike Facebook, where the advertising options are endless, there are only a handful of ways to promote your business on TikTok. If you are completely new to marketing your product or service on TikTok, read this blog first.
Check out this ad from Bumble as a great example:
If you are ready to learn about how you can advertise on TikTok, keep reading our tips on maximising your return on ad spend.
Your video needs to look native to the platform
Videos on TikTok are ever so different to traditional video marketing. TikTok’s are raw, low quality and often made on iPhones. You don’t need expensive equipment or a studio to make TikTok’s!
The rawer, the better; your ad needs to blend into the feed and not be obvious that it is an ad. You’ll notice in the majority of TikTok videos; there is nothing graphic about the text used, just plain text used within the apps editing tools. Of course, you can make your video in an external app, which we often do because the editing features are better.
Take this example of Walkers. Now, if you follow Gordon Ramsay on any platform, you’ll be familiar with his hilarious reaction videos to meals that people have made. On TikTok, he uses the ‘duet’ feature where he reacts to the video alongside it, often giving a very HONEST opinion.
In this ad below, you can see that Walkers have adopted the ‘duet’ style video and have got Olly Murs to make a Walkers crisp sandwich, and Gordon Ramsay rates everything about it! It’s fun, raw and a familiar video style that users are familiar with, which means it doesn’t interrupt their scrolling experience.
This is a GREAT example of how to make your ad look native to the platform.
Have you heard of the trend, ‘tell me you’re a {insert phrase of choice}, without telling me your a {phrase}’? The company Linktr.ee has used this in their ad, which blends in with the feed SO WELL.
Use trending songs & transitions.
Jumping on trends is predominantly how TikTok works! Understanding a trend or an in-joke from TikTok is like an exclusive club because even though the app has been around for two years now, not everyone uses TikTok. It’s a case of ‘if you know, you know’.
On TikTok, it’s not just music that trends! It’s also sounds; this can be anything from voiceovers to clips from movies, tv-series and so much more.
We are also now in an era for music where TikTok is making songs popular, an incredible platform for musicians to have their music go viral. There are a few ways to find out which songs are trending at the moment.
Scroll through TikTok - you’ll soon start to identify which sounds are popular as you’ll hear them over and over again on the For You Page.
Learn from TikTok - Go to create a TikTok and view all of the trending sounds in the recommended playlists.
Spotify has a playlist with what’s trending on TikTok; click here to listen to the latest TikTok songs.
And if you haven’t had Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Good 4 U’ stuck in your head for the whole of May, then you haven’t been using TikTok enough. We’ve recently seen Natasha Bedingfield’s ‘Unwritten’ spring back into life, and Britney Spears’ Oops I Did it Again’ increase in popularity on the app because of what’s trending on TikTok.
Transitions are a great way to make your video more exciting and on-trend! If you feel a little overwhelmed by the number of transitions, there are plenty of tutorials on TikTok to help you learn how to use the transitions. Check out Jera Bean for the latest transition tips.
You need to be FAST to do well on TikTok Ads
Trends come and go faster than you can imagine! One minute the whole of TikTok is doing ‘things in my house that just make sense’, then the next transition videos of emoji makeup. We can’t explain where these trends come from, but they appear FAST.
If you plan to use a trending transition or sound (which we recommend that you do) in your ad, you need to create the video FAST, get it approved and upload it.
Having a clear process within your team of the creation and approval system is essential. Ensure all team members are onboard and communicate to your final approver (director or business owner) just how important it is that this creative gets approved quickly.
The timeline of your ad
If you are used to advertising on other social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram, you’ll know that the lifespan of an ad can be endless!
You need to be prepared (and add it into your budget) that the lifespan of your ad on TikTok is around a week.
Don’t repurpose Facebook/Instagram Ads for TikTok
One thing to remember is that ads you produce for Facebook and Instagram will NOT work on TikTok, it’s an entirely different media, and as we’ve explained above, your ad creative needs to be native to the platform to achieve maximum results!
However, because the style of TikTok videos is becoming increasingly popular, you can use TikTok creative on Instagram or Facebook.
Are you ready to use TikTok for advertising?
At Firebelly, we are a team of digital marketing experts. Our team is very skilled and passionate about social media and is the brains and creative behind many large brands campaigns you will have seen across TikTok.
We offer a complete social media management package that we can tailor to suit your needs and objectives. If you want to grow your TikTok profile, create campaigns and grow your audience on TikTok, we can help!
Reach out to us by clicking here, and let’s chat about your goals and objectives, and we’ll let you know how we can help.
Want to check out the incredible tips that Mary-Anne shares on TikTok? Click here to check out her profile.
If you liked this blog, you might find this blog about how big brands are using TikTok to generate new products and sales here.
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