Gen Z loves it, Millennials use it, and while others may not understand it yet, no one can deny its popularity anymore.
How popular TikTok is becoming is best shown by how many years it took for social networks such as Facebook and Instagram to reach the first billion users (8-15 years) and just how little it took for TikTok to do the same (3 years).
TikTok is specifically popular among the Gen Z and Millennial generations – people aged 18-34. The latest data suggests TikTok has been downloaded over 3 billion times and has over 1 billion active monthly users, making it the most popular entertainment app at the moment.
This is exactly where TikTok finds its place as a new mass-media channel that can influence brand awareness and sales if appropriately utilized.
As the primary user group, Gen Z and Millennials make TikTok particularly interesting for brands looking to grow their online presence since these are the generations that favor a digital-first approach and are one of the pillars of the e-commerce future.
Advertising on TikTok is still in its beginnings. However, thousands of businesses recognize the early opportunity to reach highly-targeted users for lower costs compared to other social networks and increase their online sales.
Why is TikTok a fruitful ground for advertising?
TikTok is a proven platform for success. Brands are hitting their marketing KPIs with advertising prices lower than on other platforms because there is currently less competition. We have highlighted the most important things that make TikTok a channel you should not ignore in your advertising strategy. Let’s get into it!
Users are more curious and open to (product) suggestions
TikTok users are more likely to try something they have never tried or seen before. According to TikTok statistics, 1 in 3 TikTok users bought a product just because they saw it on TikTok. This shows how important TikTok is for product discovery and influencing decision-making.
TikTok is an e-commerce-first platform
According to TikTok, its users are 29% more likely to feel excited and euphoric about shopping online than users of other platforms. Take, for example, the viral hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt. When this blog post was written, the hashtag generated 16 billion views — and it’s still in use to discover new products on the platform.
TikTok is a part of a more significant trend in retail social commerce; an industry expected to grow from $36 billion in 2021 to $80 billion by 2025. From a simple entertainment app, TikTok has become the mall in digital form.
Word-of-mouth marketing is still alive
Over 50% of TikTok users are more likely to convince someone to buy the product they saw on the platform compared to users of other platforms. The presence of your brand on TikTok can only mean one thing, a higher probability of recommendation and increased demand for your products, which will result in increased sales and business growth.
TikTok is a powerful channel for building brand awareness
Even 3 weeks after exposure to an ad on TikTok, 72% of people agree that the brand is memorable. Whether you are a small or a large brand, the presence of advertising on TikTok can help you better connect with the target audience you want to reach and strengthen your brand’s image among the existing customers.
What makes TikTok better compared to other social channels?
Even though the presence on Facebook, Instagram, and other prominent social media channels is still strategically important, TikTok currently has a few advantages over these networks.
7 higher engagement rate than Instagram
TikTok generates higher engagement than other platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The average engagement rate for TikTok is between 5 and 6%, up to 7 times higher than on Instagram and way, way more than on Facebook and Twitter. This means that users will engage more with your brand, thus contributing to brand growth and, ultimately, greater demand for your products.
Users spend 240% more time on TikTok than on other social media channels
A simplified user experience causes more retention on the platform. Time spent on TikTok has increased significantly since the app launch, overtaking time spent on social media from its competitors one by one. Although the average retention is already higher than on other platforms, these figures are expected to grow further due to the increased number of users who are just discovering the platform.
Your brand is always in the spotlight
The primary setting of TikTok is that a user can only watch one video at a time, which means that on TikTok, your brand will always be in focus without any other in-app factors that can steal your audience’s attention.
TikTok is viral
TikTok is a platform that provides the potential for your content to go viral because users are more likely to create a post and tag a brand than on other social media platforms. This can increase your brand awareness, facilitating further scalability and growth of your business.
TikTok might even be stealing Google Search users
Googling for recipes, restaurants, products, etc., is common to Millennials, but Gen Z is switching Google for TikTok as a search engine. Nearly 40% of Gen Z members prefer TikTok over Google for online searches. This shows that TikTok users are in the buying mindset – they are already looking for something to buy, and it’s up to you as an advertiser to take advantage of their attention and serve them your products.
Ready to win advertising on TikTok?
Starting with advertising on TikTok allows you to take advantage of the platform faster while building your organic presence. If you are new to digital advertising, you should read Digital advertising from scratch – What & Why & How? blog first.
If you have mastered the basics already, here are 6 useful tips to win advertising on TikTok – the most popular entertainment app in the world.
Make sure you are taking advantage of user-generated content (UGC)
People generally prefer native content more than ads on social networks, so the key is to make your ads so natural that the user enjoys them as if they were native content. In fact, on TikTok, user-generated videos are 22% more effective than branded videos.
In addition to being effective, UGC ads are easier and cheaper to create, so brands often choose them to save the budget and achieve the same or even better results.
Leverage trends such as #hashtags
When users engage with a video that has specific hashtags, TikTok continues showing them videos with similar content and tags. You can use hashtags such as #fashion and #sportswear to deliver ads to people who have engaged with similar hashtags over the past 7 days.
In addition to advertising, trending hashtags can also help you improve organic results – better ad results for less money invested. One such example is #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, which brands often use to increase the reach of their posts, using an already-formed hashtag trend to better their organic and paid results. Here is an example.
Although this brand at the moment has 74k followers, this video achieved more than 440k likes and 2k comments, with customers asking for details about product specifications before buying it.
Choose your sounds wisely
It is imperative to choose trending sounds since the user has become accustomed to them and interacts with them naturally every day. You can also test the same ad with several different sounds to see what your target audience responds to best.
Use multiple ad formats
A variety of ad formats positively affects brand perception in the eyes of consumers but also brings better results when it comes to advertising. Using different ad formats gives freedom to the TikTok algorithm to prioritize those ads that generate better results. Larger number of ads and formats, therefore, increases the chance that one of the ads will be well received by the target audience. According to TikTok statistics, using multiple ad formats achieves a 1.73 average ROAS compared to 1 from a single ad format. By using different combinations of ad formats, you can increase ROAS, which will positively affect the further growth of your business.
Test different target audiences
Your budget will only be well utilized once you target the right audience, and good targeting means constant testing of audience variations to find the one that suits your business the best. TikTok offers various options when defining the target audience, some of which can be crucial for your business’s growth.
- Interests: deliver your ads to users based on their higher interaction with specific Interests; e.g., “Gaming”
- Purchase Intent: deliver your ads to audiences ‘in-market’ users – ones that are actively researching or purchasing one specific category of product or service; e.g., Travel Intent
- Behaviors: deliver ads based on the user’s recent in-app behavior, such as interactions with videos or creators
- Hashtags: deliver ads to people who have engaged with certain hashtags over the past 7 days
- Lookalike: find an audience similar to your most loyal customers
- Custom audience: re-market your web visitors, cart abandoners, or frequent buyers. More customers repeating their purchase can increase the customer LTV and drive further business growth
Measure the right data
In the digital advertising industry, everything starts from the correct data. Be sure to utilize all the advantages of TikTok and use the tools for rich data analysis that are in the palm of your hand.
Integrate the TikTok pixel on your website and connect it to another analytics tool, such as Google Analytics. This clever bit of code enables you to monitor sales and user activity, as well as to find the right audience for your ads.
Still trying to figure out how to start advertising on TikTok?
We can assist you!
Our performance marketing unit helps companies achieve growth and profitability. We measure our work based on actual financial outcomes, so you don’t have to worry about achieving optimal performance with TikTok advertising. Contact us!
