Last Updated 2 months by Emily Standley-Allard
Are you a beginner at advertising on TikTok? If so, you’re not alone! This post goes over how to start running TikTok ads for beginners in 2023. With its growing popularity, more and more businesses are turning to TikTok to get their message out. With its unique short-form video format, TikTok is the perfect tool to reach your target audience. But how do you get started?
In this article, we’ll discuss the basics of TikTok ads for beginners, from the different ad formats available to best practices for success. We’ll also discuss how to measure the success of your campaigns so you can make informed decisions about your marketing strategy.
So, if you’re a beginner looking to take advantage of TikTok’s potential, read on to learn more about how to make the most of TikTok ads.
Image Source: FreeImages
What are TikTok Ads?
Ads on TikTok are short-form video commercials that run before or during a user’s selected content. TikTok doesn’t allow advertising in the feed, as it could break the flow of the user experience. You may have also heard TikTok referred to as “the short-video app” or “video-based social media.” TikTok ads are the cornerstone of generating revenue for the app, as
TikTok doesn’t charge users for the app itself. Instead, users buy virtual stickers that they can use to decorate their video posts. Much like on Facebook and Instagram, TikTok ads are targeted by factors such as age, gender, location, and interests.
This enables companies to run highly targeted ads that appeal to specific groups of people. TikTok ads fall into two categories: video ads and static ads.
Benefits of TikTok Ads
There’s multiple reasons for your small business to start running ads on TikTok. Let’s go over some.
- TikTok ads are highly targeted.
- TikTok ads are a great way to engage your audience and drive conversions from your existing audience. –
- TikTok ads are affordable – Compared to other major social media networks, TikTok ads are affordable, especially since they don’t charge their users for the app. –
- TikTok ads are short, so they don’t disrupt the user experience – Unlike other social networks, TikTok ads are limited to 15 seconds per video. For this reason, the ads don’t disrupt the user experience as much as they do on other platforms. –
- TikTok ads are easy to create – TikTok ad creation is simple and straightforward, and TikTok provides templates to help you get started quickly. –
- TikTok ads are easy to track and measure – TikTok provides detailed analytics that help you understand what’s working and what isn’t. This enables you to make adjustments and improve your campaigns over time.
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Different types of TikTok Ads
Here are the five types of TikTok Ads they offer:
- In-Feed Ads – In-Feed Ads are the video ads that appear in between user videos as you scroll through your For You page. If you’re unfamiliar with TikTok and the For You page, In-Feed Ads are very similar to the ads you’d see while tapping through Instagram Stories.
- Brand Takeover – Brand Takeover Ads appear upon opening the app — presenting a full-screen video to your targeted audience.They’re one of TikTok Ad’s best options for delivering mass awareness and driving direct sales since you can place your messaging right in front of your target audien
- TopView –What makes TopView Ads different is that unlike Branded Takeover Ads, TikTok users aren’t bombarded with an ad as soon as they open the app — TopView Ads are the first in-feed post after 3 seconds.
- Branded Hashtag Challenge –Branded Hashtag Challenges are a one-of-a-kind advertising opportunity exclusively to TikTok. You’ve probably seen branded hashtag challenges displayed on TikTok’s Discovery page. When a user clicks on a sponsored hashtag, they’re taken to a landing page on TikTok with the brand logo, link to their website, brief description of the challenge, and popular videos using the hashtag.
- Branded Effects –TikTok now offers branded shareable stickers, AR filters, and lenses in their advertising mix. Similar to Snapchat’s branded lenses, TikTok’s branded effects allow brands to design their own custom filter on the app.
With a variety of different options to choose from, it’s hard to know which ad format is best for your brand — which is why we dive into the different types of TikTok ads and how they can work for your business below.
Tips for setting up a successful TikTok Ad Campaigns
- Keep your ad brief – As with all advertising, keep your ad brief. Videos and images should be short and to the point so as not to bore the user.
- Use an attention-grabbing image – Your image is a key component of your ad campaign. It should be engaging, eye-catching, and representative of your brand.
- Make your CTA clear – Whether you are using an image or video ad, make your CTA clear and direct. If you’re looking for sign-ups, include a form; if you’re looking for sales, include a direct link to your product or offer.
- Keep your ads consistent – TikTok is a short-form platform, so it’s important to keep your image and video consistent with your brand and marketing materials.
- Set a budget – TikTok’s ad platform is easy to use, but you still have to set a budget. This is the amount TikTok will charge you per ad impression.
Creating your ad copy and visuals
- Create engaging visuals – TikTok is a visual network, so it’s important to make your images as engaging as possible. –
- Consider using bold, eye-catching colors – It’s important to use a color palette that appeals to your audience but isn’t too bright or bold. –
- Create images that complement your ad copy – Make sure that your image and copy complement each other. –
- Use text to strengthen your message – If your image doesn’t directly relate to your ad copy, you can still strengthen the message with text. –
- Include a call to action – Make sure that your ad has a clear call to action so that users know what you want them to do.
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How Much do TikTok Ads Cost?
TikTok Ads are still relatively new to the scene — brands and businesses are still experimenting with the platform — so understanding the average spend or return on investment (ROI) is difficult.
So, if you’re a small business and want to give TikTok ads a try, don’t let the unknown scare you off right away — spending big bucks on TikTok isn’t the only way to advertise on the popular app.
You can set up a free TikTok Ads account and create In-Feed ads with your own set budget and schedule.
Currently, TikTok’s minimum campaign budget is $500 and the minimum ad group budget is $50.
However, it has also been reported that the cost of advertising on TikTok can be anywhere from $50,000 to $120,000, depending on the type and duration.
If these reported numbers are true, it would make sense as to why we haven’t really seen smaller businesses advertising on TikTok just yet.
As more brands begin to engage and use TikTok Ads, it will become clearer whether TikTok will follow a similar model to Instagram and Facebook ads where (no budget is too small), or if they will continue to keep certain ad types, like branded hashtag challenges, as elite spends.
Setting up the budget and targeted audience
- Set a budget – TikTok provides a suggested budget based on your ad type, ad format, and target audience, but it’s important to set a budget that works for your business.
- Add a new campaign – Once you’ve created your ads, you have to add them to a campaign. When you add your ads to a campaign, you have the ability to adjust your budget, target audience, and more.
- Consider running ads during different times – Keep in mind that ad performance can vary based on the time of day. For example, you may want to run ads during lunchtime or other times when people are out and about. –
- Change your ads over time – As with all ad campaigns, you want to make sure that you’re continually testing and changing your ads.
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Measuring the success of your TikTok Ads
- Track impressions, clicks, and video views – Unlike other social networks that rely on traditional metrics like likes and shares, TikTok provides more measurable metrics like impressions, video views, and clicks.
- Use your ad’s unique URL – TikTok provides you with a unique URL for each of your ads. Make sure you’re tracking these URLs so you can see data on the number of clicks they receive.
- Use conversion tracking – If you want to track sign-ups and purchases, you can use conversion tracking. This allows you to tie your ad clicks directly to conversions so you can see the ROI of your ad campaign.
- Analyze your ad’s likes, shares, and comments – TikTok also provides engagement data, so you can see how many people are liking and sharing your ad as well as how many comments users are leaving.
- Look for trends and patterns – As you monitor your ads over time, look for trends and patterns in performance so you can make adjustments as necessary.
Best practices for running a successful TikTok Ad campaign
- Create a clear, consistent ad campaign – All of your ads should fall under the same branding and messaging. This will help strengthen your brand identity, making it easier for customers to recognize your brand.
- Create a variety of ads – Ads are best when they’re diverse. This means you should create more than one ad, even if they fall under the same campaign. – Track your ads and modify as needed
- As with any advertising campaign, you want to track your ads and their performance, especially over time. If you notice that one ad is underperforming, change it, and see if you get better results.
- Be consistent with your scheduling – It’s important to stay consistent with your ad scheduling. You don’t want to run your ads at the same time every day because you don’t want to wear out your audience.
- Experiment with different ad types.
Conclusion
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