How TikTok's Difference Delivers on Performance

For many marketers, TikTok is the platform for their kids or nieces and nephews. But most mainstream marketers not selling to teens aren’t investing heavily in TikTok—yet. I believe the perception that TikTok is only for teens is a misconception. In reality, according to data from Statista, 25% of U.S. TikTok users are 10-19 years of age; 22.4% are in their 20s, 21.7% in their 30s, 20.3% in their 40s and 11% are over 50. This data backs up the results we’re seeing in our campaigns on TikTok—users are most definitely not just for kids. Beyond demographic perceptions, another reason fewer brands are investing in TikTok is that advertising on TikTok is different from the other social platforms. For one, marketers can’t just create a video and hope that it will go viral on TikTok (well, they can, but I’ve never seen that work). Instead, a best practice on TikTok is to engage with micro-influencer creators and have them create the video for marketers. Relying on micro-influencers and their authentic voice is what makes a marketing campaign successful. Sounds right TikTok is the first platform to focus on audio. Data from research firm Kantar found that 88% of surveyed users said that sound is essential to the TikTok experience. TikTok creators know this and create videos where audio is an integral part of the experience. That’s why TikTok’s marketing slogan is, "Don’t make ads. Make TikToks." Due to our reliance on micro-influencer creators on TikTok and other social platforms, we’ve dubbed this "Creator-Generated Content." For a fraction of what it will cost to create professionally edited videos, like what we’re used to seeing on YouTube pre- and mid-rolls, creators will create three or more videos per week, which keep the creative fresh, agile and responsive to new trends or current events. Because these micro-influencer creators have their fingers on the pulse of TikTok popular culture, the videos they create generate engagement and performance among their followers. We typically work with two or three micro-influencer creators per client campaign, and these creators typically create videos within days and sometimes even within hours. Sponsor Me, Cowards: Regular People Are Dipping Their Toes in Creator Waters Amplification outside of TikTok Once a video is ready, the creator will upload it to their channel. The marketers should also upload the video to their channel. Typically, brands see much greater results—views, engagements and comments—on the micro-influencer creator’s channel. To amplify engagement and generate stronger performance, we’ll support the videos with Spark Ads. Even here, the budget we spend on social media marketing is lower than it is on other social media platforms to achieve similar metrics. All this considered, as more brands start investing in TikTok, I expect media costs on TikTok to increase pretty significantly in 2022. Another reason fewer mainstream marketers have invested in TikTok is that there is a certain irreverence to the videos. There are times, particularly when I’m far removed from the target audience of the campaign, when I wonder about some of the videos. That’s why it’s important to vet your micro-influencers before hiring them. Consider the variety of KPIs That said, it’s the same irreverence that ultimately makes the video compelling to targeted users, resulting in strong engagement and performance metrics. Learn to identify the types of videos that generate the various performance metrics you're seeking, whether its app or game installs, brand awareness, product sales or another measurable target audience action. Consider the experience of a banking app's TikTok campaign last summer. Though TikTok isn’t the first platform one would consider for financial services, given the client’s brief of targeting users over 18 and under 40, it was reasonable to assume TikTok would deliver qualified and engaged customers who would use the banking app. From a metrics perspective, 6% of the prospective users who clicked on the ad proceeded to install the banking app. Nine percent of those who installed the app transacted at least once within 30 days. And the metric which highlights the effectiveness of the TikTok community: After optimizing campaign performance in the first month, 33% of users who transacted once with the app made at least five more transactions. TikTok recently started beta testing crypto paid advertising in the U.S. and Canada, for companies registered with an approved regulatory body, after previously allowing organic crypto content on the platform. Based on the results so far and the demand for financial services advertising on TikTok, this will be a strong opportunity for marketers of crypto products and services as well as for TikTok. Given TikTok’s growth, engagement and performance metrics, it’s time for most marketers to add TikTok to their media plan and start testing performance marketing campaigns on the platform. 5 Tips for Seamlessly Adding Creator Campaigns to Your Marketing Mix

Social Commerce

The 'TikTok Difference' Delivers—Here's How and Why

The creative social platform isn't just for teens, and brands are starting to recognize that

Yair Yaskerovitch

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Yair Yaskerovitch