TikTok Ads is a very useful tool that allows businesses to create advertising campaigns more efficiently, thanks to audience segmentation and ad analytics options. By running successful campaigns on this platform, companies can expand their audiences and improve their brand positioning. If you want to know how to include TikTok Ads in your marketing strategy to improve visibility and online traffic, read to the end of this article.
There are some basic steps to creating effective campaigns, which we will describe in detail in this article.
Since its launch in September 2016, TikTok has established itself as an important marketing tool for businesses, allowing them to reach and grow their audience more efficiently. TikTok is the sixth most-used platform in the world with more than 814m active users by the end of 2022.
It is estimated that a person spends an average of one and a half hours per day on the social network; of the 67m Germans (=95% of the total population) who use the internet, nearly 30% are logged onto TikTok, with monthly downloads more than doubling to 752,000 in January 2022. The success of the Chinese app is mainly due to the effectiveness of the social network’s algorithm, which manages to recommend the most relevant content that matches users’ interests.
Also read: Master the TikTok Algorithm
Given the enthusiasm of Internet users, TikTok decided to monetize the potential of creative creators on the TikTok app and allow advertising on the platform. Consequently, TikTok Ads was founded in 2020. TikTok Ads is a self-service tool supported by the so-called TikTok Ads Manager, which allows companies to create advertising campaigns. Advertisers can segment their audience based on various criteria such as age, location, gender and interests, then choose from different ad formats such as branded ads, in-feed ads, top view branded ads and more.
TikTok Ads and TikTok Business are not the same thing, although they are closely related.
TikTok Ads is TikTok’s advertising platform, where advertisers can create and launch campaigns in the TikTok application. It allows businesses to create ads in a wide variety of formats, such as videos, images and augmented reality effects, and select their target audience based on TikTok user demographics, interests and behavior.
TikTok Business is a free tool that allows you to create a business account on TikTok for your company. This free upgrade provides businesses with analytics, statistics and advertising tools, governed by the TikTok Ads Manager, that help them grow their presence on the platform. This feature also allows brands to access the TikTok Ads platform to create and manage their ad campaigns.
The cost of ads on TikTok depends on a number of factors, such as campaign objective, budget, target group, etc. TikTok uses a so-called ad bidding model, in which companies set a maximum bid for cost per click (CPC) or cost per thousand impressions (CPM). The final price of the ad is determined based on the maximum bid, the relevance of the ad to the target group and the competition for ad inventory on the platform.
The lowest CPM is $0.50 per 1,000/impressions, which means brands can pay 50 cents for every 1,000 views of their ad. The lowest CPC is 0.02 cents per click.
Kolsquare Insight: We only mention the lowest value here on purpose, because prices in the industry are now also exploding on TikTok. Due to the fact that the creators of TikTok can quickly become viral, thanks to the algorithm, the rates are constantly changing – upward trend.
Determining the right budget for an influencer marketing campaign on Tiktok is a challenge. Indeed, TikTok has not commented on official costs, but it is estimated that the minimum budgets for campaigns and ads are as follows:
An effective TikTok Ads campaign achieves the marketing goals set by the company while maximizing the return on investment. This means, for example, that the campaign reached the target audience, generated a high level of engagement, and helped increase brand awareness, sales or any other goal cost-effectively.
To achieve this type of successful advertising strategy, there are a number of essential steps, which we describe below:
It’s important to know and understand your audience on TikTok. This helps brands create and promote relevant content, which resonates with the audience that has been well-defined beforehand. Knowing your audience’s demographics, interests and behaviors will help you adjust the tone of your campaigns to better resonate with your messages, increase engagement and build stronger relationships.
Before you directly start with your campaign, you first need to create a TikTok profile and if you have one, upgrade it to a business account. Download the TikTok app and proceed as follows:
Please note that TikTok Ads has approval requirements for advertisers, including complying with the TikTok Ads Terms and Conditions, verifying your TikTok account and meeting the minimum ad spend set by the platform. In addition, it is advisable to have a clear marketing strategy before you start running ads on TikTok to ensure that your ads reach the right audience and achieve your desired goals.
TikTok offers several ad formats that are directly aligned with the goals of your ad campaign. The main formats include:
Keep in mind that each of these formats can have a wider reach if you develop them through recognized influencers in their category. Here’s a guide to finding relevant influencers in 2023.
The key to creating engaging ads is to be authentic with content that shows the brand’s personality and doesn’t sound too much like advertising. Keep the content short, as short videos work best on TikTok. 15 to 30 seconds is enough to capture and hold the attention of users on this social network. Also, play with music and visual effects, and if possible, stick to the current viral trends to increase the audience’s attention. Don’t forget to add a call to action, such as a link to your website or a download direct link of your mobile app.
We also recommend TikTok content categories: These are relevant for influencer marketing campaigns.
Before you target your campaign, you should determine your goals, which can range from increasing brand awareness to rising web traffic to generating conversions. With this clear information, you can better target your campaign and be more successful in getting the results you want. With TikTok Ads, you can create or exclude custom audiences; this requires you to provide information about age, gender, geographic location, behavior, interests, etc.
There are several factors to consider when setting the budget for a TikTok campaign, such as campaign goals, target audience, campaign duration, advertising costs and the amount of money a company is willing to invest. The platform gives you the option to choose a total or daily budget for the campaign, as well as the start and end times. They still exist, at cheap prices for content, it’s up to the influencers you choose and your price negotiation skills.
To measure and optimize TikTok campaigns, it is important to track the results of the campaign and adjust them based on the data collected. To perform a complete analysis, you can use the TikTok Ads Manager, which allows you to adjust the parameters to be evaluated.
For optimization, you need to select the goal, either conversion, clicks or reach, which is directly related to the overall goals of your campaign. Next, you’ll choose from the bid and cost limit options in TikTok Ads, which can help you set the maximum budget for managing your ads.
First, there’s the bid limit, which lets you set a maximum amount per click (CPC), per view (CPV) or per 1,000 impressions (CPM) that you’re willing to pay for each interaction with your ad.
The cost cap, on the other hand, lets you set the average cost per result for an optimized CPM. The cost can be above and below the bid amount, but on average it should settle at the bid you set.
Finally, the lowest-cost option uses your ad group’s budget to deliver the greatest number of results possible at the lowest cost per result. This means that TikTok’s ad system uses your budget as effectively as possible to get the most results at the lowest possible cost.
Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, offering a data-driven solution that empowers brands to scale their KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing strategies through authentic partnerships with top creators.
Kolsquare’s advanced technology helps marketing professionals seamlessly identify the best content creators by filtering their content and audience, while also enabling them to build, manage, and optimize campaigns from start to finish. This includes measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors.
With a thriving global community of influencer marketing experts, Kolsquare serves hundreds of customers—including Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, Lush, and Hermès—by leveraging the latest Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning technologies. Our platform taps into an extensive network of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers across 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.
As a Certified B Corporation, Kolsquare leads the way in promoting Responsible Influence, championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations that inspire positive change.
Since October 2024, Kolsquare has become part of the Team.Blue group, one of the largest private tech companies in Europe, and a leading digital enabler for businesses and entrepreneurs across Europe. Team.Blue brings together over 60 successful brands in web hosting, domains, e-commerce, online compliance, lead generation, application solutions, and social media.
