In 2021, TikTok was the most downloaded app in the world, with 656 million downloads. The channel has a billion active monthly users worldwide, making it the 6th most used social media platform in the world. Finally, TikTok users are highly engaged. A 2021 study found that 92% of TikTok users took action after watching a TikTok. So whether you’re after pushing clicks to your website, driving sign-ups for fundraising events or collecting donations, TikTok could be a valuable part of your cross-channel marketing strategy.
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Targeting Options
If you’ve ever run a Facebook, YouTube or display campaign, you will see a lot of similarities between channels.
As you might expect, in TikTok Ad Manager there is the option to select from either custom or automatic targeting. If you’re after more control, custom targeting is your option! With custom targeting, you can reach audiences based on demographics, interests & behaviours (and even devices). A breakdown of the options is below:
- Demographics – location, gender, language and age
- Interest & Behaviours – general interests, video interactions, creator interactions and trending hashtag interactions
- Device – operating system, operating version, device, connection type, mobile carrier and device price
With TikTok for business, you can create custom audiences to reach people who have interacted with your brand. These custom target audiences can be uploaded as a customer file or created using your pixel. There is also an option to create lookalike audiences – reaching people with similar characteristics to users of a particular group. This group of users is up to you! Some of the more powerful lookalike audiences that we’ve come across are based on people: who donated, visited your website or even engaged with your ad. With TikTok, you have the option to have a ‘broad’, ‘specific’ or ‘narrow’ lookalike, with the narrow lookalike most resembling your original group.
So now that you’re familiar with the targeting options available on TikTok let’s dive into creative best practices.
“Don’t Make Ads. Make TikTok Videos”
Although it may seem like repurposing videos from a YouTube campaign or still images from a Facebook ad campaign is the best way to get started on TikTok, we’d recommend tailoring your videos for TikTok. That’s because several unique aspects of TikTok mean content from other platforms will not work.
Firstly, TikTok is a vertical platform – that is users hold their phone upright (and not on its side) when flicking through the content. If you’re reusing videos from YouTube, which are typically landscape, they will stand out for all the wrong reasons. As a result, videos in a 9:16 aspect ratio will allow you to make the most of the space available. This being said, even if you do have videos readily available in a 9:16 aspect ratio, it is crucial that they are customised to suit TikTok. If you’ve ever been on TikTok, you may have seen some videos where critical elements of the video, such as text overlay, are covered by buttons. Although ‘raw’ videos (more on that later!) do typically perform well on TikTok, messaging always needs to be clear for users. That is why we always recommend using the ‘safe zone’ when creating TikTok videos.
Equally important is the need to create attention-grabbing content. Despite users of TikTok being highly engaged, people are speedy to flick between videos. That is why videos should be kept between 9 and 15 seconds. So if you’re looking to reuse that 30-second television advert on TikTok, think again! Not only should you keep your videos short, but you should also use elements like audio, video & text to grab the viewer’s attention and get your message across.
I know you’re probably thinking, “this sounds like a lot of time, effort & money” to run some ads on TikTok. Wrong! The beauty of TikTok is that you can create simple yet engaging advertisements that do not require the polished look that you may need on other channels. Videos can be raw and filmed on a phone, we even recommend using user generated content. There is also a Video Editor on TikTok, so you can easily edit content and add in text, music and audio. It can be worth investing in a lapel microphone if your content involves voice to camera just to make sure people can decipher what you’re saying.
Measurement
Before you start filming videos, there is one critical step in ensuring that your campaign is a success – tracking.
As with any digital marketing activity, tracking is essential to accurately understand how a campaign performs. TikTok is no different. Using the TikTok Events manager, you can set up a TikTok pixel & track events. As always, you must be tracking conversions central to your campaign so that you can optimise your campaigns & so that TikTok’s algorithm can learn the best users to reach.
Regarding tracking, we also recommend using UTM parameters to capture performance in Google Analytics and can easily be compared with other channels.
Not Sure Where To Get Started?
Whether you are looking for assistance with an existing TikTok campaign or are keen to diversify your marketing strategy, we can help. Contact us today.
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