How to Run TikTok Ads for the Win: All You Need to Know

Marketing on TikTok?

Wondering how to run TikTok ads?

In its young life, TikTok has rocketed to the 7th largest social network, boasting 689 million active users monthly.

With 69% of US teens using it, it’s clearly a fantastic tool to reach the younger market.

And beyond! Projections say almost 40% of the US population will be using TikTok by 2024. That means more than teens.

So you’re wise to jump in now!

Let’s learn how to do ads on TikTok.

How to Set Up and Run TikTok Ads

Maybe you’re already familiar with Facebook ads. Similarly, TikTok offers your business the ability to run paid content to grab the attention of a targeted audience.

We’ll jump right into setting up your account, then review the types of ads you might choose to run (hint: no worries, they’re the same creative TikTok video ideas you’re already using!).

Follow along visually with the infographics. Copy and graphics are compliments of ZenBusiness. Visit the original post for stats sources.

Graphics are published under CC license 4.0 and have been edited into smaller, more digestible elements.

Here’s how to get started with TikTok Ads:

Step 1: Create a TikTok Ads account, using either:

• Email address
• Phone number

Pro Tip: Enter your “Business Name” the same as, or closely related to, your company’s legal name, because if it doesn’t match, you won’t pass the account review.

Step 2: Set up your account

From your Dashboard, access your Account Info and complete your Business Information (website, industry, address and verification).

Step 3: Select your payment method

Manual payments is standard in all markets, so you will need to add balance before running adverts. Automatic payments are available in some markets.

Step 4: Create an ad campaign.

Select an Advertising Objective from the following categories:

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Conversion

Step 5: Set your budget

• No Limit: No restrictions on your ad delivery at the campaign level, and your budget spend will be determined by the budget you set at the ad group level.
• Daily Budget: Your ad delivery will be limited by the daily budget and will not exceed this amount.
• Lifetime Budget: Your ad delivery will be limited by the total budget and will not exceed this amount.

Step 6: Set your Ad Placements

• Automatic placement: Ads will be optimized across all placements under TikTok Ads Manager.
• Select placement: You can manually choose where they appear.

Step 7: Select Creative Type

Pro Tip: When Automated Creative Optimization is turned on, the system will automatically generate combinations of your images, videos and ad text, and deliver only the high-performing combinations.

Step 8: Specify Targeting

This lets you target your audience, allowing you to include or exclude certain demographics across areas like age, gender, interest and device.

Step 9: Select Budget & Schedule

• Set a Daily or Lifetime Budget for your ad group
• Schedule start and end times and dates.

Step 10: Manage Bidding & Optimization

This lets you select your bidding process & optimization options and input third-party tracking links to monitor ad performance.

Step 11: Create your Ad

• Give your Ad a name.
• Upload or create your media.
• Enter any text or CTAs.
• Add a link and tracking links.

Step 12: Preview your creative.

Before you click “Submit” be sure to preview.

Pro Tip: Don’t leave before adding any relevant pixel or third-party tracking links to track your ad performance data.

4 TikTok Ads Your Brand Needs

Launching a successful TikTok ad campaign means optimizing every aspect of your post.

Let’s learn how!

1. Hashtag Challenge ad

Pick a simple, memorable and meme-worthy hashtag (A).

Pro Tip: Make sure the hashtag is easy to spell correctly so that people can find it and use it without mistakes.

Include your brand name in the hashtag (B).

Use your product in the challenge (B).

Pick catchy, or on-trend music that will help it go viral (D).

Make the challenge fun to take part in (E).

Use visual effects to make it engaging (F).

Let people buy your products using Hashtag Challenge Plus (G).

2. Giveaway ads

Make sure the concept is easy to understand (A).

Pro Tip: If you can’t explain your concept in a sentence, it’s too complicated.

Don’t forget to include legal small print (B).

Offer a prize that is worth their effort (C).

Have an engaging landing page (D).

Pro Tip: Make use of emojis to break up the text and make it more fun to read. Check out this list of emoji meanings for pointers.

3. Influencer collaboration ads

Pick the right influencer (A).

Finding the right influencer is crucial to drive engagement and value for money.

Pro Tip: Use databases to find the influencer for you:

• Tokfluence.com
• Influencegrid.com
• Inbeat.co

Let the influencers guide the creative (B).

Influencers know how to engage your audience and need to seem authentic, so don’t tie them up in brand guidelines.

Use campaign hashtags (C).

It’s crucial that these influencer posts tie into a larger campaign or at least are easily identifiable with your brand.

4. In-Feed Native Content Ad

Include a clear call-to-action (A).

Start with an impactful image to catch their eye (B).

Include attention-grabbing music (C).

Get the layout right with the most important elements centred (D).

Include informative and concise captions to tell the story quickly (E).

TikTok Ads Best Practices

Now that you know how to set up your TikTok ads platform and which ads to run, let’s look at some success tips via TikTok ad examples.

Follow these pointers to help you build campaigns that get your brand noticed and shared.

1. Be authentic

Users will quickly spot brands that are ‘trying too hard’ and ignore them, so instead of selling to them, engage them with your values.

Example: JanSport’s #LightenTheLoad campaign on mental health issues. (See it on the graphic below).

2. React to hot trends

Keeping on top of what is hot is an ideal way to capitalize on what users are sharing right now.

Example: After a man drinking Ocean Spray on his skateboard while listening to Fleetwood Mac went viral, the drinks brand’s CEO did his own version.

3. Use targeted hashtags

Using generic hashtags will only help your content get lost in the noise.

Pro Tip: Use the search function to find TikTok hashtags that are being viewed the most by your specific audience.

4. Be responsive.

Reply to comments and comment on videos when people take part in your challenges.

Pro Tip: You can create content from the comments you receive, which is a great way to incentivize more interactions.

5. Use trending songs in your videos

The music you choose for your video can impact its popularity.

Pro Tip: Keep an eye on the songs on the “For You” page, or visit tokboard.com to see which songs are currently popular.

6. Use TikTok effects

TikTok offers creators a lot of tools to be creative with in their videos, so have fun with them and make your videos as interactive as possible.

Example: Betty Crocker’s #FruitByTheFoot challenge saw filters like #DJByTheFoot being created and used by influencers.

7. Utilize your assets to build a community

Think about what your customers love about your brand and brainstorm ideas for how it could be brought to life visually in a fun and shareable way.

Example: Cat videos are as popular on TikTok as any other platform, so The Pounce Cat Cafe has plenty of material to work with.

8. Encourage duets

Duets allow you to create videos using existing content. They’re a fun way to encourage followers to create content for your brand, while sharing the original post at the same time.

Example: PUMA’s logo challenge asked users to find innovative ways to recreate its logo.

9. Work with micro-influencers

They may have a smaller audience than mainstream influencers, but they can often be more targeted and specific to your brand.

Example: TabTale’s Run Around Pt.2 video with Candice Callins earned over 130k likes.

Conclusion

At two years old, TikTok advertising may be the new kid on the block – but its power is mighty.

While the audience is young, with 63% of users being between the ages of 10 and 29, usage trends show an increase in 25- to 54-year-old TikTokers and a decrease in the youngest adults on the platform.

And they have a surprising amount of cash to spend! 51.8% have an average income of $75K or more.

So what do you think? Will you run ads on TikTok?

Let us know in the comments!