“I’m not sure how you feel about this idea, but I’m strongly recommending TikTok for this plan” – almost every account manager presenting to their clients these days.
TikTok has been a touchy subject over the past few years, especially when recommending it to clients. There are so many pros and cons to the platform, one pro being that it is where majority of users are spending their time, but the downfall is all of the backlash it gets and the uncontrollable content on it that ads appear between.
Another con for the clients being on TikTok is the lack of creative available to use. Some clients have been using the same video for 2+ years, which causes severe creative wear out. However, the social app has some solutions for this notorious problem and options for account managers to provide to their clients when presenting media plans.
Carousel ads are the newest feature on TikTok. When setting up a campaign, one can upload at least 2 standard images to the platform, along with audio and copy. Rather than a user watching a video, they can swipe through the images instead while still listening to the audio. The audio, however, will not match the timing of when the user views the images. This is great, though, for clients who struggle with supplying videos specifically for TikTok.
Spark Ads is another option for those clients who cannot keep up with refreshing their creative for TikTok and really gives the content a more native feel. The brand account would use posts from real TikTok accounts, such as an influencer, who would then grant permission to that brand to use their video as an advertisement. The organic TikTok account would still gain all the benefits from the views, comments, shares, etc. but will boost the ad for the brand.
One more new feature for TikTok is zip code targeting. I know for me, this is super helpful for the accounts I work on because it helps us get more granular with the geo-targeting and only reach the users that we REALLY want to see our ads. This may take some work getting the specific zip codes that I want to target, but once the hard part is done, it should make my TikTok campaigns go a lot further in terms of how they spend and the quality of people seeing the ads.
So while this platform may be getting banned in some states, it is still here to stay in others. With the right demographics and creative, TikTok campaigns can go a long way and help clients reach their goals. Whether it is a high school audience or a campaign that is targeting parents, this platform is very powerful and will get your ads seen.
Written by Senior Media Specialist, Abby Schrum
