How To Get Started With TikTok Ads In 2024? The Ultimate Guide

As businesses continue to look for new, innovative ways to reach potential customers and increase sales, the social platform TikTok is becoming an increasingly popular option. With its ever-growing user base, it’s no wonder that many are looking to leverage TikTok Ads as part of their TikTok marketing strategy. But creating a successful TikTok ad campaign can seem daunting if you’re not sure where to start.

To help companies get started with advertising on TikTok, this article will provide an overview of the platform’s ad formats as well as steps and helpful tips for creating successful campaigns.

Benefits of advertising on TikTok

TikTok is a user-friendly, highly entertaining social commerce platform that has seen exponential growth in recent years. Using TikTok for business marketing brings many benefits to brands. Here are some of the most important ones:

1. Increase reach:

With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok provides businesses with an opportunity to reach a wider audience and cost-effectively increase their brand awareness. Through ads on TikTok, companies can get access to an audience that is younger, highly engaged, and eager to learn about new product offerings.

2. Increase engagement:

Ads on this platform are interactive, allowing users to engage with content right away rather than having them wait for a response after viewing the ad. This not only increases user interaction but also allows companies to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns in real-time.

3. High return on advertising spends:

A recent study has found that TikTok ads, on average have an impressive 2.5x Return On Ad Spend (ROAS), making it one of the most profitable digital advertising channels available today.

4. Detailed analytics:

TikTok business ads also provide advanced metrics and analytics to measure campaign success. TikTok analytics allow businesses to accurately track user engagement with each ad and make tweaks as they go along in order to maximize the effectiveness of their campaigns. The data that is provided by this platform helps inform decisions about future campaigns and strategies, so businesses can better focus their efforts and resources. In addition, you can save TikTok ads, which can serve as a source of inspiration for creating your own content and campaigns in the future.

How to get started with TikTok ads?

Now that you know the benefits of using TikTok ads, let’s see how you can set them up:

*Note that some of the steps may differ based on your country.

• The first step is to create a TikTok ad account on the TikTok ads manager.

• For setting up your TikTok business account, you need to sign up using your email or phone. Then confirm it.

• Fill in the form and complete the information about your country and company. Agree to the terms of service and click on “Register.”

• You can choose “Simplified mode” or “Custom mode.” Let’s choose the latter one and go through the whole process.
• Then it’s time to set your goal.

• Enter your campaign’s name, select your ad category, and set your budget.

• Now you can select your TikTok ad campaign promotion type and placement. You can also choose if you want automated creative optimization for your ad.

• Choose who you want to see your TikTok ads, such as your preferred audiences’ location, interests, and behavior.

• You can even choose the devices that you want your ad to be appeared on.

• The next step is for setting up your budget and scheduling the time of your ad.

• And the last step is to choose your optimization goal and bid strategy.

Now you can connect your TikTok account to run Spark ads, or post directly with your TikTok ads manager account.

• In this step, you need to complete your ad information, such as its name, identity, and other details.

• You can easily upload your photo or video and create your first TikTok ad.

• You can also enter the tracking information, which is optional.

• Do the payment procedure and finish creating your TikTok ad.

Do not forget that all TikTok ads go through a review process before going live.

Different TikTok ad formats

While creating your TikTok ad, you need to know the different types of advertising on TikTok and carefully choose the best option. Here are the 7 different TikTok ad formats:

1. In-feed Ads

In-feed TikTok ads are a type of promotion that appear within users’ “For you” page and news feeds, just like regular content from other people they follow or have interacted with on the app. In-feed ads are so engaging and trustworthy and can be in form of Image ads, Video ads (5-60 seconds,) Carousel ads, or Pangle ads.

2. Brand takeover

Another type of advertisement available on TikTok is Brand Takeovers, which are full-screen ads that take over the app when users first open it. Your TikTok ad will turn into an in-feed video ad after three to five seconds.

3. TopView ads

TopView ads can also appear at the top section of users’ feeds and are full-screen. They last up to 60 seconds long.

4. Branded effects

Branded effects allow brands to have an interactive ad experience on TikTok by creating their own special effects or filters and adding them to their videos. These ads can last up to 10 days.

5. Hashtag challenges

Hashtag challenges are another type of TikTok ads that appear in the “Discovery” section of the app and last 3-6 days. They can be used in several different ways and give businesses the opportunity to encourage their audience to participate.

For example, brands can invite followers to submit videos reenacting scenes from a movie or demonstrating how they use their product in everyday life and share their videos using the hashtag. By clicking on the hashtag, users will be taken to the brand’s landing page.

6. Search ads

Another type of advertising on TikTok is Search ads. These ads come with a “Sponsored” label and appear when users search for certain keywords in the app’s discovery section.

7. Spark Ads

Spark Ads are a type of ads when brands advertise products using organic TikTok posts. Spark ads must be less than 15 seconds and have a really high engagement rate.

TikTok ads examples

Let’s see some of the top TikTok commercials and ad examples to better understand how this advertising method works.

1. MerrybBOSSmas

@daisyjelley With Christmas a little different this year, we’re bringing the @boss store windows to life on TikTok this Christmas #MerryBOSSmas #Ad ♬ BOSS – LODEF ft. Fleur East

MerryBOSSmas was a TikTok branded hashtag challenge that had users from all over the world participating. The challenge encouraged users to create their own festive holiday-themed content, with the hashtag #merrybossmas.

LODEF ft. Fleur East even released a song created exclusively for the campaign. This TikTok trend went viral fast and received more than three billion video views.

2. BMW-eDrive

@bmw_edrive #광고 BMW X 헨리와 함께 만드는 #e상적인바이브챌린지 ♬ e상적인바이브 (원곡: Thunder) – BMW X HENRY

BMW, one of the leading car manufacturers in the world, has collaborated with popular K-pop artist Henry on TikTok. The two have partnered up and created the “e-ideal Vibe” campaign to promote BMW’s new hybrid vehicle.

The combination of In-Feed ads and TopView ads along with a remix of Thunder by Imagine Dragons caused this six-day campaign to generate about 46M views.

3. PepsiCo Australia

When Pepsi Max, Australia’s number-one selling no-sugar cola, wanted to release their new flavors in Australia, launched its first campaign on TikTok.

The campaign was a combination of In-Feed ads and Brand Takeover and brought millions of new potential customers in Australia alone.

How much do TikTok ads cost?

If you’re deciding whether or not to use TikTok ads as a marketing tool for promoting your brand, be aware that it can cost a bit. But as the ROI is so high, they are worth trying.

The cost of TikTok ads, which are based on a bidding model, depends on several factors, including the type of ad, budget, and targeted audience for the campaign. 

Generally speaking, the minimum daily budget that you need for the campaign level is $50, and for the ad group level is $20.

It’s obvious that advertisers will have greater success with larger budgets as it allows for more flexibility when targeting their desired demographic.

Tips to optimize your TikTok ads

With millions of users, businesses have a unique opportunity to engage potential customers through advertising on TikTok. But how can you make the most of this opportunity and stand out among all brands?

Don’t worry. To get the most out of your TikTok ad campaigns and maximize your ROI, we have provided some tips that can help you optimize your ads.

• First and foremost, be authentic. TikTok users aren’t interested in ads that feel “fake,” so make sure your content has a personal touch and accurately reflects who you are as a brand.
• Try to make all your videos vertical. Vertical videos have better impressions on TikTok.
• Keep your TikTok commercials short and concise. Ads that are up to 15 seconds long have been found to be more effective in capturing and retaining user attention.
• When creating your ad, take into consideration the type of content that resonates with your target audience and aligns with your brand’s mission.
• Focus on creating content that resonates with your target audience. To that end, try incorporating trends and hashtags into your posts – this provides an easy way for users to discover and interact with your brand.
• Do not forget to add music to your TikTok ad. Sound is a powerful tool on TikTok, as it helps draw attention to your ad and elicit emotional reactions from viewers.
• Use clear visuals, stickers, and text to draw followers’ attention.
• Identify and partner with TikTok influencers who have a large following and whose values align with yours. TikTok influencer marketing will give your campaign greater visibility, not just on the platform but also through organic word-of-mouth promotion.
• Find the best time to post on TikTok. With a vast range of users from all over the world, there are different peak times when people use TikTok and it is important to target them with your adverts during those times.
• Once your TikTok ad campaign is up and running, make sure you measure its performance regularly by testing different versions of the ad.

Conclusion

In conclusion, TikTok ads offer businesses a great opportunity to reach an entirely new demographic. With its massive engagement numbers, interactive features, and affordable cost, it’s worth a try for any business looking to target young audiences.

To get started with TikTok ads, be sure to have a strong understanding of your target market, create compelling video content that speaks to them, and pay attention to the different types of ads available.