Advertising on TikTok for business: how to advertise and sell products

How to advertise products on TikTok If your business theme allows, you will find your customer on TikTok. Marketing tools on the social network differ from those on Instagram or Facebook. The main goal of an advertising campaign comes down to - 10% technical component, 90% creativity and creativity.

TikTok offers customers 5 ways of promotion:

• Hashtag Challenge. These are advertising banners that appear in search sections and tell potential buyers about recent activity. In 80% of cases, this type of advertising is used by tickers that have already gained popularity among users. Either music jingles or branded hashtags are integrated into the video. Advertising on TikTok is expensive, and the launch of the Hashtag Challenge is measured in dollar terms. The Hashtag Challenge works like this: influencers shoot videos and post them on their profiles according to the Challenge. Such videos receive 500,000 views from other influencers and get into users' feeds. The latter start participating in the competition. As a result, user-generated content reaches an audience 3-4 times larger than the predicted one. Videos are tracked by hashtags. When launching such ads, choose well-known influencers who gain thousands of views on one video.
• Brand Takeover. An advertising banner that appears in the user's feed takes up the full screen. The video lasts from 3 to 5 seconds. This is the first thing a user sees when they visit the site. We recommend accompanying the video with a direct link or hashtag to go to another brand page or the company's official website.
• In-feed Native Video. Short videos up to 15 seconds long. Videos appear in users' feeds as they scroll. The average viewing time is 10 seconds. Such videos are aimed at likes, comments, reposts, or shares. Interactive mechanics are used along with the post.
• AR or augmented reality. Brands are promoted through stickers, masks, and other creative elements of the social network. It is possible to add elements in 2D or 3D. First, we recommend using this type of advertising to organize brand introductions to potential customers.
• Another option for promoting goods and services is to order advertising from bloggers. Useful influencers often come to TikTok from Instagram or Facebook. For example, two years ago, the Guess brand launched an advertising campaign in which bloggers first appeared in old clothes, and a few seconds later appeared in front of the public, trying on branded items. The videos were distributed under the hashtag #inmydenim. Users liked the creative video, and then began to shoot their own videos in such formats, marking them with the appropriate hashtag.

Keep in mind that you need to negotiate the launch of advertising on TikTok directly with the site's administration. However, unlike other social networks, TikTok's administration is "hidden" and only large brands can reach it at first. For small and medium-sized businesses, it will take more than one attempt to discuss the details.

There is also limited targeted advertising in terms of recruiting mechanics. There is a geography, type of connection and operating system, and gender. But the audience of the social network is the same, so focus on the four main metrics of the advertising campaign - likes, comments, hashtags, and the number of clicks.

We recommend that entrepreneurs who are just getting started on TikTok start with a hashtag advertising campaign. You can either join an existing popular hashtag that doesn't advertise another specific brand, or start from scratch by engaging bloggers or other influencers. A vivid example of a successful advertising campaign is the Coca-Cola challenge. Users of the social network shoot creative videos featuring a bottle of the drink, but use TikTok tools. The number of hashtag views is over six million.

Please note that TikTok is not suitable for complex products or services that cannot be understood from the first seconds. Mass markets offering clothes, shoes, or cosmetics, as well as brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, and Adidas, fit into the existing marketing strategy of the platform. Such products are competently integrated into TikTok's advertising formats.

Keep in mind the limitations - the commercial should not last more than 15 seconds, given that the average user watches ads for 5–10 seconds. Don't make the ad too long. Let the video or photo be aimed not at selling, but at entertainment. Surprise the audience and thus reduce the time to make a purchase decision to 5 seconds.