John Horn, Chief Executive Officer, StubGroup

In 2021, it was reported that TikTok was the most popular domain. That means that more people used TikTok than they did Google. With a statistic like that, it’s a no-brainer to advertisers that utilizing the social media platform is a must. 

To do so effectively is a lot easier said than done, though. Crafting an advertising campaign on a platform whose majority audience is between 10-29 years of age is a challenge. Advertisers need to get into the mind of Gen Z’ers and produce content that they want to see. The biggest goal and challenge of any advertising is changing a consumer’s behavior– getting them to follow a link, purchase a product, subscribe or follow, whatever it is. Luckily, my team at StubGroup knows a thing or two about changing consumer behavior on social media. So how does someone successfully advertise on TikTok?  

Establish The Objective

TikTok has three advertising categories: awareness, consideration, and conversion. Knowing which one you want to go after will determine the approach you take. Building awareness means you want to show your ad or content to the most amount of people. Building consideration is getting traffic to URL or collecting data for lead generation. Lastly, conversion is getting that changed behavior– a purchase, a subscription, etc. 

Set The Budget, Call To Action, and Target Audience

All successful campaigns have these three components nailed down to a T. In 2019, it was reported that advertising on TikTok can cost anywhere between $50,000-$120,000. Times have changed, however, and TikTok is very accessible for pretty much any budget. (Ignore the sites that say TikTok requires a minimum of $500 per campaign. They’re wrong). So, when crafting a campaign, it’s important to set yourself up to get just as much return for your advertising. 

At this point, you can also set up an ad schedule for top optimization and details that will help direct traffic to your landing page or app. 

Create Your Ad

This step is where the magic happens or where it flops. Every detail counts, including the cover you choose, the preview shown, the tags, links, etc. Most viral TikTok videos have two things in common: 1. a catchy sound is used 2. a dance to go along with it

Picking the correct sound and dance for your ad should be a top priority.

There is a wide variety of videos to choose from when creating an ad. For example, TikTok influencers play a huge role in advertising. Other options include in-feed ads, brand takeovers, TopView ads, branded hashtag challenge ads, and branded effects.

Track The Campaign

At this point, your campaign is in the hands of the Gen Z’ers and the TikTok gods. Use the metrics collected from the campaign to help improve your ads over time and learn what works and what doesn’t.

Throwing your hat in the ring among thousands of other advertisers on TikTok is daunting but doable! To advertise on the most popular domain successfully requires attention to detail, a well-thought-out strategy, and a good handle on trending topics. 

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About the Author: John Horn, CEO of StubGroup, has spent his professional career focused on creating and delivering a unique, successful product to each client, every time. He spends his days looking for ways to thrive at the cutting edge of the digital advertising world, equipping the team at StubGroup to provide excellent service to every client, and speaking with businesses looking for an effective PPC management solution.