How to Run Ads on TikTok & Pro Tips

TikTok, the 6th largest social media network globally, offers an excellent opportunity for businesses to reach a 1.92 billion audience. So if you want to sell products, increase your followers, or drive traffic to your website, the TikTok ads strategy will surely help you.

As compared to other social media platforms, TikTok marketing feels less intrusive and doesn’t interrupt user experience. TikTok advertising follows an organic approach, where brands seamlessly integrate their products into trending challenges, getting higher conversions.

Keep reading to learn more about the fundamentals of TikTok advertising and how to run TikTok ads and engage Gen Z and Gen Alpha, making shopping a fun experience.

Part 1: What are TikTok Ads?

TikTok ads are paid marketing content for brands to spread awareness of their products among the platform audience. These ads help brands generate more sales while offering an average engagement rate of 17.96%.

TikTok ads are different from traditional ads in many ways. With these, your ad video looks like a regular TikTok, helping you get more audience attention. Usually, TikTok ads appear in user feeds and integrate with the app’s short video clips. These ads also have a sponsored tag and a call-to-action button to reach the ad’s landing page.

Benefits of TikTok Advertising

• TikTok availability in 160 countries makes it an ideal platform for businesses to run ads. It helps engage with a large and growing user base to drive brand awareness, engagement, and sales.
• TikTok ads' advanced algorithms can recognize relevant demographics, interests, and behaviors to reach the brand's target audience.
• The app has features for every small or large business such as TikTok ads, TikTok ad groups, and TikTok campaigns. So you can run a single collection of ads as needed.

Part 2: How Much Does Running a TikTok Business Ad Cost?

TikTok categorizes the ads' pricing in an auction and bidding model. It lets you decide how much you pay per video view, click, or impression. According to the TikTok app, here are specific minimum budgets you need to be aware of,

• Campaign Level Minimum Budget: If you want to run an ad for a campaign, your daily budgets and total budgets must exceed $50.
• Ad Group Level Minimum Budget: If you want to run ads for ad groups, your daily budget must exceed $20. 

You can also calculate lifetime budgets using this formula: minimum daily budget ($20) x scheduled days.

Factors Influencing TikTok Video Ad Cost

Now that you know the minimum ad cost for TikTok video ads, let’s dive in and see what factors influence this pricing.

• Initial Investment: Initial investments such as branding, strategy, and content creation that include testing and optimizing ads with planning seasonal campaigns affect the overall advertising budget.
• Video Equipment: Video production involves quality equipment, content strategy, and professional editing, which can also add to the TikTok ad cost. Plus, manual labor can be overwhelming for startups. To avoid this, most advertisers have turned to AI  video creation tools. These tools automate producing promotional content, saving time and resources. 
• Ad Format and Placement: Different ad formats have different prices. For instance, you pay less for in-feed ads than brand takeovers or branded hashtag challenges.
• Target Audience: The TikTok advertising costs also vary, depending on your targetted demographics or locations. 
• Bidding Strategy: The platform operates on an auction-based system, offering different bidding strategies, such as cost per click (CPC) or cost per mille (CPM), which eventually influence the cost.

Part 3: Types of TikTok Ads

Here are details of various TikTok ad formats for your marketing goals.

1. In-Feed Video Ads

In-feed ads are short videos that appear in users’ “For You” feeds with a call to action button while they scroll through content. Such ads are ideal for brands looking to drive leads organically targeting relevant audiences interested in the product.

2. Top View Ads

Top view ads appear at the top of the “For You” feed when you open the apps, offering high visibility. These ads are an excellent way for big brands or those launching new products to enhance visibility and achieve high impact.

3. Branded Hashtag Challenges

Brands create challenges, encouraging users to create content using a specific hashtag. These ads work best for brands looking to build community and engagement, especially in lifestyle, fashion, or entertainment sectors.

4. Branded Effects

These TikTok ads offer custom filters or effects that sellers can apply to their videos. Branded effects are excellent for brands targeting younger audiences who enjoy playful and interactive content.

Part 4: How to Run Ads on TikTok: A Step-by-Step Process

Here is the step-by-step guide on how to run ads on TikTok.

Step1Sign Up for TikTok Ads Manager Account

• First, create a TikTok Ads Manager account. To set up a new account, Visit the TikTok Sign Up page and go to the Advertising section.

• Sign Up by entering your email address and password. Then, enter the verification code sent to your email or phone. Read the Terms and Conditions and press Confirm.
• Next, the prompt will ask you to provide information about your business. Enter information in the respective field (country, region, industry, legal business name, time zone, phone number, billing, and payment information).

Once approved, log in to your account and follow the prompt to finish the process. 

Step2Set Up and Install the TikTok Pixel

It’s time to set up TikTok Pixel, a snippet of code on a website that collects information about site events. Here is how it goes.

• Visit TikTok Ads Manager and click Assets > Event.
• Next, select Manage Under Web Events > Set Up Web Events. Here, you will find TikTok Pixel, select it as your connection method, and press Next.

Now, you can name your pixel, and set up your web events (actions that allow you to track and decide how you want to collect cookie consent). Once the web event settings are complete, install TikTok Pixel.

• Add the code snippet to the header. Add it to your website's HTML code.
• You can use Shopify, WooCommerce, and Google Tag Manager platform plugins and integrations. These integrations can simplify this TikTok pixel installation process.

Step3Create a New TikTok Ad Campaign

• Click the Create button under the Campaigns tab to start a new ad campaign.

• Next, select either Basic or Advanced. In the case of choosing basic, follow these steps, Advertising Goal > Selecting an Audience > Setting your Budget > Creating your Ad.

• Follow these steps for Advanced: Advertising Objective > Name Your Campaign > Select A Special Ad Category > Set A Budget > Create a Split Test or Use Campaign Budget Optimization.

Step4Create an Ad Group to Define Audiences

In this step, you create an ad group to define your ad’s audiences, campaign budgets, and placements.

• Ad Placement: Choose from Automatic or Manual ad placement. With automatic placement, TikTok will place your ads for maximum reach and value. However, you are free to enable or disable user comments, video downloads, and video sharing with manual placement.

• Target Audience: Select your target audience by narrowing down your demographics, audience, interests, behaviors, and devices. For each category, you have customization options. For example, under demographics, you can select location, gender, age, language, etc.

• Budget and Schedule: Set the start and end time for your ad campaign (all day, at specific times, for an entire week, etc) according to your budget.

• Bidding and Optimization: Lastly, optimize your ads for clicks. Click Optimization refers to the people who are most likely to click on your ad, whereas Views refer to the people most likely to land on your website.  With click optimization, TikTok allows you to set a cost cap per click.

Step5Create a New Ad

Now you have set your ad group, the next step is creating your first ad.

• First, enable or disable Smart Creative Ads from the menu. It allows the optimization of your ad performance by automatically remixing a user’s ad creatives like images, videos, etc.

 

You can also use the option to preview, select videos, and edit the auto-generated videos’ text.

• Once done, select the Ad Name and Identity. You can also customize your ad name. By clicking Custom Identity, you will get a custom profile image and display name.

• Now, it’s time to customize your ad details and placements. For this, upload your ad creative images, text, call-to-action, and add interactive add-ons like a card or sticker. In this step, also determine your ad destination. Choose between a website URL or a custom TikTok Instant Page.

Before submission, preview it to get an idea of how it’ll appear to TikTok users. Moreover, always upload video ads with recommended specifications so your ad looks great on TikTok.

• Now, update the Tracking Settings. For the best results, you can add tracking for website, app, and offline events, as well as third-party tracking.

Step6Measure your Ad Performance

Always measure your TikTok ad performance after uploading. Here is how to measure ad performance:

• Employ social media analytical tools to determine how your campaign is giving leads.
• Use TikTok native analytics to know how your ad performs in terms of impressions, clicks, conversions, and more.
• It is important to compare performance for different ad creatives and placements to determine what works best for you.

Part 5: How to Make TikTok Video Ads the Right Way?

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High-quality video ads are important for positive brand perception, engagement, and first impression share count. It also builds trust as viewers are quick to judge content.  However, it is important to note that making high-quality video ads can be costly, as you need professional equipment, skilled videographers, and editing software.

1. Create Engaging Content

Create short and snappy 15-second engaging ads to create a buzz with your ad. Try using bright colors, quick cuts, and eye-catching graphics to make your ad stand out. If you don't have any editing skills and want to create ads in less time, switch to AI tools like Virbo. It is an AI montage that uses advanced algorithms to gather clips and transform them into interactive ads.

Not only this, but its URL-to-video generator feature takes your product’s links and transforms them into engaging promotional content. Plus, you don’t have to spend a lot on it.

2. Choose the Right Format

To make the most out of your TikTok ads, the format matters. For instance, if you want the audience to participate, branded hashtag challenges are the right way. In contrast, use in-feed video ads if you want users to visit your website.

3. Generate Trendy Videos

Trendy videos are followed most on TikTok. You can make it easily in minutes using compelling photos with Virbo. It automatically compiles clips and photos into polished video ads in minutes.

Who Can Benefit from TikTok Ads?

TikTok ads can help grow almost every type of business. Let’s understand them.

• Beauty Brands: Brands like e.l.f. cosmetics gained huge success using viral trends TikTok ads that show product transformations and makeup tutorials. 
• Apparel Brands: Apparel brands like Gymshark can boost their sales with high-quality videos by reaching younger audiences.
• Gadget Brands: TikTok ads showing product teasers and behind-the-scenes content help brands like Apple generate buzz before new launches.
• Healthcare brands: You can share relatable content to promote mental health awareness with TikTok ads. The campaigns often include tips for mindfulness and relaxation that help you resonate deeply with users looking for self-care solutions.

Tips for Effective TikTok Ad Strategy

Here are tips for effective TikTok ad strategy:

• Understand Demographics: It allows you to tailor your content for the target audience. For this, videos should be relatable and reflect audience interests and trends.
• Focus on Storytelling: A unique narrative engages viewers. Hence, you should make a video story that resonates emotionally with the audience, having a sense of humor, inspiration, or a relatable situation.
• Be Authentic: Every audience appreciates genuine content. So, showcase real people in your ads and feature behind the scenes to get engagement.
• Call to Action (CTA): Your short videos should have a clear and persuasive CTA that guides viewers on what to do next.
• Use Trends: Always take advantage of trends; it helps your TikTok ad go viral. You can do this by incorporating trending sounds, challenges, or hashtags to increase visibility and engagement.

Win at TikTok Advertisements!

TikTok ads are a powerful tool for brands in various sectors to engage with younger audiences for more sales and long-lasting impressions. Implement these strategies to enhance your ad campaigns and drive results. Plus, don’t limit yourself, even if you are facing budget issues. Streamline video creation using smart tools like Virbo to make your advertising attention-catching.

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