TikTok Advertising: Platform Overview, Formats, and Advantages / ITech content

Contents:

• What goals do brands pursue on TikTok?
• Strengths of advertising on TikTok?
• How advertising on TikTok works: six main formats?
• Advertising with bloggers?

Regina is the COO of the international influencer marketing agency HypeFactory. The agency specializes in creating advertising campaigns based on big data analysis and the use of artificial intelligence technologies. As part of her role at HypeFactory, Regina is responsible for strategy development, business process automation, and campaign management for over 8,000 influencers from Russia, the US, Europe, and Asia.

HypeFactory is a leading social media promotion and marketing platform. We specialize in creating effective advertising campaigns and engaging with target audiences. Our team of professionals helps brands increase visibility and boost sales using modern tools and strategies. We offer a comprehensive approach to marketing, including market analysis, content development, and reputation management. With HypeFactory, you'll gain access to cutting-edge technologies and methods that will help your business reach new heights online. Choose HypeFactory for successful online brand promotion.

In July 2021, TikTok's monthly audience in Russia reached 39.5 million users, according to Mediascope. This social network attracts brands not only for its extensive reach but also for its innovative advertising tools that allow them to effectively engage with their target audience. TikTok offers unique opportunities for creative promotion of products and services, making it an attractive marketing platform.

In 2020, TikTok introduced the Creator Marketplace, an official platform for interaction between influencers and brands. Later, it introduced the Spark Ads feature, allowing companies to create ads directly from their accounts. In September 2021, the social network announced four new advertising tools aimed at increasing audience engagement. These innovations have contributed to the development of marketing on TikTok and improved interaction between users and brands.

These tools may help increase sales through social media, but this raises the question: is TikTok truly interested in increasing advertising budgets? Let's conduct an analysis.

• Why brands come to TikTok
• Strengths of the platform: positive advertising perception and low competition
• Overview of the platform's advertising formats

What goals do brands pursue on TikTok?

Brands, joining TikTok, strive to achieve two key goals. The first goal is to increase brand awareness. TikTok provides unique opportunities for creating viral content that can quickly reach a wide audience. The second goal is interaction with the target audience. The platform allows brands not only to promote their products and services, but also to actively interact with users, receiving feedback and building closer relationships with customers. Thus, TikTok is becoming an important tool for achieving marketing goals and strengthening a brand's position in the market.

• Some see the platform growing in popularity and want to ride the hype wave and gain views by entering the platform without a promotion strategy;
• Others view the video platform as a full-fledged marketing tool and work to create a strong connection between the user and the brand and build long-term relationships.

Leading Russian advertisers, such as Dirol, Pyaterochka, AliExpress, Sber, Yandex, Danone, Beeline, and Kia, are actively working on TikTok. This is due to the high level of user engagement and the platform's growing popularity among various age groups. TikTok provides unique opportunities for brands, allowing them to effectively engage with their audience and create viral content. Advertisers see this as a chance to increase their visibility and attract new customers, making TikTok an important part of modern marketing strategies.

Short videos are shaping new patterns of user engagement. Unlike other social networks, where engagement increases slowly and then gradually declines, TikTok experiences sharp peaks in activity. Average advertising performance on TikTok is 15% higher than on other social networks. This makes TikTok an effective tool for brand promotion and audience engagement.

The social network actively shares successful case studies demonstrating the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. One example is Reebok's collaboration with the French brand ba&sh, implemented in the in-feed format. This ad attracted over 100,000 clicks to the online store page and demonstrated a CTR of 1.14%, demonstrating a high level of user engagement. The ad was seen by 5 million people, and the total number of views exceeded 9 million. The cost per view was only €0.0015, highlighting the cost-effectiveness of this advertising strategy.

A variety of native advertising formats has made TikTok a significant player in the digital advertising market. The platform demonstrates record engagement and reach rates, giving it a clear advantage over other video advertising platforms. TikTok successfully captures audience attention, allowing advertisers to effectively communicate their messages to their target audience.

Strengths of TikTok Advertising

According to research, video advertising is one of the most effective marketing tools. However, launching a video advertising campaign requires careful preparation. Marketers must carefully select the format, strategy, and type of campaign to achieve maximum conversions and meet the needs of the target audience. Effective video advertising can significantly increase brand awareness and improve customer engagement.

TikTok's popularity is due to the fact that this platform effectively solves many common problems with video advertising. One of TikTok's key advantages is the positive user experience, which contributes to higher engagement. The platform also emphasizes targeting, allowing advertisers to precisely target the right viewers. A unique content format that combines entertaining and informative elements attracts attention and retains user interest. TikTok's low level of competition also provides companies with the opportunity to stand out and achieve their advertising goals more effectively. These factors make TikTok one of the most attractive video advertising platforms in the modern digital space.

TikTok advertising is viewed positively by users. However, it's worth noting that many people have a negative attitude toward video ads. Research shows that video ads that automatically play without sound on a website are irritating to half of American users. Nearly 70% of users express dissatisfaction with ads with sound on. These trends are also relevant to the Russian market. Therefore, it's important to consider audience preferences when developing advertising strategies to improve the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and avoid negative user reactions.

Promotional materials on TikTok are perceived more positively by users. Recent research shows that TikTok ads generate 44% more positive emotions compared to ads on other social media platforms. This makes users more receptive to commercial integrations and increases their propensity to purchase. Furthermore, the study indicates that ad recall for TikTok's feed and Top View ads is 29% and 13% higher, respectively, than video ad recall on other platforms. This underscores TikTok's effectiveness as a tool for advertisers looking to increase engagement and conversions. Targeted advertising is tailored to user interests, allowing for more effective reach. Video ads and pre-rolls placed on video-based platforms help increase reach. However, if advertisers pay for ads based on views, a significant portion of their budget may be spent on users who are not interested in the offer. This underscores the importance of fine-tuning targeting to achieve maximum campaign effectiveness. Selecting the right audience reduces costs and increases conversions, making targeted advertising a more profitable strategy for businesses.

TikTok's targeting provides a personalized approach to advertising messages. The platform's algorithm analyzes user behavior, allowing it to accurately determine who should see the ad. This process makes advertising campaigns more relevant and effective, facilitating maximum reach of the target audience. Effective targeting on TikTok helps brands achieve their marketing goals, increasing conversions and user engagement.

Advertising achieves its goals thanks to its unique format. In Russia, 44% of internet users use third-party programs and browser extensions to block ads. Meanwhile, 26% of respondents say they disable ads on all their devices, including smartphones. YouTube's premium subscription, which allows users to disable all ads on the platform, alienates solvent audiences from engaging with brands. Thus, companies face the challenge of capturing user attention in the face of the growing popularity of ad blockers.

TikTok advertising has a high potential for audience reach. Earlier this year, beauty blogger @glamzillaxo posted a video demonstrating the application of a $12 lipstick from NYX. The video went viral, garnering 1.4 million views and over 220,000 likes, leading to the lipstick running out of stock on the brand's website and at several online beauty retailers. This phenomenon attracted the attention of numerous media outlets, including the New York Post, British Vogue, and German Elle. Interestingly, the video contained no advertising, highlighting the power of organic content on TikTok.

TikTok's video advertising competition isn't yet particularly intense. In Russia, YouTube remains a leading market player, accounting for approximately 30% of all digital video advertising. With the increase in advertising in the basic free version of YouTube, competition on this platform is also intensifying. Since June of this year, YouTube has implemented advertising in all videos, including those posted by accounts without a partner network. This creates additional challenges for advertisers and requires more sophisticated audience acquisition strategies.

TikTok is actively expanding its commercial content, allowing the platform to effectively utilize advertising opportunities. Thanks to native advertising, users are less susceptible to ad blindness, making advertising more attractive and effective. This approach helps brands better engage with their audience and increases user engagement. TikTok offers a unique platform for advertisers looking to reach their target audience without the intrusiveness of traditional advertising.

How TikTok Advertising Works: Six Main Formats

TikTok, like other social networks, offers an advertising account that allows you to customize advertising campaigns based on the gender and geographic location of your audience. Users can track the statistics and effectiveness of their advertising efforts. TikTok recently introduced new advertising tools, but in this article, we will focus on the six key advertising formats available in the advertising account. These formats will help you effectively promote your brand and attract your target audience.

This is a banner ad in GIF or image format that appears for 3-5 seconds when a user logs into the app. This format allows you to effectively attract attention and convey key information about offers or promotions. Using animation or high-quality images in a banner helps increase user engagement and improve the overall app experience.

In 2020, Australian telecommunications company Optus introduced the branded hashtag #YeahWeBack. To increase audience reach, a Brand Takeover strategy was used, achieving a 16% click-through rate. This initiative demonstrated the effectiveness of using hashtags to increase brand awareness and user engagement in the digital space.

This banner features a unique branded hashtag for participation in the challenge. It appears in the search section, helping to attract user attention and engage them with the brand. Using a hashtag helps create a community around the challenge and strengthens brand positioning on social media.

Spanish mineral water brand Fonter launched a branded hashtag, which achieved impressive results. The campaign attracted 56 million video views and 82,000 user-created videos under the hashtag. The engagement rate was 12%, demonstrating high audience interest and activity. This successful example demonstrates the power of social media in promoting brands and increasing their visibility in the market.

Branded masks, lenses, and stickers are important tools for brand promotion. Our platform offers unique capabilities for creating 2D, 3D, and AR filters, allowing companies to effectively engage with their audience. Using such filters helps strengthen the brand's visual identity and increase its recognition.

When Dirol introduced a new chewing gum flavor, the company initiated the hashtag #DirolDerzkyStyle, adding branded effects. As a result, 73,000 videos were created under this hashtag, which garnered 102 million views in just 6 days. This approach to product promotion demonstrates the power of social media and its impact on visual content. Using creative hashtags significantly increases audience reach and contributes to the creation of viral content, which is a key element of a successful marketing strategy.

This short video, 5 to 15 seconds long, can be linked to your website or app. It appears in the recommendation feed, attracting user attention and helping to increase traffic to the resource.

Maybelline introduced in-feed video to expand its target audience. In just one day, the video garnered 48,700 likes and nearly 3,000 comments. According to Brand Lift Study, brand awareness among ad viewers increased by 80%.

TopView is a full-screen video or banner up to one minute long that appears five seconds after opening the app. Unlike Brand Takeover, TopView offers the option to use in-feed video, making it a more flexible tool for engaging users. This format allows brands to effectively convey their messages and increase audience engagement by combining visual impact and dynamic content.

71% of users confirm the effectiveness of the TopView advertising format, noting its ability to attract attention. An example of the successful use of this tool is Balenciaga's Christmas campaign, which combined TopView with Brand Takeover. As a result, the brand achieved impressive results: 25 million video views and 4.5 million landing page clicks. This case demonstrates how the correct use of modern advertising technologies can significantly increase audience engagement.

Spark Ads is a new native advertising format that offers brands the opportunity to promote videos from their accounts. This ad format preserves all interactions, such as views, comments, reposts, likes, and subscriptions, generated during the ad. This allows brands to not only expand their reach but also strengthen their connection with existing followers by preserving all interactions on their accounts. Spark Ads is the ideal solution for effectively promoting content and increasing user engagement.

The effectiveness of this new advertising format was successfully tested in Russia using KFC as an example. The brand launched an official social media account and released a commercial promoting free delivery until the end of July 2021. The video garnered 1.3 million views, with the majority of comments being positive. Studies have shown that the conversion rate (CVR) for this advertising format is 42% higher than other types of advertising on the platform.

Influencer Advertising

TikTok offers the option to advertise with influencers in various formats, including product reviews, native use in a frame, and standard advertising. However, such advertising cannot be organized through TikTok itself or its representatives. To find influencers, brands should contact them themselves or use the services of specialized agencies. This allows them to more effectively customize advertising campaigns and reach their target audience.

Advertising costs vary depending on the format and niche. The hashtag challenge is one of the most expensive advertising formats, starting at 5 million rubles, excluding blogger placement. This is why this format is only available to large advertisers such as MTS or Pepsi. Standard advertising formats are comparable to other video platform promotion costs, making them more affordable for small and medium businesses.

When choosing a blogger to collaborate with, it's important to consider not only their subscriber count but also the average number of views their content receives. These metrics are used to determine advertising costs. This allows for a more accurate assessment of the influencer's effectiveness and impact on their target audience.

The minimum advertising cost for bloggers with several hundred thousand subscribers is around 20,000 rubles. This amount is reasonable provided that the advertiser doesn't require restrictions on sharing content with competitors or using copyrighted content. If a TikToker works independently and isn't affiliated with a "house"—a creative association of bloggers who most often collaborate through agents or producers—the cost may vary depending on the terms of the partnership.

Launching advertising on TikTok is becoming increasingly accessible, but the level of competition is increasing significantly. To achieve success, you need to understand your target audience, choose the best advertising formats, and select the right influencers to collaborate with. It's crucial to be bold and creative in your content creation to stand out from other advertisers and effectively convey your message to potential customers.

TikTok is a creative-focused platform that encourages unconventional approaches to content creation. Understanding the platform's unique features significantly increases your likelihood of success. According to HypeFactory, the chances of successful promotion on TikTok are higher than on any other social media platform for the same investment. Using creative methods and tailoring your content to the TikTok audience will help you stand out and attract more followers.

Explore additional materials on social media marketing at Skillbox Media. Here you'll find helpful articles and resources that will help you gain a deeper understanding of social media promotion strategy, current trends, and effective methods. Dive into the world of SMM and learn how to effectively communicate with your audience, increase engagement, and achieve your business goals. Skillbox Media offers a wide range of information for professionals and beginners in the field of digital marketing.

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