Adsmurai 
One of the core components of performance marketing is creativity. In fact, a well-worked creative strategy can make your ads reach their full potential in terms of ROI. And precisely, the freedom to create is one of the advantages of Tik Tok over other digital platforms.
Tik Tok is the queen platform for discovery, interaction and creativity. These values are key to building trust and inspiring the community, two essential aspects for brands that want to push their e-commerce with Tik Tok.
Considering that 42% of users discover new products on Tik Tok, it is important to place yourself at the center of attention and capture their interest to get them to interact.
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To get potential consumers to interact with your ads, you need to understand how the platform's algorithm works. This is a system that determines which videos are shown to the user on the "For You" page based on their preferences.
You are possibly wondering what influences the algorithm. There are 3 types of factors that feed it:
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User interactions: the videos they have liked and shared, the accounts they follow, the content they have created, comments they have made, videos they have saved in favorites...
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The information of the video you are interacting with: Hashtags used, sounds and music to identify trending content, keywords of video captions....
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Device and account settings you are using: Device type, country settings, language preferences...
In addition, Tik Tok also takes into account what proportion of the video a user has consumed. The algorithm will take more into account those videos that have been viewed in full.
All this information allows the platform to create a highly personalized and hyper-relevant "For You" page for the user. If the power of the algorithm is combined with In-Feed ads, brands get to place themselves in privileged positions. And, if detailed targeting and a well-crafted creative strategy are added, brands can achieve a very powerful impact on the user. In fact, according to Tik Tok, 91% of users take an action after viewing content on the platform.
TikTok: A platform with Full-Funnel solutions
Consumers are no longer shopping, they are constantly shopping. For this reason, it is increasingly common to hear the term "discovery commerce". A new way of shopping where community and entertainment by brands play a crucial role. In this context, where brands are already part of the community, it is necessary to build relationships of trust with potential consumers because this will be the basis that leads to conversion.
Still, remember that the audience needs to know your brand and be nurtured before converting. It is important that your strategy addresses all steps of the conversion funnel, from awareness to final action. All stages will give you information to maximize learning and provide enough signals to move users along the path to conversion.
Tik Tok offers brands ad formats for all stages of the funnel. For example, the Top View format, for upper funnel targets of awareness and consideration. Or, the In-Feed format, as a full-funnel solution.
To maximize campaign results, Tik Tok recommends combining several of its advertising solutions. According to the platform's data, when In-Feed and Top View formats are combined, ad recall is 24.1%. A much higher metric than when using a single format: 9.2% for the In-Feed format or 12.8% for the Top View format.
Best practices for your TikTok creatives (based on platform data)
Faced with a full-screen, immersive platform with sound, it is essential that your ads are memorable. Only in this way can you achieve greater engagement and more user interactions with your brand. Do you know what the keys are? Authenticity, diversity, sound and trends are the four elements that will make your brand stand out in Tik Tok. Are you showing the most real version of your brand? Are you including diverse content in your strategy? Are you challenging users to engage with your content?
We could say that Tik Tok is more than a social network, it is a content network and that is precisely the core of the platform. It is important that brands participate and create in the same way that the community does.
Let's review the general recommendations for advertising on the platform:
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Use native In-Feed Ads solutions for your Tik Tok ads.
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Adapt your content from other platforms to vertical format, full screen and with sound.
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Add transitions, cuts or challenges to achieve an organic style.
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Increase campaign awareness and recall with ad adaptations.
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Use clear calls to action to drive conversions.
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Link to your brand page to drill down into products.
Let's take it a step further. Here are some best practices for your data-driven creative that can boost the performance of your Tik Tok ads.
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Make sure your video resolution is high (720P+). Sharing content in high resolution usually means an increase in conversions of 312%.
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Fullscreen and portrait. Maintain an aspect ratio of 9:16 and get a 91% increase in conversion compared to videos with empty black space on the sides. In addition, videos with square or horizontal aspect ratios get 40% fewer impressions.
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Add a clear call-to-action text.It can lead to a 152% increase in conversions.
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Don't forget to include sound in your videos. The more relevant, the better. You can increase impressions by 16%.
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Keep your ads short. The ideal length for videos is 21-34 seconds. Videos with a shorter or longer duration tend to have 280% less conversions.
- Be aware of the TikTok Safe zone. The TikTok safe zone is an area in the centre of the screen where content and creatives are easily and safely viewed. To find out what the safe zone is for your content, you can plan your ads in the ad preview tool in TikTok. Make sure that text and logos are within the safe zone. All elements that appear outside the safe zone, be it text, creative or logos, can be cut or covered.
The size of the safe zone is determined by the dimension, whether vertical, horizontal or square; and the length of the ad's caption or any additional formatting usage. The longer the caption, the smaller the safe zone.
TikTok requires minimum resolutions of ≥540 x 960p, ≥960 x 540p, or ≥640 x 640p depending on the aspect ratio, but we advise you to use the highest resolution possible while keeping the file size low. As long as the file size is less than 500 MB, the content will be of good quality.
If your brand is an e-commerce, we recommend you also:
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Change the settings. 99% of the highest performing e-commerce videos show products through a variety of angles, compositions... The impressions of these videos with different product locations are 40.6% higher than in videos where a person appears selling the product.
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The power of on-screen text. Videos that include captions or texts on the screen with a clear CTA have 55.7% more impressions than videos without additional elements.
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Emphasize the offer. Don't let offers or discounts take a back seat. Videos that include this type of information have 67.4% more impressions.
8 ways to inspire your next Tik Tok campaign
Now that you know how Tik Tok's algorithm works, what advertising solutions the platform offers and what are the best creative recommendations for your ads, let's talk about resources and tools that can inspire your next campaign on the platform.
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To make your campaign successful, always incorporate entertainment, humor, effects and fast-paced content.
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Lean on trends. Search the app, check out Tik Tok's Creative Center, break the rules and make sure the trend is relevant to your brand.
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Make your product the star of your content. Make demos, unboxing, use contrast and vibrant colors, highlight the benefits of your product...
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Storytelling is the key: Take behind-the-scenes shots, break your content into parts (part 1, part 2...), show first impressions or previews...
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Create unique content. Give your brand personality, show a different side, use organic features, listen to the community and join their conversions, make simple content...
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Humanize your content with Creators and work together with them to get native content.
Tik Tok has four tools that will also give a plus to your ads:
- Trend Discovery: It is designed to help brands discover trends and viral content in their vertical.
- Top Ads: Allows you to get a general idea of the advertising creatives that are working best around the world.
- Creative Insights: A self-service portal that hosts the most up-to-date and approved best practices for external use.
- Interactive Add-Ons: These are functionalities recently added to the Tik Tok Ads Manager that allow to generate more interest with the audience. These new products are: Super Like 2.0, Voting Stickers, Gift Code Card, Display Card, Storytime Playlist, Storytime Gamified, Pop-out Showcase and Gesture Ads.
In addition to all the recommendations listed in this article, you can also work with a Tik Tok certified creative partner and make your ads reach their full potential.