Briefing

What is it?

By now you should know that TikTok has strong incremental reach, a unique audience of content creators and a pioneering algorithm which can deliver impressive levels of engagement from a user base that’s leaned in. 

If TikTok isn’t part of your media mix yet, now is the time to harness its power and take advantage of its growing usage across age demographics

The two big hurdles to getting started are 1. what creative to run and 2. the resources required to manage the brand profile for yet another social channel.

Luckily, a solution is available and it’s called TikTok Spark Ads.

Spark ads are a one-of-a-kind solution for brands to cement their presence with the community in a seamless, authentic way. 

They’re a native ad format that enables brands to leverage an organic TikTok post and its features in their advertising. 

Vitally, you can use this unique format to publish ads without the need for a brand profile on the platform.

Simply use organic posts made by other creators (with their authorization) and promote these from your TikTok ad account in just a few simple steps.

Why is it important?

More attention will shift to TikTok and we’re not just talking about Gen-z.

As momentum builds and areas like edutainment (#LearnOnTikTok) becomes more prevalent, more users of all ages will come to the platform and the advertising opportunity will be hard to ignore.

Right now, brands stand to gain a first-mover advantage by experimenting quickly and cheaply before costs inevitably inflate.

You can even take ‘Spark Ads’ to the next level with ‘Collection ads’ which have a shoppable integration that features your products with a Buy Now link to purchase.

TikTok’s algorithm quickly learns user’s preferences and shows posts that drive high levels of engagement which now rivals YouTube for average hours per month spent in the app.

53% of all auction ads with the highest view through rates feature TikTok creators and you can take advantage of this by harnessing their expertise with Spark ads.

In one experiment we were able to deliver a cost per thousand reached that was as much as 85% lower than similar targeting on Facebook. Also, video consumption was around 6x higher on average.

What to do next?

Work with your brand ambassadors or influencers who are active on TikTok to plan, produce and post some ad-worthy content.

If you don’t have these partnerships in place you can also use the creator marketplace to source talent.

Once the post(s) is ready:

1. The creator should enable ad authorisation in settings
2. Then they enable ad authorisation on their post(s) and generate a share code
3. In your ad account under creative assets, sync the post using the code
4. Build a new Spark Ad by choosing from your synced posts

Considerations:

• Make sure you have a clear creative brief but keep it simple and let creators take the lead
• Use this opportunity to test your most daring ideas and iterate quickly
• Ensure the correct music licensing is acquired
• Familiarise yourself with TikTok’s advertising guidelines and policy
• The display name and text will reflect the designated organic post rather than the brand and this cannot be edited
• Utilise Collection + Spark ads to advertise your products

Talk to your media team or agency about how to get started with Spark ads in TikTok business center.