Welcome to this week’s PPCChat recap! Thie week’s session was focused on TikTok Advertising. Host Julie F Bacchini and guest host David Herrmann sought experts’ views on advertising on TikTok, what do they generally think of this platform, ways to find success on TikTok and more.
Q1: What is your general perception of advertising on TikTok?
Still in testing mode. Their takeover products are very strong, great at building reach and audiences. The auction-based…pretty loosey goosey still. @JuliaVyse
We’re in the wild west again. TT’s an entirely fresh new way of advertising that’s forcing brands to re-think creative / advertising all over again. @herrmanndigital
Use it if your audience is between the ages of 15 and 25. @TheMarketingAnu
I admittedly know very little about TikTok advertising, so I’m thrilled to have @herrmanndigital here! My impression of it is that its user base skews quite young? Not sure how accurate that is though! @NeptuneMoon
One misconception is that TT is mainly Gen Z, but I’ve found this to not hold true. Many brands that skew older have a place on TT. As long as you can be creative w/ur brand it’s worth a test. @herrmanndigital
Good for awareness and lower-priced products, CPMs are ticking up though. But there is a wide range of ages and demographics using the platform. Not as much reach with older audiences (as expected) @jessesem
It is a damn time machine. One minute it is 9 pm and i am scrolling looking for funny chicken videos, and then boom 12 minutes later it is randomly 1 am and i’ve done nothing productive. @JonKagan
Great if you have a team that can make good content. I’d almost say PPC is secondary to TikTok. Having solid community managers is more important for this channel. We’re like the icing on the cake in this instance. @timmhalloran
Q2: Are you currently advertising on TikTok for any clients? If so, in what industries?
Yes! for my restaurant clients and for public sector. It’s really good at getting snappy educational messages out there. @JuliaVyse
I do not have any clients currently advertising on TikTok. @NeptuneMoon
Yes! Having a ton of success with TikTok for a healthcare client recruiting nurses. @DigitalSamIAm
Right now most brands I work with are running ads on TT in some capacity. As the platform continues to grow globally it really is essential to have some placement there. Test, test, test. @herrmanndigital
Yes. Fooooooooooooooood. @jessesem
We’ve launched a few ads – healthcare. Out performed Meta ads @Galliguez
Q3: If you are not advertising on TikTok currently, do you plan to in 2022? If not, why not?
We’ll continue with them in 2022, barring any sudden shifts. still very much in testing mode. @JuliaVyse
At this point every brand needs to have some type of creative test going on via TT. Even if its not ads, being present there is just as vital as Instagram now. @herrmanndigital
I would love to have a chance to try it out! Have one client that might be a good candidate, if we can get creative…@NeptuneMoon
I would love to but none of the clients I work on have TikTok relevant audience. @TheMarketingAnu
What’s been interesting is seeing the non-visual brands have success through TT. Companies like Acorns — even though they sell a service, are using the platform for benefit-driven storytelling. All brands (esp boring ones) can learn from this. @jessesem
I definitely want to start again. It just needs to be the right fit and that goes back to the brand’s talents & capacity in-house. I will (and have) recommended it if they have the prereqs in place. @timmhalloran
Q4: Are clients and/or stakeholders asking about advertising on TikTok? If so, what are they asking about? Do you feel equipped to answer their questions?
Not much. we discuss during planning stages, questions around safety, audience details, very much is it worth trying questions. @JuliaVyse
Yes, everyone is asking these days. Especially with FB’s woes. The big issue with TT, like FB, is attribution loss. I advise projects to have post purchase surveys like @KnoCommerce or a analytics tool that measures 1P data like Northbeam.io @herrmanndigital
Have not had a ton of questions because I think my clients do not think of themselves as good candidates to advertise on TT? That being said, my knowledge is enough to have the initial conversation and then go on about figuring it out from there. @NeptuneMoon
Q5: What are your biggest questions about TikTok advertising?
How soon will CPMs creep into FB territory. How long until TT’s lookalike platform can match FB’s. Those are my two biggest. @herrmanndigital
How do you get businesses to get into the right mindset to create content that will do well on TikTok? It TT better at awareness? And/or can it do well to drive conversions? @NeptuneMoon
This is a great question! I have only used it for awareness at the moment and that’s worked really well. Not sure about CTAs. when people are on tiktok, they are unlikely to click away. it’s a fun platform. @JuliaVyse
Can you create retargeting audiences from TT? @NeptuneMoon
Q6: What are some of the ways you’re finding success on TikTok? What kind of content has worked best for you?
Funnily enough, the very simple messages have worked really well for public sector. They aren’t expected to be slick, so simple, straightforward, properly optimized works well. For resto, the ones that look like tiktoks work really well. tell me w/out telling me. @JuliaVyse
The best content feels like a TikTok organic post in your FYP. Treat the platform as such. Best performing ads to date are ads that leveraged trending things on TT that were incorporated in the ad. Zeitgeist wins. @herrmanndigital
Q7: Have you found any great TikTok advertising resources?
I have to shout this out: if you’re able to get in touch with a team, they are fantastic. very dialed in, very interested in helping, and good suggestions for audiences. deeply UNLIKE certain other social platforms. @JuliaVyse
Sadly no. Everything I’ve done I’ve learned on my own. Fortunately I was part of beta for TT ads in late 2019. So a lot of trial and error working w/creators on spark ads, creative ideas w/brands and more. The best education is diving in head first @herrmanndigital
Folks in the space like @social_savannah are a great primer for creative ideas on TT ads. Additionally, study the FYP on TT, see what’s routinely showing up. @herrmanndigital
Q8: Do you have any questions for @herrmanndigital re: TikTok advertising?
@herrmanndigital I’m kicking around the theory that based on the user demo, that tiktok (and insta reels) will kill off Snapchat in under 5 years. Thoughts on this? @JonKagan
Snapchat is a good compliment to TikTok. Most people use TT for outward expression, while Snap is used for a closed network of friends. I don’t seen Snap going anywhere anytime soon. @herrmanndigital
I did have a question submitted by @mrarielfranklin that was essentially asking about dropoff in performance in TT campaigns that were really successful and then just not. Thoughts on this? @NeptuneMoon
Yes, this is an issue. The platform is still young. Scale wise with the data loss TT will have trouble attributing the purchase. Best way around this right now is duplicate the campaign, reset, and try it again w/o changes to see if that helps. @herrmanndigital
is the tiktok pixel good? is it still a good time to start running tiktok ads now? @MaxStanAccount
the TT pixel is only as good as the data you’re providing it. But it’s the same set-up as FB generally. If on Shopify download the TikTok shopify app to connect it for extremely easy set-up. It’s never a better time. @herrmanndigital
Do you have any recommendations for what a reasonable test budget is for an advertiser who wants to test TT advertising? If looking for FB alternatives, for example…@NeptuneMoon
PPCChat Participants
- Julie F Bacchini @NeptuneMoon
- Julia Vyse @JuliaVyse
- David Herrmann @herrmanndigital
- The Podcasting Anu @TheMarketingAnu
- Jesse Semchuck @jessesem
- Jon Kagan @JonKagan
- Tim Halloran @timmhalloran
- Sam @DigitalSamIAm
- Dave Galliguez @Galliguez
- Max @MaxStanAccount
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