Welcome to Uppercase Brands’ new blog! In this installment, we’ll be giving you and your brand a research-driven guide on the best TikTok advertising practices.

Summary

TikTok is one of the strongest avenues for building brand awareness in the social media sphere today: The average user spends nearly an hour a day on the platform. By getting your brand in the mix with a range of engaging content, you can best advertise your brand in an organic and fun way that will open up all sorts of opportunities for you!


So, here’s the layout. We’ll be breaking this TikTok guide down into 5 parts:


  1. Brand Channels
  2. Influencer Marketing
  3. In-Feed Ads
  4. Viral Challenges
  5. Out of the Box Ideas

Brand Channels

First up, we have brand channels! Similarly to platforms like Instagram Reels, TikTok content that is short form and attention grabbing works best here. A key difference, however, is that TikTok content that is more raw and unpolished tends to fare better than if you were to port your Instagram ads directly over. For this reason, it’s important for brands to make content that is specifically tailored to TikTok. 


There are a few key points to keep in mind for TikTok advertising. First, keep the content natural- the best way to visualize this is to ask yourself, “If I’m scrolling through TikTok, does my content flow naturally with the rest of my feed?” The best way to ensure interactions with your TikTok advertisements is to make it so that they are as close to the platform’s standard content as possible.


Also to keep in mind when dealing with brand channels, trends can be your best friend on TikTok. Music and shared audio are the primary drivers of TikTok content, so getting in on them while they’re hottest is a fantastic idea for driving brand awareness. Trends pop up frequently on the platform, and if your brand is able to take them and put your own unique spins on them, you’ll be set up for success. Because of the way TikTok’s algorithm pushes these trends, you’ll get larger reach from joining in- not to mention the added “cool factor” of being a brand that’s in touch with the social sphere.

 

 

Influencer Marketing

Next, we have influencer marketing. TikTok influencers are best sourced from the platform itself, as they have a deeper understanding of best practices than influencers who specialize in platforms such as Instagram or YouTube, for example. You can find TikTok influencers directly from the TikTok Creator Marketplace or just take some time to interact with content on the platform and find someone you think will fit best. When working with influencers, remember that they know what type of content works best on the platform- don’t be afraid to ask for advice on the best ways to advertise your brand!

 

In-Feed Ads

Third are in-feed ads. These types of ads can be a great place to start for scaling brands. You can test these ads with varying budgets small or large and all have a CTA at the end that allows for direct placement of a landing page. Something to keep in mind for these ads is that you have to license music to use it in these posts (as opposed to standard posts, which do not need this). To see some great examples of in-feed ads, TikTok’s “Success Stories” resource will have everything you need. 



Viral Challenges

Viral Challenges are yet another great way to drive engagement for your brand. These are top-of-funnel campaigns, geared towards attracting new customers and awareness- they are slightly weaker at driving direct sales, though. When sourcing influencers for any potential viral challenges you may want to take part in with your brand, be sure to find those that match up with your target demographics- you want to be sure that the challenge is being modeled by someone who will inspire your audiences to join in!




“Out of the box” Ideas

Last, but certainly not least, we have out of the box ideas. These are the types of creative content that drives TikTok advertising and has made it into one of the most unique internet advertising platforms of the 21st century. For this concept, we can look back to Elf Cosmetics’ previous campaigns, including one that was essentially the first-ever TikTok native reality show. The campaign resulted in more than 3,300 individual submissions from participants, 38 million video views and a whopping 57% growth in followers for the brand.



And that concludes our guide on TikTok advertising best practices! If you enjoyed the blog or learned something new, don’t hesitate to share it with a friend or colleague. Be sure to stay tuned as well for future blog posts from Uppercase!