We were delighted to have recently been invited to TikTok World 2023 in New York. With 150 million Americans checking TikTok every day, it’s a channel that makes strategic sense for many brands and one where we are seeing great campaign success for clients.
TikTok World offered a deep dive into the platform’s advertising solutions, best practices, and measurement techniques. The day also went in-depth into the importance of creativity and authenticity for brands to ensure they are maximizing their presence on TikTok.
Many brands have long moved on from the question of whether they should have a presence on TikTok and instead are asking how they can make the most of what the channel offers their customers. The team at M&C Saatchi Performance has been running campaigns for clients on TikTok for many years, and attending TikTok World aligned perfectly with their learnings.
The key themes from the event:
- Think TikTok first
Of course, TikTok World by very definition has a TikTok-first approach, but the focus was that brands can often make a significant impact in acquisition efforts if they have a TikTok-first approach. This approach could have knock-on efficiencies; for example, by working with skilled creators brands could develop content to be used in other media channels, if carefully planned in advance.
- Focus on values
Remember to focus on the core values of TikTok, ie entertainment, education, and community. The majority of people come to TikTok to be entertained through fun, engaging content, to learn and be educated about specific topics, or for the community aspect, to seek like-minded people interested in a shared interest. Like many social platforms, TikTok has a niche community for so many different interests.
Advertisers should have these values of entertainment, education, and community in mind when creating content because this will shape the sort of content that is needed and appeals to target audiences.
- AI and Automation
Like so many companies, TikTok is working on AI integrations that can help deliver efficiencies. There are multiple solutions such as ‘Smart Creative’ which combines multiple assets such as video, text, CTAs, etc to create ads that are then tested and optimized, or ‘Script Generator’ which is due to launch more broadly later in 2023.
In Summary
TikTok continues to deliver significant opportunities for advertisers and there are increasingly sophisticated tools for advertisers being developed by the platform. There are plenty of other resources available from our expert TikTok team for anyone seeking further information, and of course, please contact us if you would like to learn more from the team themselves about how they work with clients to achieve success.
Further Reading
Report: Download our TikTok survey ‘What users want, the essential guide for performance marketers’ here
Blog: TikTok themes from SXSW
Blog: What do TikTok users want?
Blog: TikTok is sticky, 5 ways performance marketers can leverage memorable ads on TikTok
