Christian Eckhardt (CEO at Customlytics - Mobile Technology and Marketing Consultancy), Charlotte Swead (Sr. Marketing Manager at Depop - Fashion Marketplace App), Andre Kempe (Founder at Admiral Media - App Marketing Agency), Kristoffer Kampitsch (Digital Marketing Manager at Shpock - Marketplace) and Kevin Young (VP, Growth & Co-Founder at Headlight - Growth Agency) discuss how to get ROI with TikTok ads.
Depop has gotten a lot of growth through testimonial content: content that is not polished and doesn't look like an ad. It's the community talking about what they like about Depop.
The best performing creatives you can get are real TikToks. Reach out to content creators on TikTok that create real videos that you can then use as performance ads.
The TikTok algorithm for performance ads is kind of similar to the organic algorithm. If you have 1 hit video, it gets tremendous reach. A performance video is saturated very quick however, and you need to iterate and bring new creatives constantly.
Many brands are trying to force content creators to create ads following their guidelines which kills creativity and therefore performance. Instead you need to give freedom to content creators and let them produce a shitload of creatives. Then, pick the ones that you like.
Interests on TikTok are all overlapping (e.g. car & technology). If you try to separate interests, OS, gender and age then you're limiting your reach too much. Go broad or try lookalikes.
TikTok is a very literal algorithm and "cautious"/conservative. Even with a high budget it won't spend more than the CPA you set. So you can be pretty aggressive with budget.
If you have a very low budget, choose an optimization event that is frequent enough so that you get enough signal and have something stable.
If an ad group has had lower delivery, delivery will be hindered even when you add new creatives to it. It's best to create a new ad group.
Once an ad group starts missing your CPA it is not resurrectable so you just create a new one.
They now map 1 ad with 1 ad group because distribution of spend between ads in an ad group is very unequal (on the assumption that the algo looks at the first 1k-5k impressions and makes decisions based on CTR and interaction rates).
If you're using ACO (Automated Creative Optimization) you can try to group them by creative themes so you can avoid creative fatigue.
The supply of influencers is much more long tail than Instagram and is searchable as well thanks to the creator marketplace. You can find some very niche things.
Depop has gotten a lot of growth through testimonial content: content that is not polished and doesn't look like an ad. It's the community talking about what they like about Depop.
The best performing creatives you can get are real TikToks. Reach out to content creators on TikTok that create real videos that you can then use as performance ads.
The TikTok algorithm for performance ads is kind of similar to the organic algorithm. If you have 1 hit video, it gets tremendous reach. A performance video is saturated very quick however, and you need to iterate and bring new creatives constantly.
Many brands are trying to force content creators to create ads following their guidelines which kills creativity and therefore performance. Instead you need to give freedom to content creators and let them produce a shitload of creatives. Then, pick the ones that you like.
Interests on TikTok are all overlapping (e.g. car & technology). If you try to separate interests, OS, gender and age then you're limiting your reach too much. Go broad or try lookalikes.
TikTok is a very literal algorithm and "cautious"/conservative. Even with a high budget it won't spend more than the CPA you set. So you can be pretty aggressive with budget.
If you have a very low budget, choose an optimization event that is frequent enough so that you get enough signal and have something stable.
If an ad group has had lower delivery, delivery will be hindered even when you add new creatives to it. It's best to create a new ad group.
Once an ad group starts missing your CPA it is not resurrectable so you just create a new one.
They now map 1 ad with 1 ad group because distribution of spend between ads in an ad group is very unequal (on the assumption that the algo looks at the first 1k-5k impressions and makes decisions based on CTR and interaction rates).
If you're using ACO (Automated Creative Optimization) you can try to group them by creative themes so you can avoid creative fatigue.
The supply of influencers is much more long tail than Instagram and is searchable as well thanks to the creator marketplace. You can find some very niche things.
Depop has gotten a lot of growth through testimonial content: content that is not polished and doesn't look like an ad. It's the community talking about what they like about Depop.
The best performing creatives you can get are real TikToks. Reach out to content creators on TikTok that create real videos that you can then use as performance ads.
The TikTok algorithm for performance ads is kind of similar to the organic algorithm. If you have 1 hit video, it gets tremendous reach. A performance video is saturated very quick however, and you need to iterate and bring new creatives constantly.
Many brands are trying to force content creators to create ads following their guidelines which kills creativity and therefore performance. Instead you need to give freedom to content creators and let them produce a shitload of creatives. Then, pick the ones that you like.
Interests on TikTok are all overlapping (e.g. car & technology). If you try to separate interests, OS, gender and age then you're limiting your reach too much. Go broad or try lookalikes.
TikTok is a very literal algorithm and "cautious"/conservative. Even with a high budget it won't spend more than the CPA you set. So you can be pretty aggressive with budget.
If you have a very low budget, choose an optimization event that is frequent enough so that you get enough signal and have something stable.
If an ad group has had lower delivery, delivery will be hindered even when you add new creatives to it. It's best to create a new ad group.
Once an ad group starts missing your CPA it is not resurrectable so you just create a new one.
They now map 1 ad with 1 ad group because distribution of spend between ads in an ad group is very unequal (on the assumption that the algo looks at the first 1k-5k impressions and makes decisions based on CTR and interaction rates).
If you're using ACO (Automated Creative Optimization) you can try to group them by creative themes so you can avoid creative fatigue.
The supply of influencers is much more long tail than Instagram and is searchable as well thanks to the creator marketplace. You can find some very niche things.
Notes for this resource are currently being transferred and will be available soon.
Charlotte
18 months on TikTok, maybe longer. Runs organic, paid acquisition and brand awareness on TikTok. They recognized very early the creativity potential. Core audience for Depop is Gen Z so perfect for TikTok.
[💎@11:08] Depop has gotten a lot of growth through testimonial content: content that is not polished and doesn't look like an ad. It's the community talking about what they like about Depop.
People have also created their own version of the Depop ads, screenshotting the end cards even.
Kristoffer
Has run TikTok ads for more than a year.
Shpock is focused on direct response. On Shpock you can sell a lot of different things. They've seen more success with categories that skew towards a younger audience.
Andre
Clients are mostly subscription apps, highly ROAS driven. Tend to target 25+.
It's not just young people: look at the popularity of #momsoftiktok, #dadsoftiktok. You can target young people but there is also potential to reach the paying audience.
Kevin
Very direct response oriented too. In the beginning, they were trying to get really cheap installs and downstream conversions were bad.
In the US, the audience has changed. Now TikTok is also a discovery music platform. TikTok has also added more tools for post-install event optimization.
Kristoffer
Still not to the level of Facebook and Google when it comes to more mature audiences.
Andre
Most apps come with their creative assets from other platforms (e.g. "swipe up"!). That’s a mistake.
[💎@18:50] The best performing creatives you can get are real TikToks. Reach out to content creators on TikTok that create real videos that you can then use as performance ads.
Kristoffer
Started with best performing creatives from other channels. But they got weird reactions when using "swipe up", voice overs. Got rejected for some CTAs, etc.
The ads that work for them are ads featuring influencers. They partnered up with influencers to create some ads.
Andre
[💎@21:29] The TikTok algorithm for performance ads is kind of similar to the organic algorithm. If you have 1 hit video, it gets tremendous reach. A performance video is saturated very quick however, and you need to iterate and bring new creatives constantly.
[💎@22:02] Many brands are trying to force content creators to create ads following their guidelines which kills creativity and therefore performance. Instead you need to give freedom to content creators and let them produce a shitload of creatives. Then, pick the ones that you like.
Kevin
It can be cheap to get a bunch of influencer-type videos, especially if you have a challenge or something.
When you get a creative that resonates with the algorithm, it propels you in a whole difference of spend and performance.
Charlotte
Targeting is a much more simplified version than on other platforms. You overlap audiences
Andre
[💎@27:55] Interests on TikTok are all overlapping (e.g. car & technology). If you try to separate interests, OS, gender and age then you're limiting your reach too much. Go broad or try lookalikes.
Kevin
Good performance early on with lookalikes.
It's hard to figure out to what degree the audiences are overlapping (interests vs. lookalikes vs. demographics)
Kristoffer
You have to understand how TikTok classifies interests on the platform: it's based on the amount of time you engage with a content.
Skeptical about the value of targeting interests. If you're not really niche then you can go broad on TikTok.
Kevin
[💎@31:00] TikTok is a very literal algorithm and "cautious"/conservative. Even with a high budget it won't spend more than the CPA you set. So you can be pretty aggressive with budget.
[💎@31:33] If you have a very low budget, choose an optimization event that is frequent enough so that you get enough signal and have something stable.
Kristoffer
On other platforms they usually add new creatives to existing ad groups so they don't lose the historical "power". But on TikTok it's not really the case.
[💎@37:07] If an ad group has had lower delivery, delivery will be hindered even when you add new creatives to it. It's best to create a new ad group.
Kevin
[💎@37:28] Once an ad group starts missing your CPA it is not resurrectable so you just create a new one.
[💎@37:40] They now map 1 ad with 1 ad group because distribution of spend between ads in an ad group is very unequal (on the assumption that the algo looks at the first 1k-5k impressions and makes decisions based on CTR and interaction rates).
Charlotte
Has seen great success with ACO (Automated Creative Optimization)
[💎@39:06] If you're using ACO (Automated Creative Optimization) you can try to group them by creative themes so you can avoid creative fatigue.
Andre
Refresh as soon as possible.
Within 3 days you can lose performance. As soon as you see performance go down, just upload a new one. Experiment for yourself with 1 ad per ad group, multiple ads or using ACO.
Andre
Reach out to followers from as little as 1k followers (where it costs you < $100 or even a free item) to creators with millions of followers (where there is no real ceiling). In general, it's cheaper than Instagram
Kristoffer
TikTok as a content marketplace where you then have to negotiate yourself
Kevin
[💎@42:20] The supply of influencers is much more long tail than Instagram and is searchable as well thanks to the creator marketplace. You can find some very niche things.
Andre
Pay attention to fake views and fake followers.
Kristoffer - CPMs now rising faster than other years
Kevin - strong performance in Canada and Australia
Andre - not really any country that can match the US. There is high buying power in some Arabic countries. But the best might just be to put budget on another platform instead.
Andre - you can set "price of devices". Interests are not as good as Facebook interests.
Kristoffer - you have no control over how many times someone sees your creative.
Kevin - you don't even have any insights on frequency.
Kevin - abandon ship. Duplicate and relaunch.
Andre - there is a "smart audio" option when you upload a video that does not have music. It creates a bunch of videos.
Charlotte and Kristoffer - they create their own music tracks so they can have brand consistency.
Charlotte
18 months on TikTok, maybe longer. Runs organic, paid acquisition and brand awareness on TikTok. They recognized very early the creativity potential. Core audience for Depop is Gen Z so perfect for TikTok.
[💎@11:08] Depop has gotten a lot of growth through testimonial content: content that is not polished and doesn't look like an ad. It's the community talking about what they like about Depop.
People have also created their own version of the Depop ads, screenshotting the end cards even.
Kristoffer
Has run TikTok ads for more than a year.
Shpock is focused on direct response. On Shpock you can sell a lot of different things. They've seen more success with categories that skew towards a younger audience.
Andre
Clients are mostly subscription apps, highly ROAS driven. Tend to target 25+.
It's not just young people: look at the popularity of #momsoftiktok, #dadsoftiktok. You can target young people but there is also potential to reach the paying audience.
Kevin
Very direct response oriented too. In the beginning, they were trying to get really cheap installs and downstream conversions were bad.
In the US, the audience has changed. Now TikTok is also a discovery music platform. TikTok has also added more tools for post-install event optimization.
Kristoffer
Still not to the level of Facebook and Google when it comes to more mature audiences.
Andre
Most apps come with their creative assets from other platforms (e.g. "swipe up"!). That’s a mistake.
[💎@18:50] The best performing creatives you can get are real TikToks. Reach out to content creators on TikTok that create real videos that you can then use as performance ads.
Kristoffer
Started with best performing creatives from other channels. But they got weird reactions when using "swipe up", voice overs. Got rejected for some CTAs, etc.
The ads that work for them are ads featuring influencers. They partnered up with influencers to create some ads.
Andre
[💎@21:29] The TikTok algorithm for performance ads is kind of similar to the organic algorithm. If you have 1 hit video, it gets tremendous reach. A performance video is saturated very quick however, and you need to iterate and bring new creatives constantly.
[💎@22:02] Many brands are trying to force content creators to create ads following their guidelines which kills creativity and therefore performance. Instead you need to give freedom to content creators and let them produce a shitload of creatives. Then, pick the ones that you like.
Kevin
It can be cheap to get a bunch of influencer-type videos, especially if you have a challenge or something.
When you get a creative that resonates with the algorithm, it propels you in a whole difference of spend and performance.
Charlotte
Targeting is a much more simplified version than on other platforms. You overlap audiences
Andre
[💎@27:55] Interests on TikTok are all overlapping (e.g. car & technology). If you try to separate interests, OS, gender and age then you're limiting your reach too much. Go broad or try lookalikes.
Kevin
Good performance early on with lookalikes.
It's hard to figure out to what degree the audiences are overlapping (interests vs. lookalikes vs. demographics)
Kristoffer
You have to understand how TikTok classifies interests on the platform: it's based on the amount of time you engage with a content.
Skeptical about the value of targeting interests. If you're not really niche then you can go broad on TikTok.
Kevin
[💎@31:00] TikTok is a very literal algorithm and "cautious"/conservative. Even with a high budget it won't spend more than the CPA you set. So you can be pretty aggressive with budget.
[💎@31:33] If you have a very low budget, choose an optimization event that is frequent enough so that you get enough signal and have something stable.
Kristoffer
On other platforms they usually add new creatives to existing ad groups so they don't lose the historical "power". But on TikTok it's not really the case.
[💎@37:07] If an ad group has had lower delivery, delivery will be hindered even when you add new creatives to it. It's best to create a new ad group.
Kevin
[💎@37:28] Once an ad group starts missing your CPA it is not resurrectable so you just create a new one.
[💎@37:40] They now map 1 ad with 1 ad group because distribution of spend between ads in an ad group is very unequal (on the assumption that the algo looks at the first 1k-5k impressions and makes decisions based on CTR and interaction rates).
Charlotte
Has seen great success with ACO (Automated Creative Optimization)
[💎@39:06] If you're using ACO (Automated Creative Optimization) you can try to group them by creative themes so you can avoid creative fatigue.
Andre
Refresh as soon as possible.
Within 3 days you can lose performance. As soon as you see performance go down, just upload a new one. Experiment for yourself with 1 ad per ad group, multiple ads or using ACO.
Andre
Reach out to followers from as little as 1k followers (where it costs you < $100 or even a free item) to creators with millions of followers (where there is no real ceiling). In general, it's cheaper than Instagram
Kristoffer
TikTok as a content marketplace where you then have to negotiate yourself
Kevin
[💎@42:20] The supply of influencers is much more long tail than Instagram and is searchable as well thanks to the creator marketplace. You can find some very niche things.
Andre
Pay attention to fake views and fake followers.
Kristoffer - CPMs now rising faster than other years
Kevin - strong performance in Canada and Australia
Andre - not really any country that can match the US. There is high buying power in some Arabic countries. But the best might just be to put budget on another platform instead.
Andre - you can set "price of devices". Interests are not as good as Facebook interests.
Kristoffer - you have no control over how many times someone sees your creative.
Kevin - you don't even have any insights on frequency.
Kevin - abandon ship. Duplicate and relaunch.
Andre - there is a "smart audio" option when you upload a video that does not have music. It creates a bunch of videos.
Charlotte and Kristoffer - they create their own music tracks so they can have brand consistency.
Charlotte
18 months on TikTok, maybe longer. Runs organic, paid acquisition and brand awareness on TikTok. They recognized very early the creativity potential. Core audience for Depop is Gen Z so perfect for TikTok.
[💎@11:08] Depop has gotten a lot of growth through testimonial content: content that is not polished and doesn't look like an ad. It's the community talking about what they like about Depop.
People have also created their own version of the Depop ads, screenshotting the end cards even.
Kristoffer
Has run TikTok ads for more than a year.
Shpock is focused on direct response. On Shpock you can sell a lot of different things. They've seen more success with categories that skew towards a younger audience.
Andre
Clients are mostly subscription apps, highly ROAS driven. Tend to target 25+.
It's not just young people: look at the popularity of #momsoftiktok, #dadsoftiktok. You can target young people but there is also potential to reach the paying audience.
Kevin
Very direct response oriented too. In the beginning, they were trying to get really cheap installs and downstream conversions were bad.
In the US, the audience has changed. Now TikTok is also a discovery music platform. TikTok has also added more tools for post-install event optimization.
Kristoffer
Still not to the level of Facebook and Google when it comes to more mature audiences.
Andre
Most apps come with their creative assets from other platforms (e.g. "swipe up"!). That’s a mistake.
[💎@18:50] The best performing creatives you can get are real TikToks. Reach out to content creators on TikTok that create real videos that you can then use as performance ads.
Kristoffer
Started with best performing creatives from other channels. But they got weird reactions when using "swipe up", voice overs. Got rejected for some CTAs, etc.
The ads that work for them are ads featuring influencers. They partnered up with influencers to create some ads.
Andre
[💎@21:29] The TikTok algorithm for performance ads is kind of similar to the organic algorithm. If you have 1 hit video, it gets tremendous reach. A performance video is saturated very quick however, and you need to iterate and bring new creatives constantly.
[💎@22:02] Many brands are trying to force content creators to create ads following their guidelines which kills creativity and therefore performance. Instead you need to give freedom to content creators and let them produce a shitload of creatives. Then, pick the ones that you like.
Kevin
It can be cheap to get a bunch of influencer-type videos, especially if you have a challenge or something.
When you get a creative that resonates with the algorithm, it propels you in a whole difference of spend and performance.
Charlotte
Targeting is a much more simplified version than on other platforms. You overlap audiences
Andre
[💎@27:55] Interests on TikTok are all overlapping (e.g. car & technology). If you try to separate interests, OS, gender and age then you're limiting your reach too much. Go broad or try lookalikes.
Kevin
Good performance early on with lookalikes.
It's hard to figure out to what degree the audiences are overlapping (interests vs. lookalikes vs. demographics)
Kristoffer
You have to understand how TikTok classifies interests on the platform: it's based on the amount of time you engage with a content.
Skeptical about the value of targeting interests. If you're not really niche then you can go broad on TikTok.
Kevin
[💎@31:00] TikTok is a very literal algorithm and "cautious"/conservative. Even with a high budget it won't spend more than the CPA you set. So you can be pretty aggressive with budget.
[💎@31:33] If you have a very low budget, choose an optimization event that is frequent enough so that you get enough signal and have something stable.
Kristoffer
On other platforms they usually add new creatives to existing ad groups so they don't lose the historical "power". But on TikTok it's not really the case.
[💎@37:07] If an ad group has had lower delivery, delivery will be hindered even when you add new creatives to it. It's best to create a new ad group.
Kevin
[💎@37:28] Once an ad group starts missing your CPA it is not resurrectable so you just create a new one.
[💎@37:40] They now map 1 ad with 1 ad group because distribution of spend between ads in an ad group is very unequal (on the assumption that the algo looks at the first 1k-5k impressions and makes decisions based on CTR and interaction rates).
Charlotte
Has seen great success with ACO (Automated Creative Optimization)
[💎@39:06] If you're using ACO (Automated Creative Optimization) you can try to group them by creative themes so you can avoid creative fatigue.
Andre
Refresh as soon as possible.
Within 3 days you can lose performance. As soon as you see performance go down, just upload a new one. Experiment for yourself with 1 ad per ad group, multiple ads or using ACO.
Andre
Reach out to followers from as little as 1k followers (where it costs you < $100 or even a free item) to creators with millions of followers (where there is no real ceiling). In general, it's cheaper than Instagram
Kristoffer
TikTok as a content marketplace where you then have to negotiate yourself
Kevin
[💎@42:20] The supply of influencers is much more long tail than Instagram and is searchable as well thanks to the creator marketplace. You can find some very niche things.
Andre
Pay attention to fake views and fake followers.
Kristoffer - CPMs now rising faster than other years
Kevin - strong performance in Canada and Australia
Andre - not really any country that can match the US. There is high buying power in some Arabic countries. But the best might just be to put budget on another platform instead.
Andre - you can set "price of devices". Interests are not as good as Facebook interests.
Kristoffer - you have no control over how many times someone sees your creative.
Kevin - you don't even have any insights on frequency.
Kevin - abandon ship. Duplicate and relaunch.
Andre - there is a "smart audio" option when you upload a video that does not have music. It creates a bunch of videos.
Charlotte and Kristoffer - they create their own music tracks so they can have brand consistency.
