A great question especially now given its popularity during COVID, but whether it’s a viable option for your business depends on a number of factors.

TikTok, the video-sharing social network, is a new player in the social media advertising world.  Its rise in popularity (over 500m users) is making it more attractive for digital marketeers but advertising is very much still at the experimental stage.  Options are limited but it is less saturated with ads compared to other social media channels, so is now the time to test?  

As with any new advertising medium, we need to consider the following:

Are you confident that this is your target audience? Despite signs of ‘aging-up’ (largely fuelled by millennials and generation X during COVID), 66% of users are under the age of 30, (41% are between 16-24), is this your demographic?

Can you afford it? The average CPM is $10 and there is a min spend of $500. At this early stage ads on the platform are not only new but also rare, which makes them expensive, and likely why we are only seeing ads from the big players.  

What is the ad objective? Current ads are geared to driving awareness as opposed to leads and traffic. Big brands such as Nike are using it to drive huge numbers of impressions. Is this what you are looking to do?

Does your brand content align with the content of the site? TikTok users create energetic and fun videos of themselves singing, dancing and acting. It’s important to bear this in mind, creativity, humor and music are what resonates. Is this something your brand can align with?

TikTok is certainly an exciting platform but it’s very much in the experimental stages when it comes to advertising.   With time ads will evolve and become more cost-effective but as of yet it may be that TikTok still has to prove itself before you decide to go along for the ride.

If you are thinking about advertising on social media and don’t know where to start we offer a free campaign checklist to help you get started. https://www.springhilldigital.com/ihaveaplan