TikTok has solidified its position as a major traffic source for affiliates working in almost all niches. With its large user base and unique content format, TikTok presents an interesting opportunity for affiliates looking to reach new audiences and drive results. However, success on TikTok requires a different approach compared to traditional platforms like Facebook and Google.
In this article, we'll dive into proven strategies to test and scale TikTok ad campaigns for faster results, drawing from the insights and experiences shared by Maor Benaim, a seasoned industry expert.
Understanding the TikTok audience
One of the key differences between TikTok and other ad platforms is the audience. The TikTok audience tends to be less saturated and scammed compared to Facebook users. They have a strong research and discovery loop, often searching for products they see on TikTok to ensure they're getting the best deal and not being drop-shipped.
This behavior leads to a spillover effect across other platforms. TikTok ads for an ecommerce brand usually lead to a huge uplift in Amazon sales and Google searches, with 60% of total sales coming from Amazon due to the TikTok spillover. Brands should take a multi-channel approach and be prepared to capitalize on this cross-platform lift.
Another key characteristic of the TikTok audience is the higher lead quality and average order value (AOV) it provides compared to other platforms. AOVs on TikTok were 20-30% higher on average. This presents an opportunity for advertisers to pay more for leads while still achieving profitability.
While TikTok was initially known for its younger user base, the platform's demographic is expanding. You can successfully target older audiences on TikTok, even up to 55+. As TikTok matures, it's becoming a viable option for a wider range of products and audiences.
Creative strategies for TikTok
Creative is king on TikTok, and the platform demands a native, authentic approach. One major shift when transitioning from Facebook to TikTok was moving away from advertorials. On TikTok, 50% of their campaigns performed better when driving directly to the offer instead of using advertorials, as the TikTok audience is more skeptical of being tricked or scammed.
Long-form video content is also proving effective on TikTok. While short, punchy User generated content/ UGC-style ads can work, 2-5 minute educational videos that provide value upfront perform very well on TikTok. Being open and native is key - for example, acknowledging if your product is available on Amazon and even encouraging users to purchase there.
When it comes to creative testing, there are a few different approaches:
- The "ugly ad" method: Using simple, even low-quality creatives to drive cheap clicks and let the TikTok algorithm optimize on the backend. This is a volume play that doesn't require high production value.
- Informational creative: Better-looking ads that provide valuable information but don't overtly push for the sale. The goal is to educate and build trust.
- High-quality direct response: Polished ads designed to drive a specific action, with a strong call-to-action. These require more investment but can pay off with higher intent traffic.
Most of the successful TikTok campaigns use the "ugly ad" approach, showing that testing a variety of creative styles is important to find what resonates with your audience.
Tactical tips for scaling on TikTok
With the creative foundation in place, here are some tactical tips for scaling TikTok campaigns:
- Use Spark Ads: Spark Ads allow you to promote organic posts as ads, providing more creative flexibility and the ability to run ads longer than 60 seconds. The only time not to use Spark Ads is when running Smart Performance Campaigns (SPC) and wanting the system to mix and match headlines and videos.
- Test campaign types: Always test SPC campaigns against the default Lowest Cost option. SPCs can start slower but perform better over time with enough learning data. When using SPCs, limit to 3-4 ads and a $5k/day budget, starting lower around $500/day and scaling by 20% every 48 hours.
- Use lookalike audiences: If you have purchase or checkout initiate data, create lookalike audiences. If not, build lookalikes off video view and ad click engagement.
- Experiment with Premium Audiences: TikTok's Premium Audiences feature allows you to target high-quality segments based on their internal data.
- Optimize for the right events: If you have a catalog with many SKUs (Stock Keeping Units), optimize for value. If focused on a single product, optimize purely for conversions. For lower cost items, use 1-day click attribution.
- Implement the 80/20 budget framework: Once a TikTok ad account is mature, allocate 80% of budget to evergreen winners and 20% to testing new concepts. Move winning tests into the evergreen budget.
Adjusting from Facebook/Google to TikTok
For marketers coming from a background in Facebook or Google advertising, there are several key adjustments to make for TikTok:
- Ad creatives: As mentioned, TikTok favors native, authentic creative over the highly-polished style common on other platforms. UGC and long-form educational content tends to perform best.
- Tracking: TikTok is still a developing ad platform and can have issues accurately tracking web events. Look at the relationship between Click-Through Rate (CTR) and Cost-Per-Click (CPC) as a directional gauge, since high CTRs on TikTok directly correlate with lower CPCs (which isn't always true on Facebook).
- Cross-platform lift: TikTok drives significant cross-platform impact, so it's important to measure results holistically. Look at overall lift in Google searches, direct site traffic, and Amazon Sales to get a true sense of TikTok performance.
- Patience in learning phases: TikTok's algo needs time and data to learn, especially with SPCs. Avoid knee-jerk decisions and allow the learning phase to complete before making significant changes.
- Risk tolerance: TikTok's strict ad policies mean more accounts will get banned compared to Facebook. Operate "in the gray" and be willing to lose some accounts in the pursuit of scale.
While there is a learning curve coming from other channels, the upside of cracking the TikTok code is substantial. It's a less saturated platform where single winning ads and campaigns can go a very long way.
Insights from Maor Benaim
Q: How is the TikTok audience different from Facebook and YouTube?
There are a few key differences with the TikTok audience:
- They haven't been as heavily exposed to scammy ads as on Facebook. So they are more open and less jaded.
- When they see a product ad on TikTok, they tend to go through a bigger research and discovery process. They want to make sure it's not a dropshipping scam, that they're getting the lowest price, that it's not available cheaper on Amazon, etc.
- As a result of this behavior, if you run TikTok ads but have multi-channel tracking, you'll see a big uplift on your Amazon listings, Google searches, Bing ads, and more. The TikTok ads create a "halo effect."
I've seen this directly where Amazon sales for a brand I work with that did $59M last year surged as soon as we scaled up TikTok ads. Now 60% of sales come from Amazon just due to the TikTok spillover. We can afford to lose money on the TikTok ads because of this.
- The lead quality from TikTok tends to be higher too. If you work with networks or advertisers that are good at recognizing and rewarding higher quality leads with better payouts, TikTok can be amazing for you.
- Average order values from TikTok are also consistently 20-30% higher based on my testing across multiple offers. The audience just spends more.
So in summary - less ad blindness, more organic research behavior, spillover to other channels, higher quality leads, and bigger AOVs make the TikTok audience very unique and valuable if you know how to approach it right. The key is being more native and authentic.
Q: Is it true that the TikTok audience is only full of Gen Z?
TikTok used to be thought of as a very young Gen Z audience, but that's changing rapidly. The audience is aging up and it works extremely well now for reaching older demographics in their 40s, 50s and above with the right angle.
TikTok is also really pushing their native TikTok shopping product, similar to what Facebook/Instagram is doing. So getting integrated with that will be important.
Organically, TikTok is also rewarding longer form video content more in their algorithm. So while short videos still work, don't be afraid to test 3-5 minute informational videos too. Attention spans are increasing.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges and downsides to TikTok currently?
The biggest issues with TikTok currently are:
- Extremely strict ad policies compared to other platforms. The slightest mistake can get you banned. Two tips here - use an organic TikTok page to test if content gets flagged before running it as an ad. And use two separate ad accounts - one for testing risky stuff and one that you keep "clean."
- The self-serve ad platform is still quite buggy and premature compared to Facebook/Google. Lots of UI issues to deal with.
- Ad creative fatigue is real and you need a bigger pool of creative. But I find often the issue is people not giving the learning phase enough time and budget before rotating creative.
Unlike Facebook which is more forgiving, TikTok really needs those 50-100 conversion events to optimize fully. So people get false negatives by turning off creative too fast.
Overall, it's an amazing opportunity but you need to adjust to the platform's differences vs just porting over your Facebook/Google strategies.
Q: What changes should Facebook/Google advertisers make when coming to TikTok?
Some of the key adjustments I've had to make coming from a Facebook/Google background:
- Cutting way back on using advertorials. The TikTok audience is more sensitive to feeling tricked and half my campaigns worked better going direct response.
- Ditching the polished UGC style in favor of longer form 2-5 minute informational videos that educate the customer.
- Being more open about product availability on other channels like Amazon. Trying to hide that is counterproductive on TikTok and it's better to embrace it.
- Watching cost-per-click (CPC) way more closely as a leading indicator, since there is a stronger CPC correlation with cost-per-acquisition (CPA) than on Facebook.
- Opening up completely new Google Search and Amazon PPC campaigns to capture the inevitable spillover demand and searches your TikTok ads will generate.
So the key shifts are around ad creatives, embracing a multi-channel approach, and using TikTok-specific leading indicators to monitor performance.
Conclusion
TikTok advertising in 2024 presents a massive opportunity for brands willing to adapt their strategies to the unique demands of the platform. By taking a native, community-focused approach to creative, building holistic measurement models, and following a disciplined testing framework, advertisers can unlock significant scale and efficiency.
The insights shared by this industry expert, from creative best practices to advanced tactical tips, provide a roadmap for advertisers looking to make TikTok a central pillar of their social advertising mix. As with any emerging channel, testing and iteration will be key - but those who crack the code first will be well-positioned to drive outsized results.
