Creative Tips | Accessories

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Overview

If you're here for the first time, welcome!

This playbook is designed to inspire and guide those who want to Create for TikTok, and includes some key observations from our Creative Expert team. Our aim is to help your brand develop high-performing, compelling content on TikTok.

These are observations that the team has noticed, and are not rules that must be followed.

This playbook is structured into 3 PARTS

Best Practices for Creative Success

TikTok Cheat Sheet

💡 HOT TIP: Brands succeed by combining quality content with community engagement. Think about community behavior when producing creative content - they go hand in hand!

AUDIENCE: Consumers come to TikTok to discover, create, and consume content.

GOOD FOR: Recipes, demonstrations, storytelling, and trend-based narratives.

SUPPORTS: Video is king, and sound-on experiences are vital.

CONTENT: Creativity and entertainment in any form. Inspire and engage with humor, skits, hacks, movement, and more. Produce digestible content that leaves an emotional mark.

INTERACTION: Like, save, or comment on videos. Follow accounts.

ENGAGEMENT: Include your calls to action in the video itself, either through text or audio - or both.

CREATORS: With a dedicated and engaged following, content creators understand what your community wants, and what they want to see on their FYP. Trust them to do their thing on behalf of your brand.

Ad Specs and Design Guidelines

• To leave an impression and deliver information, videos should always be above 10s.

• For optimal viewing experience, videos should have a resolution of 720p and be formatted to 9x16 (vertical) aspect ratio.

• To inspire engagement, videos should always be full screen, have a compelling narrative and/or have clear and actionable takeaways.

• To capture attention, videos should always include audio.

Creative Best Practices

Increase your chance of high-performing creative with a larger quantity of videos and a diverse pool of creatives.

Creative Quantity

A high number of creative assets allows for better optimization of asset selection. We recommend spreading your creatives throughout multiple ad groups, while maintaining 3-5 creatives per ad group. This enables you to utilize each creative, allowing the system to learn what works best for you.

Creative Diversity

TikTok's unique approach to content, and a nuanced audience means that there is no simple rule for what's going to resonate. Exploring different content approaches and video formats will increase your chances of finding a winner!

Creative Insights

📌 In order for a product to appeal to an audience, it's necessary to clearly position the product, and develop a solid understanding of the audience. In conveying your key message, there are three elements to consider: the sender (your brand), the message itself, and the receiver (your audience). The goal of great creative content is to trigger the behavior of the audience in a short period of time with your message. To successfully close this loop and resonate on a deeper level, it's important for brands to provide meaningful and unique value in their messaging and product selling points.

Information Delivery

Product Showcase

Showcasing the product itself is the simplest and most direct way to communicate your offering. This pattern uses compelling visuals and other attractive highlights about the brand or product to draw your audience's focus towards the product itself.

💡Think about it

There are countless ways to showcase your product and deliver your key messages. When showcasing only the product in your creative, think about what kind of display best suits your product. For example, jewelry and accessory products essentially only rely on appearance. For other situations, consider the below:

• For some products, the details are important. Try showing a rotation of multiple still shots to make your creative more dynamic, focus on different details/angles, or show the different styles that it can be used.

• If you have one hit product, just focus on that one and nothing else. However, if your brand has a wide range of attractive products, show various combinations and inspire prospects with styling options.

• Will your product benefit from having a real person modeling it? Modeling accessories can be tricky and adds cost, so perhaps adding music to compelling visuals of the product itself is sufficient.

• Real images, real people, and real voices can definitely build trust and relatability.

• For watches and high-end jewelry, adding sparkles and shiny elements requires computer graphic animations. If you have the resources and want to upgrade your creative, you can also consider building 3D models.

Educational

Educational content is a common way to deliver new, insightful information. From school courses to YouTube tutorials, people are used to learning on different platforms, and enjoy building knowledge around subjects that interest them. On short video platforms, the consumption of educational videos is on the rise. It's proven to be an effective way for advertisers to add value to people's lives, and position themselves as figures of authority on a particular topic. This type is content is also commonly featured in a series.

💡Think about it

Educating your audience on subjects that interest them is a great way to add value to their lives, and doesn't come off as "marketing." This format effectively holds your audience's attention, and makes them want to learn even more. First and foremost, identify the topics within your expertise, and figure out what would be valuable to your viewers. Then, understand how to relate it to your product. Consider these steps below:

• Identify the audience that would be interested what you have to say, and list out their interests and pain points.

• Decide what level of product association you want to have in the creative. Try to mix it up so that it's not always about your product. The Drake video, for example, has very limited product connection, compared to the keychain video.

• Visually or verbally deliver the educational information in your creative: make it a story or a list, as more people will want to follow the narrative until the end.

• Consider turning your educational videos into a collection or series. This long-term approach will boost your authority and credibility in the subject, and build a positive, valuable brand image to your audience.

Skits & Fantasy

This is a more creative, and less direct approach to promoting your product. Leverage Skits & Fantasy to add fun elements and delightful or surprising twists to a compelling story. Skits & Fantasy will make your content blend in better with organic content on the platform.

💡Think about it

• Great storytelling always draws people in. It takes us on a ride through different emotions and elements, which makes it a fantastic way to grab people's attention immediately. Once you establish relatability, suspense, or drama, your viewers will want to keep watching. They'll be keen to know whether it's fiction or a real story.

• This is why creators record things that happen around them - whether they're out on a rough sea with massive waves, or buying everyday items at Walmart. Try to put yourself in the shoes of a creator on the platform, and resonate organically. This way, you can immerse your audience and fuel their desire to keep watching your content.

• You can also go all-out and enter fantasy land with an exaggerated story. This will fascinate viewers - you'll be memorable by helping them escape the boundaries of our everyday lives.

Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing is possible on TikTok as well - you can absolutely communicate promotions, offers, and highlights of the product, but try to do it in a way that would resonate most and be helpful to your target audience. The main difference between TV commercials and TikTok videos is that TikToks focus on the audience's actions, so don't come off too strongly as an ad!

💡Think about it

Selling points can be divided into three distinct categories: 1) Marketing selling points, which focus on promotions and special services, 2) Product selling points, highlighting benefits or design of the product itself, and 3) Usage selling points, which focus more on the scenarios and the people. Essentially, how the product solves a common problem.

When creating direct marketing videos, be careful to not make it look too much like an ad. Try to solve a problem for your audience, or sweeten the deal for them to purchase. Here are a few ways to do it right:

• Eye-catching and helpful incentives - BOGO, free gift, half-price, clearance sale, final day sale, etc.

• A top-notch product that will add value to your life or spark joy - high-tech, artist design, 24k gold, real ruby, etc.

• Perfect product for a certain group of people with a common problem.

Mixed Methods

Merging different patterns and methods together and editing them in a compelling way can enhance your video, making it more powerful and dynamic.

💡Think about it

• For this format, it's important to figure out the ideal order for delivering information. When you have various different footage across product showcase, educational, offer, and more, it can get tricky. Show the most appealing or attractive one first, as it will serve as a "hook" to incentivize viewers to watch.

• In the body of the creative, your key message should be delivered in the most logical order. For example, illustrate the whole experience of the product, or the usage scenario and effects of using the product. After you define the logical structure, you can place different selling points in their appropriate positions.

Experience Scenario

Purchase Scenario

When people see others doing something, there's a high chance that they will be influenced to do the same as it validates their actions. This is particularly true for purchases - seeing someone buys something online and understanding what their entire purchase process is like can be a strong influence. Purchase scenarios can be shown from the advertiser's point of view - a functional walk-through of their website or app flow - or the user's point of view, which tends to include more emotional reasoning for why the product is worth buying.

💡Think about it

People are influenced by the actions of others. In the e-commerce industry, walking through the purchase scenario can be highly effective, as it can build demand for the purchased item and incentivize others to try it out. The clarity of the purchasing process and the validation that others have bought the item makes them more confident in their decision. Here, we have 3 creative patterns within the purchase scenario:

• Show the step-by-step ordering process. Give people a solid understanding of how to buy, and make it easy and intuitive. While giving these instructions, you can also show the diversity of products, and even the fun surprises, like customization, free gift selection, etc.

• Give people confidence that the product they've selected is a great choice. This will facilitate the final order placement, and can be achieved through one person's narrative about the product, or through a 2-way dialogue in which two people talk about the selling points of the product.

• Focus on the pain point and the problem that your product solves. Establishing relatability around problems is a great way to motivate users to buy.

Usage Scenario

Allow your audiences to virtually experience using the product, before they buy. Imagining how to incorporate the product into their lives will encourage users to want to try it out for themselves. This powerful usage scenario format shows real people receiving the package and using the product.

💡Think about it

This is a powerful format since it enables your audience to really imagine themselves using your product. What they would do with it, how they would style it, how it would make them feel. Once viewers have an idea of how to use it, they will be more emotionally bought-in. In the Accessories industry, usage scenarios can also offer great suggestions for matching with outfits and other jewelry, comparisons to other products, or gift ideas.

Firstly, consider whether you want to focus solely on a real life usage scenario, or also communicate information about your product. Then, you can determine the format of the creative. Is it an unboxing, a sitcom between two people, or an outfit styling guide? Take the following points into account:

• Present people or usage scenarios that are similar to your target audience.

• Present multiple SKUs to show how to match outfits and styles.

• Find a creative way to make a strong visual impact (like before and after comparison).

Community Scenario

TikTok is all about community! For brands, building a community of people with shared interests is also critical. Tap into KOLs and collaborate with these creators on TikTok to more effectively reach your audiences. These KOLs have a strong influence and loyal following on TikTok, which makes their fans more likely to pay attention.

💡Think about it

• After identifying your target audience, think about how to create a sense of unity and belonging around your community. In the era of short videos, community-building has been revolutionized. Now, it's possible to get community members to advocate for your brand based on their own experiences.

• Partnering with KOLs and creators on TikTok is a great way to rally community members around your brand. Many creators have their own loyal communities, and can appeal to them on behalf of your brand. They can offer a promotion or discount codes, reply to comments with your product recommendation, or share the products they use on a daily basis.

• The goal here is to improve the stickiness of existing users in the community in order to obtain new users who resonate with the community.

Know Your Audience

Demographic

If you've already identified your target audience and understand what types of people would be interested in your products, feel free to create targeted messaging from common preferences and traits. While they are generalizations, these stereotypes are helpful in finding commonalities between your audience (eg. people who have an interest in fortune telling tend to enjoy stones and jewelry.) People of different ages and genders also have common traits and different preferences. Try to figure out the overall profiles to ensure that your messaging resonates.

💡Think about it

Determining your target audience is crucial! Matching your products to key traits within your audience will help you come up with compelling creative. For example, necklaces may be for women, but our main consumer group is men who might purchase the necklace for a woman as a gift. This means that the creative elements should focus on attracting men. Another example: a pair of glasses may be more suitable for the elderly, but we show portraits of people who could be their children, to appeal to their emotions and recall fond memories of parent-child relationships. Needless to say, Harry Potter jewelry should strongly appeal to those who are fans of this series. Take these points into consideration:

• Ensure the creative flow is easy to follow for your audiences, and that they understand your main messaging

• Adapt visual elements such as tone, font, size, and color to your audience's attributes and their topics of interest. We will expand on this in the "Non-verbal Information" section later.

• Make associations with the key information that's available to you. For example, people who are interested in constellations are likely to be interested in birthstones or similar topics.

Content Consumption

Understand how your target audience consumes content. Their relationships and habits across different types of media content and platforms differ, so identify what type of content works best for your audience. Test out different content types, and learn from what they watched and what appealed to them.

💡Think about it

One of the great advantages of advertising on the TikTok platform is that ads don't necessarily feel like ads. They blend in naturally with other content on the platform, which makes audiences more likely to embrace marketing content from brands.

• Compared with organic content, brand content may feature higher-quality images that stand out in people's feeds, or enhanced creativity with attractive elements like celebrities and sports.

• Brand content that feels native can deepen relationships with audiences. Users can seamlessly engage with the brand before or after exposure to the ad. These signals from users can be used as valuable insights by brands.

• When information is delivered through real people, real facial expressions, and every day language, it's easier to build trust.

• However, for product brands with a unique brand or compelling visuals, displaying products without a real person can be more direct, clearer, and cleaner. Users build interest in the product itself - without distractions - and know where to go to learn more about it.

• AIGC (AI-generated content) is the future of content production. Consider leveraging various AI-powered visual effects to increase the sense of novelty, entertainment and diversity of your creative, and make it stand out.

📌 The Law of Attraction for short videos describes the process of piquing user attention and getting them emotionally bought-in: understand your audience, leverage sensory stimulation, communicate incentives, instill motivation, build expectations, and allow viewers to take the next step naturally. In this section, we will focus on how to ensure logical storytelling in creative, to effectively guide users step by step from generating impulse to building trust, and from obtaining material benefits to satisfying their spiritual needs. We'll also introduce and interpret the sensory stimulating elements, in hopes to further enhance creative appeal.

Creative Storytelling

Attract

Attracting people through storytelling can be described in two ways: general attraction, and precise attraction. Precise attraction targets a specific group that has a direct or indirect relationship with the product, or would benefit from the product. General attraction, on the other hand, broadly attracts more people with interesting content - even if there's no established relevance or need. While both are greatly important, general attraction has the potential to bring in new users.

💡Think about it

• Precise attraction uses crowd attributes or pain points to establish contact with specific groups, and give specific benefits: "Sisters who are troubled by losing color jewelry", or "Your sunglasses have always been expensive." After piquing interest from the particular group with a powerful line, continue with relevant incentives to encourage them to keep watching.

• They will also be more likely to anticipate and watch for your subsequent content.

• General attraction broadly targets anyone on the platform with interesting content or exciting words. Perhaps they don't specifically resonate with the line, but they saw something eye-catchy or found something amusing about your content.

• Attraction is a creative vanguard, which bears the role of attracting attention and encouraging user retention. It can be simple, like a hit song, or it can be diverse, like a quarrel about whether the product can solve the problem.

• Regardless of the shape or form it takes, we must consciously give highest priority to this initial attraction, since it determines whether the next steps in the process can happen.

Trust

Brands have long relied on a psychological effect that causes people to take action by following others. We could call it a "social identity effect." It drives people to build trust with a brand or product through other people's choices or guidance. Personas that have the power to make people trust them cover a wide range, like people who have answers (professionals), people who have stories (founders), and people who tried the product (real voices, celebrities).

💡Think about it

Trust is the core element that determines user actions, and it is also the foundation of marketing and sales initiatives. In the era of buying and selling trust, we now have an opportunity to build trust in a short 15-second period. This is possible through the social recognition effect, which comprises of 1) the influence of people, and 2) the quantity of people.

• The influence of people refers to the existing social recognition of experts and celebrities, as proof of brand authority and product legitimacy. Depending on the persona, the content can be framed from different angles. Interviewees and respondents prove whether the product selling point solves the stated problem; storytellers reinforce the brand story from a new perspective; and a product reviewer will share their experiences to their followers and be a trendsetter.

• The number of people refers to product evaluation by general consumers. If this number is small, there will be little to no influence. However, in aggregation, it can generate a large amount of buzz and social recognition. For example, reviews by multiple users, street interviews, and random surveys can all add up to build hype and credibility around your brand.

Tempt

Brands must entice people first and foremost. The placing of orders can only come after the initial temptation. Once customers decide to take action, they want mutual benefits - an amazing product, a promotion, and a brand that aligns with their values. Show the mutual benefit you can provide and how your brand can enrich their lives.

💡Think about it

What is the most direct way to tempt consumers? That's right, it's the price benefit! Among all the motivating elements we add to our creative, the last push that can get users to actually purchase is the mutual benefit consensus reached between users and the brand. Through creative content, brands should "sweeten the deal" and express a sincere benefit such as low prices, exaggerated discounts, high-quality services, or limited free gifts. There are a variety of ways to do this creatively, as opposed to a "direct marketing" approach.

• You can offer the benefit of giving back in some way, by linking the purchase with a charity initiative, like donations. Pick a charity that aligns with your brand values.

• The sense of urgency (limited time promotions) can be conveyed from a first-person voice or a countdown clock.

• The discounted offer needs to be clear and easy to understand. This part shouldn't compete with other on-screen elements. For example, the discount code sticker shouldn't appear at the same time as the opening hook.

Post-Production

After we have the video footage that supports our story, editing and post-production is an incredibly powerful tool that we can take full advantage of. This is the last piece of the puzzle - stitching the creative together to form an attractive story. Eye-catching and appealing post-production will give your brand a big boost.

💡Think about it

Post-production can give your story a big boost. Don't overlook this part! Not only can it make your video more visually attractive, it can also diversify your creative at a low cost. Then we may have the following directions for post:

• Choose the right music for the product. Adapt and change up the music tempo or rhythm according to your storyline. For example, if you're changing an outfit, you can use music to establish the sense of contrast.

• Feel free to use materials from different sources and splice them. It's best to use real life footage, and to identify the common themes across the footage to unite them and create a cohesive video. This way, you can better convey your story and product benefits, and add credibility to your brand.

• If your story has a clear theme, use audio and visual elements in post-production that contribute to the atmosphere of the theme. For example, festival-themed music, color matching, sci-fi themed fonts, etc.

Attractive Elements

Music

People are drawn to music and sounds. Compelling music that matches the theme or mood of your footage will make people subconsciously want to continue listening. If it's a familiar song, people will want to hum along to it. If it's a catchy song that the viewer doesn't recognize, they may be curious and want to keep listening.

💡Think about it

• Music has a strong effect on people and triggers an incentive for people to complete the video/track. Sounds and music can elicit emotions from us, such as happiness, sadness, relaxation, and others, that make us feel a strong connection. There's a high volume of popular music and audio effects available on the internet and on TikTok.

• Another reason that makes music so attractive is that it can be used to build anticipation around the rest of the content, and set the right expectations. For example, if there's magnificent music, people may expect to be inspired. If there's slow and emotional music, people expect to be moved.

• Leveraging trendy music is also a great way to establish a connection with viewers, and ensure that your content reaches new audiences. In order to enhance brand recognition, you can also develop your own music and sound effects that best match your product and brand. Overall, audio is powerful and can help deepen your connection with your audience.

Charisma

The charisma of the character or person in the video itself can go a long way. It can make your brand come off likeable and relatable, and also add humor and personality.

💡Think about it

Use real people in your creative to be relatable and likeable. Your audiences will be more likely to be emotionally brought in if they feel a connection with the person or character. Attract your audiences with a charismatic character to stimulate the desire to keep watching.

• Beauty and appearance of the person or character is a strong incentive to get people to keep watching.

• Contrast and comparisons, such as expressing seriousness to joy in one video, is a good way to show the range of personalities. Use visual and audio elements to build anticipation around the moment of contrast.

• Familiar celebrities and influencers can also stimulate user interest. The unique charm of aspirational characters that are known on film and television provide viewers with a good idea of what to expect from the video. New content from familiar or famous faces is sure to pique interest.

• Universally known and loved characters, such as Santa, also work well. Changing or re-interpreting the traditional image of the character to new story lines can add a sense of contrast and uniqueness.

Eye-catching Visuals

Eye-catching visuals naturally draw people in, and makes it satisfying to keep watching the video. This is especially important at the beginning of the video, to hook people in with a surprising or aesthetically pleasing, captivating visual.

💡Think about it

Visual stimuli, especially eye-catching visuals, serve as an important incentive for people to keep watching. For example, use a surprising or novel visual to arouse viewers' curiosity and hook them in. Note that eye-catching scenes can be polarizing to different people. Some people will find surprising visuals disgusting, others may love them. Try to strike a balance and appeal to as many people as possible, by using these suggestions:

• Images of creatures or people, perhaps in sexy or fancy outfits or cool sports cars. Static images are enough to grab attention and get viewers to look forward to more similar and exciting visuals.

• Natural landscape shots, like hard-to-reach snow-capped mountains or cute animals on remote islands. The rare beauty of nature will make people stop for a moment and appreciate a world they hadn't discovered before.

• Action scenes, like unconventional stunts or hilarious performances build people's curiosity around what will happen next. Show footage of people doing things that are hardly performed in their daily lives.

Remember to choose a visual that's related to your product or brand. Try to integrate your product seamlessly into the storyline itself.

📌 Visual Hammer, a concept that was introduced by an advertising strategy expert, is a powerful tool that is used to "nail" the positioning and concept of a product or brand into the minds of consumers. In today's era of visual stimulation and an overwhelming volume of content, the visuals in content need to be more "visually hammering" to boost memorability. However, it's not as simple as "how to make more attractive visuals" - it's more about how to build an overall atmosphere that supports the core information delivery of your content. Which secondary elements can surround the key information for it to be better understood and memorized?

Visual Non-Verbal Info

Visual non-verbal information refers to the information that can be seen by the human eye, that doesn't include the information conveyed by the text itself. While this pattern has not been considered a main part of the creative planning process in the past, it's become increasingly important. The reason for this is that visual elements surrounding the overall creative are key to enhancing memorability of brands and products. Think of Coca Cola's bottle shape and brand colors, for example. These are strong elements through which people remember the brand.

💡Think about it

When we talk about visual non-verbal information, we're referring to a combination of different elements that contribute to the final piece of content. How to determine the right elements? First, it's still important to identify the target audience and define how they like to receive information. Then, consider the below.

• Consider logical flow and coherence. Is your video one-short or multiple shots? If multiple, it's important to define the order of the story at the beginning, during the script stage. Give users the full experience by taking them through a complete and logical journey. For example, the story can show different pain points and how the product solves these issues. In this case, listing the pain points by order of severity can make the information delivery clearer and easier to understand and follow.

• This second point is related to post-production. Needless to say, sequence and logic are also an important aspect of this part. Once that's defined, consider the following points to ensure that your "visual hammer" resonates in the hearts of your audiences.

  • Visual information related to text, such as font, color, size, position, time stamp, and duration of appearance, etc.
  • Transitions between shots. Use camera movements or different effects to create a compelling "switch" - such as the cool black transitions in the example, to enhance the vibe of street jewel brands.

Visual non-verbal information is the key to whether a brand can have a long-term impact on market memory, so don't ignore the influence that all these "fringe" elements can have.

Auditory Non-Verbal Info

Auditory non-verbal information refers to the information that is understood by the viewer, that doesn't include what's conveyed directly by the spoken words themselves. Let's say you're watching a movie in an unfamiliar language - all the information you get about that movie is considered auditory non-verbal information since you can't understand what's being said. While this pattern has not been considered a main part of the creative planning process in the past, it's become increasingly important. The reason for this is that auditory elements surrounding the overall creative is key to enhancing memorability of brands and products. Think of Intel's theme music, for example. This is a strong element through which people remember the brand.

💡Think about it

While this pattern delivers information in a less "direct" way, it can convey more emotion.

• Select the right vocal tone - different tones give audiences different feelings. Is it confidence, worry about a problem, freedom, or excitement?

• Vocal tone can also include accent. For example, introduction of a regional products can be more credible if they are recommended by local people.

• The use of popular music and sound effects can make your content more appealing. These tracks and sound effects can make your content feel familiar to audiences, building expectations around humor, emotion, or visual stimulation when they hear the sound.

Remember that it's not just about what's being said in the video, or the visual elements - there are many sounds that can play a big role in contributing to the overall information delivery of your content.

Write with your audience in mind. Ask yourself these questions: How do they want to be spoken to? What resonates with them? To stand out from the clutter in a crowded industry, make sure your content clearly illustrates how your product is unique and why your target audience needs it.

Script Structure

In terms of flow, we can break the script down into three parts: the beginning, the middle, and the end. Each section serves its own unique purpose, with different content that supports the overall storyline of the video. Understanding the logic behind each section will help simplify the script-writing process and ensure its effectiveness.

The Hook

Key Messages

🌟 Product Information/Selling Point

🌟 Experience Scenario

🌟 Added Benefits

Call-to-Action

Try it out

• Experiment with the above Creative Patterns on your existing assets. Test and compare with previous videos, and you might see a lift in performance. Don't be afraid to mix and match different patterns. Think outside the box and get creative.

• Brainstorm scripts using the suggested "Hook + Key Message + CTA" structure. Mix and match different narratives to find the right combination that works best for you!

Communities

TikTok is all about strong communities that rally around certain topics. If your product is relevant to any of these specific and niche communities, consider tapping into these groups through compelling visuals and copy that appeal to them personally.

Helpful Links

Check out these resources to learn how to use TikTok to your advantage. Get inspired to make your own viral ad!

01 What's Next: TikTok 2023 Trend Report

02 Visual Hammer

03 4T of Performance Ads

Get started now by jumping into TikTok Ads Manager and let your creativity take over!