Measure what matters with Conversion Lift Study

Media fragmentation has made accurately measuring the impact of digital advertising more challenging than ever. With audiences spreading their time across multiple devices, platforms, and channels, it's difficult to determine which strategies truly drive business growth. Traditional measurement solutions, designed for a simpler marketing landscape, often fall short, simply matching user interactions with outcomes.

That's why we're proud to present Conversion Lift Study (CLS), a rigorous incrementality test that measures TikTok advertising's true impact. Using the gold standard in measurement—incrementality through experimentation—CLS identifies which conversions are directly driven by TikTok ads. This empowers advertisers to make confident, data-driven decisions about marketing mix and budget allocation.

The TikTok advantage

Traditional attribution models—particularly last-click attribution—often fail to capture TikTok's full impact on the customer journey by undervaluing its contribution during early engagements. Conversion Lift Study reveals TikTok's true advantage through two key findings:

1. TikTok is a highly incremental platform: CLS consistently demonstrates TikTok's exceptional ability to drive incremental growth. In fact, a majority of Conversion Lift Studies conducted in the past year revealed significant incremental value. This impact is particularly powerful for new customer acquisition, as validated by a 2024 meta analysis study, conducted by TransUnion, that showed 52% of TikTok-led incremental conversions are exclusive to TikTok reach.¹ TikTok doesn't just reach audiences—it expands them, fueling genuine business growth.

2. Last-click attribution undervalues TikTok: This was evident in a 2023 ad campaign by Mercado Libre, Latin America's largest e-commerce platform. Using CLS to validate its attribution model, the brand discovered TikTok's impact was significantly higher than traditional methods showed. This insight led Mercado Libre to recalibrate its model, revealing a 2.5x increase in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) when comparing Q4 2022 to Q4 2023. The results not only exceeded the advertiser's expectations but also highlighted TikTok as a key driver of incremental sales, uncovering significant growth opportunities for the e-commerce giant.

Uncovering hidden value

In today's dynamic digital advertising landscape, precise measurement is crucial for understanding the true impact of ad campaigns. While TikTok offers a robust suite of measurement and insight tools, including Ads Manager, Attribution Analytics, and Split Testing, CLS stands out as a solution for advertisers looking to move beyond the limitations of rule-based attribution and focus on actual business outcomes, such as incremental sales and conversions.

CLS represents a significant step forward in outcome measurement,² going beyond traditional attribution to provide a clear picture of TikTok's contribution to your business goals. By revealing previously hidden value, CLS enables you to:

• Uncover incremental impact that may be overlooked by traditional measurement methods.

• Gain a more comprehensive view of your TikTok advertising performance.

• Validate your attribution window and refine accordingly.

• Make confident decisions about budget allocation.

• Fine-tune your campaign tactics, including targeting, creatives, bidding strategy, etc.

Gold standard methodology

CLS employs incrementality measurement via experimentation, the gold standard in advertising effectiveness measurement, establishing a true causal relationship between ad exposure and user behavior. This rigorous methodology uses a randomized control trial approach, similar to methods in scientific research, to provide the most accurate assessment of your advertising impact.

Here's how it works:

1. When creating a TikTok campaign, a randomized test group (people who see ads) and control group (people who don't) are established. Both groups continue to be exposed to all your other marketing efforts.

2. You securely share conversion data from the study test period with TikTok. This data typically comes from sources like the TikTok Pixel, Events API, Mobile Measurement Partners, or other approved tracking methods.

3. TikTok determines the incremental lift generated from the campaign by comparing conversions in the test and control groups over time.

4. Our measurement experts provide a detailed analysis of results, highlighting key findings and recommendations.

Real-world impact

The effectiveness of CLS has been validated through extensive testing and real-world application.

Global scale: We've conducted Conversion Lift Studies with over 1,400 global advertisers across a wide range of industries. Results consistently show strong incrementality across various objectives, with particularly impressive performance in new customer acquisition, such as app installs, and completed purchase events.

Driving business results: A leading fashion retailer leveraged CLS to show that their TikTok campaigns were generating 2.4x more conversions than their last-click model suggested. This insight led to strategic budget reallocation, resulting in a 33% increase in the business's overall ROI.

Continuous improvement: An increasing number of advertisers now regularly incorporate CLS into their strategy development, reporting continuous performance improvements as they refine strategies and uncover new growth opportunities on TikTok.

These results highlight the substantial impact TikTok ads can have on driving real business outcomes.

Our commitment to advanced measurement

Conversion Lift Study goes beyond clicks and impressions, offering a robust way to understand the true incremental value of your TikTok investments.

As part of our broader strategy to provide accurate measurement tools, CLS reaffirms our commitment to transparency and advertiser success. By leveraging these insights, you can make informed decisions, optimize strategies, and unlock your full potential on our platform. Together, we're advancing the science of advertising measurement to drive real business growth.

Notes:

1. Source: TikTok Marketing Science x TransUnion 2024 meta-analysis

2. "Outcome measurement" refers to any brand and sales effectiveness metrics that represent value delivered to the actual business.