Liquid I.V.

The objective

Launching a full-funnel strategy to capture TikTok's halo effect

Liquid I.V.® is a leading powdered hydration brand that delivers an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins, and clinically-tested nutrients to turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration. TikTok has long served as a cornerstone of its marketing strategy, consistently delivering some of its strongest sales performance, especially through TikTok Shop.

Eager to build on this success, the brand set out to test the impact of TikTok Shop on promoting two product lines: Hydration Multiplier® and Hydration Multiplier® Sugar-Free, and understand how TikTok ads influenced sales on other e-commerce platforms. With this in mind, they launched a full-funnel campaign designed to seamlessly move audiences from awareness to action on their website and TikTok Shop.

The solution

Getting a full picture of performance with Shop Ads, a halo test, and a Geo Lift study

Liquid I.V. kicked off its strategy with a full-funnel In-Feed Ads campaign optimized for Reach, Traffic, Product Sales, and Conversions. At the same time, they incorporated TikTok Shop Ads into their media mix to blend open-loop efforts (conversions on their site) with closed-loop ones (direct TikTok Shop purchases).

Liquid I.V. partnered with Tinuiti, its agency on record and TikTok Marketing Partner, to manage daily campaign optimizations and ensure the campaign delivered on its performance goals. Tinuiti also supported efforts to measure TikTok’s broader influence on Amazon sales, a key priority for the brand.

Aware that last-touch attribution models often underrepresent TikTok’s value, Liquid I.V. sought a more accurate view of performance. For many shoppers, TikTok is the first place they discover a brand—engaging with ads before ultimately purchasing on e-commerce platforms. But traditional measurement models can miss these view-through conversions and underestimate TikTok’s full influence along the path to purchase.

To close these gaps, Liquid I.V. brought on WorkMagic, a marketing measurement platform that specializes in understanding the impact of TikTok ads via incrementality testing. WorkMagic conducted a Geo Lift study to isolate TikTok’s incremental impact by comparing the performance of markets exposed to Liquid I.V.’s combination of standard In-Feed and Shop Ads, markets only exposed to their standard In-Feed Ads, and control markets that didn't see any ads.

WorkMagic also incorporated Amazon Sales data from Liquid I.V. to quantify the potential loss in Amazon and retail sales if Liquid I.V.'s TikTok ads were paused. These advanced measurement solutions gave Liquid I.V. a more holistic view of TikTok’s influence on sales, capturing the platform’s full-funnel impact and its role in driving conversions across the broader retail ecosystem.

The results

Holistic attribution

Liquid I.V.’s fully integrated approach worked to yield powerful results. WorkMagic’s Geo Lift study revealed that its TikTok In-Feed Ads campaign alone delivered $1.36 incremental return on ad spend (ROAS) and achieved a combined incremental ROAS of $2.32 by layering in Shop Ads, boosting total performance by 71%.

While TikTok directly generated 3.5K incremental orders, WorkMagic’s Geo Lift study revealed a much larger impact: over 9.5K incremental orders in total, 62% of which happened on platforms like Amazon, showcasing the halo impact of TikTok Ads. Additionally, traditional last-touch attribution credited TikTok with just 12 conversions, but WorkMagic’s testing showed the platform drove nearly +90% more when measured accurately via a Geo Lift study.

With a strategic blend of TikTok commerce solutions and advanced measurement via Geo Lift, Liquid I.V. fully unlocked TikTok’s influence across the purchase funnel and proved its value as a driver of measurable business outcomes.