Ulta Beauty
Fueling always-on sales with Smart+ Catalog Ads
The objective
Driving a seamless shopping experience for Ulta Beauty shoppers on TikTok
Ulta Beauty continues to lead in digital innovation as a long-standing, always-on TikTok partner, eager to test first-to-market solutions that drive meaningful business outcomes. In collaboration with TikTok and its agency of record, IPG Mediabrands, Ulta Beauty set out to drive a seamless shopping experience from the TikTok platform to theirs.
Ulta Beauty activated TikTok's Smart+ Catalog Ads for website and app optimization. This performance-driven, AI-powered tool automates delivery across the company's website and app properties, optimizes spend, and dynamically serves the best-performing product and creative combinations.
The solution
Enhancing performance with TikTok's new website and app optimization feature
Ulta Beauty implemented a multi-layered strategy to unlock both efficiency and a relevant ads experience for shoppers:
To deliver sales to their website and app in a single campaign, the brand launched a Smart+ Catalog Ads campaign (available via the Sales objective in TikTok Ads Manager). The campaign dynamically optimized product selection, creative and copy, and the deeplink experience (for those who already had the app installed), delivering the most relevant combinations to the most receptive audiences in real time.
Ulta Beauty also ran a manual website-only sales campaign in parallel to measure the performance of the website and app optimization feature against a traditional setup.
Together, TikTok's Smart+ Catalog Ads solution and the new website and app optimization feature enabled direct deeplinking to relevant pages in the app or website, enhancing the shopping experience.
The results
Smart+ Catalog Ads for Website and app is now a part of Ulta Beauty's performance playbook
Smart+ Catalog Ads for Website and app optimization outperformed expectations across every key metric, unlocking efficiency gains and a more relevant shopping experience that reshaped the brand's platform strategy:
+27% ROAS vs a manual website-only Sales campaign – proving the impact of deep link optimization.
-30% CPA, helping Ulta Beauty stretch their budget and reduce acquisition costs in one of the most competitive media markets.
-35% CPC, signaling a highly relevant customer journey from TikTok to Ulta Beauty's website and app.
The data made the decision easy. Smart+ Catalog Ads with website and app optimization is now a part of Ulta Beauty's performance playbook as a component of their always-on sales strategy. For a brand built on celebrating beauty, this solution helped deliver personalized, product-driven content to each shopper, with performance to match their purpose.
"At Ulta Beauty, we're always looking for ways to deliver personalized, seamless experiences to beauty enthusiasts wherever they engage with us," said Erin Houg, Vice President of Media, CRM and Personalization, Ulta Beauty. "TikTok has been a valuable partner in helping us connect with our guests in meaningful ways."
"Ulta Beauty's adoption of TikTok's Smart+ Catalog Ads with website and app optimization allows for a seamless tailored experience Ulta Beauty guests were craving," said Jillian Levine, Vice President, Paid Social, IPG Mediabrands Kinesso. "Increasing performance among core KPIs showcases the power of deep link personalization and AI-driven efficiency. The performance exceeded expectations, cementing the solution as a cornerstone of Ulta Beauty's always-on strategy to deliver high-impact shopping experiences."
New tools like Smart+ Catalog Ads and enhanced app and web optimization support our omnichannel strategy and deepen our ability to drive performance across platforms - especially within our app, which continues to be a key strength.