Everything you need to know about accelerating performance on TikTok

In today's digital world, consumers are facing an epidemic of increased ad exposure. This has lead to ad avoidance, with 86% of viewers taking action to avoid advertising across TV, streaming, and online video content [1]. Consumers have evolved past disruptive ad solutions that are designed purely to sell. Instead, they crave advertising that is impactful, engaging and, most of all, entertaining. That's why 75% of users turn to TikTok to find entertaining content – and its impact transcends the screen, resulting in real business outcomes [2].

According to Nielsen, TikTok delivers 64% higher ROAS [3]. This is because the consumer journey on TikTok hits different, facilitating an always-on cycle of discovery and conversion: 61% TikTok users have made a purchase either directly on TikTok, or online after seeing an ad on TikTok [4].

Our solutions allow advertisers to leverage TikTok's immersive, frictionless and trustworthy ecosystem to inspire consumers, connect with communities and prompt action. But what can your team do today in order to accelerate performance on TikTok? Read for the ultimate guide to smashing performance on TikTok.

1. Establish data connections

The bedrock of a successful performance campaign on TikTok is providing our system with all the data it needs to help you achieve your objectives. This is because data connections power all of your measurement, targeting, optimisation and automation capabilities. To establish data connections:

• Enable both TikTok Pixel and Events API with advanced matching to future-proof your business against the ever-evolving changes within the advertising ecosystem, such as the deprecation of third-party cookies.

• Integrate your product catalogue for your e-commerce store to unlock our commerce solution Video Shopping Ads to drive product sales.

2. Captivate with creative that converts

Nielsen reports that 47% of a brand's sales lift from advertising is the consequence of the creative, more than any other advertising element [5]. So how do you, as a performance marketer, produce creative that converts? Here are our tips:

• Go native and entertain: On TikTok, being native wins – it lifts intent, increases watch time and engagement, and drives action. Work with creative production experts using the TikTok Creative Exchange (TTCX) to produce native, scalable, high-performing videos for TikTok.

• Partner with creators: Creators are a production shortcut to TikTok-first creative that performs. In fact, we've found that specific branded content in collaboration with creators drives +122% higher 2s view-through rate, +93% higher engagement rate and +27% higher ad recall [6]. The TikTok Creator Marketplace (TTCM) is our official platform for brand and creator collaborations. Access the right creators and generate creative that will make your branded content go further.

• Leverage trends: Ads that leverage TikTok Trends see a 1.5x increase in view time exceeding 5 seconds [7]. Find out more about how you can use trends to drive performance in our Trends Digest series.

• Focus on the product: Having the product prominently appear throughout the video reinforces product selling points, benefits and usage, driving higher engagement and conversion rates.

PRO TIP: Crack the code for creativity on TikTok with our Creative Codebook.

3. Focus on outcome-based measurement

At TikTok, we believe in outcome-based measurement that helps understand the user decision journey holistically and drives business outcomes – no matter the sales channel. Before launching your campaign, identify your full-funnel measurement strategy based on your business objectives, KPIs and effective measurement principles such as:

• Understanding incrementality with TikTok Conversion Lift or Unified Lift Studies.

• Uncovering impact across channels with Multi-Touch Attribution and Media Mix Modelling.

• Calibrating across solutions to achieve truer ROI.

You can read more about the principles you need to know about to create an effective full-funnel measurement strategy here.

PRO TIP: Adopt a full-funnel approach to achieve 2-3 times higher conversion rates compared to campaigns solely focused on conversion [8].

4. Optimise, Optimise, Optimise

Optimisation is all about identifying areas of opportunity to improve performance and establish a baseline campaign strategy. To help you achieve this, check out our guide to best practices for optimal web performance or speak to your TikTok account manager to create a tailored optimisation strategy based on your business objectives.

PRO TIP: Tap into our automation solutions such as Smart Targeting, Automated Rules and Campaign Budget Optimisation to make your campaigns work smarter and harder for you.

5. Implement a Test & Learn approach

After you've run your baseline campaigns and gained valuable insights on what's working for your brand, it's time to scale your efforts by running more experiments:

• Based on your objectives, firm up your hypothesis and success metrics.

• Set up your tests using a phased approach using our Split Testing tool. This tool allows you to compare two different versions of ad groups, testing one of the following variables: Targeting, Bidding & Optimising, or Creative.

• Evaluate test results and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Accelerate your performance today

Our solutions are designed with performance marketers in mind, so make sure to focus on data connections, creative best practice, optimisation, measurement, and testing & learning to build effective campaigns that really pack a punch.

Ready to level up your TikTok game? Get in touch with your TikTok rep and start accelerating your performance today!