One of the coolest things about running an ads agency these days is the sheer amount of places there are to, well, run ads. Back in the earlier days of digital advertising, FB, website banners, and search engines were really the place to go — and these days, there are tons of options to play around with… like TikTok.

Now, I will say that we don’t advertise on everything over here. Meta is our bread and butter, and we’ve gotten into Pinterest, too — but with over 900 million daily active users (!!!), it would be insane to say that TikTok isn’t a massively important — and opportunity-filled — platform.

It’s why we’ve been having lots of fun lately (and driving lots of results!) as we test it out.

So, here’s the Q: what do you need to know about TikTok ads? I’ve got you.

First up: getting started with TikTok ads

Tiktok makes it pretty simple to run ads, and has an Ads Manager that’s pretty intuitive for creating and managing your campaigns. The targeting is fairly robust for how new it is, and you can create lookalike audiences or segment by demographics, behavior, and the like. 

Most of the time, in-feed ads are going to be your best bet for selling an offer — but TikTok does have other options for advertiser content, too. You can purchase brand takeover ads, try out custom branded effects, and test unique engagement opps — but regardless, I always recommend keeping your ads concise, impactful, and fun. There’s also a big push on TikTok to consume and create trending content, so have fun leaning into trending sounds and effects when appropriate, too!

However, here’s a warning: commenters go a little rogue on TikTok, which can be stressful to keep an eye on. I hiiiiighly recommend that you have someone monitoring comments any time you run a TT ad. If they happen to get too spicy, restart the ad. 

A look inside our client’s experience advertising on TikTok

Now, you’re probably wondering… do TikTok ads work? In short, YES. In fact, here’s a little mini case study from one of our clients. This client was in the 3rd year of one of her launches, and so we all felt like it was a good time to diversify her ad spend and crank up the dollars. She had a +$300K ad budget (which is huge!), and we spent $48K of it testing on TikTok.

The videos we tested were all 30-second videos, all with short ad copy.  We uploaded audience lists to build our lookalike audiences and to retarget, and then we went for it! With that $48K, we ended up getting 23,000 leads for her free training — and those free training TikTok leads led to 148 sales on a $997 course. This, my friends, was a 300% return on ad spend… and it was just our first time trying!  

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So, friends, whaddya think? Are TikTok ads something you’re thinking about trying? We’re always here to support you — and you can bet that we’ll always tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly.