How to quickly optimize Tiktok ads creatives to become more popular? 8 must-read tips for newbies to help you do it.

Overview of TikTok

Popularity of TikTok

Since its launch, TikTok has become the epitome of a global social media phenomenon. It has not only changed the way people entertain and socialize but also reshaped the interaction between brands and the younger generation. With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok's influence spans across different age groups, particularly appealing to the youth.

Audience for TikTok Ads

TikTok's user base is primarily comprised of young people, with the majority aged between 16 and 24. This demographic is not only active but also curious about new things, making them eager to explore innovative content and trends. Thus, TikTok has become an ideal platform for brands to connect with young users through creative content.

Role of TikTok in Advertising and Marketing

• Highly Engaged User Base: TikTok users not only watch content but also participate in challenges, comment, and share, providing excellent opportunities for brands to interact with them.

• Platform for Creative Expression: TikTok encourages users to express themselves through music, effects, and editing tools, which brands can leverage to create engaging ad content.

• Viral Potential: Trends and challenges on TikTok can spread rapidly, providing significant exposure opportunities for brand content.

• Hotbed for Influencer Marketing: TikTok influencers have loyal followers, and collaborating with them can greatly enhance brand visibility and credibility.

How to Optimize TikTok Ad Creativity

Setting Advertising Goals

1. Choose appropriate advertising goals based on brand needs.

• Brand Awareness: Increasing brand awareness is crucial for new brands or those seeking to enhance market presence.

• Traffic Generation: If the goal is to increase website visits or app downloads, traffic generation will be the primary consideration.

• App Installs: For mobile app developers, increasing app installs is a direct and specific goal.

• Video Views: Increasing video views can enhance user exposure to brand content.

• Conversion Rate: For e-commerce brands, direct conversions like sales or registrations may be the ultimate goal.

2. For new brands, it is recommended to start with increasing brand awareness. For new brands, establishing a market presence is a top priority. Here are some optimization techniques for increasing brand awareness on TikTok:

• Creative Content: Create attention-grabbing and memorable content to ensure brand information leaves an impression on users.

• Trend Utilization: Stay updated with popular trends and challenges on TikTok to keep the brand relevant to pop culture.

• Influencer Collaboration: Collaborate with TikTok influencers to leverage their fan base and influence to increase brand awareness.

• Interactive Activities: Design interactive challenges or activities to encourage user participation and sharing, thereby increasing brand exposure.

• Optimize Ad Placement: Use A/B testing for different ad creatives and placement strategies to find the most effective approach.

Analysis of Target Audience

On TikTok, the success of ad creativity largely depends on a precise understanding of the target audience. In-depth analysis and understanding of your audience can help you create more appealing ad content, thereby improving ad effectiveness and return on investment.

1. Start with a broad target audience

When starting advertising campaigns on TikTok, it is advisable to begin with a broad target audience. This is done to collect data and understand which types of content and ad formats resonate with users.

Optimization techniques:

• Utilize extensive targeting options provided by TikTok Ads Manager, such as gender, age, interests, and location.
• Avoid overly segmenting the audience in the initial stages to gather broader user feedback and behavioral data.

2. Regularly review and adjust the target audience

As advertising campaigns progress, you will collect valuable data about user behavior and preferences. Regularly reviewing this data and adjusting your target audience accordingly can help you reach potential customers more accurately.

Optimization techniques:

• Use analytical tools in TikTok Ads Manager to track key metrics such as click-through rate, conversion rate, and user engagement.
• Based on performance data, gradually narrow down the target audience focus to those user groups that respond the best.
• Or use BigSpy to find your competition’s advertising audience and select the same audience.

Which key metrics should you pick to track?

3. Utilize TikTok Ads Manager's automatic optimization and similar audience features

• Automatic Optimization: Allow TikTok to automatically adjust ad delivery based on user interaction to improve performance.
• Similar Audience: Create audience segments similar to existing high-value customers to increase conversion opportunities.

Selection of TikTok Ad Types

1. In-Feed Ads: Seamlessly integrated into users' feeds, aligning with content they love.

In-feed ads appear as video ads on the "For You" page, blending with the content users naturally watch. These ads typically last no more than 60 seconds, but shorter ads (around 15 seconds) often perform better.

Optimization techniques:

• Ensure ad content aligns with the fast-paced and entertaining nature of TikTok.
• Use attention-grabbing openings to quickly capture users' attention.

2. Branded Hashtag Challenges: Encourage user-generated content through challenges, increasing brand engagement.

Branded Hashtag Challenges are interactive ads that encourage users to create content using specific hashtags. This ad type can significantly increase user engagement and brand exposure.

Optimization techniques:

• Create challenges that are easy to participate in and relevant to the brand.
• Collaborate with TikTok influencers to quickly increase the challenge's visibility.

3. Branded Effects: Customized AR filters and effects increase brand interactivity and fun.

Branded Effects include custom AR filters, stickers, or special effects that users can use in their own videos. This ad type can increase brand recall and attract users in a fun and interactive way.

Optimization techniques:

• Design unique and appealing effects to encourage user adoption.
• Ensure effects are closely related to brand messaging and marketing campaigns.

4. TopView Ads: Full-screen ads are displayed immediately when users open TikTok, with a strong visual impact.

TopView Ads are full-screen ads displayed immediately when users open TikTok, providing a strong visual impact. This ad format is ideal for promoting new products or major events.

Optimization techniques:

• Utilize striking visuals and sound effects to ensure users are captivated from the start.
• Due to limited display time, quickly convey the core message of the ad.

5. Branded Missions: Invite users to participate and complete tasks, often combined with branded hashtag challenges.

Branded Missions invite users to participate and complete tasks, often combined with branded hashtag challenges. This type of ad can motivate user interaction with the brand and generate user-generated content.

Optimization techniques:

• Design engaging and shareable tasks.
• Provide rewards or incentives to increase user participation.

Creative Content Production

On TikTok, the creativity of ad content is crucial. With users scrolling and browsing videos at a rapid pace, how to grab their attention and leave a lasting impression in a short time is a question every brand needs to consider. Here are some professional tips to help you optimize TikTok ad creative content.

1. Create diverse ad creatives to reduce ad fatigue

Users quickly become bored with repetitive content. To avoid ad fatigue, you need to create diverse ad creatives.

Optimization techniques:

• Design multiple ad variants, including different visual effects, music, and text.
• Regularly update ad content to maintain freshness.

2. Use bold colors and visual effects to attract attention

On TikTok, visual effects are the first element to attract user combinations, helping you find the best-performing version.

Optimization Tips:

• Use vivid, contrasting colors to make your ads stand out in the feed.
• Utilize dynamic graphics and transition effects to increase visual impact.

3. Convey the most important information within the first few seconds of the video.

Attention from TikTok users is incredibly valuable, as you only have a few seconds to capture it.

Optimization Tips:

• Showcase the most attractive elements, such as product highlights or an intriguing question, within the first two to three seconds of the video.
• Use text or visual cues to quickly convey the main message of the ad.

4. Develop native content leveraging TikTok's music and effects.

TikTok is a highly visual and auditory platform, so ad content needs to align with its style and culture.

Optimization Tips:

• Incorporate popular TikTok music and sound effects to make ads more appealing.
• Utilize TikTok's effects and filters to create a unique visual experience.
• Utilize TikTok's tools and features.

5. Simplify video editing with the Smart Video tool.

The Smart Video tool is a powerful editing tool provided by TikTok, enabling you to quickly create professional-level ad videos.

Optimization Tips:

• Utilize the Smart Video tool's auto-editing feature to seamlessly blend video clips, images, and music into cohesive ad content.
• Adjust video sequences and pacing with simple drag-and-drop actions to meet different ad requirements.

6. Test different ad combinations with the Automated Creative Optimization tool.

The Automated Creative Optimization (ACO) tool automatically tests various ad creative combinations, helping you find the best-performing version.

Optimization tips:

• Provide multiple ad assets, including images, videos, text, and call-to-action (CTA), for the ACO tool to test different combinations.
• Analyze the test results provided by the ACO tool to understand which combinations are most effective and adjust your advertising strategy accordingly.

Not sure how to choose ad assets? Check out BigSpy's hot list for creative inspiration!

Bid and Budget Strategy

1. Initial Budget Setting and Adjustment

• Set initial budgets based on advertising goals and expected conversion value.
• Allocate budgets reasonably to cover different ad groups and creatives considering TikTok's user base and advertising competition.

2. Experiment with Different Bidding Strategies

• For brand awareness and reach objectives, CPM may be a more suitable choice.
• If the goal is to drive traffic or app installs, CPC or CPV bidding strategies may be more effective.

Influencer Collaboration

Collaborating with TikTok influencers allows brands to leverage their loyal follower base to promote products or services more naturally and engagingly.

1. Use TikTok's influencer marketplace to find suitable partners for collaboration

TikTok provides an influencer marketplace where brands can find influencers whose content style and values align with their own.

Optimization tips:

• When selecting influencers, consider their content style, engagement rate, and audience demographics.
• Utilize TikTok's search and filtering features to narrow down potential influencers.

2. Collaborate with micro-influencers to increase engagement

Micro-influencers are those with fewer but highly engaged and loyal followers. Collaborating with micro-influencers can provide higher engagement and more authentic brand promotion.

Optimization tips:

• Micro-influencers may be cheaper, and their content often feels more authentic and less commercial.
• Evaluate micro-influencers based on their engagement and content quality rather than just follower count.

3. Align branded activities with influencer content

When collaborating with influencers, ensure that the ad content aligns with the brand's overall marketing activities.

Optimization tips:

• Provide clear brand guidelines, including brand information, color schemes, and key messaging points.
• Allow influencers some freedom in their creation to maintain the originality and appeal of the content.

A/B Testing

1. Determine the best ad creatives, objectives, and bidding strategies through A/B testing

2. Ensure an adequate testing period to obtain reliable results.

Ensure Conversion Events are Valid

1. Test different conversion events

In TikTok ads, conversion events can be app installs, registrations, purchases, or any action you want users to take. Testing different conversion events can help you understand which actions most contribute to sales and user engagement.

Optimization tips:

• Set multiple conversion goals and observe which types of actions are most common and bring the highest value.
• Use TikTok's conversion tracking tools to collect data and analyze the performance of different conversion events.

2. Use TikTok Pixel Helper to verify pixel installations

TikTok Pixel is a tool for tracking ad conversions and user behavior. Ensuring the correct installation of the Pixel is essential for accurately tracking conversion events.

Optimization tips:

• Use the TikTok Pixel Helper tool to check if the Pixel is correctly installed on the website.
• Confirm that the Pixel event code matches your ad conversion goals and can trigger correctly.

Continuous Optimization and Trend Adaptation

In the rapidly changing landscape of social media, especially on platforms like TikTok, continuous optimization and adaptation to new trends are crucial. This not only helps you maintain the relevance of your ads but also ensures that your ad content continues to capture users' attention.

Utilize popular elements and challenges on TikTok and incorporate them into your ad creatives. At the same time, maintain the timeliness and relevance of ad content, ensuring consistency with current trending topics and styles.

Users quickly become bored with repetitive content, so regularly updating ad creatives is key to maintaining ad effectiveness. Therefore, we need to update ad content regularly to ensure they reflect the latest trends and user interests. Encourage user participation and content sharing to increase ad coverage and impact through user-generated content.

As a highly interactive community, user feedback and interaction can provide valuable information for optimizing TikTok ad performance. Utilize community feedback to optimize ad strategies, understanding which types of ads are most popular and which need improvement. Strengthen interaction and communication with users by responding to comments and participating in discussions, building connections with users.

Successful Ad Examples

McDonald's excellent advertising creativity.