TikTok Ads for Ecommerce Businesses: How-To Guide

TikTok is taking over the social media world! The platform’s popularity is not slowing down and it might be time to embrace the platform. So, why is it so important for brands to utilize TikTok Ads for Ecommerce promotions? For your eCommerce business to be successful, you need to get your brand in front of your target audience. And there is no denying that social media is an increasingly important aspect of people's everyday lives. So, you need to ensure your brand is present on the most popular platforms for your audience. Social platforms like TikTok and Facebook dominate the social scene and businesses flock to these sites to promote their brands. Do not be left behind! It is time to place your brand all over TikTok! 

In 2016, TikTok busted onto the scene and redefined the social media game, and since the tik tok ads business has exploded. Major social media players like Twitter and Instagram have struggled to keep up with TikTok’s innovation. But while these platforms have been struggling to keep up, TikTok continues to grow its user base. Users spend hours on TikTok daily scrolling through content, and you want your brand to be included in these scrolls. New to TikTok? It might seem like an overwhelming process if you are new to TikTok advertising. That is where this how-to guide comes into play, it’s designed to help you get off on the right foot. 

A Complete Guide for TikTok Ads for Ecommerce 

Is My Target Audience on TikTok?

Okay, TikTok is popular but is it the right social media platform to promote your eCommerce business? Before spending the time, energy, and resources to craft a TikTok Ad strategy and develop creative content for these ads, take a moment to ensure that the right audience will be reached on the platform. Audience demographics are a key component of any social media marketing campaign's success. And if your audience is not on TikTok, there is no need to learn how to market on the platform. So, before you go any further, check the stats! 

TikTok Audience Profile and User Statistics 

According to Hootsuite, TikTok's popularity is increasing and its new user growth numbers do not show signs of slowing down. TikTok was the most downloaded app in 2021, for the third year in a row, with over 650 million downloads. TikTok also currently boasts over a billion monthly active users; 80 million are located in the United States. It is no longer a social platform only used by the youngest audiences. While 47% of TikTok users are still 29 or younger, 42% of users range in age from 30-49! Plus, TikTok users tend to lean slightly more femininely, with about 61% of users being female.

Sprout Social reports that users will spend 24 hours watching videos on TikTok each month. And 9 out of every 10 TikTok users log onto the platform each day. And these users spend an average of 10 minutes watching content during the day. The report also highlights that 37% of TikTok users have a household income of over $100 thousand a year. 

TikTok Ads for Ecommerce Effectiveness 

Demographics are one thing, but the next question is, how effective are ads on TikTok? There is good news for businesses that wish to use TikTok Ads for eCommerce. Turns out that TikTok is a highly effective platform for advertisers. Reports from 2021 highlighted that some 43% of users tried a new product or service they saw on the platform. Brands that choose to run ads on TikTok are also in a great position. As 68% of users say they remember the products and services they see on the platform. That is some impressive brand recognition power.

As an extra bonus! TikTok users report feeling closer to brands they interact with on the social media platform. Additionally, almost half of TikTok's active users in 2021 said that using the platform helped them make purchasing decisions. While nearly three-fourths of users said their ads on TikTok helped them feel inspired. 

TikTok Ad Breakdown 

No one can doubt that TikTok boasts some truly impressive statistics. Giving advertisers some amazing opportunities to promote their brands, products, and services on the platform. So, now that you know your audience is spending a good deal of their time on TikTok, what is next? The next step is to dive into creating an effective ad strategy and crafting the ad's creative content. These can be the most overwhelming steps in the process, especially if you have never advertised on TikTok before. So, let's break down the ad creation process.

TikTok Ads for Ecommerce Goal Selection 

As with any other social media marketing strategy, using TikTok Ads for eCommerce business promotional success will heavily depend on selecting the right goal. TikTok offers several goal options for campaign development which include:

1. Website Visits: Use TikTok ads to drive traffic to your website and increase conversions.
2. Boost Online Sales: Craft ads designed to promote specific products and services.
3. App Interactions: Increase app activity and downloads.
4. Video Views: Create ads that will engage your audience and ensure they watch the full video to get the most value.
5. Reach: Spread your brand message and educate your audience. 

Which goal is right for you? When it comes to the eCommerce space there are a couple of goals that would best for your business. Website visits, boosted online sales, and increased app interactions, if you have an app, are all great goals. Select website visits if you want to drive conversions on your site, including email newsletter sign-ups or completing a purchase. Promoting online sales is another fantastic goal for eCommerce businesses. Whereas promoting your app is great if you use it to sell products or communicate with your audience.  

Ad Creative Options Available on TikTok 

TikTok is known for being a top video-sharing social media app. So, you might assume that when it comes to creating ad content, that video would be the only option. However, while a video is an important and effective option for TikTok ads, it is not the only choice. So, if your business is not set up for video production, there is no need to disappear. You will not be prevented from taking advantage of the benefits of advertising on TikTok. 

Like other popular social media sites, TikTok offers several options for utilizing graphic and photo ad creativity. Carousel ads, for example, are a great option for eCommerce brands. Because carousel ads would allow you to highlight up to ten products and/or images in one ad. Other social media platforms, like Instagram, have also shown that carousel ads are highly effective for eCommerce brands. 

One of the best ways to discover the top performing creative styles is to look at the TikTok Ad Library.

Ad Creation Process on TikTok 

Creating ads on sites like Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube can be overly complicated; however, TikTok is a little more straightforward. The first thing you must do before beginning the ad setup process on TikTok is to create an ad account. But once you have created the ad account, the rest of the ad building process gets simpler.

Step One: Choose your campaign goal (see above).

Step Two: Enter the numbers; select your budget, choose your desired target audience, and choose the bidding method you want to use; TikTok offers five options for bidding!

1. CPM -Cost per Mille-Thousand Impressions.
2. CPM-Optimized Cost Per Mille-Thousand Impressions.
3. CPV-Cost Per Thousand Views.
4. CPC-Cost Per Click. 
5. oCPC- Optimized Cost per Click. 

*Okay, selecting a bidding method might require a little more thought.

Step Three: The creative step, upload the video or photo for your ad, including your copy and call-to-action.

Step Four: Then click submit. 

That is it! Those are all of the steps in the TikTok ad creations process. 

TikTok tries to make the ad creation process as simple as possible for brands. However, like other digital marketing efforts, when you first launch an ad campaign on TikTok, you may need to experiment. A little experimentation is designed to help you achieve optimal success when advertising on TikTok. Testing different creative, ad copy, call-to-actions, or even tweaking the target audience slightly may produce better results for your campaign. But the potential that TikTok ads offer for advertisers and eCommerce professionals is well worth a little extra effort.

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TikTok Ad Inspiration

Just like any creative endeavor, often the best place to start is sourcing inspiration. Similar to the Facebook Ad Library, TikTok has a similar product called the TikTok Creative Center that allows you to to see inspiration from other advertisers on TikTok. The creative center is broken into 3 main categories; 

• Trend Discovery - Find songs, hashtags and creators that are trending on TikTok right now. 
• Top Ads - View a curated list of top ads from the last 7 or 30 days. You will also be able to see deep insights about each ad on this list including Likes, Industry, Campaign Objective and most valuable frame. 
• Showcase - This is another curated list of ads that include some more details about the ad such as a background case study, campaign highlights and general performance. 

The unfortunate thing about TikTok creative center is that this content is constantly changing. This means if you share a link with someone on you team, the content may be gone by the time they look. This is where a tool like foreplay.co comes in. Adison let’s you save ads from TikTok Creative center, organize them into boards and share links with your team that will never expire. 

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Final Thoughts For Using TikTok Ads for Ecommerce 

There is no shortage of digital advertising options in today's online world. And this is doubly true when it comes to social media marketing. So, when selecting the right social media platform to advertise your eCommerce business on, consider TikTok. Choosing TikTok will provide some unparalleled reach and target audience engagement options that other platforms are having trouble competing with. TikTok is extremely popular and has become so much more than the silly video-sharing site for teens it once was. TikTok is the ideal platform for advertisers wanting to target members of the Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X generations. 

The bottom line, TikTok is the hot social media platform right now. And more and more advertisers are realizing the potential this platform has to offer. Do not get left behind or miss out on this amazing trend. Crafting TikTok Ads is easy and there are some great tools, like the Creative Center to make this process simpler. Turn to TikTok Ads for Ecommerce, to reach more potential customers, increase conversions, and build connections with your audience. 

Good Luck with Your TikTok Advertising Efforts! 

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