Ignite your brand with TikTok’s Spark Ads

Knowing what social channels to use to promote your business is one thing but learning how to advertise on them can be a whole different ball game. So when a whole new platform arrives on the scene, it can be a real challenge to get to grips with it. However, by being on the front foot and taking advantage of growing platforms, you can really amplify your business, which is why so many brands have been switching things up by trying out TikTok’s Spark Ads for themselves.

What is TikTok?

No, it’s not the sound that clocks make. TikTok is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short videos. The app is used as an outlet for people to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing, and allows users to create videos and share them across a global community. Although to start with, TikTok was primarily used by Gen-Z, TikTok has become a juggernaut in the social media world, with over 1 billion active users, providing businesses with an opportunity to reach and connect with their audiences.

What are Spark Ads?

For those already savvy with TikTok, Spark Ads are the perfect way to leverage organic content that’s trending or proving to be really popular with your audience. There are two ways you can use Spark Ads. The first is using your own organic content, and the second is collaborating with other brands or content creators and using their content.

The amount of adverts that a single user is served on social media is huge, and consumers are becoming more and more aware of this. As a result, they have become numb to adverts, which is why Spark Ads is such a good option for getting your content out there, as you can blend in nicely with the user experience on the platform and create ads that actually, don’t really look like ads. However, this does mean that your advert needs to be very content-focused and stand out in order to grab the attention of your audience.

How are Spark Ads different from Tiktok’s other ad options?

Spark Ads are focused on creating brand awareness through meaningful connections with your audience. They allow users to engage with the ad they would with a regular post (such as liking, commenting, sharing and following) and the ad functions like a regular post with the same click-engagement drivers i.e clicking on the profile picture, music etc with the addition of a call to action button, whereas non-Spark ads usually redirect the users to the advertiser's landing page.

Non-Spark ad examples:

In-Feed Ads: Video ads that appear in between content as you scroll through your feed, very similar to the ads you’d see while tapping through Instagram Stories.

Brand Takeover: A full-screen ad which pops up when the user first opens Tik Tok. The ad can be linked to a brand's landing page or a hashtag challenge.

TopView: These ads capture the users' attention by appearing at the top of the For You feed when first opening TikTok. Unlike Branded Takeover Ads, TikTok users aren’t bombarded with an ad as soon as they open the app.

Branded Hashtag Challenge: Offers both organic and sponsored opportunities for brands and encourages user-generated content. When a user clicks on a sponsored hashtag, they’re taken to a landing page on TikTok with the brand logo, a link to their website, a brief description of the challenge, and popular videos showing people using the hashtag.

Why use Spark Ads?

According to TikTok Business, 52% of consumers want brands to be authentic and 84% have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a branded video. Spark Ads allows brands to show up like a member of the community and leverage native content to connect with users.

Coconut lattes are very popular in our office but did you know you can create your own bespoke order at Starbucks? The popular coffee house noticed a trend of people sharing their weird and wonderful creations on TikTok and decided to get involved in the conversation. They used Spark ads to promote the most popular creations and bring authenticity to the trending movement, they even went a step further and launched limited edition TikTok-inspired drinks. Check out how Starbucks used Spark Ads to boost their engagement and drive brand awareness, here. Their campaign worked well to create awareness around the brand and was a huge success within the TikTok community, gaining Starbucks 31,500 new followers, 11.5 million impressions and over 220,000 likes.

Don’t make ads?

The content on TikTok tends to be raw, meaning there is a heavy focus on authenticity. If your business is already on TikTok, experiment with boosting one of your higher-performing posts. If your business isn’t on TikTok and you are thinking of joining the platform, start small and try posting something organically first and test the water, get creative! But as a business on TikTok, remember TikTok’s advice “Don’t make ads. Make TikToks.”

We have a team of social media gurus ready to help you connect with your target TikTokers, so feel free to contact our team today – it could be just the move that breaks your business into new ground.