If you’re serious about your TikTok content reaching the largest possible audience, you may have considered advertising but felt daunted by the prospect. After all, TikTok can feel overwhelming! There are millions of creators sharing their thoughts about everything from child psychology to diet culture to the proper way to buff a nail (and the perfect Emery board to do it with).
More and more creators and businesses are using TikTok’s Ads Manager feature to promote their goods — and they’re seeing results. In fact, according to the TikTok “What’s Next Report,” 73% of consumers feel “a deeper connection to brands they interact with on TikTok compared to others, with 67% saying that TikTok inspired them to shop even when they weren’t looking to do so.”
What is the TikTok Ads Manager Feature?
The TikTok Ads Manager Feature contains everything you will need to launch and run paid ad campaigns, manage ad resources, oversee your data and analytics, and optimize advertising.
The TikTok Ads Manager is easy to use. There is a dashboard where you will be able to track performance changes and see your data. You’ll be able to see information related to your active campaigns, ad budget, and ad performance over time. On the campaign page, you will be able to manage all your campaigns. You can also create a new campaign by clicking the Create button. All of your ad resources are kept in the Library section. And you can create custom ad reports in the Reporting section using templates.
On the TikTok Ads Manager feature, you can choose formats that best suit your advertising goals and will keep your audience paying attention. This includes horizontal, vertical, or square videos and images. You don’t even need to be a professional editor. TikTok’s Video Creation Kit provides you with everything you need, including templates you can use with existing images. TikTok advertiser tools include TikTok Pixel, TikTok Custom Audience, Lead Generation, and TikTok’s APIs.
Who Should Use the TikTok Ads Manager Feature?
This year, TikTok will make up 2.5% of the total US digital ad market, 1.8% of the total media ad market, and 9.6% of the total social ad market. But is it the right choice for you?
If your target audience is Boomers, run away from TikTok — they are not there. But if you are trying to reach other generations, you can use the TikTok ads manager feature to find them. You will be able to target the right audience using a ton of demographic information like gender, age, interests, and geographical location.
You should also consider your product. Is it a good fit for a visual medium? Is the product or service trending at the moment? Do you think it could go viral? Make sure you have marketing goals that TikTok’s advertising program will fit well with.
To that end, the TikTok ads manager account is constructed so you can include your objectives. You can select from three different categories: awareness, consideration, and conversion.
1. Use the conversion objectives when you want people to do something — ideally like buying your product.
2. Use the awareness objective when you want people to view your ad and have it burned into their consciousness.
3. Then there’s the consideration objective, which will get people thinking about your business and curious for more information.
How to Create a TikTok Ads Manager Account
You’ve got your product and are confident it’s going to be a hit. Now all you need is for your audience to see it. It’s super easy to get started with your TikTok ads manager account.
1. Go to TikTok (if you’re not already scrolling through videos of French people falling down the stairs on purpose or farriers cleaning manure out of cow’s hooves). Access the TikTok Ad Manager. You can either sign up via email or phone number. They’ll send you a verification code to finish your registration.
2. Once you’ve done that, fill in the information asked. They will want to know pertinent information about your business such as where you’re located, what your time zone is, what your preferred currency is, and what your business name is.
3. After you register, you’ll see the Dashboard and be able to access Account info under Account Settings.
4. Then, some more detailed information is needed. Fill out the Business Information section, which includes the company website. It’s important that your website works, provides the required contact information, offers a product or service, and is relevant to the product or service you want to market on TikTok. You will be rejected during the account review if any of this doesn’t line up.
5. Next, select your payment method. There are three ways to do this: prepay, automatic pay, and monthly invoicing.
6. Then click Submit! It can take up to 24 hours for TikTok to review your information.
How Should I Budget on the TikTok Ads Manager Account?
If you want to reach a super-engaged audience, especially members of Gen Z and Gen Alpha, TikTok is the optimal place to spend your bucks. TikTok Ads Manager provides you with two options for budgeting: daily or lifetime. You can change your budget anytime through your campaign. The minimum budget at the campaign level is $50 and the minimum budget at the ad group level is $20.
TikTok suggests setting your campaign’s budget to “No Limit” to ensure your “campaign’s budget will not impact how the system works to find the most relevant audience for your ads.” So proceed with caution!
How do I Give Access to the TikTok Ads Manager Account?
Time is money! If you’re not going to manage your account, you will need to give an agency or employee access to your TikTok ads manager account. The only option is to give that person your username and password. However, if you are anxious about security you can add 2-step verification, which means you will have to approve anytime someone tries to log in. You can check to see who is logged into your account by checking Settings and Privacy. And you can be logged into your TikTok account on multiple devices.
Who is Advertising on TikTok?
Some of the biggest corporate names are advertising on TikTok. Just to name a few: Apple, Pepsi, Amazon, DoorDash, McDonald’s, Samsung, and DoorDash. But that doesn’t mean only large companies can use TikTok’s Ads Manager services.
Smaller businesses are also succeeding on TikTok. It’s not big spenders behind the direct-to-consumer advertising explosion — brands with $1 to $5 million annual revenue are pushing growth. According to a round-up by influencer marketing website Collabstr, some of the best TikTok ad campaigns of 2023 came from small businesses.
For example, Peculiar Eyewear, which specializes in glasses with a blue light reducer, launched a TikTok campaign that reached 2.3 million with a 54% two-second view-through rate. Also, Book of the Month, a web book subscription service in which members are given an exclusive selection of five new hardcover books each month, saw a 22.88% decrease in Cost Per Acquisition.
Many of these ads used influencers, so if you have the budget consider hiring an influencer to star in your TikTok advertising campaign.
What to Look Out for When Using the TikTok Ads Manager
As TikTok explains on their Policies page, you are responsible for your ads! That means you need to comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations and create and promote “honest, safe, and respectful” advertisements. You also need to comply with TikTok’s Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, and all policies listed in the Business Help Center. TikTok has a review team that will consider ads to make sure they comply with TikTok’s advertising policies and applicable laws and regulations in the corresponding country or region.
