With TikTok’s growing popularity, more affiliates and brands are using it as a traffic source for their campaigns. This is unsurprising, given that TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the essentials of TikTok advertising. Let’s see how to create appealing content and use paid ads to generate leads.
What are TikTok Ads?
Like other social media platforms, TikTok features paid advertisements. These ads appear as promotional content in users’ feeds while they scroll through videos. They blend well with regular content on the platform, making them less annoying and more engaging for viewers.
Advertising on TikTok allows you to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors, ensuring you reach the right audience. Given TikTok’s massive user base, these ads are a powerful tool to grow brand awareness, engagement, and leads.
Why Should You Advertise on TikTok?
Massive Reach
TikTok is one of the most popular social media worldwide, with over a billion monthly users — a number that continues to grow. In Q1 of 2024 alone, TikTok was downloaded 137 million times.
This popularity gives digital marketers a unique opportunity to reach the target audience across various demographics.
High Engagement Rates
TikTok users on average spend 95 minutes daily looking through videos. This number even surpasses Instagram’s engagement rates, where users spend about 62 minutes.
This high user engagement increases the likelihood of your ads being viewed and interacted with.
Clear Targeting
It’s also a lot easier to determine what demographics use TikTok. The platform’s audience primarily consists of Millennials and Gen Z, with more than half of its weekly active users in the US aged between 18 and 34.
Around 55% of these users are female, while 45% are male, offering a balanced demographic reach.
TikTok Ad Formats
Many brands on TikTok engage their audience organically. They share content like “Let’s Pack Orders” or behind-the-scenes of their small businesses. However, ads also offer great advertising potential.
Here’s an overview of TikTok ad formats that can help you reach a broader audience and attract more traffic to your offers:
In-feed Ads
In-feed ads are short-form video ads that appear in users’ feeds and typically last up to 60 seconds. They can also have interactive features, like call-to-action (CTA). These buttons redirect traffic from TikTok to a landing page, app store, or website you promote.
These ads are great for marketers wanting to increase engagement, website traffic, and conversions. That’s because their integration into the TikTok experience makes them less intrusive and more natural for users.
TopView
TopView ads are full-screen video ads that appear when users first open TikTok. They appear before any other content, making them highly visible and impactful.
The TopView ad begins with a 3-second video with no interactive elements. Then, the ad transitions to a standard in-feed format, allowing users to like, comment, share, visit the brand’s TikTok page, or explore other related content.
Branded Hashtag Challenge
Branded Hashtag Challenges ask users to make and share short videos with a specific hashtag. These challenges often include a dance or a brand’s theme song.
If these challenges become popular, it can lead to content distribution and increased brand awareness. What’s more, participating in these challenges can be an effective way to drive traffic to the affiliate link in your bio.
Branded Effects
Branded Effects lets brands design custom stickers, filters, and augmented reality (AR) features for TikTok videos.
These interactive tools can boost engagement and make the brand more recognizable. For example, a jewelry shop might create a filter that lets users try on virtual accessories, making it a fun and effective way to promote their products.
Spark Ads
Spark Ads is native advertising on TikTok, allowing you to promote existing posts. When users interact with these ads (e.g., view, like, share), the engagement goes to the original post, not just the ad.
You can use this ad format to:
- Promote your own TikToks;
- Boost other creators’ videos (with their permission).
The platform allows you to create up to 10,000 Spark Ads per TikTok Ads Manager account. What’s more, you can use the same post for different ads as often as you want. This makes it a flexible way to promote your offers.
eCommerce Ads
TikTok offers several ad formats to help users discover and purchase eCommerce products within the app:
- Video Shopping Ads: These ads show products on the video with tags, descriptions, and pricing.
- LIVE Shopping Ads: These are live streams where brands show products, answer questions and connect with viewers in real time.
- Video Shopping Ads with TikTok Shop: These ads work with TikTok’s eCommerce platform. They feature product catalogs, customer reviews, and a checkout process, offering a seamless shopping experience right in the app.
How to Do Affiliate Marketing on TikTok
There are two main approaches to TikTok affiliate marketing: organic reach and paid promotion. Let’s explore both strategies and discuss how to use them effectively.
Organic Reach
1. Create a TikTok Business Account
To promote affiliate links organically, you need a TikTok Business Account. This allows you to add links to your bio and share them in videos. Here’s how to switch your account:
- Go to your TikTok profile by tapping on your profile icon.
- Click on the menu (three lines in the top-right corner) and select “Settings and Privacy.”
- Scroll down to “Account” and select it.
- Tap “Switch to Business Account” and follow the prompts to complete the process.
Once your account is set up, you can share your affiliate links.
2. Choose Suitable Niche and Offers
To be successful with affiliate marketing on TikTok, you need to decide where and what you’ll promote. Here are some of the popular niches and products for the platform:
- eCommerce: Products from online stores, like Amazon, Etsy, Temu, etc.
- Sports: Fitness equipment, apparel.
- Dating and coaching: Relationship advice and self-development programs.
- Tech and software: Gadgets, apps, subscriptions.
- Food: Recipes, kitchenware, meal plans.
- Pets: Pet products, accessories, and services.
- Gaming: Video games, consoles, accessories.
A great starting point could be promoting Amazon offers, especially in popular categories like books or home goods. These topics perform well as TikTok loves aesthetically pleasing products.
3. Sharing Links on TikTok
TikTok allows you to add only one link in your bio, but there are ways to make the most of it. Here’s how you can optimize your affiliate links:
- Direct link to website/blog: Go to your profile, click “Edit Profile,” and add your link in the “Website” field.
- Use a link aggregator: To promote several links, consider using services like LinkTr.ee. They allow you to create a landing page with clickable CTAs for different offers.
- Placing links in video descriptions (less effective): Another option is linking offers in video descriptions. However, this is less effective because the links won’t be clickable — users need to copy and paste them into the browser.
4. Drive Traffic to Your Links
First, post a few videos to see your target audience’s reactions. Use trending hashtags and challenges to reach even more people. Also, you’ll want to grab your audience’s interest, and fast: TikTok suggests within the first 3 seconds — place there your most attention-grabbing offer or address pain points.
For better conversions through organic promotion, try these tactics:
- Streaming: Even new accounts can attract 100-200 viewers on TikTok streams. Go live, invite guests, or make streams yourself and show the products you offer.
- Commenting on popular videos: Engage with top-performing posts. Comments on these videos can be seen by many users, increasing your visibility and traffic.
Paid Promotion
TikTok ads offer excellent reach but come with a higher price tag. Here’s how to create effective ads:
1. Choose an Ad Type
- In-feed ads: Appear as users scroll.
- Hashtag challenge: Engages users with an activity linked to a hashtag.
- TopView: Takes over the app screen on launch.
- Spark Ads: Promote your regular videos.
Note: TikTok ads start at $600 and can reach up to $150,000 for premium options.
2. Create Ads and Optimize Them
Your ads should follow TikTok trends to get the most engagement. It includes:
- Your TikTok ad should be around 21-34 seconds long.
- The first 3 seconds should contain the most important information.
- The key info should be in the center so it’s not cut out.
- Your videos should be high-quality so viewers don’t turn away.
- Effective CTAs are “Shop Now,” “Learn More,” and “Get Yours Today”.
Note: If you’re unsure how to make your ads, go to the TikTok Ad Library for creative inspiration.
3. Test and Update Your Ads
TikTok recommends updating your ads every 7 days to avoid “ad fatigue.” Test different formats and content types to see what resonates best with your audience.
While TikTok offers a powerful platform for creative advertising, organic strategies may be more accessible for smaller affiliates or businesses with limited budgets.
Why Should You Track TikTok Ads Performance?
Tracking TikTok ads performance is important for understanding what works and what doesn’t in your campaigns. By monitoring key metrics such as clicks, conversion rates, and ROI, you can refine your strategies to grow income and reduce wasted spend.
Use dedicated tools like Keitaro Tracker for real-time campaign monitoring. Since 2017, Keitaro has been helping affiliates optimize their ads and achieve long-term success. It provides features for A/B testing, landing page management, and fraud prevention.
With Keitaro Tracker’s seamless API integration with TikTok, you can easily access detailed data on your ad campaigns. Try it free for 14 days and see the benefits yourself:
Best Practices for TikTok Affiliate Marketing
- Stay Authentic: TikTok users value authenticity. Focus on creating genuine, relatable videos that reflect your product or service. Avoid overly promotional content.
- Keep Up with Trends: TikTok trends evolve quickly. Stay updated on the latest challenges, popular sounds, and content formats to keep your videos relevant and engaging.
- Collaborate with Influencers: Partnering with TikTok influencers who share your target audience can grow your reach and credibility. Content creators can effectively promote your products, driving traffic to your affiliate links.
- Diversify Your Content: Use and test different formats — tutorials, reviews, paid ads, and hashtag challenges — to reach a wider audience and increase engagement.
- Monitor Your Performance: Track your statistics with tools like Keitaro Tracker. Analyze 30+ metrics, optimize your strategies, and generate more leads.
