TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with over 1 billion monthly active users. For businesses looking to reach a younger, highly-engaged audience, TikTok Ads can be an effective way to generate leads and increase conversions. With an average engagement rate of 4.25%, TikTok is by far the most engaging social media platform. Instagram, coming in at second place, has an average engagement rate of just 0.60%, for comparison.

If you don’t have expertise in the platform, it can be incredibly challenging to produce creative that feels native to TikTok and also have the bandwidth your brand needs to excel. Common challenges brands face when attempting to run ads in-house:

• Your ads don’t look or feel organic. The magic of TikTok is how seamlessly videos transition in-feed. Oftentimes, you can’t even tell if you’re looking at an ad or an organic post. You can’t take a video ad from Facebook and expect it to work here. 
• You’re not refreshing creative assets often enough. Most brands don’t have the bandwidth to create a new video each week, but the algorithm tends to favor those who are keeping audiences engaged with fresh content. 
• Your ads are getting constantly getting disapproved. Unlike Meta, ad review processes on TikTok can be a lot more stringent. From spelling errors to product/website mismatch, there are many ways TikTok can flag an asset as undeliverable. 
• You don’t have enough data collected for lower-funnel conversions to work. Wouldn’t it be great if you launched a sales campaign on TikTok and started seeing revenue flow through right away? Unfortunately, that’s often not the case. A staggered approach to driving bottom of the funnel conversions is the best way to approach these campaigns.

Why not outsource strategy and implementation with paid social experts? Digital marketing agencies can help businesses reach their target audiences on TikTok by creating and strategically managing ad campaigns from start to finish. 

When looking for a digital marketing agency to manage your TikTok campaigns, you’ll want to make sure they tick off these boxes to get the most out of your ad dollars:

• Define your goals: Before you start working with a digital marketing agency, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your TikTok Ads campaigns. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive purchases on your website? Once you have defined your goals, communicate them clearly to a potential agency, or collaborate with your chosen agency to define them as a first step.
• Choose the right agency: Not all digital marketing agencies are the same, and not all of them have experience with TikTok Ads. Look for an agency that specializes in social media advertising and has experience with TikTok. Read reviews, ask for referrals, and check out their creative portfolio before making a decision.
• Set a budget: It’s important to set a budget for your paid social campaigns upfront. Work with the agency to determine how much you can afford to spend and what kind of results you can expect for that budget. Be open to adjusting the budget based on performance, but be realistic about what you can achieve with the budget you have. Similarly, understand the agency’s fees and why they charge the way they do, and assure that the shared vision of success allows profits for all parties if the ads scale.
• Set up conversion tracking: Work with your agency to install the TikTok Pixel on your website for conversion tracking. TikTok allows you to track up to 40 different events, such as “view page,” “add to cart” or “purchase,” and create audience segments to re-engage previous site visitors or model lookalikes to find new customers. By setting up pixel tracking correctly, your agency will be able to see which ads are generating the most conversions and will be able to adjust their strategy accordingly.

Collaborate on creative
TikTok is all about creativity and your ads should reflect that. Work closely with your agency to develop concepts that will resonate with your target audience and that also fit in natively with the platform. The agency should have experience creating TikTok-style videos and be able to provide examples of their work. Other creative aspects you should consider when looking for a TikTok Ads agency:

1. Influencer sourcing & hiring: Finding influencers for your marketing campaigns can be a tedious process. Ensuring that your agency handles influencer sourcing/relationship building, briefing, and legal agreements will save you time and money. 
2. Creative briefing: A detailed creative brief is essential for setting clear expectations of what you want to accomplish with your TikTok assets. It helps outline your goals and objectives, as well as any constraints or limitations. It also helps to avoid misunderstandings by ensuring that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal. Lastly, it helps to avoid costly revisions and rework by ensuring that the creative team is focused on delivering a solution that meets the needs of the client.
3. Approval process: While you should give creative freedom to your agency, ensure that there are multiple checkpoints in the creative process — from briefing to hiring an influencer to final deliverables — where you can offer input and have a final say in how the project proceeds. Agencies often use 3rd party tools, like Frame.io, for direct edits/feedback on assets.
4. Deliverable timeline: Make sure your agency is upfront about how long each step in the creative process will take, but also be realistic about these expectations as TikTok video generation is generally a longer process than static ad creation for display or Meta. Depending on the project, you can expect anywhere from 4-6 weeks to see deliverables. 
5. Monitor and adjust: Once your TikTok Ads campaigns are up and running, it’s important to monitor performance closely. Work with the agency to track key metrics like cost per click, click-through rates, and cost per conversion. Use this data to make adjustments to your campaign as needed, such as tweaking targeting or bidding and adjusting creative.
6. Communicate regularly: Finally, it’s important to communicate regularly with your digital marketing agency. Schedule weekly check-ins to discuss performance, brainstorm new ideas, and make any necessary adjustments to your campaigns. Keep the lines of communication open and be responsive to the agency’s feedback and recommendations.

Working with a digital marketing agency can help you drive measurable results on TikTok. By following these tips, you can ensure that your business and the digital marketing agency of your choosing are on the same page and working towards the same goals. With the right strategy and execution, your TikTok Ads campaign can help you reach a new audience and achieve your marketing objectives.