How To Advertise on TikTok
How To Advertise on TikTok
Key Takeaways:
Understand your audience and TikTok culture
Success on TikTok depends on how well you align with its community, trends and storytelling style. Brands that stay authentic and adapt to the platform’s creative rhythm connect most effectively with users.Get familiar with the TikTok Ads Manager
Learning how to use TikTok’s ad platform is essential. It allows you to manage budgets, choose objectives, and track performance in real time. TikTok offers its own free TikTok Academy and other online training resources that are perfect for learning the fundamentals of campaign setup, targeting and optimisation.Work with an integrated media agency for planning and buying
Partnering with an integrated media agency such as One Day Agency helps ensure your TikTok campaigns are strategically planned, creatively executed and media bought efficiently. From audience analysis to creative production and optimisation, a dedicated team can maximise both reach and return on investment.
TikTok has transformed the way people consume and create content, turning short videos into cultural moments and viral sensations. For brands, it is not just a platform for entertainment but a powerful advertising space where creativity drives performance. Whether you are a start-up looking for visibility or a major brand aiming for scale, TikTok offers unique opportunities to connect with engaged audiences through storytelling, trends and data-driven strategy. This guide explores how to advertise effectively on TikTok and how One Day Agency, as an integrated media partner, can help brands turn ideas into impact.
Introduction:
TikTok is one of the most influential social platforms in the world. What began as a space for music and humour has evolved into a global discovery engine that shapes buying habits, cultural trends and creative standards. With more than one billion users globally, TikTok is where audiences actively engage with content, not just passively consume it.
For brands, this means opportunity. People come to TikTok with an open mindset, ready to discover new ideas, products and experiences. In fact, research from TikTok shows that 67 percent of users say the platform inspired them to shop even when they were not planning to.
Advertising on TikTok is about more than pushing a product. It is about joining the conversation in a way that feels native, entertaining and authentic.
Step 1: Understand the TikTok Ecosystem
Before launching your first campaign, it is important to understand what makes TikTok different. Traditional ads often interrupt the user experience, but on TikTok, the most effective campaigns blend in. The platform’s full-screen vertical format, fast pace and algorithm-driven discovery create an environment where creativity is rewarded over production value.
TikTok’s algorithm prioritises engagement, meaning even small brands can go viral with the right message and timing. This makes the platform particularly powerful for businesses of all sizes and budgets.
Step 2: Choose the Right Advertising Objective
TikTok Ads Manager allows you to set objectives that align with your marketing goals. These fall into three main categories:
Awareness: Designed to maximise visibility, helping users discover your brand.
Consideration: Aimed at driving traffic, app installs or video views.
Conversion: Focused on generating sales or sign-ups through performance-driven formats.
Your chosen objective will influence how TikTok delivers your ad and who it targets. For example, if your goal is sales, the system will show your ads to users who are most likely to complete a purchase, based on behavioural data.
Step 3: Pick the Right Ad Format
TikTok offers a range of ad formats to suit different creative and budget levels:
In-Feed Ads: These appear in the For You feed, blending naturally with user content. They are ideal for storytelling, tutorials or product showcases.
TopView Ads: Premium placement appearing as soon as a user opens the app, perfect for big announcements or national campaigns.
Branded Hashtag Challenges: Encourage user participation by inviting them to create videos around a theme. These campaigns generate massive engagement and user-generated content.
Branded Effects: Custom filters or augmented reality effects that let users interact with your brand in creative ways.
Spark Ads: Promote existing organic posts, either from your own account or from creators, turning high-performing videos into paid ads.
Choosing the right format depends on your campaign objectives and audience. A small business might start with In-Feed Ads to test creative ideas, while a national retailer could invest in TopView or Hashtag Challenges to boost mass awareness.
Step 4: Create Content That Feels Native
TikTok rewards creativity and authenticity. The best-performing ads are those that do not feel like ads at all.
Tips for strong creative execution:
Keep videos short, ideally between 6 and 15 seconds.
Use trending sounds and effects to align with the platform culture.
Include clear text overlays to highlight your message.
Add a strong call to action such as “Shop Now” or “Learn More.”
Make sure your brand appears naturally within the first few seconds.
Tools like CapCut, Canva, or TikTok’s own Creative Center help marketers create on-trend videos quickly. The Creative Center is particularly useful as it shows trending hashtags, sounds and top-performing ads in your region, helping you stay relevant.
Remember: authenticity beats perfection. A video filmed on a smartphone that feels genuine can often outperform a polished commercial.
Step 5: Leverage TikTok’s Targeting Tools
TikTok offers advanced audience targeting to ensure your content reaches the right people.
You can target by:
Demographics such as age, gender and location.
Interests, for example fitness, travel, gaming or beauty.
Behaviour, including engagement with certain categories or creators.
Custom audiences based on website visitors or app users.
Lookalike audiences that resemble your best customers.
Installing the TikTok Pixel on your website allows you to track conversions and retarget users who interacted with your brand. This data-driven approach helps refine performance and allocate budget more effectively.
Step 6: Explore Influencer and Creator Collaborations
TikTok is built on creator culture. Collaborating with influencers can give your brand a credible voice and help reach communities that are already engaged.
The TikTok Creator Marketplace connects brands with vetted creators who match your target audience. You can filter by location, engagement rate, and content category to find the perfect fit.
Influencer partnerships work best when the creator has creative freedom. Overly scripted content tends to feel inauthentic and perform poorly. Letting creators interpret your message in their own style often yields better engagement and trust.
Step 7: Measure and Optimise Performance
Running ads is only half the story. The real success lies in analysing performance and learning from data.
Within TikTok Ads Manager, you can track metrics such as:
Impressions and reach
Video views and watch time
Click-through rates
Conversions and cost per acquisition
A/B testing different visuals, captions and calls to action helps identify what resonates most with your audience. Adjust targeting, budget and creative based on performance trends.
For more advanced analysis, integrate Google Analytics or Shopify Analytics to connect TikTok campaign data with web traffic and sales.
Step 8: Budget Planning for Every Brand Size
TikTok campaigns can be adapted to any budget. The platform’s flexible bidding options allow small businesses to experiment without major financial commitment.
Local or small budgets: Focus on In-Feed Ads and test multiple short creatives.
Mid-level budgets: Combine organic growth with Spark Ads and influencer collaborations.
Larger budgets: Invest in full-funnel strategies using TopView, Hashtag Challenges and advanced targeting.
Even a modest investment can generate strong returns when content is engaging and well-targeted. TikTok’s algorithm naturally amplifies content that performs well, regardless of budget size.
Step 9: Integrate TikTok into a Broader Media Mix
TikTok works best as part of an integrated marketing strategy. Its ability to drive awareness and engagement complements other channels such as Meta, YouTube, or paid search.
For example, data from TikTok campaigns can inform your creative decisions on other platforms. Similarly, you can retarget TikTok viewers through display or social ads to increase conversions.
An integrated agency such as One Day Agency can coordinate this cross-channel approach, ensuring that your TikTok campaigns support wider media objectives and deliver consistent storytelling.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even on a creative platform like TikTok, certain errors can limit results:
Using recycled content from other platforms that does not fit TikTok’s style.
Ignoring audio. Sound is central to TikTok culture.
Forgetting subtitles, which are key for accessibility and engagement.
Focusing only on trends without brand relevance.
Not tracking performance through the TikTok Pixel.
Consistency, testing and adaptability are the best ways to avoid these pitfalls.
Conclusion
TikTok is no longer a trend; it is a central part of modern media planning. Its unique blend of entertainment, community and commerce makes it one of the most effective spaces for brand storytelling today.
Success on TikTok is not reserved for big budgets or established names. It is built on creativity, agility and data-led decisions. Whether you are experimenting with your first campaign or scaling a full strategy, what matters most is understanding the culture and speaking the language of the platform.
At One Day Agency, we bring together creativity, media expertise and strategic insight to help businesses of every size unlock the full potential of TikTok advertising. With the right planning, tools and creativity, any brand can turn a short video into long-term impact.
Find out more about TikTok Advertising and Social Media Advertising !
