TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms with over one billion monthly active users. Its short, viral video format offers brands a unique opportunity to capture the attention of consumers and generate high levels of engagement. In this article we will show what In-Feed Ads are on TikTok, exploring their typologies, advantages and strategies to maximise the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
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TikTok's In-Feed ads are a type of native advertising that is integrated into users' "For You" feed on the platform. These ads are presented in a vertical video format, with a maximum duration of 60 seconds, and play automatically as users browse their feed. Like organic posts, In-Feed ads can be liked, commented on or shared by users.
To know how TikTok's In-Feed Ads work, you have to take into account 3 steps: what is the objective you want to achieve, what format they have and finally how we will segment them to reach the ideal audience.
TikTok In-Feed Ads can be used to achieve a variety of objectives, such as:
Increase brand awareness: Reach a new audience and raise awareness of your brand and its products or services.
Generate traffic: Attract visitors to your website or app.
Drive conversions: Incentivise users to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or registering for more information.
Build customer loyalty: Create long-lasting relationships with your existing customers.
TikTok In-Feed advertisements must comply with the following formatting guidelines:
Duration: Up to 60 seconds
Format: Vertical video
Text: Up to 150 characters in title and up to 100 characters in description
Call to action: Clear and compelling call to action
TikTok Ads Manager offers a wide range of targeting options for In-Feed Ads, allowing you to reach your ideal target audience. You can target by:
Demographics: Age, gender, location, language, etc.
Interests: Based on the hashtags users follow, the videos they watch and the accounts they interact with.
Behaviours: Based on the actions users take on the platform, such as watching videos, filling out forms or making purchases.
Devices: Type of device the user is using.
Campaign objectives: You can select different campaign objectives when creating your ads, such as increasing brand awareness, generating traffic or driving conversions. TikTok Ads Manager will show you the most relevant targeting options for each objective.
Create a TikTok Ads Manager account: If you don't already have an account, you can create one at https://www.tiktok.com/business/en-US
Define your campaign goals: What do you want to achieve with your In-Feed Ads campaign? Choose a campaign objective, such as increasing brand awareness, generating traffic or driving conversions.
Select the "In-Feed Ads" option: In the campaign creation menu, select the "In-Feed Ads" option.
Target your audience: Define who you want your ads to reach. You can segment by demographics, interests, behaviours, devices and campaign objectives.
Set your budget and bid: Determine how much you are willing to spend on your campaign and set a bidding strategy.
Create your ad: Upload your video, write a title and description, and select a call to action.
Once you have created your ad in TikTok Ads Manager, it's time to show you best practices for In-Feed ads.
Grab attention from the start: The first few seconds of your ad are crucial to grab users' attention and prevent them from skipping it. Use a strong hook, such as a punchy question or an eye-catching image.
Keep it short: TikTok users have a short attention span, so keep your ad short and to the point. Convey your message clearly and concisely in 15-60 seconds.
Be authentic: TikTok users value authenticity. Create content that is genuine and resonates with your target audience.
Use trends: Keep up with the latest trends on TikTok and use them in your ads to increase relevance and engagement.
Add a call to action: Tell users what you want them to do after viewing your ad. Include a clear and compelling call to action.
Use high quality video: Your ads should have good picture and sound quality to make them enjoyable to watch.
Incorporate music and effects: Music and effects can help you create a more engaging and memorable ad.
Create interactive content: Encourage users to interact with your ad by using elements such as polls, questions or challenges.
Show your product or service in action: Instead of simply talking about your product or service, show it in action and highlight its benefits.
Use TikTok influencers: Collaborating with TikTok influencers can help you reach a wider audience and build trust in your brand.
The type of In-Feed ad you choose will depend on your marketing objectives and target audience. If you want to reach a broad audience and generate brand awareness, standard In-Feed ads are a good choice. If you want to create more eye-catching and engaging ads, In-Feed ads with Spark Ads are a better option. And if you want to sell products directly through TikTok, product or collection In-Feed ads are a good option.
Standard In-Feed ads:
These are the most common In-Feed ads.
They appear in users' "For You" feed, embedded between organic posts.
They play automatically when users scroll through their feed, but users can skip them at any time.
They must comply with the standard formatting guidelines for In-Feed ads (see previous section).
In-Feed Ads with Spark Ads:
These are In-Feed ads that use TikTok's Spark Ads format.
Spark Ads are short, dynamic videos that are created using pre-designed templates or editing tools.
In-Feed ads with Spark Ads are often more eye-catching and engaging than standard In-Feed ads.
In addition to standard format guidelines, In-Feed ads with Spark Ads must also comply with Spark Ads specific guidelines.
Product In-Feed Ads: These ads display a product in users' "For You" feed, along with an image, title and price.
Collection In-Feed Ads: These ads display a collection of products in users' "For You" feed, allowing users to browse and purchase products directly from the ad.
Seamless User Experience: In-Feed Ads blend seamlessly with organic content, providing a less intrusive experience.
High visibility and reach: TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users, giving brands huge potential to reach a wide and diverse audience.
Increased engagement: In-Feed ads integrate naturally into users' feeds, increasing the likelihood that they will be seen, interacted with and shared.
Creative and versatile formats: TikTok offers a wide range of In-Feed ad formats, such as videos with music, effects and transitions, allowing brands to create engaging and memorable content.
Precise targeting: TikTok Ads Manager allows brands to precisely target their campaigns based on a variety of demographics, interests and behaviours.
Measurement and analytics: TikTok provides advanced tools to measure the performance of In-Feed Ads campaigns, allowing brands to optimise their strategies and maximise ROI.
1. Targeting by interests and behaviours: TikTok Ads Manager allows you to segment your audience based on their interests and behaviours. This helps ensure that your ads reach the people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer.
You can segment by a variety of factors, such as:
Interests: Based on the hashtags users follow, the videos they watch and the accounts they interact with.
Behaviors: Based on the actions users take on the platform, such as watching videos, filling out forms or making purchases.
By targeting by interests and behaviours, you can create more relevant and effective In-Feed Ads campaigns.
2. Using demographics: You can also segment your audience by demographics, such as age, gender, location and language.
This can be useful to reach a wider audience or to target specific groups of people.
3. A/B testing and ongoing optimisation: It is important to A/B test your In-Feed Ads to see what works best.
This involves creating two different versions of an ad and showing them to two different groups of users. You can then compare the performance of the two ads to see which one performed better.
Ongoing optimisation is a continuous process of testing and adjusting your campaigns to improve their performance. This includes monitoring the performance of your ads, making changes based on the data you collect, and testing new strategies.
4. Performance analysis and tuning: TikTok Ads Manager provides you with a variety of tools to analyse the performance of your In-Feed Ads campaigns, including metrics such as impressions, clicks, conversions and cost per conversion.
This data helps you understand how well your ads are performing and where you can make improvements. It's important to make adjustments to your campaigns on a regular basis based on the data you collect.
Stradivarius, a leading Spanish women's fashion brand, achieved notable success with the launch of its Stradishoppers TV channel on TikTok, designed to offer followers the opportunity to have a Personal Shopper Online. The campaign used two ad formats: TopView, which maximises brand awareness by appearing when the app is opened, and In-Feed Ads, which are natively integrated into the "For You" feed to generate greater engagement. The creative strategy, centred on the use of three popular influencers, catchy music and dynamic costume changes, resonated with the TikTok community. As a result, the campaign achieved an average play time of 14 seconds and an engagement rate of 16.21%, and attracted more than 12,000 new followers in just two days, demonstrating the effectiveness of a well-planned and executed strategy.