I bet I downloaded TikTok for the same reason many of you did. First you saw memes about it in late 2018 or early 2019, then wanted to download it as a joke to see what it was all about. The only issue is now it’s 7-8 years later and I log into TikTok multiple times every single day. Whenever I have a couple of minutes to spare, I open up the app and watch content from my favorite creators. It reminds me of Vine, but better. Yea, I’m sure we’re in the same boat here.
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TikTok: Still Poised to Shape the Future of Social Media Marketing?
Despite ongoing scrutiny regarding its ties to China, TikTok’s grip on the attention of younger demographics continues to tighten. Now boasting an impressive over 170 million users in the USA (as of late 2024/early 2025), the platform remains a powerhouse for reaching Millennials and Gen Z. This dominance is underscored by the fact that users aged 18-34 now constitute roughly 60% of TikTok’s audience, while the 35-44 age group is also showing significant growth, representing approximately 25% of users.
What truly sets TikTok apart is the sheer frequency and duration of engagement. Users are reportedly opening the app an average of over 19 times daily, with each session averaging around nearly 11 minutes. This remarkable level of immersion translates to unparalleled engagement rates, consistently outperforming other established social media platforms. For marketers, this translates to a massive pool of highly active and receptive eyes.
TikTok’s secret weapon remains its uniquely powerful “For You” algorithm. As TikTok itself has detailed, this dynamic system curates a constant stream of novel content, virtually eliminating repetitive viewing experiences. When a video is uploaded, the algorithm intelligently presents it to an initial, targeted group based on individual user preferences, past interactions, language settings, device information, and location. The critical factor is engagement: strong signals like likes, comments, shares, and watch time propel the video to larger and more diverse audiences, creating a truly democratized pathway to virality. This “anyone can go viral” dynamic continues to fuel content creation and user excitement, making TikTok an incredibly fertile ground for innovative marketing campaigns that resonate authentically with its audience. The platform’s ability to rapidly surface niche trends and sounds also offers marketers unique opportunities for real-time engagement and cultural relevance.
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How Your Brand Can Advertise On TikTok
Businesses can also jump on TikTok’s explosive growth too, through TikTok ads. TikTok has its own self-serve ad platform, which is very similar to all of the other social media platforms. Like all the other major networks, you’re able to set up TikTok ad campaigns based on numerous objectives that will fulfill your business needs. For example objectives include Reach, Traffic, App Installs, Video Views, Conversions, & Catalog Sales.
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The TikTok Pixel & Targeting Options
TikTok also has its own pixel that you can put on your site to set up remarketing campaigns. Like Facebook and Snapchat, there is a helpful Google Chrome extension to ensure that the tag was added correctly on your site.
There are also other targeting options besides remarketing to past website visitors. You can target users based on location, lookalike lists, custom files, custom audiences, and interests.
5 Different Types Of TikTok Ads
There are also five types of ads you can run on TikTok. Those include in-feed, brand takeover, topview, branded hashtags, and branded effects.
TikTok In-Feed Ads
In-feed ads are probably the most common style of ad from what I’ve seen and where most advertisers will use their ad budget. These ads are just like what you’d think, they can show up in the user’s feed as they are scrolling through videos. It is identical to how a Facebook ad would show up in the user’s feed as they scroll through their newsfeed. As far as the look of the in-feed ad, it is very similar to how Instagram Stories look. These ads will include a Watch Now, Learn Move, Download, etc call to action button at the bottom of the ad. For an example, look at the image above all the way to the left.
You could also team up with an influencer to tap into their audience for in-feed ads. Check out this creative in-feed influencer ad.
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TikTok Brand Takeover Ads
The brand takeover ad is the first thing that pops up when you open TikTok. This style of ad definitely is a top option for obtaining mass awareness and reach for your campaign because it is literally the first thing the user sees. Not only that but TikTok makes sure users don’t see more than one brand takeover ad per day. Meaning you get a lot of attention, with no competition. The downside is that they come at a high cost, that realistically is mainly for bigger brands.
TopView TikTok Ads
TopView ads show up at the top of the For You page. They have up to 60 seconds of full-screen time with auto-play sound to grab your attention. These ads link to internal or external landing pages, where you can send the user to make a purchase. For example, in the below image, Balenciaga sent viewers to their shopping pages.
TikTok Branded Hashtags
Branded hashtags are unique to TikTok’s ad platform. If you’ve been on the app, you’ve definitely seen the hashtag of brands displayed on the discovery page or at the bottom of videos. Branded hashtags challenges offer both organic user-generated content as well as sponsored opportunities.
There are also ad spots like this #GotMilkChallenge hashtag on the discovery page, although they cost $150,000 a day. The good news is that that has 781.6 million views. Again this is more geared towards larger brands, but there are still effective ways smaller companies can use TikTok ads.
TikTok Branded Effects
Similar to Snapchat’s branded AR filters, TikTok’s branded effects allow advertisers to create their own custom filter on the app. It is a fun way to encourage users to directly interact with your brand.
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TikTok Advertising Best Practices
To get started on your TikTok ads campaign, where are some high-level best practices.
- Generally TikTok campaigns will be higher funnel, so start with Reach or Traffic as the objective, but you can certainly use other objectives if they fit into your marketing strategy.
- Set up your bid as your target cost per action (CPA).
- Aim for an initial daily budget of 20x your target CPA.
- Then avoid editing your ad groups until the ad group passes the learning phase of TikTok’s algorithm. The learning phase is going to continuously explore new potential customers to find your best audience,which generally takes about 50 conversions.
- When creating the ads, try TikTok’s creative tools such as Smart Video, which lets you efficiently design new ads.
- This part is the most important. Remember to keep your creative FRESH! At minimum update it every 7 days.
- Although normal TikTok videos are up to 60 seconds long, keep your ad creative shorter. 9 to 15 second generally works well.
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Is TikTok Marketing Right For My Business?
This advertising platform is definitely worth considering if your target audience is younger, especially for targeting people 13 to 34-years-old. It continues to grow, even with the 35+ crowd, despite controversies and rivalries from Instagram Reel. TikTok’s huge following is not going to go away, and you need to stay in front of your audience. You do that by showing ads where they are. Hint, they’re on TikTok.