Some thoughts around TikTok that I gave during my class at the ECI - European Communication Institute eci-org.eu. Most of the info is based on the TikTok's leaked-pitch-deck found in an adage article. Most examples belong to the wonderful work of Julian Cole and Savannah Simms from https://www.planningdirty.com. You can find all references at the end. As you know I am dyslexic so pls don't start sending me messages about spelling mistakes and missing words. If you want a copy drop me a message here https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpared/

1. Are TikTok Ads Right for Your Business?

2. TikTok is the new hyped destination for
short- form mobile videos—where
audiences make every second count.
Their mission is to capture and present the
world's creativity, knowledge, and moments
that matter— directly from the mobile
phone.
TikTok enables everyone to be a creator,
and encourages users to share their passion
and personal creative expression through
their videos.

3. TikTok creates a video experience unique to you
Powered by ByteDance’s Machine Learning technology, TikTok provides personalized video recommendation,
all fed by key 1st-party behavioral cues on platform:

4. User Interface Snapshot
Homepage Video Shooting Discovery Page Profile
TikTok is a fast-paced app. The second you log in, you see a video at the top of a feed that's algorithmically curated
around your interests. If you enjoy the video you're watching, you can follow, comment, and like the content directly
from the video post. If you're not loving what you see, you can keep swiping in an upward motion to immediately see
more odd videos. From my own experience, I've found that TikTok can easily cause you to spend more time than
expected watching an endless stream of videos.
Notification

5. TikTok Audience
Global Audience End Of 2019
And, although it might feel like TikTok is huge in the U.S., the app's biggest audience actually comes from
China, where the platform is called Douyin.
Everyone seems to be in this app. The celebrities are there, the weirdos are there, the haters are there, the
little kids are there, even the normal people are there and because everyone wants to be an influencer
the app is probably going to continue to grow rapidly!

6. By February 2019, TikTok hit 1 billion downloads, beating Instagram and Facebook in app stores. (Business Insider)
Most Downloaded App In The World In 2018

7. Generation Z Focused (1997-2010)
The average user spends 52 minutes
per day on TikTok. (BusinessOfApps)
90% of TIkTok users visit the app more
than once per day. (GlobalWebIndex)
Users open the app eight times per
day on average. (Digiday)
TikTok claims that the average session
is nearly 5 minutes, which is longer
than Snapchat or Instagram's.
(Digiday)

8. Age Breakdown

9. Meanwhile In Greece
There Are No specific Data As Now
The Greek language is available for use in Greece on the Tik Tok app,
which allows for ease of use, especially as an app that offers in-app
purchases.
In Greece, Tik Tok during Dec 2019 was ranked as the 18th most
popular app being used according to web traffic.
There are more that 860.6 million videos with #greece on TiktokGram,
which suggests that these are done by active users in Greece and/or
persons who like to post about Greece.
Although Greece was not listed as a top country in terms of web
traffic, from a global perspective and with the number of #greece
videos, it seems that Tik Tok users from Greece also enjoy listening or
watching videos/music or dub. Users seem to be interested in sports,
vacations, swimming, parties, challenges and more based on their
posts.

10. Ad Offerings
Five Core Ad Products
Hashtag Challenge In-Feed VideoBrand Takeover Branded Lenses Top View

11. BRAND TAKE OVER:What is it?
A Brand Takeover ad appears upon opening TikTok and it’s the
first interaction users will have (pre-stitial)
It can 3-5-second long GIF, JPG or Video!
Why this ad format?
Can drive users to click through to an external or internal
destination
Category exclusivity – TikTOK allows one advertiser per day
Guaranteed 5,000,000 impressions per day

12. IN FEED VIDEO: What is it?
5-15 seconds long, full-screen, auto-play, audio-on immersive
video experiences
Tiktok will make these ads appear as native as possible (profile
pic, user name, all functions that organic content has, like,
share, comments).
Why this ad format?
Can drive users to click through to an external or internal
destination
Opportunities for amplification and earned impressions via
sharing functions
Available in auction ad format

13. Hashtag challenge: What is it?
Hashtag challenges capitalize on TikTok audience’s natural
tendency to create and share content
They encourage UGC by asking users to record themselves
completing a specific action or following a set of directions to
participate in the “challenge”
Why this ad format?
High potential for the baked-in virality features to increase
brand awareness and engagement
35% of users participate in challenges
16% of all videos on the platform are tied to challenges

14. BRANDED LENCE: What is it?
Produced by TIkTOK in-house, they can create 2D & 3D lenses, to
radically transform the audience’s environment
Granting brands a top spot in Tiktok ‘Trending’ tab for 10 days
Why this ad format?
64% of TikTOK users have used face filters or lenses
Encourages deeper engagement, with longer time spent, sampling and
product discovery.
Pair with a Challenge, to encourage continued use and exposure.

15. TOP VIEW: What is it?
A Brand Takeover ad naturally fades into an In-Feed video ad
Overall length is within 15 seconds
Direct traffic to a desired destination
Why this ad format?
High impact video ad unit, the first thing that users see
Category exclusivity – only allow one advertiser per day
First-to-market opportunity – will come out on TikTok US in
May

16. TikTok Targeting

17. Branded Examples/Experiences

18. Chipotle is quite new to TikTok, but has been
doing very well so far. They’re consistent,
which is also very important on the platform.

19. Guess has only posted 10
videos so far, but they are off
to a solid start. They already
have 38,000 followers. They
are also one of the only
fashion brands currently on
the platform. A big miss by
their competitors. Guess’
content is good. They did
partner with TikTok to run a
challenge on the platform
using the #InMyDenim
hashtag, with good success.

20. The NBA was one of TikTok’s
early adopters. They
consistently put out great
content on the platform, also
on trend. They’ve racked up
a whopping 5.5 million fans
on the app, by far the most
we’ve seen from any brand

21. E.L.F. cosmetics makes luxurious beauty
accessible for everyone to explore.
However, as a drugstore brand, their
products are sometimes cast aside by
members of the online beauty community
for larger indie brands like Fenty, Jeffree
Star, and Anastasia Beverly Hills.
#EyesLipsFace encourages users to show
how transformative makeup can be for
anyone, with only one video chosen to win
$250 worth of E.L.F. products.
It quickly became an anthem for feeling
yourself, and videos using #EyesLipsFace.
hashtag received over 3.7 billion views. The
original audio was used 1.5M times

22. Redbull seems to also
dominate thjs platform
with this video that now
has 1.1M likes · 5738
comments
While it keep posting the
same extreme sports
videos we have seen
before but usually with
a tiktok twist.
The brand now has
3.7MFollowers
52.7MLikes

23. Crocs has been doing great
things on TikTok. From
challenges to viral videos to ads
– they’re doing it all (and that’s
the way to do it!). They recently
did a challenge with Post
Malone called the
#ThousandDollarCrocs challenge
and it currently has 2.8 Billion
views.

24. Fortnite just joined TikTok and
came out strong. They’ve
posted only 7 videos so far
but already have over 1
million followers. Their launch
campaign was genius – they
invited TikTok users to
their #EmoteRoyaleContest
which challenged people to
create dances that could then
be turned in to official emotes
on Fortnite game characters.
That hashtag has been used
over 250 million times

25. Choosing to bring in a group not
usually associated with creativity,
Microsoft Surface teamed up with
professional athletes with
backgrounds in design and art for
the #NotSoOrdinary challenge.
Videos using the hashtag received a
combined total of 515.5M views

26. So Are TikTok
Ads Right for
Your Business?
TikTok presents an enormous
opportunity to advertisers. Not only
has TikTok surpassed Twitter and
Snapchat in popularity but it’s also
less saturated with ads than its older
counterparts. The visual app—which
allows users to edit and share 15-
second videos with built-in filters,
effects, and music—has truly shaken
up the marketing world with its
unprecedented virality.
However, not every business
is positioned to benefit from TikTok’s
unique offering
.
Before investing your time and
efforts into TikTok advertising, here
are 3 questions you need to ask
yourself to determine if this ad
platform is right for your business.

27. 1. What Is the Target Demographic
for Your Business?
If young people is the primary audiences for your
business, TikTok ads could be a worthwhile
investment for you! Its virality as now is truly
phenomenal .
So in the case you are a brand such as the
ones that have sweatshops around the world,
pushing caffeine, energy or sugar, a fast food
joint or some big tobacco company promising
a smokeless future to young audiences TikTok
should be your new playground!

28. 2. Are you positioned as an ethical brand??? Then you should stay
away!
On the surface, the world's fastest growing social media platform shows short clips
of lip-syncing to songs or showing off dance moves but there’s a far more sinister
side.
TikToK has become a magnet for paedophiles as well as a hotbed for violent and
extremist content. The app has already been blamed for many deaths around the
world. To me TikTok seems to be like a new improved version of chatroulette!
Most content there is horrible and highly sexualized!
Do we really want 13 year old girls regularly immersing themselves in an
environment where being sexy is valued above everything else? Where boys are
encouraged to think being macho around girls is the best way to capture their
attention?Where being cruel to animals or other people is just treated as hilarious,
everyday behaviour? I don’t think so.
So if you are an ethical brand ask your self whether you want your content to
appear among this horrible mess and maybe force with your future investments
the app to clean up its act and change for the better!

29. 3. Do You Have the Budget to Advertise on TikTok?
While larger businesses like Nike, Disney, and
Grubhub have swiftly taken to advertising on
TikTok to drive huge impressions, TikTok ads
might be less affordable for smaller
businesses, ads on the platform are new and rare,
they come at premium costs that start at an average
of $10 per CPM and can go up to $300,000 total
budget for larger campaigns.
Moreover, TikTok campaigns require a minimum
investment of $500 so they might not be a great fit
for your business if you’re looking for more
affordable and predictable advertising and
wait a bit more to see how Facebook will react.
It might buy the app or copy its features as we all
have seen before with some popular apps

30. Further Reading
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10890685/tiktok-teens-re-enact-ted-bundy-murder-spree-viral-trend/
https://tinuiti.com/
https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-brands-examples-strategy/
https://adage.com/article/tech/leaked-pitch-deck-reveals-how-tiktok-trying-woo-brands/2205906
https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-advertise-tiktok/
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/247424/20200218/become-famous-on-tiktok-2020-hack-to-make-trending-content.htm
https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-marketing-trends-predictions-2020
https://www.planningdirty.com/
https://www.scarymommy.com/parents-beware-dangers-tiktok/
https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/skull-breaker-challenge-going-viral
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/is-tiktok-dangerous

31. Always Stay Curious