If you’re an advertiser aiming to make an impact and drive results on TikTok, creating attention-grabbing TikTok ad creatives is essential. But with so much creative content on the platform, how do you stand out and draw in customers? If this sounds familiar, you’re in the right place! Check out our top 8 tips to boost your TikTok ad creatives!
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What is TikTok Ad Creative?
A TikTok ad creative refers to the visual and audio elements used in a TikTok advertisement to capture attention, engage viewers, and communicate a brand’s message. This can include videos, images, text, music, and effects.
The goal of an ad creative is to stand out in TikTok’s content feed, drive engagement, and encourage users to take action.
To better understand TikTok ad creative, let’s break down of TikTok ads structure below.
At the highest level is the Ad Campaign, where you define the main objective of your campaign. Each campaign contains one or more ad groups. The ad groups allow you to set specific parameters, such as targeting options, budget, ad placement, and scheduling.
Finally, inside each ad group, you design the individual ads. These are the ad creatives (images, videos, or text) that are shown to your target audience. Each ad can have different formats or creatives.
Why Do Good TikTok Ad Creatives Matter?
TikTok ad creatives are the key to capturing attention and driving engagement on a platform built around short, engaging content. TikTok users scroll quickly through their feeds, and a well-crafted ad can stop them in their tracks. Creative ads that are visually appealing, and aligned with TikTok’s unique style resonate better with the audience, leading to overall better campaign performance.
Additionally, effective ad creatives help establish a connection with viewers, making your brand memorable and increasing the likelihood of conversions. With TikTok’s algorithm favoring content that captures attention quickly, a good ad creative can significantly boost your campaign’s visibility and reach.
In short, good TikTok ad creatives are not just about aesthetics. They directly impact your ad’s performance, engagement, and return on ad spend (ROAS).
8 Tips to Create Winning TikTok Ad Creatives
To make a lasting impact with your ad creative, we recommend following these 8 tips in your next ad campaign.
Experiment with different ad types
TikTok provides advertisers with various ad types based on bidding strategies or campaign objectives like traffic, views, conversion, etc. Each ad type has unique advantages and disadvantages, and choosing the right one depends on your campaign goals, budget, and target audience.
Use the right specs for your ads
Using the correct formats and specifications for your ads is crucial for ensuring they are displayed correctly on TikTok. There are some of the standard conditions for all videos on TikTok like:
- Video dimensions: TikTok recommends a vertical aspect ratio of 9:16 for videos, with a resolution of 720×1280 pixels.
- Video duration: In-feed video ads can be between 5 and 60 seconds long, while TopView ads can be up to 60 seconds long.
- File size: Video file sizes should not exceed 500 MB.
- Video format: TikTok supports various video formats, including MP4 and MOV.
- Sound: All ads should include sound, as TikTok is a highly audio-focused platform.
- Captions: Adding captions to your ads can help ensure they are accessible to a wider audience.
However, as we’ve already mentioned, each ad type has its specifications and requirements that advertisers must comply with to get ads approved. So, before creating content or choosing a layout for your video, make sure to check TikTok ad formats and specs for better results.
Engage audiences with creative content
TikTok ad creatives should usually only last 9-15 seconds and should not exceed 30 seconds. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to attract viewers.
There are a few topics that you can learn to build the most interesting promotional video content. Real-life situations or humorous and empathetic conversations would be more effective. Or your TikTok ad creatives can be built around sharing tips or tutorials that are also very accessible to users.
@rarebeauty Yo mirando mi colección de Rare Beauty✨ #rarebeauty #rarebeautyblush #liquidblush #softpinch #grwm #rarebeautyhaul #aesthetic ” href=”https://www.tiktok.com/music/Tsk-7081892683161094918?refer=embed” rel=”noopener”>♬ Tsk – BTS ended kpop >
Make an impact on the first 3 seconds
TikTok recommends that brands should aim to convey their message within the first 3 seconds of a promotional video as it is crucial to attracting viewers’ attention quickly. According to TikTok, 67% of the most successful TikTok ad creatives feature the brand message in the opening 3 seconds. This means that the first few seconds of your video can make or break its success in attracting and retaining an audience.
To make the most of the first 3 seconds, it’s recommended that brands introduce their product or message in a clear and concise way. Creating an immediate impact and grabbing the viewer’s attention with creative visuals and compelling music is essential. By doing this, you’re more likely to encourage viewers to keep watching and engage with your brand.
Don’t forget sounds & effects
TikTok is a platform that thrives on trends, and music and effects are a big part of that. With one of these elements, it is likely that a video will gain traction and trend on the platform.
To stay current on the latest trends, check out the Explore section on TikTok, which showcases popular videos and sounds. In particular, using tracks with a tempo of around 120 BPM effectively attracts and engages viewers. These songs tend to increase positivity and create an emotional connection with the audience.
Aside from music, using effects in TikTok ad creatives can also be particularly effective. Visual effects not only make videos look more engaging, but they can also increase awareness among users because they can easily use the effect and push it to the trend.
It is important to prioritize using songs and effects appropriate to your video’s context. So, check out TikTok Creative Center for trending music and challenges to incorporate into your ads!
Try user-generated content (UGC)
Since TikTok is all about entertainment, it’s important to balance creativity with content that connects with your audience.
A good way to do this is by mixing user-generated content (UGC) with high-quality footage, making your ads both visually attractive and relatable to TikTok users. This helps your ads feel more natural and engaging, increasing their impact.
As such, it’s important for brands to focus on creating TikTok videos that capture the attention of users and provide something of value to them, whether it’s information, humor, inspiration, or any other emotion.
Emphasize with text overlay
Using text overlay in videos is a helpful way to emphasize important information without interrupting the viewer’s enjoyment of the content. This is particularly useful when there is a lot of messaging, numbers, or text that needs to be conveyed in the video.
It’s important to note that the text overlay should load within the first 7 seconds of the video to provide viewers with the necessary context.
Present with influencers and KOCs/KOLs
Influencer marketing has become essential to social media advertising, and TikTok is no exception. TikTok influencers, also known as KOLs or KOCs, have the potential to expand the reach of a brand’s promotional videos to a larger audience.
While it may cost more to work with an influencer, it can be an effective way to reach a specific target market. Selecting an influencer whose image and audience align with the brand’s values and target audience is crucial. This can help ensure that the influencer’s endorsement is authentic and resonates with viewers, thereby increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
3 Examples of Effective TikTok Ad Creatives
Now, let’s take a look at 3 highly effective ad creatives on TikTok that various companies have published in recent months.
Pepsi
Pepsi launched a new flavor line in Australia called Pepsi Max. This brand leveraged Brand Takeover Ads, a full-screen format displayed for 5 seconds, leading users to a destination of the brand’s choice if clicked.
The ad showcased three Pepsi Max cans, each featuring a unique flavor, in a bold, dark background with water droplets to emphasize refreshment and appeal. This minimalistic yet impactful design kept the focus on the product, making the flavors stand out.
Pepsi achieved a 24% CTR in one day, reaching 2.4 million users. By the end of the campaign, it generated 10 million impressions, with 936,000 users watching the video until completion.
Duolingo
Duolingo is a famous language-learning app. It has built a successful content strategy by using a playful tone and the personality of its mascot, the Owl Duo. This cohesive visual and branding approach has contributed to the app’s rapid growth on TikTok.
A key part of Duolingo’s strategy is incorporating viral memes, such as the “Evil Duo Owl” meme, which the company references on TikTok to remind users to complete their lessons. By leveraging popular memes, Duolingo has boosted its brand awareness and solidified itself as a top player in the education app space.
Currently, Duolingo has about 12 million followers on TikTok and 270 million likes on its videos.
Crumbl Cookies
Crumbl Cookies is a popular U.S. cookie brand known for its gourmet, freshly baked cookies. For a two-month campaign, they launched a fresh TikTok ad to promote their new flavors.
This TikTok ad creative is simply a close-up shot of a dessert being made from scratch The focus on the texture of the dessert, along with the high-quality visuals, immediately grabs attention and creates a truly mouth-watering effect for viewers.
Through this TikTok ad campaign, Crumbl Cookies reached 22 million accounts and gained 2 million new followers, resulting in a 1,500% growth in their follower count.
Wrap-up
TikTok is not just a social media platform for entertainment, but it also presents a remarkable opportunity for businesses to expand their reach and connect with potential customers. With the nine tips we’ve shared, you can create TikTok ad creatives that are both captivating and effective.
