Tired of generic ads on TikTok? With TikTok Branded Mission, you can invite real creators to make content for your brand and turn the best videos into ads. At Mega Digital, we help brands like yours use this powerful format to drive engagement, boost awareness, and stay ahead of trends. In this guide, we’ll show you how Branded Mission works and how you can use it to level up your TikTok campaigns.
Quick Summary:
- Branded Mission = Ads powered by creators: Brands launch challenges, users create content, and top videos become official ads.
- How Branded Mission works: Let TikTok creators submit content for your brand —> you choose the best to turn into ads.
- What’s required to launch: Clear campaign goals, creator guidelines, and ad specs for smooth setup.
What is TikTok Branded Mission?
TikTok Branded Mission is a new advertising format that allows brands to create custom challenges for users to participate in. It is a unique way to engage with the TikTok community, increase brand awareness, and drive user-generated content.
Many of my clients ask whether they’ll be penalized on TikTok if they don’t join a Branded Mission. To clarify, Branded Mission is an ad format where brands invite creators to participate in content challenges, and the best submissions can be turned into ads.
So, your content won’t be suppressed if you choose not to participate. TikTok’s algorithm won’t penalize you for skipping branded content challenges, as it focuses more on engagement and content quality.
Benefits of TikTok Branded Mission
According to Sprout Social’s research, 53% of consumers feel a stronger connection to brands that share their values. Presently, building a brand identity on TikTok is a long-term project in which the key factor is forming relationships with audiences.
Unlike TikTok Branded Effects, Hashtag Challenge, Branded Mission allows creators to contribute to a campaign, utilizing top-performing content as ads. Using Branded Mission, advertisers can:
- Encourages two-way engagement between brands and creators
- Allows the TikTok community to co-create authentic branded content
- Helps brands discover emerging creators on the platform
- Offers a unique and creative way to advertise on TikTok
- Provides a more personalized and customized approach to advertising
- Increases brand awareness and engagement among the TikTok audience
- Provides a platform for user-generated content that can be repurposed into ads
- Helps brands stay relevant and up-to-date with the latest trends on TikTok
How does Branded Mission TikTok work?
Advertisers set the criteria for a Branded Mission, and creators can submit videos that meet those requirements. The best-performing videos are then presented to the advertisers as a shortlist, and they can choose the most brand-relevant video to be used in the TikTok In-Feed Ad campaign.
TikTok pays eligible creators whose videos are selected as ads. And those selected receive increased traffic and commissions from brands due to ‘winning the competition’.
TikTok Branded Mission features
To use branded mission, there are some key elements and specs that advertisers must comply with to make a successful campaign:
- Bundled Feature Page (Branded Hashtag Challenge page and/or Branded Effect page)
- Branded Mission Page
- Branded Mission Details Tab
- Branded Mission Submission Tab
- Mission Center Page
Bundled Feature Page
Bundled Feature Page is a section that showcases a brand’s current Branded Missions. It helps to amplify the visibility of the campaign and provides a platform for creators to submit their videos.
Users can easily navigate the page to view and participate in the challenges, allowing maximum engagement and exposure. The page typically includes
- A brief description of the mission
- Rules for participation
- Examples of top-performing videos
Brands can customize the page to align with their branding and messaging, providing a cohesive experience for users.
Branded Mission Page
The Branded Mission Page is the central hub where advertisers can set up their Branded Mission campaign, and creators can submit their videos for consideration.
- Branded Mission Details Tab is where advertisers can set up the campaign requirements, including the creative brief, guidelines, and objectives. Advertisers can also choose the target audience, campaign duration, and budget.
- Branded Mission Submission Tab allows creators to submit videos that meet the campaign requirements. Creators can view the campaign details, including the brief and guidelines, and submit their videos accordingly. The Branded Mission Submission Tab also lets creators view their submission status and any feedback from the advertiser.
Mission Center Page
Mission Center Page is a section in which users can view all available challenges and missions, including Branded Missions. Advertisers can create and manage their Branded Missions through the Branded Mission Details and Branded Mission Submission tabs on the Branded Mission Page, accessed through the Mission Center.
The Mission Center allows users to easily discover and participate in brand campaigns while also providing advertisers with a centralized location to monitor and track campaign performance.
Ad specs for TikTok Branded Mission
- Advertiser Name:
- Limit: 24 characters
- No spaces, emojis, or special characters (except ‘&’)
- Display varies based on device settings (font size, zoom, resolution)
- Branded Mission Name:
- Limit: 70 characters (18 characters recommended to fit on one line)
- No special characters, emojis, or blank spaces
- Name collaboratively decided by the client and TikTok
- Profile Picture:
- Size: 240×240 pixels
- File size: Under 500KB
- Format: PNG, JPG, or JPEG
- Campaign Description:
- Recommended: 150 characters (max 300)
- Explains campaign goal and aligns with mission objectives
How to use Branded Mission on TikTok
Branded Mission on TikTok requires certain specifications and guidelines to ensure a successful campaign. Here are some of the key requirements for advertisers to consider when setting up a Branded Mission:
- Objective: Define the objective of the Branded Mission, such as increasing brand awareness or driving sales.
- Theme: Choose a theme that resonates with their brand and target audience.
- Hashtag: Create a branded hashtag for the Branded Mission and encourage creators to use it in their videos.
- Video length: Set the video length to align with their campaign objective and theme.
- Creativity: Provide clear guidelines and creative inspiration to creators while allowing them to add their unique touch to the videos.
- Eligibility: Specify the eligibility criteria for creators participating in the Branded Mission, such as age, location, and follower count.
- Compensation: Fix the compensation for creators whose videos are selected as In-Feed Ads, such as boosted traffic and a cash payment from TikTok.
- Example video: Brands must provide at least one example video to illustrate how you want creators to participate in the mission.
Branded Mission vs Hashtag Challenge: Key Differences
If you’ve run a Branded Hashtag Challenge on TikTok before, you might wonder how Branded Mission is different, and why it could work better for your next campaign.
Both formats encourage user participation, but Branded Mission goes a step further by letting you turn top-performing user content into ads, giving you more control and higher ROAS. Here’s a side-by-side comparison by Mega Digital:
| Feature | Hashtag Challenge | Branded Mission |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Drive broad user participation | Generate high-quality content for ads |
| Who Participates | All users | Creators who meet your brand’s criteria |
| Content Usage | Primarily organic | Top videos can be turned into In-Feed Ads |
| Engagement Type | One-way (brand to audience) | Two-way (brands collaborate with creators) |
| Control Over Content | Limited | High – you choose which videos become ads |
| Creator Rewards | Usually none | Paid when their content is selected |
| Cost Structure | Fixed campaign cost | Flexible – pay for selected content + ads |
| Best For | Awareness and mass reach | Authentic engagement and performance ads |
So, which one should you use? We recommend you:
- Choose Branded Hashtag Challenge if you want wide participation and viral potential, but don’t plan to repurpose content.
- Choose Branded Mission if you want high-quality, creator-made content that can be amplified as ads that can give you better control and stronger results.
Successful stories with Branded Mission
Wondering if TikTok Branded Mission really works? These real-world examples show how major brands used it to drive massive engagement, user-generated content, and even sales.
1. ASOS
ASOS was the European pioneer brand to utilize TikTok’s Branded Mission with their Halloween campaign #ASOSAlterEgo. Their branded mission page urged users to dress up as their Halloween alter ego and provided them with a branded effect and music to enhance their content creation.
Their successful results come with:
- 219% increase in relevant engagements with the addition of the Branded Mission
- 17% increase in relevant video creations.
2. Bomb Pop
Bomb Pop partnered with GALE and TikTok to revitalize its nostalgic frozen treat through the #AFlavorForEveryYou Branded Mission. Users showcased their uniqueness using a custom Bomb Pop filter, engaging with the on-screen Bomb Pop spin and sharing their interests. The campaign’s Reach & Frequency Top Feed ads amplified its reach and user-generated content, successfully reintroducing Bomb Pop to a new generation.
The campaign results are:
- Over 40,600 user-generated video creations
- 1,200+ Branded Mission submissions
- 13.2% lift in ad recall
- 10.5% lift in awareness
- 37.4 million impressions
- 11% engagement rate
Furthermore, they hit a remarkable result while pushing Bomb Pop to become the best-selling product of the Fourth of July.
FAQs about TikTok Branded Mission
You can launch a Branded Mission through TikTok Ads Manager or by partnering with a TikTok agency like Mega Digital. You’ll need to set campaign goals, provide creative guidelines, and define creator eligibility and rewards
Yes. Creators whose videos are selected by brands as ads receive compensation, including increased traffic and a cash payment from TikTok.
Branded Mission offers more control and ad potential than Hashtag Challenges. It allows brands to select high-performing creator content for ads, while Hashtag Challenges focus on broad participation without guaranteed ad usage.
Yes. Branded Mission is ideal for launching new products by engaging creators to showcase the product in authentic ways, generating buzz and user-generated content that can be amplified through ads.
Final Word
TikTok Branded Mission differs from the hashtag challenge in that it involves a two-way engagement between brands and creators, allowing users to actively create ads for a brand campaign, while brands can crowdsource brand-new creators. Therefore, don’t miss out on leveraging your brand’s campaign with Branded Mission!
>>> Read more: TikTok Reservation Ads: Full Setup & Strategy Guide in 2025
