With over 1 billion active users, the popular social media app has emerged as a key player in the digital marketing landscape, especially among younger generations. One of the most effective ways to harness the power of TikTok for your business is through user-generated content (UGC) ads, which can help your company stand out and connect with consumers in a more authentic and relatable way.

In the last year, BMG360 has expanded the channel strategy for our client, the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), using UGC ads and growing its presence on TikTok.

By adding TikTok, we’ve successfully increased ISSA’s online visibility, engaged with a broader audience, driven more sales, and established a stronger online community within the fitness industry.

Looking at the trends that lead to our success, we have identified a few essential strategies that worked. Here are our top recommendations for driving growth using TikTok.

Set your account up for success before launching TikTok ads

Implement TikTok pixel and test all pixel events before creating your campaign. And double check the attribution window aligns with your media mix modeling.

Make a checklist for creative

Before diving into your first batch of creative for TikTok, make sure you’ve done comprehensive research regarding your brand’s market, audience, and competitors. Also, don’t forget to repurpose your creative for Meta ads to make them more native to TikTok. The goal is to come up with a list of creative angles and hook ideas that can help your brand differentiate.

Testing your creative is a must

It’s a fine balance between iterative tests and big swing tests. To make a better decision on how to craft your creative roadmap, data analysis is key. Dissect your creative report into different segments and try to find trends. Audience tests are less likely to move the needle, but it may be different for your brand. Always document what you are testing and the result.

Things to keep in mind when building ads

Following instructions for TikTok landing page requirements is crucial. More importantly, similar to Meta ads, there are specific claims you need to avoid in the ads to prevent them from being rejected.

Always optimize your ads

TikTok creative fatigue very quickly. The solution is building a system to refresh content on a regular basis. And be patient with the time when your ads are learning and the performance looks bad. As long as the creative are backed by intensive research, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.

To stay ahead of the game, it's important to stay up-to-date on new programs and beta tests that TikTok is rolling out. Keep an open mind. TikTok can be a powerful tool for building your brand and reaching new audiences when you have the right mindset and approach.

If you want to learn more about setting up, testing, and optimizing TikTok ads for success, download the full guide below. In the guide, I include a step-by-step process for setting up your campaign, a checklist for effective creative, how to test and optimize your ads, and recommendations for working with creators for user-generated content

Get the full guide: Achieving business growth with TikTok