Communicate paid a visit to the TikTok Hive and attended SMB Day.
The region’s small and medium businesses (SMB) have been heavily impacted by the effects of the pandemic, which is why video platform Tik Tok hosted an SMB Day to show these businesses how to utilize the platform to help build and grow their brand. The virtual event was full of rich content, guides, workshops, and demos that detailed the SMB customer journey on TikTok.
Once you enter the hive, you’re free to roam about as you would during an on-ground event. The TikTok team made sure to create an experience that would make everyone reminisce the good old days of in-person events.
Rana Barakat, SMB Lead for TikTok MENAT opened the event with her keynote session on how TikTok can empower SMB’s in the region.
- Whether in big or small organizations, marketeers can control only three things that can influence consumers: community, content, and commerce.
- The audience on TikTok grew up with digital and mobile and this upbringing shaped their behaviors and preferences.
- Throughout history, there’s only been four big changes in the way content is delivered to the audience.
- 77% of the audience now prefer personalized content.
- Community membership has been increasing in recent years and was accentuated by the pandemic.
- Communities are now built around content and topics that are friendly and positive.
- Commerce has been heavily influenced by the pandemic. The lockdown has created a spike in online shopping and consumers have moved further from cash transactions towards digital transactions.
- The next-gen audience is looking for entertaining, inviting, and non-intrusive commerce.
The session closed with TikTok’s plans to empower SMBs in the region and become their trusted advertising partner by launching the “Back to Business” program. With $100 Million in ad credit, TikTok aims to support businesses in the region and help them get back on their feet.
Once the session came to an end, Communicate ventured around the hive and found itself in the first breakout room that showcased an introduction on how to start advertising on TikTok. Here are the key takeaways we learned from Waseem Sayegh, Head of Product Strategy and Operations at TikTok MENAT.
- In-feed ads created on Ad Manager will appear as TikTok ads on TikTok in the For You feed.
- Setting up an ad account on TikTok is an easy three-step process.
- The unique strength of advertising on TikTok is the platform’s creative tools that help make the content engaging.
The second breakout room, hosted by Amany Saghir, Partnership Manager at TikTok MENAT, provided listeners with insights on how to build a strong brand on the platform.
Saghir shared nine steps for brands to create creative TikToks that will blend seamlessly in the feed of the platform:
- Sound on for TikTok videos is a key ingredient for its success. 100% of the ads on the platform have sound on.
- It’s imperative to get the key message out as early as possible. 63% of videos with the highest click-through rate highlight the product or key message within the first three seconds.
- Utilize and collaborate with the platforms’ creators for your video. 53% of videos with the highest view-through rates feature TikTok creators.
- Make good use of the platform’s strengths, i.e. the filters and effects, and capitalize on the trends. 21% of videos with the highest view-through rates leverage popular trends/effects/music.
- Create a lasting impression by making authentic content that appeals to the viewer’s emotion.
- Shoot native for the platform. This means adhering to four key points
– Shoot fully vertical.
– Keep the content real and raw. Don’t overpolish it.
– Create anticipation and keep the users’ guessing.
– Challenge the status quo and switch things up once in a while. - Break the fourth wall and talk directly into the camera. 33% of videos with the highest view-through rates address viewers directly.
- 40% of videos with the highest click-through rate edit the TikTok way.
- Drive urgency with a strong call to action. Keep the content brief, direct, and personal. 50% of videos with the highest click-through rates contain a compelling hook.
Akram Shoujaa, SMB Account Manager for Tik Tok MENAT, shared insights on how the Performance Auction functions on TikTok.
- In-feed Ads is the format for adverts on the TikTok platform.
- The platforms’ Ad Manager enables marketeers to reach the audience through 11 different targeting methods based on demographics, device, interest, and custom audience.
- The platform only charges for an ad when a user performs an action on the video ad. There are three conversion objectives: traffic, app installs, and conversions.
- The traffic objective on the platform is designed to help marketeers drive people to a specific destination such as a website or an app store page.
- The app install objective is designed to drive more people to install the advertiser’s app.
- The conversion objective is designed to drive valuable actions to the marketeer’s website.
- When it comes to bidding and optimization, apart from standard bidding methods, the oCPC (Optimized cost per click) helps serve ads to users who are most likely to perform the intended action.
- oCPC utilizes machine learning to scale optimization by extracting high-value audiences and targets similar users to drive actions and conversions.
