Short-form video sharing app TikTok has launched a new For Business initiative that aims to help brands use ad products and publish content on the platform with the view to engaging an ever-growing audience of teenagers and young adults.
The new ad portal, which was released on Friday, will draw attention to four key advertising options that brands can buy into and provide information and advice to marketers so that they find it easier to succeed on the platform.
While brands will have been able to use these ads in the past, TikTok has never formally outlined how or why brands should embrace the platform.
The new ‘Don’t Make Ads, Make TikToks’ banner and TikTok For Business initiative do just that by urging brands to come on board and tell stories and engage audiences via short-form video clips.
“With the launch of TikTok For Business, we set out to embrace the creative, positive, and real moments that make our community so special with solutions for businesses to connect and grow with our wonderfully expressive community,” TikTok executive Katie Puris said.
TikTok has become the trending platform of choice for Millennials and Gen-Z since the start of the pandemic and is expected to have a 10m-strong user base in the UK by 2021.
Brands will now be able to use a number of specific ad formats to reach those users, including In-Feed Videos, Brand Takeovers, TopView and Hashtag Challenges.
TopView ads, for example, is a more traditional format that plays when a user opens the app for the first time and runs for 60 seconds, while Hashtag Challenges is centred on user-generated content and an aggregated feed.
Previously, brands looking to use these formats to build a presence had to use external assistance and how-tos, but they will now be able to get more curated advice on how best to proceed from TikTok.
