One of the benefits for international tech companies in building advertising businesses is the ability to compete for spending from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). This expense has traditionally been largely unaffordable for broadcasters and news publishers.
These brands' advertising budgets are small and must be spent wisely, and technology companies have traditionally been the safest option. For example, Google allows businesses to specifically target relevant keywords to reach buyers within their market. Meanwhile, the Metabank of user-provided first-party data covering age, location, and interests allows for fairly reliable and accurate audience targeting.
However, although the advertising budget of individual companies is small, it can be said to be a huge opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses as a whole. And as TikTok has rapidly expanded its ad business over the past few years, the short-form video platform has also gained a lot of attention from SMBs.
“Small businesses are truly the backbone of the global economy,” said Lisa Friedrich, who leads TikTok's SMB team in EMEA. “As they grow more and more on TikTok, they can ultimately advertise on our platform to amplify their message, target the audiences they want to reach, and connect with new and existing customers through our community. We think that's a very powerful opportunity.”
But what are the unique hooks of TikTok for SMBs?
First, it shares elements of the benefits of both Meta and Google. Similar to Meta, it has access to user-provided login data and can layer interest-based data through user behavior. And, as has been widely reported, the audience is increasingly younger. Use TikTok for search.
Another unique advantage of TikTok is its creative side. SMB campaigns run through Google or Meta tend to be limited to views (and obviously searches on Google). This is because it's difficult for small businesses to put together high-quality video creative that performs well on these platforms.
But as anyone who has used the platform knows, TikTok's aesthetic is primarily based on authenticity and spontaneity. Videos usually give the impression that the creator just picked up a camera and started filming. Clips are often recorded with users' front-facing cameras and edited with TikTok's in-app tools. And this aesthetic also works well in advertising, as it's easy to recreate without the need for a large production team.
In fact, many SMBs start on TikTok by creating videos for their own channels in search of organic reach. Additionally, when you move to paid advertising, you can use the same style of content you're already creating for your paid campaigns.
“Honestly, if you've used TikTok as a company or as a creator, you're obviously more familiar with the short mobile video format,” Friedrich said. “That means the way you advertise is closely tied to your experience, making it very easy to take steps to amplify your message. We love being authentic and we love creating meaningful content through content. They want to connect. So in terms of creative and content, it's a natural progression from what we're doing on our organic profiles.”
Especially for small businesses, simply being honest about your products and work can be an effective tactic.
“I was a small business entrepreneur in a past life and I know how difficult it is and the blood, sweat and tears it takes to become a small business owner,” Friedrich said. . “And some of our greatest stories are from entrepreneurs who tell us about the effort they put into their products and the challenges they face, and then the community rallies around them. I think that's an advantage: They have the flexibility to talk about real-world experiences.”
TikTok 101
When it comes to growing an SMB business, a lot of TikTok's efforts have been based on making the transition from organic content to paid advertising as smooth as possible. Friedrich said TikTok already has a large community of small business owners on the platform. The hashtag “Small Businesses'' has been viewed over 90 billion times. The mission of his Dublin-based SMB team at TikTok is to help these small businesses succeed.
Part of the solution is to give all clients access to TikTok's advertising tools, regardless of their paid advertising experience.
As mentioned earlier, many SMBs are already familiar with how TikTok is created, and the creative tools available to advertisers are very similar to those available to regular users. However, there are certain tools for businesses designed to simplify the process. For example, business accounts have access to a library of licensed commercial music, so brands don't have to worry about copyright infringement.
And when it comes to campaign setup, Friedrich once again says the workflow is designed to be easy, even for inexperienced marketers. “We intentionally made it very easy to get your first campaign up and running,” she said.
Once SMBs are up and running, there will be a focus on education to help them better understand more advanced capabilities around targeting and measurement.
In terms of targeting, age and demographics are two of the most common parameters for small businesses, along with device, location, and behavioral targeting. But one of the SMB team's jobs is to help her SMB understand which targeting parameters best suit their objectives.
“We have a sales team that partners with small businesses to help them provide more sophisticated and deeper information based on their objectives, such as conversion optimization and brand awareness.” Friedrich says Mr.
All of TikTok's advertising tools are self-service, so the workflow is designed to guide businesses to the most appropriate advertising products. However, this product list is constantly growing. There are also shoppable ads, hashtag-based targeting, and a creator marketplace, all of which are suitable for certain small businesses. The challenge for Friedrich and his team is therefore to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses have all these options to choose from.
“We are constantly talking about what small businesses need to create to effectively grow their businesses and connect within their communities in meaningful ways,” she said. “So it's important for us to always listen to our clients. We constantly receive feedback from advertisers and businesses, asking how we can make their lives easier. We don't have enough educational materials. Does it make sense? Do we have the right goals? So when we create something new, we always keep their feedback in mind.”
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