TikTok Formats: Your Guide To Advertising on TikTok

Do you need to boost product sales, increase website traffic, or connect with more of your target market? TikTok advertising offers innovative and results-driven marketing solutions. Learn the basic how-tos of advertising on the platform, various TikTok formats, and more with this complete guide! 

Why Should You Advertise on TikTok?

TikTok continues to capture the attention of social media users worldwide — both young and old. 

According to Business of Apps, TikTok is projected to surpass 1.8 billion users by the end of 2024. The platform’s consistent upward trajectory represents significant growth opportunities for businesses and marketers.

It has yet to overtake Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube in popularity, but it remains a powerful cultural influence. And TikTok’s powerful algorithm is still the best out there, fueling the app’s addictive For You feed. Here are more reasons marketers should leverage TikTok for business growth:

• TikTok users spend an average of 95 minutes per day on the app. 
• TikTok had a 67% year-on-year revenue increase, amounting to $16.1B in 2023.
• The app has surpassed four billion in total number of downloads so far. 
• A 2022 Statista report revealed that TikTok was the “fastest growing media brand worldwide, with a brand value growth rate of 215%.”
• For three straight years (2021-2023), TikTok had the highest engagement rate per post. 
• The majority of TikTok users are Gen Z. This demographic also makes up 40% of the global consumer population and has a projected disposable income of over $360B. 
• A Social Media Week study revealed that viewers retained 95% of information via video content, which is TikTok’s primary product. 

How To Advertise on TikTok: Types of TikTok Ads

What do you need to advertise on TikTok? What advertising options are available on the platform? Here’s a basic guide to help you navigate TikTok’s advertising products and solutions. 

You may need to meet certain eligibility requirements to use a specific ad solution on TikTok. For example, TikTok Promote is available to both Creator and Business accounts with or without a TikTok Ads Manager account. Creating an ad campaign for in-feed ads, on the other hand, requires TikTok for Business and TikTok Ads Manager accounts. 

Let’s look at the different types of TikTok ad formats and how to use each one. 

In-Feed Ads

As the name implies, In-feed ads are ads that seamlessly appear on people’s native For You feeds/For You page (FYF/FYP). They’re sound-on, vertical videos that viewers can like, comment on, and share. TikTok offers the following types of in-feed ads: 

1. TopView Ads: TopView is TikTok’s premium video ad format. It showcases your ad at the top of user’s feeds as soon as they open the app. The upfront placement means immediate and more impactful brand exposure.
2. Top Feed: This is a feed-type option for Reach & Frequency ad campaigns. When a user launches the app, a Top Feed ad occupies the first in-feed ad slot after the initial organic videos.
3. Standard Feed: These video shopping ads occupy any in-feed slot and seamlessly appear alongside organic posts on users’ feeds.
4. Branded Mission: This ad format is for brand-and-creator campaign collaborations featuring sponsored, creator-led content. Branded Mission allows brands to harness the authenticity of content creators to inspire more meaningful audience engagement. This campaign type includes unique features, such as Branded Hashtag, Branded Effect, Branded Mission Page, and more.
5. Spark Ads: This is a native ad format that leverages organic posts and features as creatives for your ads. You can boost your posts or another user’s posts (user-generated content or UGC) to promote your brand, product, or service.
6. TikTok Pulse: This ad format places your ad next to top-performing content that drives culture on the platform. TikTok identifies a lineup of popular videos to boost your ad based on a “proprietary scoring system,” or the Pulse Score. The app looks at key signals, including view views and recent growth, creator engagement, etc., to calculate the popularity score. 

In-Feed Interactive Ads

In-feed Interactive ads allow advertisers to enhance their video ads with various interactive elements to drive higher engagement. There are two types of ads:

1. Playable Ads: With Playable Ads, viewers can interact with your ad in a full-screen playable experience. This format is ideal for advertising apps, such as games and online videos. Viewers can tap on, swipe, or download your ad to explore more of your product’s features.
2. Carousel Ads: Use this ad format if you want to use images as your creatives instead of a video format. You can include between two and 35 images in your Carousel. Viewers can view more details about your ad by swiping through your images at their own pace. 

Non-Feed Placement

You can extend your advertising beyond news feeds and to other prominent places on TikTok. Your additional Non-feed placement options are as follows:

• Search Ads Toggle: Place your in-feed video campaigns on TikTok’s search results page to reach users searching for terms related to your ad. This format allows users to find products/services they’re looking for more quickly and allows businesses to connect with more potential customers. It gives you an additional ad placement within the TikTok Search Engine Results Page (SERP) alongside relevant organic search results. 
• Search Ads Campaign: This ad format lets you create a campaign exclusive to the TikTok Search Results Page (SRP). Your Search Ads Campaign has its own budget, target keywords, and creative assets. You can also reach potential new customers via search keywords related to your product or service. 
• Messaging Ads: This format lets you add a Send message button to your in-feed ad. With Direct Messaging Ads, you can direct prospective customers to TikTok’s direct messaging feature to start chatting with them. With Instant Messaging Ads, you can redirect inquiries to a third-party messaging app, such as Facebook Messenger. Take note that this product is still in testing and is only available in certain regions.
• Global App Bundle. Get access to additional audiences beyond TikTok and place your ads on ByteDance’s new app products, such as CapCut and Fizzo. 
• Pangle: Pangle is the exclusive ad network for TikTok for Business, covering more than 100,000 global apps. 

Which of the Following Is a TikTok Ad Format? 

If it’s your first time exploring TikTok ads, the options may seem overwhelming. One important thing to remember is that your ad placement, i.e., where your ad shows up, most determines your ad format. 

Here’s a quick guide to TikTok’s various ad formats:

• In-feed ads appear on users’ feeds. You can choose from TopView, Top Feed, Standard Feed, Branded Mission, Spark Ads, and TikTok Pulse. 
• In-feed Interactive ads also appear on users’ feeds and allow you to add interactive elements to your ads. The two types are Playable Ads and Carousel Ads. 
• Non-feed placement lets you place your ads beyond users’ feeds. Your ad can also appear in search results, redirect to a user’s inbox, or show up on other ByteDance apps. 

Leverage TikTok Ads for Targeted Connections That Drive Results

With its prized algorithm, addictive For You feed, and high engagement rates, TikTok is primed for advertising. TikTok offers a complete suite of advertising solutions that cover every budget type, campaign goal, and target market. 

Learn about the different TikTok formats for ads and get a better understanding of how each ad placement works. You’ll find a format that best suits your goals and will help you make targeted connections that deliver results! 

If you also need expert help reaching and converting more TikTok users into lifelong fans, sign up for a High Social plan. 

Fine-tune your audience-target precision with High Social’s advanced, proprietary AI technology. Get more buying followers on board and experience accelerated business growth. 

Start growing your TikTok today!

Advertising on TikTok: Frequently Asked Questions

Are TikTok ads a worthwhile investment? The following frequently asked questions sum up everything you need to know about advertising on the platform. 

TikTok 101