How to start using TikTok Ads to supercharge your e-commerce business

Introduction

Hey everyone, I'm Neil Patel, and today I'm going to show you how to start using TikTok ads to supercharge your e-commerce business. These are the must-dos when you're first starting with TikTok ads:

Set the Right Daily Budget

First, make sure you're spending enough to see results. The daily budget is the maximum amount you will allow your campaign or ad group to spend per day and is a great tool for cost control while you're testing out TikTok ads. Start with at least $ 30 USD minimum daily for your budget or whatever your local currency equivalent is. This amount gives the algorithm enough to learn who your ideal audience is and get optimal results.

Run Spark Ads

TikTok focuses on short-form video, which can be different from other platforms that you're running ads on, but don't be intimidated. Spark ads are the best way to get started with ad creative. Spark ads are an ad format that allows you to transform existing TikTok videos into paid ads on the 'For You' feed. You can use existing TikToks on your own account or TikToks made by other creators with their approval. The beauty of spark ads is that they look like regular organic TikTok videos, which means they generally perform better. TikTok's internal research shows that the best-performing spark ads are videos that touch your business or product with the most views. This works better if your video is recent, but you can spark ad any TikTok video.

Setup Pixel

Next, let's talk about using signals in TikTok Ads Manager. Signals are customer interactions with your brand, anything from viewing your video to visiting your website to even purchasing your product. These interactions are especially valuable when they're matched to a TikTok user because it helps you attribute more conversions, reach more people, and deliver ads more effectively. Installing TikTok's pixel is key to unlocking more signals. The pixel is a tool added to your website to automatically share web visitor signals. With the pixel, you can find new customers, optimize campaigns, and effectively measure ad performance. Simply put, you'll be able to make more informed decisions on how to get more customers who are making purchases more frequently. To get signals ready, just follow these steps after you created a TikTok Ads Manager account:

Set up the TikTok pixel.
Set up at least three events to capture the full customer journey. I highly suggest 'View Content,' 'Add to Cart,' and 'Complete Payment.'
Toggle on automatic advanced matching.
Make sure first-party cookies are toggled on in Events Manager.

If you have access to a developer, I highly recommend connecting with them to set up manual advanced matching and Events API for optimal performance. If you're using one of TikTok's commerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce, you can easily set up your pixel events and advanced matching with just a couple of clicks.

Start with Mid Funnel Event Optimization

Now, let's talk about nurturing your audience with your first campaign. You want to make sure that you're finding users who are likely to convert. Start a campaign with the conversion objective if your goal is online sales. Once you've created your pixel and events, you can set an optimization event to let TikTok know the types of actions and audiences you want to target. Here's a best practice that might be surprising: optimize towards a mid-funnel event like 'Add to Cart' first. Your instinct might be to optimize for 'Complete Payment,' but if you're just starting out on TikTok ads, you need to teach the system what types of visitors are most likely to convert throughout the user journey. So set up your first conversion campaign at the 'Add to Cart' level to start.

If you get one add to cart event within the first week, set up an additional ad group and move down the funnel to 'Complete Payment.' If you're not seeing conversions at the 'Add to Cart' level after one week, nurture more audience members by creating a 'View Content' ad group to build conversion volume. Once you hit 100 view contents, you're ready to move on to 'Complete Payment.'

Pro tip: Leave ad groups always on when possible to drive continued audience building and account learnings. Start with broad targeting or auto-targeting, then use custom audiences to retarget warm audiences.

There you have it! By leveraging signals, nurturing your audience, and utilizing spark ads for creativity, you can harness the power of TikTok's advertising ecosystem to boost sales and strengthen your online presence. Now get out there and start optimizing your TikTok ad strategy today. And if you found this article helpful, don't forget to like and subscribe.

Keywords

TikTok Ads
E-commerce
Daily Budget
Spark Ads
Ad Creative
Pixel Setup
Event Optimization
Conversion Campaign
Audience Nurturing
Custom Audiences

FAQ

Q1: How much should I initially set as my daily budget for TikTok ads?

A: Start with at least $ 30 USD minimum daily for your budget or whatever your local currency equivalent is.

Q2: What are Spark Ads, and why are they beneficial?

A: Spark ads are an ad format that allows you to transform existing TikTok videos into paid ads on the 'For You' feed. They look like regular, organic TikTok videos, which generally perform better.

Q3: What is the importance of setting up TikTok pixel?

A: TikTok pixel helps you capture user interactions automatically, such as viewing, adding to cart, and completing a purchase. It helps you in optimizing campaigns and measuring ad performance effectively.

Q4: Why should I optimize towards a mid-funnel event like 'Add to Cart' first?

A: Optimizing for 'Add to Cart' helps in teaching the system the types of visitors that are most likely to convert. Starting here will build the conversion volume for more effective audience targeting later.

Q5: How do I set up pixel events if I am using a commerce platform like Shopify?

A: If you're using commerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce, you can easily set up your pixel events and advanced matching with just a couple of clicks.