Testing TikTok Ads in Q4 2022
We recently had a super helpful thread in the Foxwell Founders Membership on testing TikTok ads (especially in the Q4 atmosphere) and how it differs from testing Meta ads. We couldn’t NOT share this goldmine of content, so needed to make it public on the interwebs.
Want this type of insight on a daily basis? Check out the membership and feel free to contact us if you have questions about whether it would be a good fit to you and your team! Membership benefits also include our dedicated Slack channel (where all the magic happens), monthly account audits, Foxwell Digital course discounts, ad buying and marketing software discounts GALORE, and so much more.
Ad Buyer Q: We’ve run some TikTok tests in the past — mixed bag of results, but I felt like we were selling ourselves short running our Meta media buying strategy verbatim on TikTok.
Does anyone have a recommendation for some resources (or even Twitter follows) where I could wisen up a bit? It seems like some vintage Meta strategies (pixel seasoning, creative audiences, some algorithm hacky stuff) are worth testing again?
The membership’s response with suggestions and recommendations:
Creative is the gateway to success and scale - structure (hook, body, CTA) is crucial with hook being the biggest lever
Optimize for value
Single ad/ad group testing/scaling starting at 3x AOV daily budget
Can turn things off after 1-3 days (depending on budget) if not working
Test trimming milliseconds off fatigued winners and relaunching them
Starting creatives in broad audiences and then once they fatigue, duplicating them into suggested or large stacked interests
You'll churn through a lot more creative on TikTok than you will on Facebook & Instagram. We're currently seeing a creative last for 3-14 days before needing to be trimmed/duplicated/turned off.
Don’t be afraid to duplicate good (or previously well-performing) ad creatives for extended lifespan
Being really aggressive with budget increases in the first 72 hours of a creative's life
Cost caps can work (especially with totally broad audiences) in some accounts, but not others. Worth testing!
Important to note not every brand will work on TikTok ads right now
Isolate creative testing, use hook + hold rates to analyze as well as CTR
Broader audiences as much as possible, generally prospecting only (no retargeting)
Cycle as much creative as possible
Focus on organic brand content on TikTok (for free testing) and then repurpose good organic posts as standalone ads AND/OR Spark ads from the brand account
AND maybe the MOST important aspect of starting TikTok ads for a brand:
Before thinking too much about messaging and strategy, figuring out who will produce what content and how it will stay on track is more important than scale or types of content.
HUGE thanks to our amazing Founders Members for their input on the content for this blog: Andrew Goble, Spencer Toft, Olly Hudson, & Matthew Gattozzi.