TikTok – When to Stop?

Have you ever found yourself scrolling mindlessly through social media? Well, you aren't alone. Often, we do this activity without giving much thought to it because it's usually not the only thing we're paying attention to or doing at the time. Let's face it, how often do you find yourself without your phone in your hand? We're all guilty of it.

Then, while scrolling, something catches your eye! What was it, though? Most likely it was an ad or sponsored post geared toward your interests. Social media ads are everywhere, and they're all a little different depending on what app you're using, so let's talk about TikTok's In-Feed Ads.

TikTok is a rapidly growing video-based social networking app. It was the most downloaded app for the first quarter of 2022. It shows short-form video-based content curated by its algorithm. As you're scrolling through your FYP, "For You Page," the In-Feed Ads are most common. In-Feed Ads "tell your brand story in a true-to-TikTok way with this sound-on, vertical video ad that can be further enhanced with interactive add-ons." The videos can be between :05-:60 seconds long, but TikTok's suggestion is to have "short videos of :09-:15s."

That doesn't sound much different than how ads can show up on places like Facebook or Instagram, right? True, except for one key factor: these ads are sound-on automatically. Meta platforms have ads that contain audio, but you won't hear that audio if your phone is on silent. You can always unmute it enabling content to be played aloud, but chances are, you're in a quiet or crowded place passing time or streaming a show and not looking for more sound.

Because TikTok is video-based, sound is a must to focus on the content. Sound keeps audiences more actively engaged and paying more attention than on other apps. It is easier to keep someone's attention while an ad gets served, giving advertisers an advantage but this is where the length of the ad can seem like a double-edged sword. Ads can be as short or long as allowed, but users are not required to watch a certain amount of the ad before scrolling to the next video. As quickly as you can move from video to video, you can skip an ad. From my experience, you have much less time to capture your audience's attention than other apps. If you don't get my attention within the first two or three seconds of the ad, then I'm not staying for the remainder of it.

The more you use the app, the more you notice how ads and content appear. After seeing the same ad enough times, you recognize it instantly. This kind of repetitiveness causes a viewer to immediately scroll past your advertising message. If the ad seems more like organic content, then you have a few more seconds to capture a viewer's attention. Success in capturing your audience varies across industries, but it's important to capture their attention early with fresh, energetic and relevant content.

If you'd like to learn more about advertising on TikTok or other social platforms, then reach out to us at hello@silverbackadvertising.com.