Despite reports about some government entities restricting, or even banning the use of TikTok by employees on government devices, the fact remains that the social media app is still very much in use. Reports of the app’s usage statistics for Q4 2022 revealed there were one billion active monthly users worldwide and they are spending more than an hour and a half on the app daily. This activity makes the app a prime location for brands to get in front of new customers.

Now is the time for brands, particularly product-based companies, to consider their content investment on TikTok. TikTok’s new Top Products capabilities might even be able to help brands crack the code on becoming popular through their creative and strategic ads on the app. But first, let’s cover the basics – what is TikTok’s Creative Center and how can Top Products be found?

What is TikTok's Creative Center

TikTok’s Creative Center is a free resource that contains a library of the latest trends on the app including hashtags, users, audio and video. To use the Creative Center, simply search keywords to discover trends and gain inspiration for what content you should create next. Once you find an audio or video you like in the Creative Center, you can actually see how many other users have used it to gain a sense of the popularity. In addition to the expansive trending content library, you can also look at the analytics for top-performing ads to gain insight into what users are enjoying. But wait, there’s more! In February 2023, TikTok added a new element to the Creative Center specific to product marketing.

What are Trending Products

Now, in addition to looking for trending audio, video and hashtags, users can search for trending top products. The details go even deeper, revealing the key metrics, such as demographics, of each product. This invaluable information can help brands with their product ad positioning by taking into account what is working. No more reinventing the wheel. Let’s take a look at how to start your search.

Visit www.ads.tiktok.com. Set your search parameters to represent what is most like your product and ad including your customers’ location, your product industry and ad objective. Then, to filter the results of trending ads that are similar to yours, select what range of likes, video duration and a time frame you want to view. You can keep adjusting the search parameters to narrow or expand your focus. From here, let the creativity ideas flow as you gain insight for your product ads based on actual performance of existing ads.

To illustrate this, we searched for appliance product sales ads over the past 30 days in the U.S. with ads that are between 10-20 seconds and in the top 20% of likes. One of the top products that was revealed is the blendjet. We then clicked on the ad and it provided the option to see the analytics of the ad. Once there, we learned everything from likes, comments and shares to clicks and conversion rates.

Once you complete your competitive research using the Creative Center and have an idea about what is working for others, you still need to create your own ad. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Based on the information you analyzed for each ad, think about the users’ behaviors and how the ad met their needs. For example, was there a tutorial for how to use a new product? What will be the “so what” of your video ad to make sure you are speaking to what your audience needs and wants?

2. Have a call to action with your video ad. What is it you want people to do once the video ends? Make it clear and easy to access in the ad.

3. Your video will be short but it shouldn’t be too short. TikTok recommends that videos are at least 10 seconds so they have time to leave an impression on the user.

4. Create an ad group containing a few different videos for your product. Viewers want to see variety. If your ad is something they have already seen, they may move on. Not only will this provide variety, it also gives you an opportunity to test out different sounds, words, CTAs and see what performs the best.

5. Use text on the video in order to capture the attention of people who may be scrolling with the sound muted.

For more details on how to run ads on TikTok and use the ads manager, check out this article.

This gold mine of analytics provides social media some of the highest level of insight into trending content than ever before. Take advantage of the information and use it to create really great content that helps your product sales and entertains users. It’s possible that one day, your product ad will be the one showing up as a top product and inspiring others.

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