Running TikTok Ads is an art, you’re either getting above average ROI (Return on investments) or you’re burning money, there is no middle ground.
TikTok was the first platform to give short videos a boost, which created a way for marketing managers to target the audience differently. TikTok has 1 billion daily active users, surfing TikTok videos or some of them are even making it on daily basis.
60% of the total daily active users have the ages of 16 to 24. Means, to sell any product that caters to young adults, TikTok is a gold mine for it.
Now the question arises why not go organic than spend money on the Ads, Right? well, the reality is a bit different, to go organic you either have to become an influencer or have a company account on the platform to do that. But, when you do it for the company it becomes different, you want quick results without having to wait for organic reach to give you your first order.
Top TikTok Ads Tips 2025
For that reason, TikTok ads are essential. To address the elephant in the room, we at Digital Phablet gathered some of the top experts and asked for their advice on how to run a successful campaign.
1. Use Raw Content
one key thing is being authentic. People come to TikTok for raw content – they don’t want a pristine and polished ad like you might see in other media outlets. Leverage the creator marketplace and brand deals to get the most out of user-generated ad content.
Gabrielle Fultz – Risk Insights Manager (Ads) at TikTok
2. Make it easy for your audience
Make it as easy as possible for customers to buy from you before running ads. A simple buyer journey combined with outcome-focused creatives is a recipe for success.
Conor Joss – Founder at Conor Joss Marketing
3. Always add pros to your ads
Make sure to have 2-3 benefits in your ads. Not more and not less because it’ll be overwhelming if too many, and not sell if none are mentioned.
Sven Muchow – Founder at Muchow Marketing
4. Integrate UGC (User Generated Content)
Leverage UGC (user-generated content) as much as possible. UGC is king right now, especially eCommerce brands. UGC builds trust and humanized your company – while making for a fun and entertaining viewing experience.
Keep it short. Try to keep ads under 20 seconds long. We’ve seen a trend among our clients lately: the ads that perform the best are typically between 7 and 11 seconds long.
Rachel Greeno – CEO & Senior Strategist at Lamplighter Marketing
5. Review Ad Policies before starting an Ad on TikTok
At TikTok, we take user experience very seriously and strive to ensure distasteful ads are removed through our thorough moderation process.
We recommend advertisers read our ad policies & use the ad review checklist on our page to make sure ads meet our standards and reduce the risk of disapproval.
If disapproved, advertisers can always appeal and we will support them in getting their ads published after necessary changes are made.
Ravi B – Program & Policy Management (Ads) at TikTok
6. Target a broader audience
If you want to set your campaign up for success, let the algorithm do the work for you in terms of reaching the best-suited audience. I have found that targeting a broader audience versus a granular, specific audience works best. We have found that TikTok Advertising works best for top-of-funnel & awareness campaigns.
TikTok is all about trends. Research and follow relevant TikTok accounts for Inspo. Find out which sounds, songs, or dances are trending. Then find creative ways to incorporate this into your content.
Lastly – Be positive, authentic and inspiring.
David Vargas – VP of Social Media at chickpea
7. Try testing just 1 ad per ad group
Typical “best practice” is to test 3-5 ads per ad group. Instead, try testing just 1 ad per ad group. That stops TikTok from over-optimizing on one creative – you may find that there are a couple of creatives that perform. You will move faster and get more learnings more quickly.
Tim Keen – Co-Founder / CEO at Loop Club
8. Include a hook in your campaigns
I would say the key to a great campaign is the hook. You have a couple seconds at the beginning of your ad to hook the viewer. You need to grab their attention. Without this it doesn’t matter how amazing your product or offering is.
Devin Karpes – CEO at chickpea
