Trying TikTok Spark Ads: Our Experiment and Insights

As TikTok extends its user base, it is no surprise that this growth attracts significant numbers of advertisers. Through the continuous advertising features effort, in July 2021, the platform enabled TikTok Spark Ads property—which lets brands boost posts from their own page or directly from influencers’ pages.

What Are Spark Ads?

In TikTok’s own words, “Spark Ads is a native ad format that enables brands to leverage organic TikTok posts and its features in their advertising. This unique format lets brands publish ads:

Using brands’ own TikTok account’s posts.
Using organic posts made by other creators – with their authorization.”

This format stands out by integrating seamlessly into the TikTok feed, maintaining the platform’s native content feel, yet offering the extended reach and engagement of paid advertising.

The format is already well-known—you might know them as “boosted post” and “branded content,” but on other social platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Differences Between In-Feed Ads and Spark Ads

TikTok ads appear in-feed when users browse their “For You Page.” They might last up to 60 seconds (but 9 to 15-second clips tend to be the “ideal balance”). TikTokers may interact with these advertisements by liking, commenting, and sharing. These ads, on the other hand, can be bypassed.

Instead of starting from scratch, Spark Ads allow advertisers to promote their present TikTok videos. These TikTok ads, like In-Feed ones, look and feel like natural content. This is because they are shown in-feed without disrupting the scrolling experience.

But nonetheless, unlike In-Feed ads, Spark Ads can redirect to a TikTok account rather than simply a landing page. Viewers may go directly to the original poster because these advertisements are linked to a legitimate TikTok account.

Spark Ads Campaign Goals

With TikTok gaining a stronger competing positioning against Facebook, the extension of its advertising features, resembling the social giant, was a natural step in attracting more advertising budgets.

The Spark Ads feature is available on the following TikTok campaign objectives:

Reach (Reach as many users as possible without optimizing for installs or conversions)
Video Views (Get as many video views as possible without optimizing for installs or conversions)
Traffic (Get as many clicks as possible to your landing page without optimizing for installs or conversions)
Conversions (Optimize for desired events -only available for Web Conversions at the moment on TikTok)
App Installs (Optimize for App Installs)

Source

Moreover, supporting the launch of this new feature, TikTok mentioned that on Spark Ads (Auction), other brands had experienced the following lift:

Video view metrics: 58% increase on 2s VTR, 66% on 6s VTR, and 30% on Video Play Over Rate compared to non-Spark Ads
Engagement metrics (Beta): 170% increase in paid comments%, 100% in share%, and 222% in likes% compared to non-Spark Ads
Conversion metrics: 42% increase in immediate CVR compared to non-Spark Ads
Cost metrics: 35% decrease in 2s CPV, 39% decrease in 6s CPV compared to non-Spark Ads

The results of TikTok’s experiments looked incredibly promising. Like anything else in marketing, growth is driven by testing, so we have decided to give it a try while running campaigns for one of our partners and promoting their app on TikTok.

TikTok Spark Ads Examples

Spark Ads empower brands to foster genuine connections with our community through native content, combining TopView and In-Feed Ads’ reach with organic content engagement. TikTok users can leverage the same soundtrack or co-create via Duet or Stitch.

In addition to standard In-Feed Ads features, Spark Ads allow a call-to-action button to drive users to a landing page. The new Spark Ads interface ensures part of the landing page is visible, increasing the ad’s click-through rate. This integrated approach enhances ad performance and offers efficient buying options, seamlessly blending organic and paid strategies.

Below, you can see the Spark Ads example and how it differs from traditional TikTok ads.

Source: TikTok

Spark Ads TikTok: Our Experiment

To get a good grasp of how Spark Ads could benefit our partners’ growth strategy, we tried both Spark Ads options.

Video Choice: We chose the best-performing video (used in other performance-based campaigns on TikTok) and boosted it from both our partner’s brand profile and the influencer’s profile.

Objective: The campaign objective was set to “App Install”

Platform: iOS

Duration: 3 weeks

Side Note: Considering the limitations that the SKAN has had on conversion data on the ad level, we had to consider other metrics (KPIs) in assessing whether Spark Ads was a success or not for our partner. So, the metrics we analyzed were the ones below.

1. Enormous Lift in Followers and Likes

Compared with our historical data, over the 3-week period, Spark Ads brought almost 250% more followers and a 150% increase in likes. However, strangely enough, the ads didn’t result in an increase in post shares and comments.

2. High CPM (cost per mile) / CPC (cost per click)

Although we had a good lift on likes and followers, it appeared that the TikTok Spark Ads CPM and CPCs of the video from the influencer’s own profile skyrocketed. While our historical data for CPM stood at €0.80 and for CPC at €0.14—Spark Ad resulted on average at around €1.2 CPM and €2 CPC.

However, when looking at the video boosted from our own brand profile, both CPM and CPC remained within acceptable/decent figures.

3. Increase in Average Watch Time and Profile Visits

Another two exciting engagement KPIs we analyzed were: average video watch time and profile visits. Following the test, we noticed a significant lift in both metrics. In detail, we noticed that the average watch time improved by 20%, while paid profile visits improved by 45%.

Conclusion: Spark Ads Can Lead to New Opportunities

Spark Ads on TikTok emerge as a dynamic and effective tool for brands. Our experiment demonstrated significant potential in enhancing visibility and engagement. However, continuous testing and adaptation are key to unlocking the full potential of this format.

It is worth mentioning a couple of limitations to this experiment:

Due to Apple’s SKAN, we were limited to in-app events and individual cost per install for each ad format—cutting out the most critical metrics in a performance-driven environment.
The test was performed in a non-high season for our partner, which could have affected some metrics that didn’t necessarily see an increase.

It goes without saying that further extensive tests are needed to label the Spark Ads solution a success or a failure. At REPLUG, we believe that testing new channels and solutions is at the basis of creating new opportunities for our partners and, sometimes, identifying what someone would call a “blue ocean.”

Interested in testing TikTok ads to scale your audience and result on a performance-driven basis? Get in touch with us.

FAQ

Should I Use Spark Ads on TikTok?

Spark Ads are highly recommended for brands aiming to maximize the impact of their organic content. They are particularly effective for businesses still fine-tuning their advertising strategies on TikTok.

What Do Spark Ads Look Like?

Spark ads blend seamlessly with regular TikTok content. That is what makes them so great. When app ads appear in the feed, many social media users immediately scroll past them.

How Do I Set up Spark Ads?

To set up spark ads, navigate to TikTok’s ad dashboard, select ‘Create Ad,’ and choose ‘Custom Mode.’ You can then tailor your campaign goals, including Reach, Engagement, Video Views, Traffic, App Installs, and Conversions

Originally published on May 10, 2023. Updated on November 15, 2023.