Written by Jack Butler, Senior Paid Social Manager
TikTok has become a hot topic for event professionals looking to engage with new audiences and boost their digital marketing.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the potential of TikTok advertising as a valuable platform for reaching event attendees and share some tips to make the most of it.
Demystify TikTok User’s
Before diving into the details, let’s address the most common misconception about TikTok – that it’s a platform exclusively for kids and teenagers.
In reality, TikTok’s user base has expanded significantly, making it a viable platform for businesses and event organisers looking to connect with a diverse audience.
According to recent statistics, TikTok has grown exponentially and is now a force to be reckoned with, boasting a staggering 9.4 billion in revenue, with 1.5 billion monthly active users, trailing just 500 million behind Instagram. (Business of Apps)
This level of growth makes TikTok an appealing paid advertising platform for event professionals.
Finding Your Audience on TikTok
One of the main concerns event professionals have is whether their target audience is on TikTok or not.
By utilising TikTok’s hashtag search and exploring popular hashtags related to your industry or event, you can gauge the audience size and interest.
For instance, if you’re organising a trade show or B2B event, you’ll find millions of users browsing relevant hashtags like #tradeshows or #B2Bevents.
Digging deeper, you may discover even more specific hashtags related to your target market. For instance, the hashtag #idealhomeshow, which is a specific trade show which has over 737k posts.
TikTok Advertising Features
TikTok offers various objectives for ad campaigns, including reach, traffic, video views, community interaction, web conversion, and lead generation.
These objectives cater to different marketing goals and help you tailor your ads accordingly.
Additionally, TikTok provides several targeting options to ensure your ads reach the right people.
Interest targeting allows you to focus on users with specific content preferences, while hashtag targeting lets you reach users following certain hashtags. Look-alike audiences, similar to other platforms, help expand your reach based on similarities to existing audiences.
Do you want to learn more about TikTok advertising for event professionals? Watch the full live session by Jack Butler, Senior Paid Social Manager.
Creativity is Key
When creating content for TikTok, remember the platform’s slogan: “Make TikToks, not ads.”
This means going beyond traditional advertisements and embracing the unique features of TikTok to engage viewers.
Vertical videos are essential, but it’s crucial to use native features and trends to make your content stand out.
Focus on solving your target audiences problem or showcasing what your event offers. The goal is to entertain and resonate with your target audience, not simply promote your event.
TikTok Advertising – Premium Add-Ons
To boost your campaign’s performance, consider using TikTok’s premium add-ons. These free features can significantly enhance your ads’ effectiveness.
While TikTok encourages you to make TikToks not ads, it doesn’t mean you have to hide that the video is an advert.
Countdown stickers create a sense of urgency by counting down to the event, while display cards grab attention by appearing after a few seconds.
This allows you to add a timer to your video ad to catch your audience’s attention and create a feeling of urgency.
When the viewers click on the Countdown Sticker, they will be redirected to the landing page you provided. You can adjust the size and position of your Sticker on TikTok Ads Manager.
Offer codes are an interactive add-on that allow you to provide exclusive discounts or incentives to TikTok users, helping to drive conversions.
Offer codes work in a similar way to meta offer code stickers, adding it to the users clipboard. This is a strong application for events that use free ticket codes. This also has the additional benefit of robust last click revenue tracking.
This would be a beneficial optimisation to push registrations if the objective was paid ticket sales and an early bird promotion was running.
Finally, display cards are a graphic that pops up after 3 seconds, you can add more messaging on top of your usual in platform CTA.
Case Study – UK Construction Week 2023
Our case study involving UK Construction Week demonstrates TikTok’s potential for event professionals.
By using a web traffic objective, the campaign generated 347% more than the target, resulting in 689k impressions and 2.8k clicks. Most impressively, the campaign saw nine visitor registrations, proving TikTok can drive tangible results for event professionals.
It may not seem like a lot of visitor registrations, however, this was not the objective for this campaign. It was a bonus generating a small number of leads through a web traffic campaign.
Read the full case study here, sharing our full approach on paid social channels and detailed results.
How can you get started with TikTok advertising today?
TikTok has evolved from a platform primarily for kids to a powerful marketing tool for businesses and event professionals.
With its massive user base, diverse audience, and creative opportunities, TikTok offers a unique chance to reach potential attendees in engaging ways.
By leveraging TikTok’s advertising features and embracing its creative potential, event organisers can demystify the platform and harness its power for their marketing success.