TikTok is one of the most forward-thinking and innovative social media platforms available. However, it has been missing one key element that has long been available on other platforms. This is the ability to target ads at followers. Now, it’s all about to change with TikTok’s new Paid Ads Custom Audience feature, which is called the ‘Business account audience’. In this article, we break down how to retarget your TikTok followers, what this new feature is, and how it works.
What Is Retargeting?
In broad terms, retargeting is a marketing technique that allows you to show ads to people who have already shown an interest in your product or service. If you own an e-commerce store, it might include anyone who’s already visited your website or taken a specific action. An example would be someone abandoning their shopping cart. If you’re a B2B company, it might be anyone that has subscribed to your email list.
So how does retargeting work on TikTok? When you retarget your TikTok followers, you are showing ads to people that already follow your business account or have taken specific actions. This could be viewing or commenting on your videos. These TikTok users are already aware of your brand and may have shown prior interest in your products or services.
Why All The Fuss About Business Account Audiences?
Imagine you’re a salesperson and you pick up the phone to cold call a lead. The likelihood of making a sale is generally pretty low, right? Now imagine you’re calling someone that already knows your name, knows what you sell, and has already expressed interest in what you’re offering. The likelihood of making a sale goes up astronomically.
“When you retarget your most engaged TikTok audience, you’re increasing the chances that they’ll take the desired action. That could be making a purchase, visiting your business website, or downloading your app. The statistics back up this claim. One study showed that retargeted ads are 70% more likely to result in a conversion than regular display ads.”
The same is true for retargeting your TikTok followers. These are people that have already shown an interest in your brand, and it stands to reason that they’re much more likely to convert into paying customers. When you retarget your most engaged TikTok audience, you’re increasing the chances that they’ll take the desired action. That could be making a purchase, visiting your business website, or downloading your app. The stats back up this claim.
This is such a significant figure that 68% of marketing departments now have a dedicated budget for retargeting. Marketers have taken the time to build up their business accounts and amass a following of engaged TikTok users, and retargeting is the best way to monetise that investment.
TikTok — Better Late Than Never
It’s taken TikTok a while to catch up to the competition when it comes to retargeting. But better late than never. Facebook has had this capability for over a decade, and it’s been a game-changer for the social media giant. In fact, Facebook’s retargeting capabilities are one of the primary reasons that the platform is so successful.
TikTok’s new Custom Audience feature, the Business Account Audience brings the same level of targeting to the app. As such, marketers are understandably excited about the possibilities. Up until now, brands have only been able to achieve some level of retargeting by using TikTok’s pixel feature. Pixel tracking allows you to add simple code on your website that collects data about the people that visit. This data is then used to retarget your TikTok followers or people that have visited your page. However, it requires some effort to set up. As an alternative, marketers could set up lookalike audiences, which target people that have similar interests to your existing customers.
“Marketers are rejoicing for a reason — retargeted ads are powerful. Most consumers won’t purchase a product or service the first time they hear about it. Even as far back as the 1930s, marketers observed that it took an average of seven touch points before a consumer would make a purchase. In today’s age of information overload, that number has only increased.”
While these methods are effective, they are not nearly as targeted as retargeting your actual TikTok followers. This long-awaited Custom Audience feature streamlines the process and makes it much easier for brands to retarget their TikTok followers. From within the app, businesses can now create an audience of people that have already interacted with your brand. This means you can do far more than just retarget your TikTok followers. There are actually six categories of users who can fall into the retargeting bracket:
- Users that follow your business account
- Users that have played a video on your business account for at least 2 seconds
- Users that played any video on your business account for at least 6 seconds
- Users that played one of your business account videos and viewed it in full
- Users that liked, commented, or shared one of your videos
- Users that visited your business account profile
Retarget Your TikTok Followers For A Campaign Boost
Marketers are rejoicing for a reason — retargeted ads are powerful. Most consumers won’t purchase a product or service the first time they hear about it. Even as far back as the 1930s, marketers observed that it took an average of seven touch points before a consumer would make a purchase. In today’s age of information overload, that number has only increased. Some marketers reckon the true number of impressions required to make a sale is now closer to 20.
Here are some benefits of retargeting your TikTok followers:
- Increased reach. By targeting your ads at people that have already engaged with your brand, you’re more likely to get your message in front of people that are interested in what you have to say. This increased reach can lead to more conversions and a better ROI for your campaigns.
- Improved brand awareness. Brand awareness is perhaps one of the biggest benefits of retargeting. Even if a consumer isn’t ready to purchase your product or service, they’re more likely to remember your brand after seeing your ads a few times. This increased brand awareness can eventually lead to more sales down the line.
- Better ROI. Retargeting is one of the most effective ways to improve your ROI. Marketing is inherently wasteful. You have to reach a lot of people to find the ones that are interested in what you’re selling. Retargeting allows you to focus your efforts on the people that are already interested in your product. This laser-like focus can lead to a significantly higher ROI for your campaigns.
How To Retarget Your TikTok Followers
First things first. Your brand account needs at least 1,000 followers for you to set up this type of custom audience. Hopefully, this isn’t an issue if you’re reading this post.
Step 1. From your Ads Manager, select <Assets> and choose <Audiences> from the drop-down menu.
Step 2. Click <Create Audience> and select <Custom Audience>.
Step 3. Select <Business Account>.
Step 4. This is where you need to link your TikTok business account with your TikTok Ads Manager User account. You will need to log in to the business account either using your credentials or the QR code method. Once you have authorised this link, you can move on to step 5.
Step 5. Once these accounts are linked, you can create a business account audience based on certain rules and events. You might want to only target followers or maybe you also want to include non-followers that viewed your videos. Once your custom retargeting audience is set up, you can save it and use it for your next ad campaign.
It’s really that simple! This new feature will be a game-changer for brands and businesses that are looking to increase their reach and ROI on TikTok. If you’re not already using TikTok for marketing, now is the time to start!
House of Marketers (HOM) is a leading TikTok Marketing Agency. Our global agency was built by early TikTok Employees & TikTok Partners, which gives us the insider knowledge to help leading brands, like Redbull, Playtika, Badoo, and HelloFresh win on TikTok. Want us to convert more of Gen Z and Millennials with TikTok? Get in touch with our friendly team, here.