TikTok have announced the launch of the Search Ads Toggle, a new feature on TikTok Ads Manager that allows brands to serve ads in TikTok search results. The Search Ads Toggle leverages advertisers’ existing In-Feed Ad creative to serve ads alongside organic search results from relevant user queries.
TikTok users are 1.5x more likely than other platform users to discover new brands and products on the platform and 52% of TikTok users leverage the platform to research to learn more about new products or brands.
As TikTok continues to grow its performance marketing product suite, TikTok’s first Search Ad placement gives advertisers a new ad placement where qualified, high-intent users are engaged in key search behaviors relevant to their business.
With brand safety top of mind, the Search Ads Toggle allows advertisers the option to add Negative Keywords to each ad group to avoid serving ads against queries that do not align with their brand.
TikTok internal research shows that 70% of ad groups with the Search Ads Toggle ‘on’ see a lower Cost per Action, as a result of more efficient conversions coming from the search ads placement.
When the Search Ad Toggle is engaged, ads are automatically created using the advertiser’s existing ad content and served against relevant user queries alongside organic search results. The ads are labeled as “Sponsored” content and appear in varying positions on the results page based on relevancy, user intent (as understood from their search query) and broader learnings from other user behavior.
The typical search journey starts with a user clicking the search button at the top of the For You feed. From there, they type in a search query, which then yields a series of search results. The ads appear among these search results. Once a user clicks on a search ad, the ad mirrors the in-feed TikTok experience, with users able to continue scrolling through the search results in the order they appear on the page.
Search, among many other functions on TikTok, empowers users to discover diverse content, communities, brands and products on TikTok. The Search Ads Toggle gives advertisers a new ad placement where qualified, high-intent users are searching for content relevant to their business, allowing advertisers to further connect with the TikTok community in authentic and engaging ways.
– – Ray (Jiayi) Cao, Global Head of Monetization Product Solution & Operation, TikTok
We were pleased to partner with TikTok on this search industry-evolution journey. It has provided us with new insights on how contextual relevancy provides brands with new opportunities and increased chances to convert to support traditional placements. As always, TikTok allows us to adapt to the ever changing consumer online behaviour, which ever since lockdown have been changing in the fastest pace we have experienced.
– Karolina Orgal, Social and Digital Media Manager, Clinique UK
TikTok has become a search engine for many of our customers looking to discover and learn more about our brand. With the success of our search ads campaign, we’ve discovered how to optimize our content and ad strategy around keywords most relevant to our target audience, and what information they are looking for us to deliver. Through TikTok, we’ve been able to elevate our search and social strategy to reach our audiences in an incredibly meaningful way.”
– Mindy Luong, VP of Digital, DIBS Beauty
