TikTok: A Primer for Brands

Boasting more than 500 Million active users, TikTok is a mobile video-sharing app that stepped on the scene in 2018. Users can create and post short, looping videos set to music or sound bites – often with humor as the focal point. Like the other social platforms, TikTok features a personalized discover page, a home feed, user profiles and a built-in suite of video editing tools. Because TikTok posts have a max length of 60 seconds, the end result is typically a quirky, highly concentrated form of entertainment that’s equal parts confusing and captivating.

To understand TikTok, you have to look at it in the context of its forerunners, Musical.ly and Vine. Vine, the viral short-form video-sharing app launched in 2013, can be thought of as the originator of snack-sized viral video content. Vine put the wheels in motion for short videos to take off as a standard video format where creators could leverage the vertical orientation native to smartphones.

In 2014, Muscial.ly launched as a follow-up to the success of Vine, which Twitter acquired in 2016. Users could create short videos with the added layer of lip-syncing. This approach, coupled with low production requirements, made it easy for just anyone to create engaging content. Fast forward to 2017, when Chinese tech giant ByteDance saw an opportunity in Musical.ly’s content model. ByteDance acquired Muscial.ly in 2017 and in 2018 rolled out to the international market with the name TikTok. By October 2018, TikTok was the most downloaded app in the U.S. and reached a record 1.5 Billion downloads globally at the end of 2019.

TikTok trends move fast. Blink and you might miss them. The platform doesn’t have the visual aesthetic of a curated Instagram grid – nor is it the place for serious issues. TikTok has managed to create a distinctive social experience that values spontaneity, humor, and relatability above all else. It’s turned social media into pure social entertainment.

Here’s how users are getting the most out of the app:

Video Editing - TikTok has provided an entire generation of users with a crash course in video editing. The platform’s easy-to-use tools add a unique creative impact that doesn’t require the learning curve of an advanced video editing platform. Creators can choose from dozens of overlays, transition effects, filters, playback speeds, text options, and sounds. It gives just about anyone the ability to create an engaging video with just a few taps.

Playing with sound - The platform’s editing tools and advanced filters enable creativity by default, but a unique edge is an ability to add a sound from a massive library of both licensed music and user-created recordings. After a video is posted, any user can rip the audio, re-create the parody, and throw it back into the TikTok ecosystem until the joke is dead. Similar to the way hashtags work to discover content, users can search for a song or sound to see the original content and all other videos it appears in. Sound on the platform inspires music video spoofs, funny lip-dubs, dance routines, and more.

Hashtag challenges - Viral trends start in the hashtags on TikTok. Hashtag challenges encourage users to attempt and share their own unique takes on challenges posed by different creators or brands – like Guess’s #InMyDenim challenge or Jimmy Fallon’s #tumbleweedchallenge. Challenge have proven to be an engaging way for users to easily create appealing content, while brands can use it as an opportunity to build awareness with consumers.

React Videos - Users on TikTok have taken the concept of a reaction to a hilarious new level. With the ‘React’ feature, users can record their own reactions (with audio and video) to an existing TikTok video. The reaction video can appear side-by-side with the original.

Cringe-worthy content - Like a train wreck you can’t look away from, cringe videos feature awkward performances aimed at getting a laugh. It’s a format made famous on YouTube, and TikTok-ers are playing it on their own terms with injections of youth commentary and social satire.

TikTok Users - Gen Z runs the show. Younger audiences (ages 13-22) make up the majority share of TikTok users. As of September 2019, 42% of internet users in the U.S. aged 13-16 are on TikTok according to eMarketer. Among the ages 17-21, the percentage falls to 32%.

Older generations (Boomer, Gen X, Millennial) have used social as a mode of staying up-to-date with friends, exploring interests in groups, and communicating through messaging. Gen Z, on the other hand, is carving out its own value in social as an unbridled medium for entertainment, confessionals – and, well, dark humor. It’s part of the reason why brands have to think differently about their content approach on a platform that embraces weird, ephemeral, off-the-cuff entertainment.

TikTok For Brands – Now that TikTok has taken off in the U.S. and looks likely to continue growing – brands are itching to get their messages seen. Before jumping into the memetic platform, businesses need to ask whether or not they should be joining in the first place. For brands setting out to reach younger audiences with fun, challenging or unusual content, TikTok might be the place. But it’s worth it to note that image-based ads and Instagram style product endorsements won’t cut it on TikTok. Here are some ways brands are dipping into TikTok.

Advertising – TikTok’s advertising business is still in its infancy. The platform introduced a self-serve ad offering in beta last year, garnering enthusiasm from the brands who were first to test it out. The platform is still in beta testing and lacks some of the more robust targeting options and programmatic features that enable advertisers to automatically buy and measure ads.

For now, advertising on TikTok is only offered on a CPM basis (cost per thousand impressions). To get started, advertisers will need to create a TikTok ad account, after which a representative will grant access to the beta self-serve ad platform. Once in, the process for creating an ad is similar to other social platforms. Advertisers can define the campaign objective and select targeting rules based on age, gender, location, interests, etc. There is also an option to define the ad placement (TikTok, its affiliated apps – or both), as well as an option for automated placement (in beta).

Creative formats include: In-feed native video ads, Brand takeovers (a full-screen ad that appears when a user first opens the app), Hashtag challenges, Branded filters, Topview Ads (similar to brand takeovers but uses in-feed content), Influencer brand partnership.

Social Commerce - In November, TikTok began testing shoppable video posts, making it possible for creators to place social commerce links in their posts. Users can then complete a purchase without leaving the app. For now, the option is still in beta with no current word on when it will roll out more broadly.

Sponsored hashtag challenges - Despite TikTok’s lack of a solid ad offering, brands are still finding ways to make their products known by leveraging the community at large (and we all know the TikTok community loves a good challenge). Sponsored hashtag challenges give brands the ability to create a video effect and pose a prompt to the community, which users can then play into with their own spin.

Perhaps the most valuable facet of TikTok is its audience. They’re young, sure but they want a digital experience that’s authentic, homegrown and downright entertaining. It’s part of the reason why reactions and challenges have taken off at warp speed. Instead of standing by and watching social play out from a distance, TikTok users are diving in head-first to leave their mark in near real-time.

Prohibited ads across Search and Social platforms

Part of managing successful ad campaigns involves knowing what types of ad content is disallowed and what’s restricted across the social and search ad landscapes. Most prohibited content (counterfeit goods, illegal products, and services, etc.) and restricted content (political ads, alcohol, etc.) follow similar standards from one platform to the next but each company has its own set of rules.

Across all social and search ad platforms, the standard rules apply for prohibited ads: no promoting counterfeit goods, tobacco, illegal products or services. No promotions that include trademark or copyright infringement or fraudulent and deceptive practices. Restricted ad content – ads you can run, but with certain limitations – are a bit more varied from platform to platform. Some platforms make their rules easy to follow or refrain from getting too much into the minutiae of things, while others are very specific. The following list gives marketers a general idea of each platform prohibited and restricted ad guidelines, while also calling out the more unique policies from site to site.

Facebook and Instagram

Facebook’s prohibited ad content across its family of apps includes the standards: no ads promoting illegal products or services, tobacco products or firearms and weapons. It also prohibits ads for surveillance equipment or any ad content that includes third-party infringement (no ads that violate copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights).  

But there are a few topics worth noting. For example, the company does not allow ads that lead to a non-functioning landing page, “This includes landing page content that interferes with a person’s ability to navigate away from the page.” You cannot advertise for payday loans, paycheck advancement services or bail bonds. And here’s one that makes anyone wonder if there was a specific instance that inspired the rule: Facebook does not allow the sale of body parts.

For restricted content, advertisers wanting to promote online dating services must receive permission from the platform before running ads, same with political and issue-related ads and cryptocurrency products and services. Promotions around gambling, state lotteries, OTC drugs and online pharmacies also come with restrictions.

Google and YouTube

Google keeps its prohibited and restricted ads general, outlining a high-level overview of what’s prohibited and what’s restricted. Prohibited ad content includes: Counterfeit goods, Dangerous products or services, Ads that enable dishonest behavior, Inappropriate content.

Google also separates out ad practices it prohibits abusing the ad network, misrepresentation and data collection, and use.

The company’s list of restricted ad content is more comprehensive, but still stays within the usual parameters without any odd items – like human body parts. Google’s restricted content ad policies include: Adult content, Alcohol, Copyrights, Gambling, and games, Healthcare and medicines, Political content, Financial services, Trademarks, Legal requirements (all ads must comply with the laws and regulations pertaining to the location where the ad is displayed). Google keeps its ad policies at a high-level for the most part, a tactic that gives the company more control to decide on a case-by-case basis what’s allowed and what’s not.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a Microsoft-owned platform, but it's prohibited and restricted ad policies are separate from the rules outlined for Microsoft and Bing. In addition to the usual disallowed content, LinkedIn’s list of prohibited ads has some interesting entries. For example, the site does not allow ads for downloadable ringtones and occult pursuits (“Ads for fortune-telling, dream interpretations, and individual horoscopes are prohibited, except when the emphasis is on amusement rather than serious interpretation”).

Also, instead of having restrictive measures around political ads, LinkedIn prohibits any political ad content, the same as its parent company: no ads advocating for or against a political candidate or promoting ballot propositions. LinkedIn’s restricted ad content includes the following: Alcohol, Animal products, Dating services, Soliciting funds, Medical devices, Short-term loans, and financial services.

One side note about LinkedIn’s ad policies, the company specifically states that it prohibits ads that are offensive to good taste. “This means ads must not be, for example, hateful, vulgar, sexually suggestive or violent. In special circumstances, LinkedIn may determine that an ad that was acceptable is no longer appropriate as we update our policies to reflect new laws or clarify our position.”

Microsoft (Bing)

Microsoft’s disallows and restricted ad policies, which includes rules for Bing search ads can be confusing to follow. The company has published a one-page list of “Restricted and disallowed content policies,” but within that page are links to more detailed pages for “Disallowed content policies” and “Disallowed and restricted products and services policies”.

Microsoft disallows any election-related content, political parties, candidates and ballot measures. Ads promoting fundraising efforts for political candidates, parties, PACs and ballot measures are also prohibited. As with other platforms, Microsoft doesn’t allow weapons to be advertised on its platforms. This includes firearms and ammunition, but also knives: “Knives that are positioned as weapons or whose primary use is violence, including switchblade knives, disguised knives, buckle knives, lipstick case knives, air gauge knives, knuckle knives and writing pen knives.” In Brazil, India, and Vietnam, Microsoft does not allow advertising that promotes infant feeding products such as baby formula, feeding bottles, rubber nipples or baby food of any kind.

Pinterest

Pinterest’s prohibited ad content guidelines follow the standard themes. No ads for Drugs and paraphernalia, Endangered species and live animals, Illegal products and services, Counterfeit goods, Sensitive content, Tobacco, Unacceptable business practices, Weapons, and explosives.

Pinterest defines “Sensitive content” as anything it deems divisive or disturbing. For example, language or imagery that is offensive or profane, excessively violent or gory, vulgar or sickening or politically, culturally or racially divisive or insensitive. It also does not allow content that capitalizes on controversial or tragic events – or references to sensitive health and medical conditions.

Pinterest does not allow any “Adult and nudity content” in ads on its platform. Also, ads containing clickbait are disallowed. Like LinkedIn, it prohibits political campaign ads. The company keeps its list of restricted ad content simple with a detailed outline of what it will and won’t allow around its restricted content. For example, ads that include contests, sweepstakes, and Pinterest incentives are restricted. Advertisers are asked not to require users to save a specific image or suggest that Pinterest in any way sponsors or endorses the promotion. It does state specifically that advertisers are not allowed to promote anything that, “Directs people to click on Pinterest buttons to get money, prizes or deals.”

Pinterest’s other restricted ad content includes: Alcohol, Financial products and services (ads promoting cryptocurrencies and payday loans are prohibited), Gambling products and services (no ads for lotteries, gambling gaming apps or gambling websites), Healthcare products and services. In terms of its healthcare-related ads, Pinterest does allow ads promoting products like eyeglasses or content lenses, Class I and II medical devices and OTC, non-prescription medicines. It does not allow ads for weight loss or appetite suppressant pills and supplements or promotions that claim unrealistic cosmetic results.

Reddit

Reddit’s list of prohibited and restricted list of ads follows suit with the other social platforms. Disallowed ads include promotions for counterfeit goods, hazardous products or services, illegal or fraudulent products or services and more of the same standard policies. It states specifically that advertisers are prohibited from using inappropriate targeting: “All targeting must be relevant, appropriate, and in compliance with relevant legal obligations of the advertiser.”

Reddit does not allow advertisements for addiction treatment centers and services, it does not accept advertising pertaining to political issues, elections or candidates outside of the U.S. It has a very specific list of financial services and products that are disallowed, including bail bonds, payday loans, debt assistance programs, cryptocurrency wallets, credit and debit cards, and “get rich quick schemes.”

Any advertiser wanting to promote gambling-related services must have their ads manually approved and certified by Reddit: “In order to be approved, the advertiser must be actively working with a Reddit Sales Representative.” This does not include ads for gaming promotions where nothing of value is exchanged, gambling-related merchandise or hotel-casinos where the ad is focused on the hotel. And while Reddit does allow ads for dating sites, apps and services, it prohibits any centered-on infidelity, fetish communities or any that discriminate by excluding persons of specific races, sexuality, religions, or political affiliations.

Snapchat

Snapchat’s prohibited ads include the usual suspects, but there are also entries that appear to be designed because of its younger audience. For example, the platform states specifically that it does not allow ads that, “Encourage Snapping and driving or other dangerous behaviors.” Also, it disallows ads intended to “shock the user” and no ads for app installs from sources other than the official app store for the user’s device. Other prohibited ads include any promotions that involve: Infringing content, Deceptive content, Hateful or discriminatory content, Inappropriate content.

Snapchat’s restricted ads for alcohol include a list of 18 countries where alcohol ads cannot be placed. Alcohol ad campaigns that run in allowed countries must not appeal particularly to minors or encourage excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages. They must also refrain from glamorizing alcohol, “Or otherwise misrepresent the effects of consuming alcohol.” Snapchat requires alcohol advertisers to include warning labels such as “Please drink responsibly” within their ad copy.

Also, alcohol promotions must be targeted to users who meet the legal drinking age requirement within the country where the ads run. The same goes for gambling and lottery related ads – they must be targeted to users who meet the legal age requirement to gamble. Same as Reddit, Snapchat allows ads for dating services, but they must be targeted to users age 18 and over, and cannot include provocative, overtly sexual content or reference prostitution. Also, Snapchat does not allow ads that promote infidelity.

Many of Snapchat’s restrictive ad policies are by country. For example, it only permits targeting lottery-related ads to 14 countries, including Brazil, Iraq, Italy, Poland, and Russia – but not the U.S. Snapchat does not permit targeting ads for online dating services to Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Advertisers cannot target ads for OTC medicines in Columbia, Iraq, Lebanon, Romania, Spain, and Turkey. It also does not permit targeting ads for condoms in Bahrain, Ireland, Kuwait, Lebanon, Monaco, Oman, Poland, and Qatar.

Twitter

Twitter’s list of prohibited and restricted ads are arguably the easiest to follow. There are no out of the ordinary ads disallowed on the platform, and its restrictive policies are the same standard rules applied across the social ad landscape. The one area where Twitter distinguishes its policies from other platforms is by stating specifically that it prohibits ads promoting malware products and has restrictions around promotions for software downloads.

It’s worth noting that the ad content policies listed here for each of the platforms are as they stand now, but social platforms have a history of regularly changing their ad content policies. This has happened most notably during the past year and a half with political advertisements. Facebook has gone back and forth with its rules around cryptocurrency ads, totally banning the ads in January 2018 and then reversing its policies six months later. It wasn’t until last year Facebook began implementing ad targeting restrictions for weapon accessory ads to users 18 years and older.