Few social media platforms are as built to promote the average user to influencer status as TikTok. It is an ideal mix of communal interaction and competition among creative viral videos for promotion campaigns.
There are several ways users can creatively make their content go viral. The most direct method is TikTok Promote.
Launched in 2021, the Promote tool embeds user videos in advertisements displayed in other users’ “For You” feed.
This feature is the leading method for growing users’ following for the chance at content monetization. If you have a business account, it can be a much more affordable and direct form of marketing than traditional advertising.
Promote your user page by going to “Creator tools” in your profile settings, then tapping “Promote.” Business accounts can benefit from this button under the “Business suite” tab in their settings.
After activating this tool, please select a video from a list of your public posts, then customize how it is marketed by setting your goals, target demographic, and budget.
You can also promote one of your videos by selecting the option from the post’s options menu.
TikTok Promote is an easy and affordable investment for users looking to grow their brands. Still, it is an investment, with results not being guaranteed.
Is it Worth Paying For Promotion on TikTok
If used wisely, TikTok Promotion is worth it. As is always the case with marketing, success in expanding your brand through video promotions is not guaranteed.
Keep track of the campaign’s details to see if your investment is paying off.
The feature utilizes complex algorithms and human marketing judgments to display promoted posts to the best of your interests. Promotions will not be shared throughout the platform but with users most likely to respond to it.
When setting up a Promotion, you can set demographic formulations to be determined by TikTok itself (“Automatic”).
If you choose the “Custom” option, you can set which users you want to reach by gender, age range, and frequented topics.
The truth is that your best chance at success with TikTok Promotion lies in your judgment.
If you are trying to approach TikTok as a business, you need to have an instinct for marketing.
Think hard about the content, time, money, and demographics you want to put into a Promotion campaign.
If the visits, responses, and other feedback forms are not as positive as you would like, you also need to have good judgment in responding to that.
Is your best content resonating with the audience you are trying to reach? If not, how can you rework future content and activity to make your brand more marketable?
At the very least, Promotion is a valuable tool for grooming your abilities and instincts as a social media entrepreneur.
If a campaign proves successful, the report can come in handy when trying to raise your status as a commodity on TikTok.
TikTok Promote is what separates casual users from influencers whom the platform may itself consider worth investing in.
What Does a Promoted TikTok Look Like?
Speaking, a TikTok that has been promoted merely has the stamp “Sponsored” above the video’s caption.
Here are a few examples of a promoted or sponsored TikTok.
Creatively speaking, a promoted post should be something you feel best represents your objective with the ad campaign.
When setting up a promotion, you will be asked to identify if you aim to expand video views, website visits, or your following.
Although these goals seem interdependent, the objective of your very profile should inform how your brand is marketed.
If you want to go viral and gain more feedback on your video-making vision, promote a concise and stylish video for viewership.
If your TikTok profile represents an external brand or product, the video should play to the service needs of an audience.
What’s most important for users who want to gain more followers and status on TikTok is content that makes them seem exciting and approachable.
Remember, your followers are also considered your friends.
In any case, advertise your brand with content that you feel is most viral-worthy.
You should promote posts that have already gained considerable traction with likes, comments, and shares.
Business accounts on TikTok can access analytics for profile and content views through profile settings. Regular users cannot view this information within the app.
All users can view the analytics of promoted posts through their detail pages.
After tapping “Promote” under your profile’s creator tools, you can access reports of each promoted post’s visitation, response, and demographic activity.
How to Tell If a TikTok is Promoted
Promotions appear high on “For You” lists when TikTok is first opened. The only thing that distinguishes them from regular videos of interest is the gray stamp “Sponsored” just above the video captions.
This stamp will be placed on the post throughout its promotion campaign, regardless of who views it.
A promotion is a paid advertisement for a TikTok user.
Thus, the social media platform is obligated by the United States’s Federal Trade Commission to disclose that such content is sponsored.
Note that TikTok requires up to 48 hours to vet a proposed Promotion. The video may take too long to receive the “Sponsored” stamp and become widespread on the platform.
Please keep track of a Promotion’s pending approval on its details page.
Does TikTok Promote Work
TikTok Promote only persistently and transparently advertises content you submit for approval of a promotion campaign.
However, if already relatively popular, your content can be automatically recommended to users who are algorithmically determined to be the target audience.
Why would you pay to have a post sponsored when the “For You” list algorithm already shares your popular content with potentially interested users?
If you want to expand a video’s presence without paying for the privilege, creatively utilize niche yet broad hashtags, share with multiple users, and recommend that users share the post.
Still, recommendation algorithms are relatively abstract, almost entirely random in determining what content to promote and where.
A video already has to be pretty popular to be shared with users who appear to be interested in topics relevant to the video.
TikTok Promote gives you more control over how your content is shared and sustains its steady presence on other feeds throughout a campaign.
This is especially important if your content is gaining traction but still not popular enough to be automatically promoted.
Moreover, you can see the targeted advertisement’s effectiveness on its details page.
If you are trying to command the attention of a target audience, paying for consistent advertisement is much more reliable than hoping that an algorithm is properly sharing already popular content.
Do You Have to Pay to Promote on TikTok?
TikTok Promote does cost money, though potentially indirectly.
Android OS lets you securely pay for a promotion campaign via direct transaction.
However, iOS users have to pay with a digital currency known as TikTok Coins, which can be purchased at a potentially dramatic conversion rate accounted for by TikTok Promote.
All in all, your sponsorship budget can vary wildly based on the objective, market niche, and duration of the campaign. Your Promotion may only cost a small amount, or it could cost thousands.
Relative to your entrepreneurial intentions with a video promotion campaign, this tool is considerably more cost-effective than many other forms of advertising contracts.
For example, third-party brands advertising on TikTok require a minimum campaign budget of $500.
The fact is that TikTok Promote is technically an advertising project.
Although you have the right to pause a promotion you might not be able to afford immediately, budgetary and duration agreements must be fulfilled eventually.
If you manage to discontinue a promotion campaign prematurely, by deleting the sponsored post, TikTok will likely fine you for voiding your agreement.
TikTok Promote is a mutual investment between your brand and the platform that falls under FTC guidelines.
It is a legitimate business transaction, so if you are approaching it as an essential investment, you must be willing to create a sizable budget for your campaign.
Why Can’t I Promote My Video on TikTok?
There can be a great deal of liability involved in TikTok Promote campaigns. That is why it takes the platform up to 48 hours for them to gain approval.
If you could not get a TikTok post promoted, that is because it was rejected. Unfortunately, you will not be reimbursed for your investment and may not even be given a reason for the rejection.
The most likely reason your campaign was rejected is that the video in question features copyrighted audio added from TikTok’s sound library.
TikTok has a strict licensing agreement with sounds that prevent users from playing more than 15 seconds of copyrighted audio in their videos.
Such intellectual property appearing in a paid advertisement suggests for-profit use that could constitute gross copyright infringement.
Your campaign may also be rejected if the post contains imagery and text that alludes to copyrighted material.
Be sure to promote videos with original audio or content that you have a legal right to use (i.e., Non-copyrighted material from the sound library).
You may want to market your brand with the most creative and personalized content you have anyways.
You will not get in trouble for trying to promote a video that uses third-party audio TikTok is allowed to provide for creators.
However, if your original audio contains copyrighted material that falls outside of fair use laws, the platform may also mute the video you submit.
TikTok Promote can also reject videos that violate the platform’s Community Guidelines. Like a user report, submitting a video for sponsorship consideration opens it up for an audit and potential penalty.
Furthermore, while you could be held accountable for canceling an active campaign, TikTok reserves the right to reject an initially approved campaign without explanation later.
If your campaign proposal was immediately rejected or approved and then taken down, consider contacting TikTok.
You might be eligible for another review or an investment refund if this was an error on the platform’s part.
Conclusion
If earning money through TikTok is a fantasy for users, the platform’s Promote feature can be a significant piece of reality in social media entrepreneurship.
Although any account can submit a video for a chance at paid sponsorship in the target audience’s recommendation, the liability and cost potentially involved distinguishing the feature from creators’ free content promotion strategies.
If you are confident that you can achieve status or monetization through your creativity and brand appeal, Promote is probably not worth the time and money.
If you are not willing to invest much in both, the tool may not do much to extend your presence.
For users aiming to promote an external product/business or hedge a career as a social media influencer, TikTok Promote is a vital and cost-effective asset.
Be very selective with the content you choose to promote to maximize your exposure and avoid rejection of a campaign. Comprehensively identify the goal and target of a campaign.
At the very least, a promotion being met with disappointing results and negative feedback can be taken constructively.
If you anticipate that sponsorships will become a staple in your professional social media use, you may want to start small to see if you can make your brand more marketable.
Promote is not considered a novel tool by TikTok, so its users should not make light of the lucrative opportunities it presents.
Like any third-party brand, you advertise your image and product to consumers. If you expect to get anything out of TikTok Promote, it falls on you to make the right marketing decisions.
