Oct, 04 2023
TikTok has provided fresh insights into the effectiveness of advertising on its platform and the crucial factors that influence ad performance within the app.
Drawing from various studies, TikTok has delved into the distinctions between attention, resonance, and engagement, and how each contributes to the broader engagement landscape on TikTok.
"Engagement and attention are often used interchangeably, but they represent separate concepts. Attention, as defined by the Advertising Research Foundation in 2002, refers to the extent to which viewers focus on advertising. Engagement, on the other hand, goes beyond this by encompassing our brain's processing and reaction to the ad, or, in other words, Engagement = Attention x Resonance."
Following this formula, TikTok has separately examined these components to gain a deeper understanding of how promotions on TikTok can impact them, leading to specific insights for your TikTok campaigns.
"TikTok-commissioned research has revealed that creative elements that seamlessly blend with the platform generate longer viewing times: using real people (+9%), incorporating TikTok trends (+14%), and crafting compelling narratives (+16%)."
These findings provide clear guidance, suggesting that elements that feel native to TikTok are more likely to capture attention and drive engagement within the app.
However, TikTok has also looked at "resonance" as a critical factor.
"Resonance represents the direct connection between content and consumers' interests, backgrounds, and culture. Recent research on social media influencers found that TikTok's emphasis on 'authenticity and creative expression' plays a significant role in driving strong interaction (e.g., likes, reactions, comments, and shares) between its audience and influencers."
Based on these insights, TikTok claims that its platform consistently achieves high engagement levels by leveraging these key drivers.
Incorporating TikTok's native elements into advertising enables advertisers to establish stronger connections between their brands and products, potentially leading to increased awareness and conversion rates.
Furthermore, TikTok has delved into the relationship between the duration of video views and user engagement. While there is a direct correlation (extended attention leads to higher ad recall), TikTok emphasizes that the majority of resonance generated by TikTok promotions occurs during initial exposure.
"Specifically, TikTok's Marketing Science unit's research suggests that 50% of a TikTok ad's impact is realized within the first 2 seconds, with the first 6 seconds capturing 90% of cumulative impact on ad recall and around 80% for awareness. Moreover, as videos continue to play longer, the audience size tends to decrease. Marketers need to be aware of the trade-offs between viewing duration, reach, and cost per reach."
In summary, TikTok suggests that shorter, platform-native promotions are more likely to maximize resonance and enhance the performance of TikTok ad campaigns. These insights are data-driven, providing valuable guidance for advertisers to consider in their ad planning.
