Audience-based ad targeting has become more challenging as privacy laws give consumers greater control over their personal data, and tech companies give them more ways to avoid online tracking. As advertisers emphasize measurable business outcomes from their campaigns, they\u2019re putting more weight into contextual targeting and integrating their brands with content.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s especially true with TikTok, the social video platform that this year become the first non-Facebook mobile app to reach 3 billion downloads worldwide, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower<\/a>. TikTok uses a variety of algorithms to identify videos that have the power to go viral, and to personalize the viewing experience for each of its users.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ads become part of that contextual experience,\u201d Sandie Hawkins, general manager of North America, global business solutions, at social video platform TikTok, said in this interview with Beet.TV. \u201cThe same algorithm that is choosing the right content from a creator standpoint is the same algorithm that\u2019s picking the ads for delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n Brands that tend to be most successful on TikTok are quick to identify trends that engage its community, which consists not only of people who watch videos, but also create them. TikTok has made overnight celebrities of people whose videos went viral.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see that TikTok as a platform is about the community coming together, determining what they like and then rallying around it,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cIt\u2019s really about what the democratization of culture is, and what content should be, and letting brands be a part of where culture is going.\u201d<\/p>\n Because most of TikTok\u2019s content consists of user-generated videos, brands are mindful that their messaging appears within a suitable context.<\/p>\n \u201cBrands can get concerned around the brand-safety elements, and so, we\u2019ve partnered with companies like OpenSlate to help brands be more comfortable with the content that we have on our feed, because that\u2019s really where the magic is,\u201d Hawkins said.<\/p>\n Influencers who create videos and build up a following are an important part of the TikTok experience, and offer brands the possibility for partnerships on campaigns<\/a>. The company\u2019s research has found that 63% of users said like it when brands show TikTok creators in their videos.<\/p>\n \u201cWe always try to make a point of having brands leverage creators when they\u2019re putting together content,\u201d Hawkins said.<\/p>\nCommunity and Creators<\/h3>\n