TikTok announced the launch of video today shopping adscatalog listing ads and live shopping ads — a trio of moves that show the platform doubling down on its personalized, algorithm-driven commerce offering.
The ad-driven experience expands on TikTok’s debut last year of a range of trading tools and solutions to help brands and creators implement shoppable content and experiences in their feeds. Now TikTok will also include:
- Video shopping ads: This tool is deployed worldwide and gives brands the ability to post shoppable videos on the For You pages of TikTok users.
- Catalog listing ads: A new type of advertising content available to both US users and advertisers targeting US consumers. These catalog (product) placements do not have to be in video format.
- Live shopping ads: These live streams, debuting first in the UK, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and with select partners and accounts in the United States, will appear on users’ For You pages.
TikTok’s announcement cites the versatility of these new ad formats, which create an easier click-to-buy customer journey and optimize discovery through the hyper-personalized TikTok algorithm. The social media platform’s own marketing data shows that 70% of surveyed users say it seems easy to make purchases through the store-related ads, 56% of respondents say TikTok ads have helped them discover new products and brands , and 48% of users said they were interested in making a purchase via TikTok in the next quarter.
TikTok has together with Smartly.io as the first ad and campaign marketing partner for campaign management, bulk optimisations, reporting and creative automation.