TikTok continues to reign supreme as the primary social media platform used by billions worldwide. On average, users spend 55.8 minutes on TikTok watching short videos that entertain and inform. If your brand isn’t on the platform, you’re missing out on reaching an increasingly profitable demographic—Gen Zs and younger Millennials. They make up over 38% of TikTok's advertising audience.
Running ads on TikTok isn’t the same as running ads on Facebook or Instagram. TikTok users value authenticity and prefer organic content over branded content. As such, influencers play a crucial role in winning and engaging audiences.
With the introduction of TikTok Spark Ads, businesses now have the option to turn influencer-created content into ad creatives. TikTok marketing agencies are quick to master the new feature, and the following list has proven that they know what it takes to run Spark Ads.
Best TikTok Spark Ads Agency
Best for: Large companies NeoReach has over a decade of experience in running performance marketing for world-class brands. Their team helped launch TikTok in the US, giving them expert media buyers for TikTok. For every campaign, they start with an audit of existing user or customer behaviors to understand the overall ROI needed. Their goal is to develop the lifetime value of a customer and ensure your brand gets higher-value users. When you work with them, they’ll give you access to a global network of influencers who are more than capable of infusing your brand’s core messages into their content. NeoReach will manage the entire talent acquisition process, including contracting and negotiating, so you don’t have to worry about pricing strategy, legal contracts, and compliance. They also have proprietary software that allows you to track each influencer’s campaign and see their performance. In a recent partnership, Netflix reached out to NeoReach to promote one of its shows, Cobra Kai. NeoReach was able to deliver over 2.8M of paid views and 2.7x ROI using an eclectic mix of influencers who can reach a wide variety of audiences. Key Services: Minimum Campaign Size: $50,000 Best for: Enterprises and Large Brands The Influencer Marketing Agency is one of the pioneers in TikTok influencer campaigns. They are a global marketing agency offering a full-scale marketing strategy that includes managing TikTok Spark Ads. Their expertise lies in finding the best influencers for your campaigns since they have an extensive roster of vetted and successful content creators. They are also experts in calculating the ROI of your influencer marketing campaign. They provide extensive reporting and analytics of the key metrics of your marketing activities. You’ll know exactly how many users were reached and how many were converted to new customers. One of their featured works is the launch of Hyundai’s Santa Fe on social media. Hyundai wanted a dynamic marketing journey to promote the 2024 Santa Fe version and attract buyers from a new demographic. Influencer Marketing Agency tapped the distinct creative styles of pre-selected key influencers to create memorable and successful content. The campaign resulted in 5.8 million combined TikTok followers, 160k combined TikTok views, and 7.8k combined TikTok likes. Key Services: Minimum Campaign Size: $20,000+ Best for: Medium-sized brands Ubiquitous is the brainchild of social media marketers who were investigating TikTok’s economic viability when it was first introduced. After working with hundreds of big and small influencers, they’ve built a proven system to help brands reach the right audience with the best influencers. They are known for simplifying the entire TikTok marketing process and executing campaigns with excellence. They create a custom creative brief that’s tailored to each content creator to ensure a consistent campaign look without sacrificing individuality. As an agency that’s been around since TikTok gained popularity, they know what trends will become big and how to leverage them without diluting content quality. They are also experts in creating and driving trends so clients don’t simply ride the bandwagon. For example, Ubiquitous helped Hers launch a successful TikTok campaign that generated 5M+ impressions and 11,000 new users in just 30 days and with a $5 CPM. They achieved this by using TikTok Spark Ads to amplify impressions and click-throughs for Hers Hair and Skin campaign. Key Services: Minimum Campaign Size: $20,000 Best for: Small businesses Lyfe Marketing is a social media marketing agency dedicated to helping small to mid-size businesses compete with larger brands. They understand that most small businesses have limited funds and need to see returns on their ad spend as quickly as possible. Because of this, they invest in rigorous A/B testing to quickly test multiple variations of your ad and identify the versions with the most conversions. They also invest time and effort in knowing your brand and goals so they can create the best strategy to win your target market. As a TikTok Spark Ads Agency, they know the power of user-generated content and will tap creators to give your brand authentic and trustworthy UGCs. They will also help you build new challenges, start trends, and hashtag campaigns centered on your brand. They work with a lot of small business owners like Sherman Standberry, a CPA coach with an active YouTube channel. He wanted to tap short-form videos to give his long-form videos a new audience source. With Lyfe Marketing’s help, he was able to build a TikTok presence through several short videos with over 170k views. Key Services: Minimum Campaign Size: $1,000 Best for: Small to large companies Sociallyin is a 100% social-focused agency devoted to mastering every social media platform so they can help their clients reach new and existing markets. Their work starts by helping you define your brand voice and create a special tone so it can stand out in a crowded social media space. They pride themselves in giving your brand the authority it deserves so you’re not just another name-making noise on social media. When it comes to advertising, they create impactful, low-cost ads that can reach a vast audience. They focus on a low number of high-quality ads to save your hard-earned cash and ensure you get exceptional ROI. They will constantly monitor your metrics and experiment with new social media advertising strategies that they know will give you an edge over the competition. They also ensure they’ve refined their audience targeting so you’ll reach the right customers all the time. They work with a lot of small businesses, many of whom approached them with brand-new TikTok accounts. For the majority of these clients, Sociallyin creates engaging TikTok videos that generate thousands of views for the brand. One of these brands was a sports equipment manufacturer who wanted to drive awareness to their new fishing gear line. Sociallyin created targeted TikTok videos for the right audiences which increased engagement and awareness for the brand. Key Services: Minimum Campaign Size: $5,000. But they also offer tailored services if your budget is lower than $5,000. Best for: Large brands and creators House of Marketers is composed of experienced TikTok marketing experts with insider knowledge of how TikTok works. Their managing director was one of the first EMEA TikTok employees who has personally helped over 300 brands thrive on the platform. He brings this expertise to every client the agency works with so they can become a powerhouse on TikTok. Some of the brands who’ve trusted them include Apple Music, Hilton, KFC, Western Union, and Red Bull. The agency has a global presence across Europe, North and South America, UAE, and Southeast Asia. They also have multi-language experts fluent in English, Spanish, German, and French. They have a pool of over 50,000 creators who have proven their creativity and unique ability to engage with targeted audiences. When you engage House of Marketers, they give you a detailed roadmap of actionable and measurable plans that will help you achieve your goals. One example is Grover, a tech rental company. They wanted to capture Gen Z and Millenial customers using the most cost-effective means. House of Marketers produced several relatable, creative concepts and connected Grover with the most sought-after tech influencers. The results were high-quality content that generated a 1,200% increase in monthly orders and a 3.4X ROAS. Key Services: Minimum Campaign Size: $20,000 Best for: Enterprises and large brands inBeat is a performance-driven micro-influencer agency that works with influencers with 10,000 to 100,000 followers. They specialize in having a pool of content creators with diverse backgrounds, including Body Plus, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+. Their talented marketers are experts in the TikTok advertising platform and can hand-pick the best creators who can create top-performing creatives. You can trust them to help you generate top-notch user-generated content at a scale that meets your brand visuals and speaks to your target audience. inBeat will also study your competitors and parallel industries to give you insights into the creative possibilities available for your brand. They’ll ensure each campaign is conversion-driven and will undergo multiple optimization runs to maximize your ad spend. One of their featured case studies involved NielsenIQ’s re-release of Unroll.me, an inbox decluttering app. With the help of micro-influencers who created genuine and high-quality visual assets, inBeat was able to follow a media-buying strategy that led to 100k+ app installs per month. They also reduced NielsenIQ’s CPA by 83% on TikTok. Key Services: Minimum Campaign Size: $50,000+1. NeoReach
2. The Influencer Marketing Factory
3. Ubiquitous
4. Lyfe Marketing
5. Sociallyin
6. House of Marketers
7. inBeat Agency
What Makes a TikTok Spark Ads Agency Different?
There are two kinds of TikTok Ads: Spark Ads and Non-Spark Ads (Regular In-Feed Ads). At first glance, they both look the same. There’s a clear CTA button at the bottom, and clicking either the profile photo, nickname, or caption will lead to a landing page.
However, there are extra clickable options for Spark Ads such as the music name. Spark Ads also lets you turn any organic post made by other creators into an ad (of course, with their prior authorization). You can also use your own TikTok account’s post as ad creative.
Meanwhile, in-feed ads are the ones you’d create from the TikTok Business Center, which will appear on the For You feed. Since TikTok launched Spark Ads in July 2021, brands have reported higher view-through rates, higher completion rates, lower cost per action, and better conversion rates.
As such, when launching a TikTok ad campaign, you’d want an agency that can help you create Spark Ads. Since it’s different from the usual ad formats, not all agencies may be familiar with creating them.
Spark Ads are more interactive and engaging compared to traditional ads. Users can reuse the sound clip and create a duet or stitch. They also support Sticker features, so there are more options to unleash your brand’s creativity.
To create Spark Ads, you’d have to rely on user-generated content from influencers. An agency with strong influencer marketing expertise can help you find the right content creators to sustainably produce UGCs that you can reuse as ads. These creators must be able to use the appropriate trending music in publishing content that gets audiences to react. They can even be trendsetters who will pioneer the next viral hashtag or challenge that’s unique to your brand.
The initial investment in Spark Ads might be higher because of the extra costs for influencer marketing. But the potential is also greater since you’re building highly relatable and authentic content. Your brand can get better engagement rates and potent viral videos, making TikTok Spark Ads a cost-effective option in the long run.
In general, TikTok Spark Ads agency also possesses the same qualities as a traditional TikTok Ads Agency. They are experts in the TikTok algorithm and can optimize ads using multiple A/B tests and audience segments. They should also look at real-time analytics to make data-driven decisions.
But what sets them apart is their strong ties to a diverse influencer pool. They can tap the right influencers to produce UGCs that will give you better ads.
Final Thoughts
TikTok is a dynamic social media platform that constantly introduces new features to keep users engaged. It mostly targets a younger demographic who shares the same values of authenticity advocated by the platform. If you want to target this demographic, your brand needs a solid TikTok presence. With the help of a professional and experienced agency, you can create engaging ads and build a loyal TikTok community.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do brands need a TikTok Spark Ads agency?
The TikTok advertising ecosystem is complex. Working with an experienced agency helps you navigate it easily since they are already familiar with the right strategies to reach your results. You can also avoid costly, inevitable trial and error when learning a new platform.
How can an agency optimize the reach of a TikTok Spark ad?
An agency ensures you’re targeting the right audience and optimizing your ad spend. They’ll constantly analyze metrics to ensure your campaigns have a good ROI. Agencies use data-driven strategies to tweak campaigns for maximum impact. They can do these tweaks on the fly using techniques like A/B tests, audience segmentation, and real-time analytics.
Does an agency provide insights into the constantly changing TikTok trends?
Agencies have their pulse on TikTok trends, which enables them to provide valuable insights. They know what’s trending and can use the most relevant hashtags and challenges. By leveraging the right trends for your brand, you’ll make your brand more relevant to the TikTok community.