TikTok moves to ‘performance automation vision’ with latest machine learning ad tools

It’s safe to say that TikTok wants advertisers to believe that it’s not entertaining the idea of ​​leaving the US anytime soon. If that wasn’t already evident during its NewFront earlier this month, this latest announcement makes it clear that it’s business as usual for the platform right now. Or at least trying to make it as clear as possible advertisers can park their contingency plans and continue spending on TikTok.

TikTok is actively working to keep marketers engaged and on the platform despite the legislative challenges, said Traci Asbury, head of social investment at Goodway Group. they [TikTok] have full confidence in their future legal appeals and are actively encouraging merchants to continue to adopt best practices and use the platforms’ capabilities to make positive impacts on their businesses.

What is Performance Automation and how does it work?

Well, you probably already know about TikToks Smart Performance Campaign which was launched last year. The campaign uses semi-automation capabilities including auto-targeting, auto-bidding and auto-creative.

But Performance Automation, which is still in early testing, goes a step further, automating more of the process, including the creator. With this campaign, advertisers enter the required assets, budget and goals, and TikTok’s predictive AI and machine learning will select the best creative asset, to ensure the best campaign is put in front of the right customer at the right time. As a TikTok spokesperson confirmed, the platform is moving towards a “performance automation vision,” and this latest product is the next step in that journey.

And that’s not all. The platform has also launched a similar capability for its TikTok Store, called “TikTok Shop Marketing Automation.” Like Performance Automation, this works by automating bidding, budgeting, ad management and creative for TikTok Store products. Since the TikTok Store is only available in select regions, this latest product is currently on sale in Southeast Asia and testing in the US

Ohio-based health and wellness brand Triquetra Health is one of those early testers. According to Adolfo Fernandez, global product strategy and operations at TikTok, the brand has already achieved a 4x ROI on TikTok Shop within the first month of using this new automation product and increased sales on the platform by 136%. He did not give exact figures.

To be clear, Performance Automation and TikTok Store Marketing Automation are not their official names. These are just temporary identities that the platform is using until they officially release the products.

However, does it all sound familiar? That’s because it is. Performance Automation is similar to what other tech giants have been doing for a while now, and what TikTok started doing with its Smart Performance Campaign last year. Think Google’s Performance Max, Meta’s Advantage+ and now Amazon’s Performance+ all play a similar role for their respective platforms. TikTok just joining the pack just confirms that automation is where advertising as an industry is going.

In many ways, this was inevitable. Meta, Google and others have amassed billions of ad dollars over the years by making it as easy as possible for marketers to spend on their ads. From programmatic bidding to attribution tools, platforms have tried to give marketers fewer reasons to spend elsewhere. Machine learning technologies that essentially oversee campaigns are the latest manifestation of this. Sooner or later TikTok was always going to make a move.

However, there are many concerns about how these technologies work, they are, after all, the ultimate set-it-and-forget campaign type. Marketers submit the assets and data they want the platform to work with and the technology takes it from there. This is. Marketers have no way of knowing if these campaigns are doing what the platform says they are doing because they are unable to independently verify them. It remains to be seen whether TikTok’s own effort will take a similar stance or break with tradition.

Speaking of measurement, TikTok is also launching Unified Lift a new product that measures TikTok campaign performance throughout the decision journey, using brand lift and conversion studies. KFC Germany has already tried it and it delivered a 25% increase in brand appeal and saw an 81% increase in app installs, according to Fernandez, without giving exact figures.

What else is new?

Among other announcements were:

• TikTok One: a centralized home where advertisers can access TikTok’s pool of nearly 2 million creators, agency partners, and creative tools.
• TikTok Symphony: an AI creative suite that aims to provide marketers with even more efficiency through scripting, video production and asset optimization.
• Plus some fun experiences, including interactive extensions for TopView – advertisers can add pop-up elements and countdown stickers to their TikToks, as well as Brand Mission Duets: which allows brands to invite TikTok creators to duet with videos their brand mission.

Where are marketers headed?

Well for now, nothing much has changed. Traders have contingency plans, but this is just standard business practice. Beyond that, everything regarding TikTok is pretty much business as usual.

Colleen Fielder, representative of the social marketing solutions group and partners at Basis Technologies said her team is not actively recommending any of their customers stop spending on TikTok. They are continuing to include the platform for proposals.

We knew that TikTok would sue the US government and this could push this 9-12 month timeline even further, which gives us more time to continue operating on TikTok and/or identify alternative platforms as need, she said.

For Markacy, it’s a similar state of play. We have a loose partnership with digital media company Attn, which is heavily invested in TikTok, said Tucker Matheson, the company’s co-CEO. They are still getting big job offers, which is a positive sign.