TikTok Brings Brands & Creators Together For Branded Content At Scale With New Branded Mission Ad Product

Source: TikTok

TikTok introduced a new ad product in Branded Mission. Branded Mission allows brands to crowdsource branded content from eligible creators (at least 1,000 followers) and then use top-performing videos as ads to drive brand affinity.

How It Works

Brands will first set up their Mission, and then select different options such as Tag Hashtag Challenge, Show product, Dance With Music, and Use Branded Effect, which will serve as the content requirements for creators. After the Mission is set live, creators eligible for the mission will be notified and can click through to the Branded Mission page, where they can view all the details for the Mission and submit up to three videos.

TikTok’s algorithm will then provide brands with a shortlist of the top-performing, on-brand, and brand-safe videos to boost as sponsored ads. Creators whose videos are selected by the brand to run as ads will receive a cash payment and increase traffic, while videos submitted by all other creators will be served organically on the For You page.

What Stands Out

• It brings a crowdsourcing aspect to influencer marketing. Instead of reaching out to a particular group of creators to create content, which is usually part of an influencer marketing campaign's workflow, brands can crowdsource content from the TikTok community.

• Brands can discover creators they might not otherwise discover. Brands often have a set of criteria in mind when sourcing creators for their branded content campaigns, ranging from personas to follower counts. Brands that are overly strict with the criteria for the type of creators they want to partner with miss out on talent that might seem like a poor fit on paper, but can actually transform their brand, products, or services.

• There’s not an overly prescriptive brief. Briefs help creators understand what brands require. However, very prescriptive briefs can hinder creators' ability to do what they do best, and that is to create. The requirements for a Mission are limited to a handful of requirements. By simplifying the brief, brands are more likely to get the type of content they need, while still allowing for creative freedom so creators can create content that is both authentic and engaging and resonates with the TikTok community.

• It brings together paid media and influencer marketing. Paid media is increasingly becoming important for brands to drive ROI through influencer marketing. Brands can now easily generate assets to amplify to reach bigger audiences. With creator content typically outperforming brand creative as ads, leveraging creator content in paid media helps optimize for performance.

• TikTok gives creators a new way to monetize. Although brands must select a creator's video to use as a sponsored ad before creators get paid, it's a way for smaller creators who may not have worked with brands directly to monetize their skill set. It is an opt-in process, so creators can choose what Missions they would like to participate in, removing some of the issues that arise when brands reach out to creators directly for a campaign.

Going Forward

For the second time this month, TikTok brings an innovative ad product centered around bringing brands and creators together and paying out creators for work. Earlier this month, it launched TikTok Pulse, which lets brands place ads among the top four percent of TikTok creator videos and includes a revenue share with creators whose videos are amongst the ads.

Branded Mission further continues a growing trend of big tech providing creator-driven advertising solutions. Google, Meta, Snap, Twitch, and others have all either recently tested or launched ad products like these that tap into creators. Not only do these help brands reach and connect with audiences better, but they also help put money in creators’ pockets.

It will be interesting to see the response to Branded Mission over the first few months. It does help democratize the branded content ecosystem by enabling creators with only 1,000 followers to have the opportunity to work with brands, but some creators may see it as a “get paid in exposure” type of deal.