As Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the shopping season approaches, brands must find ways to capture the attention of millions of active users on TikTok. The platform has transformed from a place of pure entertainment into a powerful space for commerce. Consumers are no longer just scrolling—they’re shopping, and TikTok has proven to be a key driver of purchase decisions.
The TikTok Advantage: Over 20 Million South African Users
With over 20 million monthly active users in South Africa alone, TikTok offers brands a unique opportunity to engage with a highly active and attentive audience. These users spend an average of 60 to 90 minutes per session, fully immersed in the content—unlike other platforms, TikTok demands full attention. As we say, "You can't TikTok and..." Whether it’s multitasking or passive scrolling, TikTok users are actively engaging with the platform. This high level of focus presents advertisers with a rare opportunity to connect with users in meaningful ways.
The Significance of Black Friday and Cyber Monday
What started as single-day shopping events has now expanded into a month-long shopping frenzy. Consumers are eagerly awaiting promotions, and brands have the chance to drive significant revenue during this period. Brands that maintain an Always-On Strategy throughout the year and boost their share of voice (SOV) during Black Friday and Cyber Monday are often rewarded with exceptional returns. Revenue growth and ROAS increases by over 500% quarter-on-quarter are not uncommon on TikTok during these peak periods.
Tech Central (2024) reports that the situation for retailers is beginning to improve after several challenging seasons during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brands should utilise their data, consumer sentiment, and sales figures to prepare for the biggest shopping weeks of the year.
Community Commerce on TikTok
TikTok has revolutionised community commerce, a new era of e-commerce where people buy from people. The platform amplifies word of mouth, and every user can become a content creator or brand advocate. To thrive during this shopping season, brands must ensure their content is authentic and native to TikTok. Avoiding content that feels overly promotional is key to engaging users organically and driving conversions. People are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the online ads they encounter. They crave genuinely engaging and entertaining ad experiences, particularly in commerce marketing, with about a third of people wanting more fun and engaging interactions. There’s also a sense of disconnect between brands and consumers, who miss the feeling of authentic connection with advertisers—something that many current platforms fail to deliver.
This highlights the need for a fresh, more meaningful way for brands and audiences to connect. TikTok, with the success of trends like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, seems to be one of the few places making this evolution possible.
Auction vs. Reach and Frequency (Top Feed): Choosing the Right Campaign Strategy
When planning your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns on TikTok, advertisers can choose between Auction campaigns and Reach and Frequency (Top Feed) campaigns. Each option has distinct advantages, and utilising both together can maximise your reach and performance.
Auction Campaigns offer flexibility, allowing advertisers to adjust bidding, targeting, and creative elements in real-time. This adaptability is essential for seizing opportunities during the competitive Black Friday and Cyber Monday periods. Auction campaigns let you optimise for performance, which can drive higher engagement and conversions as user behaviour fluctuates during the shopping season.
Reach and Frequency (Top Feed) campaigns, on the other hand, are designed for predictability and control. They allow brands to reserve premium placements at the top of users’ feeds, ensuring that your message reaches a broad audience at a consistent frequency. This strategy is perfect for building awareness and guaranteeing exposure during high-demand shopping periods.
Using both strategies together can offer the best of both worlds. You can build awareness and generate anticipation with a Reach and Frequency (Top Feed) campaign, ensuring your brand is top-of-mind when users start shopping. Then, complement this with Auction campaigns to retarget engaged users, drive conversions, and capitalise on the urgency of Black Friday deals. Combining the two approaches allows you to reach a broad audience while also fine-tuning your message for maximum impact.
Key Strategies to Maximise Black Friday & Cyber Monday on TikTok
Cast a Wide Net Black Friday and Cyber Monday are opportunities to reach a broad audience. Don’t be afraid to test different creative strategies and explore various audience segments to see what resonates most with TikTok’s diverse user base.
Creative is Key Invest in creator campaigns, user-generated content (UGC), and influencer partnerships. Authentic content that feels native to TikTok will perform better than traditional branded ads. Use creators to communicate your brand in a way that resonates with the TikTok community.
Utilise TikTok’s Interactive Add-ons Engage users with Interactive Add-ons like polls, quizzes, or clickable elements that draw attention and encourage action. These tools create an immersive experience and help convert engaged viewers into customers.
Track, Analyse, and Optimise Data-driven decisions are crucial during high-traffic periods like Black Friday. Leverage TikTok’s performance metrics to analyse what content performs best, track user interactions, and optimise campaigns in real-time.
Allocate Budgets Wisely The intensity of Black Friday means competition for visibility will be high. Allocate a larger portion of your budget to top-performing ads and adjust in real time based on performance metrics. This will ensure you maximise your ROI.
Plan to Win the Season
Preparation is key to maximising the opportunities TikTok presents during the holiday season. Begin planning your campaigns early, refining your creative strategies, and setting up dynamic retargeting to capture those who show interest but haven’t yet converted. By combining creativity, data, and community commerce, brands can drive impressive results on TikTok this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
TikTok is the Place to Be This Shopping Season
With over 20 million South African users spending a significant portion of their day on the app, TikTok offers brands a prime opportunity to connect with engaged shoppers this Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By using both Auction and Reach and Frequency campaigns, creating authentic content, leveraging interactive features, and strategically optimising campaigns, advertisers can tap into the massive potential of TikTok to drive sales and boost their holiday season performance.
Reach out to maketiktoks@365digital.africa to book your Black Friday and Shopping season campaigns!Â