Should Your Business Invest in TikTok Ads to Boost Visibility?

Whether or not you should carve out media budget to invest in TikTok ads depends on a range of factors, including your business goals, industry, competitors and most importantly, your audience behaviour. 

No matter what you decide, here are two facts about TikTok that every Australian marketer and business owner should know:

TikTok is not just for the kids in your neighbourhood, as many marketers still believe. While it’s true that TikTok was popular among Gen Z users when it was first launched, the platform has since matured, attracting new users from different demographics. In fact, 35% of TikTok users are aged 30+ (Source). 

In Australia, TikTok has more than 8.5 million active users (Source), and the fast-growing segments are aged 25-34 and 35-44 (Source). Millennials are using TikTok daily - not just to be entertained but also to get advice, learn new skills, and discover new products. This change in audience shows the value of TikTok for business, especially for brands that want to reach today’s consumers where they’re most active.

Credible sources including Search Engine Land and Forbes have reported a powerful shift in how younger audiences discover products. While Millennials still prefer Google, GenZ users are turning to alternate platforms in the research phase of their buyer journey, often ‘stumbling’ upon products of interest. The research published by Grin showed 30.4% GenZ users turn to Instagram and 23.3% find new products on TikTok.

It’s important to note that while the study was conducted in the US, Australia often mimics the trends in North America.

As a full-service digital marketing agency, we’re not the only ones promoting TikTok. Unilever, one of the world’s biggest FMCG giants, have confirmed that 50% of their media spend will be directed towards social media advertising and influencer marketing (Source). This is more than just a tactical reallocation of budget - it’s a recognition of where consumer attention and trust now live.

If you're wondering how TikTok can be used for business, you’ll be surprised to know that it can work for a wide range of industries - even those that might not seem like an obvious fit at first.

Labels dealing with fashion, beauty and home décor can use TikTok to showcase their products with quick styling tips, before-and-after transformations, and fun how-to tutorials. Viewers appreciate behind-the-scenes content and brand storytelling, which can forge a genuine connection.

Restaurants, cafés, and food-related ventures can post short recipe videos, highlight their most popular dishes, or use trending sounds to create memorable product teasers. With the right hooks - like an appetising dish close-up or patrons enjoying their meal - these businesses can quickly grab attention and build brand recognition.

Hotels, tour operators and travel agencies can use TikTok to share breathtaking views, insider tips and cultural experiences. Showcasing lesser-known travel spots, features of a hotel, or fun behind-the-scenes snippets can pique interest and inspire viewers to explore new destinations.

Showcase your new tech product or explain complex concepts through short, digestible videos. Start-ups, especially those aiming to connect with younger audiences, can leverage quick demos, user testimonials and fun animations to engage their target audience.

Musicians, authors and content creators can all benefit from TikTok's viral potential. Sharing music snippets, creative promo clips, or excerpts from a new book can help build hype and secure a dedicated following.

While it might be less obvious, service providers like digital marketers, financial advisors and health professionals can use TikTok for business growth by sharing  bite-sized tips, case studies, or quick educational content that positions them as approachable experts.

There are two things that you need to be mindful of when investing in TikTok.

While you can control the creative content, targeting and placement of your ad, companies can’t control:

• The content around your ads - Your ad might show up around irrelevant content.
• Creative co-option - Depending on your settings, users can use features like “duet” to stitch their video beside your brand content or leave comments.

TikTok has often been in hot water with governments and regulators over data privacy concerns and geopolitical tensions. While a full ban of the platform is unlikely in Australia, marketers need to make sure that their digital strategy is diversified so that your marketing performance is not heavily impacted if things change.

Regardless, these risks shouldn’t lead to marketing paralysis. Every marketing channel has its challenges. What separates progressive brands is how they balance experimentation with risk management.

When thinking about how to advertise your business on TikTok, it’s important to recognise that consumers are becoming increasingly numb to overly polished advertising. TikTok ads give you the opportunity to break through the oversaturation of traditional advertising through UGC (User-generated content) and Influencer ads. People trust people more than they trust logos.

Partner with Rocket’s creative services team to develop short-form video content with voiceovers that can be used on TikTok as well as other ad platforms.

Partner with influencers to promote your product to their organic audience for a fee. Influencers are seen as cultural connectors - their endorsements often carry more weight than TV spots or banner ads in many instances.

Partner with a TikTok Advantage Partner like Rocket or independently to identify content creators. These creators showcase your product or service in an authentic and relatable manner for a fee, giving you full rights to the video creative, which can then be promoted using TikTok Ads.

UGC are typically more cost-effective than traditional performance marketing ads. In comparison, influencer marketing can be expensive because you're leveraging someone else's reach, beyond your own.

Ability Action Australia is a registered NDIS provider of therapeutic, positive behaviour and employment supports across Australia. Rocket worked closely with the team at Ability Action Australia to test TikTok Ads as a high-impact channel for reach, engagement, and lead quality to drive applications for their graduation program in occupational therapy and speech pathology.

Rocket’s Paid team specialists briefed the ad creative assets which were then produced independently by the client. Our TikTok specialists then managed everything from targeting, placement, budget, tracking, analysis and optimisation.

While initial platform data showed that TikTok’s direct conversions appeared lower and costlier than Meta Ads and PPC advertising, our specialists dug deeper, looking beyond surface metrics to understand its true value.

The results were compelling. By analysing the broader customer journey, we found that TikTok played a pivotal role in the conversion pathway.

After the launch of the TikTok campaign:

• Direct conversions increased by 71%
• Paid Social new users surged by 992%
• TikTok delivered a 624% higher CTR compared to Meta ads in the same period

TikTok became a powerful top-of-funnel engine for Ability Action - building awareness, driving high-quality traffic and ultimately contributing to long-term acquisition goals.

If you’d like to get started with TikTok Ads for your business, here’s what you can do:

Review your audience persona. If they are on TikTok, then commit to testing the ad platform to reach them effectively. Educate your stakeholders and get sign-off on a budget to run a few experiment campaigns on TikTok and build a case.

We often talk about how marketers should never start with a blank piece of paper. Conduct a TikTok-specific competitor analysis to see what is currently working in the market and spot any trends that you can emulate for your business.

Given your day-to-day pressure for leads and revenue, we know that activating a new marketing channel is easier said than done. Rocket is an award-winning, full-service digital marketing agency. Let us do the heavy lifting in terms of studying your audience, ideation, finding content creators, scripting, production, managing ads and optimisation. We’ll be sure to do this in an integrated approach with your other digital marketing campaigns so you can unlock the full potential of TikTok for business

TikTok is becoming a normal part of the life of many Australians across multiple markets. If you’re still unsure how TikTok can be used for business, our team at Rocket can help you build a campaign tailored to your audience and goals. We’ve run campaigns for a range of companies that aren’t necessarily focused on Gen Z.