TikTok — an image-maker with influence — now offers marketers something they couldn’t do before: Messaging Ads. It is being introduced in Asia Pacific and is slated to change brands’ relationship with users. Earlier the feature was already in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
And by providing instantaneous one-to-one messaging, TikTok is trying to cement its positions not only as an entertainment platform but also as a customer acquisition and relationship building platform. Businesses can also get the users engaged with Messaging Ads, by giving two-way access. Direct message ads let you communicate with TikTok on its own app and instant message ads link you to a website such as WhatsApp.
The new tool is the evolution of its product, but marketers need to play by the experience/intrusion card MARKETING-INTERACTIVE interviewed them about.
This move is an organic development for Sunny Johar, managing director of agency network KRDS. “The function ties in with TikTok’s advantage of being the voice of influence being transformed into more brand business-first within the app itself,” she told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. As Johar mentioned, it is going to benefit industries with mid to high purchase touch points the most since it will enable marketers to connect with consumers at their active evaluation stage.
It offers the same benefit, notes Dhawal Shah, regional managing director and co-founder of Singapore-based 2Stallions Digital Marketing Agency. Messaging Ads focus less on clicks and more on relationships, he said, and it will be particularly valuable for SMEs who are a direct message buyer funnel.
Walking the fine line
Messaging Ads from TikTok may offer marketers a powerful medium to drive higher levels of engagement, but it’s worth working with the right balance. The site’s core users – young, digitally savvy and mostly young – care about truth and the respectful internet. Tone mistakes or promoting the wrong thing risks disengaging users, so be cautious and relevant.
And the brands have to work on being concise, yet actually useful in terms of their message. “You have to think user-first. Be really helpful, provide deals that they will be interested in and just tell them why you are messaging them in the first place,” Shanker Joyrama, CEO of Malaysia’s Orion Digital said.
If you flood users with inane content or bot interactions are not designed correctly, it may result in user fatigue and a loss of brand image. Set clear user opt-outs and have a personal (not transactional) conversation is key to reducing this risk.
And then there’s the appetite of Asia Pacific for communications and ads. Actually, East and Southeast Asians more or less prefer to communicate by way of intermediaries, said Izzudin Al Farras, an economist at Indonesia’s Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF).
For the very first or very regular message you may be seen as annoying in certain markets. For the marketeers, that means being more subtle and creating trust than being sales-driven.
Privacy is still an issue, too. Messaging Ads are more personal, and therefore the data protection issue. Brands have to treat data responsibly and stay within the law,” Joyrama cautioned.
Other experts say the same thing: marketers need to be transparent about how they are using user data. A mistake with user data can be disastrous to the platform and brands that are running it. That’s where local regulations and open communications on data usage comes in.
In Indonesia, for instance, there are laws on data usage on the internet such as social media. This Law, titled Personal Data Protection (PDP) Law, which was approved as Law No. 27 of 2022, which requires that you are told how your data will be used and can withdraw consent at any point.
Marketers need to know the legal climate on the ground to plan responsible, focused campaigns.
Crafting a winning strategy
If marketers want to take advantage of Messaging Ads, they have to work very hard and with precision. Al Farras advises starting with short, valuable messages that put relationship building first. “By communicating with the right amount of personalisation and professionalism, marketers should not forget to be a bit professional,” he said. “Be sensitive to privacy and pay attention to when.
Johar mentions defining goals. Every message needs a reason – for relationship, leads, or product promotion. Bad automation of messaging or a poor use of chatbots when customers reach out to us can also be the biggest UX mistake,” she said.
“With messaging ads, advertisers should have a good idea of the goal of what they want the platform to achieve — whether sales, lead generation, nurture or awareness — and align their ads and messaging,” she said.
“Finally, figuring out the balance between authenticity, imagination, and taking people’s time will be the secret to having this feature last,” he said. If you send too many messages or spam, people will be turned away very quickly,” Joyrama said. Brands, he continued, have to take responsibility for data use and regulations.
As a platform, Shah went on to point out that, when TikTok messaging is come in contact with spamming behaviour, this format will die of boredom pretty soon – and the platform should also be very strict about its usage policies.
“A final risk is maybe younger people don’t think of TikTok as a messenger like Messenger and WhatsApp – so marketers will need to be sure to deliver in the case of this new format for ads,” he said.
“There have been some pop-ups in this industry, but the basic foundation is the same. Create credibility, u-value, know your target. And if that can be done on a messaging platform like TikTok, that would be a really cool feature for marketers to have,” he said.