Made for TikTok: The ad industry talk show
Every brand, marketer, and agency creative wants to make great content on TikTok. That's why we created Made for TikTok — an ongoing video series to inspire and educate marketers and agency creatives on how to make great branded content for our unique platform and audience, introducing them to insights and solutions in a way that's actually entertaining.
Our first series, unveiled at TikTok World last year, shaped up as a workout training program for brands led by film director and creator David Ma. As someone who started his career in the creative ad industry, David was able to use his experience to help advertisers navigate the exciting new world of branded TikTok content. The ability to bridge the worlds of TikTok and marketing is something you'll notice we looked for again in Made for TikTok 2.0.
A talk show for the ad industry, by the ad industry
For the second installment of Made for TikTok, we built a late-night talk show complete with interviews and comedy sketches, featuring a unique group of creators who all happen to work with brands professionally. Hosted by copywriter and TikTok creator Shannon Fiedler, our goal for this series was to help advertisers create TikTok-first strategies, with guidance from experts who speak the language of the creative ad industry.
From comedians and copywriters, art directors and graphic designers, to the face of an ad agency's TikTok account, hear what the pros think about how brands can make better content on TikTok. Catch all the episodes below, along with top tips from each of our special guests.
📺 Episode 1: Create TikTok-first
Our first guest, Oliver McAteer, is Head of Development at Mischief USA—the award-winning creative agency behind the culture-driving TikTok campaign that drove a 25x increase in website orders for eos. As the face of Mischief's TikTok account, Oliver lives and breathes TikTok-first and knows all about creating branded content that resonates. He's a firm believer that creative agencies have a responsibility to lead the way on TikTok, so we sat down with him to hear his thoughts about how they can do just that.
Oliver's tips for TikTok-first creative
💡 The best TikTok creative is "completely unexpected and unignorable, but also human and weird."
💡 TikTok content doesn't need to be a big production - "as long as you're human, you're vulnerable, you're transparent, and you're having fun."
💡 When filming any branded content, remember to shoot vertical and in hi-res (720p at least), use music and sounds, and make it longer than 10 seconds (ideally 21-34).
📺 Episode 2: Let creators land the aura of your brand
Creators are the heartbeat and soul of TikTok, and they've changed what it means to be influential. To get an inside look at how brands can work with creators more authentically*, we sat down with Eric Sedeño, an art director, graphic designer, and TikTok creator with over 750k followers who affectionately refer to him as "bestie" in the comments of his videos. When it comes to creator partnerships, Eric encourages brands to move away from thinking of branded content as a commercial or a way to land a product—instead, focus on entertainment value and landing the "aura of your brand."
Eric's tips for working with creators
💡 For authentic branded content, look for creators that are aligned with your brand's purpose or motto.
💡 When it comes to the creative process, trust creators - "you can get some amazing work if you let them spread their wings and fly."
💡 The Creator Marketplace helps your brand find and connect with the right creators easily, as well as monitor progress and view performance insights on projects.
📺 Episode 3: Measure what matters
When it comes to TikTok-first strategy, NERF means business. When the beloved toy brand made waves last year by adding a Chief TikTok Officer to its marketing team, we knew we had to get her on the show. Sophie Jamison is a TikTok creator with 2.1 million followers, known for her video editing skills and fanatical passion for the NERF brand. In our third episode, Sophie breaks down her approach to jumping on lightning-fast trend cycles, learning from failure, and focusing on the analytics that matter most.
Sophie's tips for finding your brand's voice on TikTok
💡 "Every TikTok account is different, and the only analytics that truly matter at the end of the day are your own channel's."
💡 Try out different things to understand what works for your brand, and don't be afraid of failure—in Sophie's wise words, "It's really okay to fail on TikTok. You just say, what can we learn from this?"
💡 Explore the Creative Center to discover trends and use tools that can level up the entertainment value of your TikTok content.
Stay tuned for more episodes of Made for TikTok coming soon!
In the meantime, learn more about shooting tips and transitions to make your TikToks pop with our Behind the Camera series, or hear how small businesses from around the world are unlocking the magic of TikTok with Small Wins.
*For detailed information about TikTok's branded content toggle and our policies regarding what can be posted as branded content on TikTok, please refer to our Branded Content Policy here.