How to Maximise ROI When Advertising on TikTok

TikTok has quickly grown from a play site for short-form videos to one of the world's most potent ad systems. With algorithmic accuracy, highly active user base, and frictionless commerce integrations, TikTok offers brands a unique chance to reach people and drive sales.

But even with all that potential, most brands are short-changing themselves when they sell on TikTok. Typically, it's because they don't adjust their strategy to the site's unique culture. TikTok differs from other social sites—no glossy-studio ads. It's about trends, authenticity, and storytelling.

To get the maximum ROI on advertising on TikTok, you don't have to have a minimum ad budget. You'll require a strategy, i.e., creativity, targeting, and measuring performance. This template will break down how to optimize results while running campaigns with advertising in TikTok ads.

Best ROI Strategies

TikTok advertisers don't throw ads into the mix randomly—rather, they go to great lengths to customize campaigns to fit the behavior and trends of users on the site. These are the tactics that most reliably deliver top returns.

Target Cold & Warm Audiences

TikTok's algorithm enables you to target cold audiences (people who have never known you) with ease. With lookalike audiences, interest-based targeting, and TikTok's recommendation engine, your campaigns can reach highly relevant prospects within a short period of time.

But warm audiences—individuals that have viewed your videos, clicked on your ads, or shopped from your TikTok Shop—are most likely to give you the best ROI. Building retargeting sequences for warm audiences is a matter of not leaving conversions on the table.

Use Spark Ads

Spark Ads allow you to scale organic content from another page or from creators on TikTok. This format of ad fits smoothly into users' timelines and looks like native content instead of traditional ads.

The ROI secret is Spark Ads. Spark Ads leverage creator content credibility and trust and give you full ad functionality (targeting, click-through links, and call-to-actions). Brands doubled ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) by making the switch from ordinary ads to Spark Ads.

Retarget Video Viewers

TikTok provides you with the option to create custom audiences based on who watched your videos and for how long. A viewer for 3 seconds is not a buyer, but a 75% viewer is showing high interest. Retargeting interested viewers with discount deals, reviews, or product demos can help brands significantly lower acquisition cost.

Content That Converts

Even with perfect targeting, a terrible ad won't be saved. TikTok's content-first culture means that creative execution is what will make or break whether your campaign is a hit or a miss.

Fast Hooks

You've got approximately 2–3 seconds before you can interrupt a user from scrolling. Great TikTok ads grab the viewer's attention right away—whether it's with a controversial statement, a surprising image, or an instant problem-solution narrative.
For instance: A skincare company may start with "Still struggling with acne after trying everything?" before revealing its solution.

TikTok-Inspired Storytelling

As opposed to traditional television commercials, TikTok favors organic-feeling narratives. Commercials need to be in the form of normal TikTok content: trending sound, relatable moments, and hard cuts.

For example: A health business might show a "day-in-the-life" of a creator who takes their supplement, instead of a posed infomercial.

Social Proof

TikTok users believe their friends more than the slick brand promotions. UGC (User-Generated Content), word of mouth, or influencer partnerships are what create trust. Ads that utilize real customer responses have conversion rates increase over slick studio productions.

Monitor Ad Metrics via TikTok Ads

ROI optimization is data-driven. TikTok's Ads Manager allows for detailed performance tracking, but having a sense of what to track is the difference between profitably scaling or burning spend.

View-Through Rate (VTR)

Monitors how engaging your video is. A good VTR indicates your creative is resonating with your audience.

Click-to-Conversion

Follows the ad viewers who click and also purchase. Low conversion with high click-through typically indicates your landing page or TikTok Shop listing is not quite right.

Add-to-Cart Rate

For eCommerce, add-to-cart is a sign of intent. If your add-to-cart rate is high but sales are behind, investigate retargeting campaigns or cart abandonment promotions.

Case Study: How a Fashion Brand Increased ROI by 3.4x with TikTok Ads

The Challenge

A UK mid-market fashion brand was experiencing rising ad costs on Meta and Google Ads. The brand was not being noticed by Gen Z shoppers who were increasingly discovering products on TikTok even if they had solid seasonal collections.

• Unmanaged cost-per-acquisition (CPA) from legacy platforms.
• Limited brand awareness among TikTok-native users.
• In-house creative team created clean, studio-produced commercials that didn't work on TikTok.

The Strategy

The retailer partnered with a TikTok expert agency to re-launch its ad on TikTok. Three pillars of the campaign were:

Targeting Cold & Warm Audiences

• Mass targeting with interest-based audiences for cold outreach.
• Pixel tracking for retargeting engaged viewers, cart-add customers, and website visitors.

Leveraging Spark Ads

• In addition to simply serving optimized creatives, the brand amplified fashion influencers' organic posts.
• Spark Ads boosted authentic try-on hauls, style tips, and unboxing videos that were already performing well organically.

Innovative Testing & Iteration

• 10+ fast-form videos with fast hooks like "3 ways to style this dress under £40."
• Split test between UGC content creators and branded lifestyle clips.
• 72-hour optimisation based on view-through rate (VTR) and add-to-cart performance.

The Outcomes

• ROI increased 3.4 times in the first 6 weeks.
• CPA went down by 42% compared to Meta campaigns.
• Revenue from TikTok was 28% of total eCommerce sales in a quarter.
• Influencer Spark Ads outperformed studio-shot ads by 67% in CTR and 54% in conversions.

Key Takeaway

The success was through embracing the natural content form of TikTok, overlaying influencer-led Spark Ads, and combining scale with precision retargeting. By not trying to replicate Meta solutions and instead operating within TikTok as its own unique ecosystem, the fashion brand was able to drive lasting ROI growth.

Conclusion

Constructing ad success on TikTok is more a function of adapting to TikTok's own distinctive culture and less about throwing the largest budget. By reaching the most suitable audiences, using Spark Ads, re-targeting engaged users, and measuring the right metrics, you can drive maximum ROI and maintain acquisition costs.
For growth-driven brands, TikTok isn't another ad platform—it's the future of performance marketing. Brands that invest in TikTok with a niche perspective today will be tomorrow's market leaders.

Ready to expand your brand with expert TikTok ad solutions?

At The Short Media, we're the TikTok-first specialists—everything from creative campaigns to full-funnel ads management.