How TikTok Impacts Search Habits

Monday, February 19, 2024

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Going hands-free.

Good morning,

The DTC world was flabbergasted over Temu’s six Super Bowl spot blitz, but at $7M a pop, we’re talking under $50 million, which is small change compared to what they spend on Meta every month…

In January of 2023 alone, Temu ran over 8900 Meta ads. Their 2023 Meta total spend? $1.2 billion. 😲

Are you watching, Mr. Bezos? Temu wants that ring.

Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:

• A look at how TikTok has disrupted the online search landscape
• Sharing our cost effective CPM strategy for Meta Ads
• And…why you need to focus on outcomes when selling

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Skintervention Studio, Rose + Resilience, and The Paper People. 👋

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WHAT’S TRENDING

🔍 TikTok’s Rise As A Valuable Search Engine

Search habits are changing. 👀

While Google still has a huge monopoly when it comes to online search, it’s worth paying attention to newer platforms like TikTok which are gaining popularity especially with Gen Z.

According to Adobe Analytics, while Google still retains the #1 spot as the ‘platform consumers find most helpful when searching for information’, TikTok has already cracked the top 5 and is ranked as the #4 favored search platform.

Here are the top 10 search platforms in 2024:

1. Google
2. YouTube
3. Bing
4. TikTok
5. DuckDuckGo
6. Twitter
7. ChatGPT
8. Yahoo
9. Facebook
10. Pinterest

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What has changed in terms of search preferences?

TikTok is quickly climbing the ranks when it comes to user preferences. 2 out of 5 Americans have used TikTok as a search engine.

1 in 10 Gen Z said they were more likely to rely on TikTok rather than Google as a search engine which is definitely worth noting.

Even Google is paying close attention to Gen Z’s search preferences and is now incorporating TikTok Videos into their featured snippets section and Search Generative Experience (SGE) so they don’t lose out on younger audiences.

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But why? 🤔

Turns out people really like to consume short-form video.

But Adobe’s survey reveals some other interesting reasons why TikTok is so attractive as a search engine.

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Some of the top reasons are:

• Users enjoy TikTok’s storytelling format
• Content is more personalized (TikTok algo is working hard 💪)
• The information is more current and up-to-date.

The last reason is telling. While we relied more on Google News and X for breaking stories in the past, more people prefer to search for news and trends on TikTok nowadays.

And... when something goes viral on TikTok (like Muni Long’s Made For Me Challenge), we end up seeing the impact in Google SERPs as well.

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The takeaway?

• Gen Z is actively using TikTok as a search engine and looking for trends and breaking news. If it’s blowing up on TikTok, users may go onto Google afterwards to find more related content.
• For ecommerce brands, if you are selling a product that could benefit from a video demo, you should also be sharing that content via TikTok to maximize your online visibility.

As search habits become more fragmented, brands will need to invest in their Google SEO but also their TikTok SEO as well. Creating a more holistic SEO strategy is the best way to gain more visibility as search preferences continue to diversify.

🧰 THE TOOLKIT

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ANALYTICS

👀 Reduce CPM Costs and Improve Meta Ads ROI

This week the Pilothouse Meta team shares their insights on improving CPMs for your Meta Ads.

Having a cost-effective CPM is important for your campaigns so you’re getting the most out of your ad dollars. 💰

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What’s the difference between CPM and CPC?

While advertisers on Google are charged per click (CPC) or engagement, Meta Ads use a CPM Cost-Per-Thousand Impressions) model, where advertisers are billed based on the number of impressions or views their ads receive per thousand.

Becoming familiar with metrics like CPC and CPM allow you to keep your costs down while scaling your ad campaigns.

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Try these tactics to improve the cost-effectiveness of CPM:

• Create Meta ads that resonate with your audience to improve click-through rates (CTR).
• Manage ad frequency to avoid ad fatigue and maintain engagement.
• Conduct regular A/B testing to refine top-performing ads – iterate on your top-performing ads instead of always creating brand-new angles.
• Optimize landing pages for a positive user experience and relevance to ad content with strong CTAs
• Balance audience size to avoid being overly specific or broad.

Essentially, when you get CPCs and CPMs down, you can push more budget behind the ads and unlock more profitable scaling. Try these tactics and let us know how it goes!

TL;DR — If you don’t have the time or capacity to really sink your teeth into making your Meta performance the best it can be, reach out.

📰 NEWS

• TikTok launches a “reimagined” app for Apple Vision Pro for a more immersive experience.
• Liquid Death introduces a new product called Death Dust, an electrolyte powder mix.
• Google confirms they will repay advertisers with credits after last year’s glitch.

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🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE

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Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• 🔗 Ezra Firestone on Proactive SEO and Brand Acquisitions
• 📈 AKNF 377: Spilling our Performance Max Google Ad Secrets
• ⭐ Niclas Bornling on the Art of Brand Storytelling
• 🚀 AKNF 375: ‘The Three W’s’ of Email CTR
• 🥟 Eric Ji Sun Wu’s Entrepreneurial Journey with Sobo Foods
• 💗 AKNF 373: The Art of Valentine’s Day Advertising

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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

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