How should brands measure the effectiveness of advertising on TikTok?

Short videos have become popular, and a question that has arisen that bothers brand owners is how brands should measure the effectiveness of advertising on short video social platforms?

Recently, the editor observed that Douyin , which is at the center of controversy, quietly launched the "effective interaction rate" indicator, which attracted the attention and discussion of many people in the industry: Why would Douyin launch this indicator at this stage? How is the effective interaction rate calculated and why does Tik Tok calculate it this way? What is the value of this indicator to the industry?

This article intends to start from the "effective interaction rate" indicator launched by Douyin, and discuss some related issues on the evaluation of advertising effectiveness on short video social platforms, and what kind of effect measurement standards the industry will need in the future.

1

Why does Tik Tok have other related indicators besides external link clicks, playbacks, etc.?

Launching the “effective interaction rate” indicator?

The effectiveness evaluation and measurement standards of media advertising value is a very important topic for both advertisers and advertising media themselves. From the advertiser's perspective, such indicators can help them see the marketing effect of each campaign and the industry level more directly and quickly. From the media's perspective, such indicators are an important part of the media's business ecology. Only when the media establishes an effective, systematic and standardized effect evaluation system can advertisers feel more confident in placing advertisements .

Specifically in the short video social media industry, a senior operator pointed out that advertising effectiveness is generally evaluated from three dimensions: interaction, clicks and playbacks. Among them, interaction is the most prominent feature of social media, and the interaction rate indicator is the most valuable reference data for measuring the interactive effect of advertising on social media.

It is understood that in the past, the advertising interaction data provided by Douyin to brand owners mainly included likes, reposts, comments, etc. Although the data is abundant and complete, further analysis is needed to know the advertising interaction effects reflected behind these data. In other words, among the three major evaluation indicators of social advertising effectiveness, Douyin already has indicators such as exposure, clicks, and playbacks, but it is actually missing the indicator of "interactive effect".

Therefore, Douyin launched the "effective interaction rate" indicator most likely to solve this problem. It integrates the interaction data to form a professional evaluation indicator system, which can not only help brand owners on the Douyin platform to more conveniently see the advertising effect and industry standards, but also benefit the next step of Douyin's commercial product development.

The editor speculates that the launch of this indicator is to pave the way for large-scale cooperation in Douyin's native information flow advertising . More marketing products such as brand accounts may be launched in the future to facilitate long-term interaction between brands and users.

2

How is the “Effective Interaction Rate” metric calculated?

Why does Tik Tok calculate this way?

The calculation formula of Douyin's "effective interaction rate" indicator is as follows:

[Tik Tok effective interaction rate] formula: effective interaction rate = UV with ad interaction / UV exposed to ad

There have been interactive behaviors on advertisements, including: liking, commenting, forwarding, following, entering the homepage, viewing related music, clicking on topics , etc.

Combined with the data of the original information flow advertising effect of " Tmall 38 Queen's Day", we can find that the calculation method of Douyin's "effective interaction rate index" has three distinct characteristics:

• UV data is used in both interactive behavior and ad exposure, reflecting the proportion of people participating in the interaction;
• In terms of interactive behavior statistics, there are interactive behaviors such as music and challenge topics that can directly stimulate user participation, which is a unique feature of Douyin;
• The three major evaluation indicators of Douyin advertising effectiveness, basic indicators, playback indicators, and interaction indicators are mutually exclusive and there is no duplication of calculations.

The unique calculation method of "effective interaction rate" actually fits the characteristics of high activity, high stickiness and deep interaction of Douyin platform users.

On the one hand, Tik Tok is naturally presented in a full vertical screen format, which can bring users a more immersive viewing experience. The video content occupies the entire screen of the phone, with richer information, a more focused perspective, and more prominent emphasis. The possibility of users being distracted is also lower, and it can also narrow the distance between users, allowing users to interact with video content more naturally and smoothly, stimulating user participation.

On the other hand, Douyin is a relatively decentralized and flat social platform, and the communication path does not have so many levels. The emergence of hot topics often involves the active participation of many people, and through the interactive participation of multiple interest groups , it ferments into a larger social topic. Therefore, the spread of short videos on Douyin has a deeper impact on users, especially in niche vertical categories, where in-depth dissemination is better.

The same is true at the brand marketing level. On the Douyin platform, the relationship between users and brands is not just about watching and being watched, but a deeper interactive model. In a full vertical screen environment, brands and users can get closer and closer, feel more intimate, and have a stronger interactive atmosphere. In addition, brands can directly place native information flow ads, initiate topic challenges, and interact with users. Compared with the past where users saw the ad, clicked into the landing page , and then interacted, Douyin's conversion path is more forward-looking, and the communication path between brand advertising and users' "reach-interest-interaction-action" is shorter.

Therefore, Douyin chose to use the UV statistical method for its "effective interaction rate", and the three indicators are completely mutually exclusive and there is no repeated calculation. It is very likely that this is based on the social advantages of its own platform and truly reflects the impact of advertising on each independent person and the depth of interaction.

3

What is the value of the “effective interaction rate indicator” to the industry?

Media 360 also interviewed some people in the industry about the significance of Douyin’s launch of the “effective interaction rate index” to the industry.

A certain brand owner believes that if short video social platforms can have clear and effective monitoring and reflect reach, interaction and conversion through indexes, this will be helpful and instructive for brand customers' advertising behavior, budget allocation and delivery preferences, etc.

An industry insider from a third-party platform analyzed that the introduction of the effective interaction rate indicator is an exploratory step towards measuring the advertising effectiveness of the short video social industry. It will help promote the continuous improvement of the data infrastructure and standards of this emerging industry, and jointly expand and strengthen the commercial market of this industry. For the entire social industry, Douyin has proposed a new way of thinking in the calculation of the interaction rate indicator. More diversified voices can trigger a great discussion in the industry about what kind of calculation is truly scientific.

Another senior media person pointed out that advertisers nowadays are not stupid. Retweets, comments and likes are all subject to human intervention, and what they really care about is conversion.

Last words: In summary, the calculation formula for the interaction rate indicator is mainly derived based on platform characteristics. To a certain extent, it can reflect the advertising value behind this platform. Analyzing the value behind the data and applying it to brand marketing is what is worthy of research and analysis by the industry. In the view of Media 360, the outstanding features of Douyin advertising, namely higher immersion and stronger interaction rate, require brand owners to plan their advertising in a more strategic and targeted manner, and even co-create with the Douyin platform to jointly stimulate the unique creativity and explosive power of this platform.

This article was compiled and published by @传媒360 (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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