Analysis of Tik Tok media advertising in Q1 2020!

Douyin’s DAU has exceeded 400 million, a 60% increase from 250 million in the same period last year, showing that its growth momentum remains strong. As of January this year, the gender ratio of Douyin users has tended to be balanced, with 61% of users being young people under the age of 35, a decrease compared to last year. Since last year, Douyin has begun to expand its market to third- and fourth-tier cities and below. In January this year, the proportion of users in first- and second-tier cities dropped to 39% (in July 2018, the proportion was over 50%), which shows that Douyin is gradually conquering the sinking market.

Tik Tok remains an indispensable entertainment destination in people’s daily lives, and it is also a product marketing hub for advertisers. Based on the mobile advertising intelligence of Douyin tracked during Q1 (January 1st - March 25th), App Growing analyzes it from aspects such as advertising overview, App promotion rankings, hot industry advertising creative materials, Douyin store direct e-commerce intelligence, and key function updates , hoping to provide reference and reference for advertisers to place Douyin media.

01 Which industries are hot on Douyin, and what are the characteristics of advertising copy and material formats?

1-1 Douyin games, skin care and beauty, and cultural entertainment account for the majority of investment, while Kuaishou's comprehensive e-commerce has a good momentum

Judging from the distribution of advertisement numbers in key industries of Tik Tok and Kuaishou in Q1, games are the top industries for both companies, and the changing trends are consistent, reaching peaks of 36.79% and 32.20% respectively in February.

As the epidemic situation improves, work and production are gradually returning to normal, and the focus of industry investment has also begun to change. In March, the investment in the gaming industry declined significantly, while skin care and beauty, clothing, shoes and bags took the upper hand . Secondly, the education and training, and comprehensive e-commerce industries also had strong investment in Douyin and Kuaishou.

1-2 More than 80% of advertisements are in the form of vertical videos

Vertical video materials account for as much as 81.26% of Douyin’s content, a slight decrease from 89.97% in Q4 last year.

02 In App delivery, which styles/categories are more popular, and which top advertisers are competing for the volume?

2-1 Simulation game ads dominate the market, while reading apps gain momentum

In the advertising of game apps, the number of simulation game ads accounted for as high as 24.82%, which is more than twice that of legendary games (10.07%). Further investigation found that due to the crazy sales of online money-making games in Q1, such as "Sunshine Pig Farm", the number of simulation game ads dominated.

During Q1, the “stay-at-home economy” exploded, and entertainment apps such as novels and comics also achieved good conversions. Advertisers of novels and comics took advantage of the opportunity to increase their promotion efforts.

2-2 4 novel reading apps made the list

Based on the mobile advertising intelligence tracked by App Growing during Q1, we further sorted out the top 10 games and non-game apps with the most advertising on TikTok media during the period as follows.

Xigua Video, Changdu Novels and Qimao Free Novels were the key app advertisers on Douyin Media during Q1. The top 10 non-game apps were mostly short video, reading and shopping apps , and 4 novel reading apps were included in the list.

The top mobile games are mainly casual and legendary . The online money-making mobile game "Sunshine Pig Farm" is sweeping the market like crazy, and the investment in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Strategy Edition" and "Stick Fight" is still strong.

03 What are the characteristics of Douyin advertising creative materials?

Are there any special tricks for creative video ads on TikTok? The following shows the word cloud chart of the hot investment industries in Q1, and focuses on analyzing the video advertising material routines in the two major industries of games and skin care and beauty .

3-1 Q1 Douyin media head industry word cloud chart

We selected the advertising copy of the industries that Tik Tok Media focused on in Q1 and sorted out the relevant word clouds as follows.

3-2 Analysis of creative routines of Douyin’s popular industry advertisements

1) Inventory of creative advertising in the mobile game industry: diverse and creative

The creative advertising methods in the mobile game industry are quite diverse, and different mobile game styles use different methods. The following focuses on analyzing several typical creative materials.

【Small fresh creativity】

Mostly used in mobile games with exquisite painting styles

① Exquisite character collection + popular BGM on Tik Tok, showing character portraits

Close-up clips of key characters’ eyes, paired with TikTok’s popular background music, are both eye-catching and allow users to feel the exquisiteness of the game’s graphics and the richness of the characters .

② Storyline introduction + CP hype, hit the hearts of female players

Female users account for nearly half of TikTok users, and many games with exquisite graphics have also produced advertising ideas that cater to female preferences. This type of advertising creativity usually shows the beginning of the plot such as the first acquaintance of the game characters, coupled with a fresh BGM , to attract users to click to download to learn about the subsequent plot and increase conversion rate.

【Real-life exaggerated and funny creative】

Most of them emphasize high explosion rate and no recharge selling point mobile games

① Plots where players’ requests are rejected

Recently, many players have gone directly to the game company to report to the boss that they cannot pass the game, and asked to recharge to upgrade their skills but were rejected. The boss disguisedly implanted creative advertising plots with selling points such as no krypton gold and high explosion rate in the game, introduced the real-life plot in the early stage, and inserted advertisements when the conflict is about to intensify , in order to increase user click-through rate.

② Live-action cosplay of mobile game characters

Mobile games such as card games can adopt this type of advertising creativity, which often features good-looking young ladies cosplaying as key female characters in mobile games. The creative content of the ads can be exaggerated or funny. For example, the plot of the ad below is that the coser is the girlfriend of the male player, which triggers a subsequent funny plot. (Click on the game advertising material collection below to watch the full story)

【Creative ideas for game commentary】

Most of them are plot-based and strategy-based mobile games

A certain material of "Fantasy Westward Journey" explains the game process from another fresh and unique perspective, telling the story of the game character Swordsman's private money being discovered and how he fought back. It is fascinating and the angle is tricky, allowing players to carefully experience the game process without realizing it, and attracting them to download and try it out.

On the other hand, "Rate of Kingdoms" uses a male narrator "I became a disaster due to my beauty, and thousands of men fought for me", which arouses the user's curiosity and makes them continue to learn more unconsciously, and then implants the game with magnificent and magnificent pictures of the army to enhance the visual impact.

A collection of popular game video ads on the aforementioned Tik Tok media:

A collection of popular game video ads on the aforementioned Tik Tok media:

4-2 Inventory of creative ideas in the skin care and beauty industry

Advertising ideas in the skin care and beauty industry mostly use real-life filming and explanations , and rarely use drama-based advertising ideas.

① Beauty products mostly use real-person color testing creativity

A beautiful young lady tries out each color of mascara one by one, showing the makeup effects of different colors and the comparison of eye makeup effects before and after use, which can be salty or sweet to attract users to buy.

② Acne and freckle removal and hair removal products mostly use professional doctors to explain the creativity

Since these three types of products act directly on the surface of the skin, users will be relatively more concerned about the safety and effectiveness of the products. Therefore, these products will more often use advertising ideas in which professional doctors explain relevant medical knowledge , which can not only allow users to better understand their skin condition, but also demonstrate their own professionalism.

③ Weight loss products recently prefer to use real-life fictional plot ideas

In the past, weight loss products have emphasized the comparison between before and after effects, but recently the advertising creativity of a certain weight loss product has integrated the life experiences of fat girls, which has resonated with the audience and awakened girls' love of beauty. The advertisement also focuses on emphasizing the safety and authority of the drug to further allay user concerns.

A collection of the popular skin care and beauty video ads on the above Tik Tok media:

04 Which products on Douyin are worth paying attention to? Which products are selling well?

We have compiled the sales intelligence related to Douyin Stores tracked from January 1 to March 24, hoping to provide some reference for advertisers.

4-1 New product category distribution: Clothing, shoes and bags are the most popular, accounting for more than 30%

In terms of the category distribution of new products, the proportion of clothing, shoes and bags has slightly decreased compared with Q4 2019, but is still over 30% , while the proportion of daily necessities has slightly increased , from 9.6% in Q4 to the current 11.7%.

4-2 Pricing range analysis: The overall commodity prices have increased slightly, and the proportion of commodities priced above 400 yuan has increased significantly

The lowest price of different products on the landing page is extracted as the price of the product, and the number of products in the corresponding price range is counted as follows.

Compared with Q4 2019, the overall pricing range of Douyin store products in Q1 2020 was slightly different. The proportion of products in the key pricing ranges (50-100 yuan) and (100-150 yuan) decreased, while the pricing range of products above 200 yuan , especially above 400 yuan , increased significantly. As users gradually understand and accept the direct-operated e-commerce model, higher-priced products are also beginning to attract more attention.

The pricing ranges of goods in different categories are further sorted out as follows: 40% of goods in the clothing, shoes and bags category are priced between 50 and 100 yuan , 76.7% of goods in daily necessities are priced within 50 yuan , and the pricing range of goods in the catering and food category is mainly within 100 yuan . Home furnishing products are mainly various types of booster faucets, universal wrenches, shower heads and other items, and the lowest unit price of the products is mostly within the range of 50 yuan .

4-3 Inventory of hot-selling items from January to March

Based on the tracked sales data, App Growing compiled the top 10 best-selling items in Douyin stores from January to March as follows.

In the past three months, apples, books, storage boxes, and washing machine cleaners have all occupied the top 10 product rankings on the Douyin store channel. The performance of fruit products is relatively stable , with at least 3 products ranking among the top best-selling products every month.

In addition to regular advertising, recommendations from Douyin influencers are also a major way to promote products in Douyin stores.

For example, a type of Guifei mango that is popular in Douyin stores has maintained a pace of more than 8 recommendations from influencers every day for nearly a month, covering various Douyin accounts such as orchards, fruit stores, and fruit wholesalers.

Figure: CCSight official website - product analysis details page - expert analysis

In terms of creative recommendations from experts, fruit farmers are the main characters, and it is most common to introduce creative recommendations for mangoes through relevant conversations or self-narration in various orchard scenes.

Figure: CCSight official website - product analysis details page - related video list page

It is worth mentioning that Douyin released an announcement in February regarding the adjustment of fresh food category screening, and merchants in the fresh food category also need to pay more attention when promoting. It is recommended to rectify or avoid the following fresh food contents to reduce unnecessary losses.

① Using the idea of ​​poor peasants playing the victim or other fabricated plots to deceive sympathy and sell inferior goods

② Destructive displays: such as violent destruction of fruit trees, crops, etc.

③ Gaining sympathy by using special identities (age/region/occupation)

④ Malicious attention-seeking and meaningless solicitation of likes

05TikTok function updates and policy adjustments

5-1 Douyin launched a voice live streaming social networking section, entering the social networking field again

Internal beta application channel: Open TikTok and click [Me] - click [≡] in the upper right corner - enter [Settings] - click [Feedback and Help] - click [I want to join TikTok internal beta/I want to make suggestions] - click [I want to join TikTok internal beta] - click [Click to join now] - click [TikTok internal beta]

5-2 Added [Tutorial] entry, covering two parts: basic functions and popular gameplay

View channel: Click on Douyin [+] - slide to the far left - and you can see [Tutorial]

5-3 The showcase function introduces a level mechanism, with different levels enjoying different permissions. This system is limited to the author who has the permission to share the product

View channel: [Personal level logo] is displayed below the nickname in the product window - click [Personal level logo] to view the rights and interests of the current level, level overview data, and detailed level data for this week

5-4 Open new tool [Group Purchase]

After the company activates the group function, it can allow users to purchase group purchase coupons (in the form of payment coupons/coupon codes) online and scan the code to redeem them offline. It also supports users to purchase group purchase goods (mostly physical goods) online and have them delivered to their homes by express delivery.

5-5 Adjustment of sharing policy for cosmetics and fresh food products

In January and February, Douyin successively released announcements stating that it would further screen cosmetics and fresh food products and eliminate low-quality products. The introduction of this policy by Douyin will help provide users with a better shopping experience and build a healthy trading environment for the platform.

5-6 Online business is open all the time, support plan for small and medium-sized enterprises

During the epidemic, we launched welfare policies such as free certification of corporate accounts, free adoption of Douyin stores, 300 million platform traffic support, and technical service fees as low as 1% to support small and medium-sized enterprises.

Author: App Growing

Source: App Growing