TikTok ads for apps: what the format demands that other channels do not

Every channel has rules. TikTok's are the most different from what app marketers are used to, and the ads that ignore them are easy to spot: polished, silent, and scrolled past.

It should look filmed, not produced

Studio lighting, motion graphics and brand fonts signal "ad" within a frame, and the feed is trained to skip ads. Phone footage, a real voice, a slightly imperfect take: these signal "person", and people watch people. This does not mean careless. It means the polish goes into the idea, not the gloss.

Sound is on

Unlike most feeds, TikTok plays with sound. The voice is half the ad. A person explaining why they recorded their own voice for their child's bedtime stories carries the entire message; the visuals just prove it. Write the ad as something said, then film it.

The hook is one second

Three seconds is generous here. The first frame and the first spoken words must contain the hook: the surprising claim, the relatable problem, the result on screen. "I stopped reading bedtime stories. Here's what I do instead." The explanation comes after the hook has bought the next five seconds.

Creatives burn out

A creative that works on TikTok works for a shorter time than elsewhere; the feed shows it to the same people quickly and they tire of it. Plan for a steady supply: several new variants a week built from the hooks that worked, not one hero video for a quarter.

Land it properly

A person who tapped because of a specific hook should land on a product page whose first screenshot continues that hook. Custom product pages make this possible on the App Store. Sending TikTok traffic to the default page is the most common leak we see in otherwise good accounts.

Measure past the install

TikTok installs are often cheap and convert to trials at a different rate than search traffic. Judge the channel on cost per trial and first renewal by creative, and be ready for the answer that the cheapest installs are not the cheapest customers.