Which Are More Effective: Native or Repurposed TikTok Ads?

Native TikTok ads created exclusively for the platform, whereas repurposed ads are created for broadcast or streaming services and modified for TikTok distribution. Both work, according to a new study by Magna Global commissioned in partnership with TikTok. The study found that both types of ads drove positive brand favorability up by 8%, purchase intent by 6% and search intent by 7%, but noted that the two types of ads are perceived very differently by consumers and require unique considerations to amplify effectiveness.

Native TikTok ads drove purchase intent up 6% in the beauty metric and search intent up 6% in the entertainment metric, along with yielding a 7% jump in positive brand perceptions such as “interesting” and “fun” in both of those metrics. Meanwhile, repurposed ads jacked up key performance indicators such as memorability (up 37%) and brand perceptions including “relevance” (25%) and “creativity” (24%).

The study says that native ads that look and feel like TikTok content were particularly effective in casting a wide audience net, with potential new customers viewing them for 27% longer than average, boosting intent to search for the brand by 7%. It also shared specific guardrails for both types of ads on the video creation platform:

Authenticity is key for native ads

In order to optimize the power of TikTok native ads, brands should focus on promoting authenticity through their messaging. Inauthentic ads negatively impact the brand and are 19% less effective in driving purchase intent. When it comes to ad production, high production quality is not a necessity for native ads; instead, creators and brands should focus on embracing TikTok effects (e.g., transitions, music, voiceovers, etc.) on the platform.

New customer appeal

Not only did non-past brand purchasers watch native ads for a longer period of time, but these ads also prompted them to view these brands as being more creative and fun, regard them more favorably and be more likely to search them up later. For example, there was an 8% increase in perceiving a brand as fun after seeing its native ad for non-purchasers vs. prior customers, who registered a 4% lift.

Entertain and story tell with repurposed:

The strongest driver of impact for repurposed ads is creative storytelling. When good storytelling and creative quality are not leveraged, there is potential for significant loss in key metrics. As part of best practices, repurposed ads should be reformatted to fit the vertical orientation of the TikTok feed. Reformatting repurposed ads to vertical orientation increases purchase intent (+8%), as well as brand perceptions such as “relevant” (+7%) and “creative” (+3%).

The findings from this study clearly show that building assets for TikTok is the most effective, but also shows that when you get repurposed ads right, they can also be effective. This study brings brand new guidance on how to think about native versus repurposed ads, and also shows us something that is new in our learning agenda: how TikTok can also drive search intent.