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Unlocking the TikTok Ad Library: 9 Creative Strategies for Awesome Ads

Unlocking the TikTok Ad Library: 9 Creative Strategies for Awesome Ads

Discover how to harness the TikTok Ad Library for standout campaigns. Dive into top strategies, competitor insights, and creative tips for powerful ads.

Sep 20, 2023
12 min read
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George Howes
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9 Ways To Use The TikTok Ad Library to Make Captivating Ads

The TikTok Ad Library was introduced to enhance advertising transparency, focusing on political and issue-based ads. However, its uses have extended far beyond that, serving as an excellent resource for businesses and advertisers. With 90% of TikTok users accessing the app daily, it's become a prime advertising platform to engage a vast audience.

Nestled within the TikTok Creative Center, the TikTok ad library serves as a treasure chest of ideas, content, and unique insights. By exploring the TikTok ad library tool, users gain access to:

  1. Ads from thousands of advertisers, stretching across almost 60 countries and regions.
  2. Ad metrics such as the number of likes, comments, and CTR.
  3. Other details like which time frames of an ad performed best, searched keywords & hashtags, marketing objectives, etc.
  4. Music and sound trends approved for commercial use by TikTok.

Considering TikTok's impressive reach with over 1 billion monthly active users, advertisers, every day, use this extensive ad data to create irresistible ads. But to really utilize the TikTok Ad library, you'll need to know how to harness its potential.

Below are 9 creative ways to use the TikTok ad creative library to make truly awe-inspiring ads: 

  1. Gather Inspiration from Top Ads

You understand your product, know your target audience’s tastes, and even have the resources to create outstanding ad content. But when it comes to sparking ideas that drive action, you're stumped.


That’s where the TikTok Top Ads Library comes in, offering a gallery of the most engaging TikTok ads. If you're especially keen on understanding the U.S. market dynamics, the TikTok Ad Library USA can be a pivotal resource.

Let’s pretend you’re a travel agency looking for ideas to promote your latest product:

  1. Start by establishing your criteria by filtering your country, industry, objective (Traffic, App Installs, Leads, etc), and so on. 
  2. We've chosen 'Travel Agencies & Services' since we’re focusing on travel promotions. 
  3. Alternatively, you can use the tiktok ad library search bar to find the brand you’re looking for. 

  1. We've also chosen 'Conversions' as our primary objective and prioritized ads that rank in the top 21-40% for likes.

  1. Click enter, and you’ll get a list of all top-performing ads that match your selected criteria.

With your ads all in one place, start looking into each advert’s creative components. You can check things out like:

  • Their camera angles, transitions and filters.
  • Type of music or sound effects used.
  • Their pacing and duration, i.e. do they slowly build up the hype or cut straight to the chase?
  • CTA (Call-to-action) phrases and when they're placed in the ad.
  • Use of text overlays and captions.
  • Color schemes and branding 
  • Statements or storytelling elements that trigger specific emotions. 
  • The use of influencers or recognizable faces and so on. 

When you know what to look for, you can compile what works. Of course, you shouldn't copy these ads verbatim. Instead, try putting your own spin on things to create something new, exciting and original.

2. Analyzing Competitor Ad Strategies

Imagine it’s your first time and you’re experimenting with TikTok ads. While you could wing it, understanding the best ad practices in your industry is more productive. One way to do this is finding out what your top competitors are up too:

  1. First, repeat the process above by filtering your list of ads by industry, marketing objective, ad format and so on. 

  1. Alternatively, you can type a specific company name or brand using the TikTok ad library search bar.

  1. With a list of competitors, click on 'See analytics' for more details about their campaign's performance. You can then analyze your competitor’s ad creative and strategy, and start incorporating what they do well.

Remember that the TikTok Ad Library is constantly updating - so, recheck it regularly for new competitor ads that could give you fresh insights. 

3. Compare Stats

We may not like it, but stats matter. They indicate how well your ad performs as you'll have benchmarks to compare it to. Of course, they’re just one piece of the puzzle, but it's a significant one. 

  1. Using the TikTok Ad Creative Library, click on 'See Analytics' to pull up ad metrics from similar ads or industry competitors. From there, you can view:

Engagement rates: The number of likes, comments, and shares. Learn where you stack up against your competitors.

Cost per click (CPC): The cost of getting users to click through your ad. The lower you can get this, the better. This ad is rocking the top 1% in CTR, which suggests they're nailing their targeting, creative, and then some. In short, their TikTok ad game is strong!

Under 'Creative Summary', you'll discover:

  • Most favorited: This indicates viewers love the brand's video content, and it's among the very best among top performers.
  • Keyword Insights: Keywords that this ad is trending for. In this case, you can use keywords like 'cruise tickets', 'flight ticket', and 'flight ticket'. 

  1. Lastly, we have 'Interactive time analysis', which highlights the specific moments in the video that grab the most attention or drive actions. 

For this video, the "highlight frames" that excel in CTR are 1, 11, and 14 seconds. These are the video’s golden moments that viewers clicked on the most. 

You can also check which video frames generated the most CVR (conversion rate), the number of clicks the ad received, and more. Use this information to fine-tune your ad and ensure it reaches the right audience.

4. Save Cool Ads

If you have multiple businesses or a diverse product line, it's easy to lose track of your ad campaigns. That's why it helps to save ads and build collections for future reference. 

For example, a clothing brand can create ad garment collections for Men, Women, and Kids. During the ad creative process, they can refer to that specific collection to ensure consistency and alignment with the target audience.

To add an advert from the TikTok Ad Library to your Collections, follow these steps:

  1. Click on your preferred TikTok Ad, then select 'Save' on the top right-hand side.

  1. Click 'Add' in your ‘Saved ads’ folder.

  1. Alternatively, you can create a new collection to save your ad. 

  1. Another way to save your favorite TikTok ads is to use the MagicBrief Chrome Extension. After downloading the extension, you can instantly save ads by clicking on 'Save to My Ads' and adding it to one of your collections.

The ad will then be saved into our comprehensive, all-in-one advertising library, which stores ads from TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. You can then build and view your collections and create unique, powerful ads from there. 

5. Find Music for Ads that Are Commercially Approved

Unfortunately, you can only use commercially approved music for TikTok in your ads. This means that even if you adore the Black Eyed Peas or Taylor Swift, their songs might be off-limits for your ads. 

The Commercial Music Library helps users find commercially approved ad music without worrying about copyright infringement.

  1. To do so, head to the menu, select 'Creative Tools' then choose 'Commercial Music Library'. 

  1. You can dive into tunes aligning with TikTok's guidelines and elevate your ad game.

 

Discover Trending Songs

Sometimes, a soundtrack can make or break an ad. We mean it. The right music can evoke emotions and create an atmosphere. And if yours isn't producing the right feels, you may have to switch it up.

One thing you can do is to find trending songs that fit your ad. Trending songs mean that people are more likely to recognize them and engage with your content.

 

  1. To access trending songs, select 'Trends' from the TikTok Creative Centre menu and click on 'Songs'. 

  1. You'll want to click 'Approved for business use' since your ads can only use music that is commercially acceptable. 

  1. Check between 'Popular' and 'Breakout' to see what’s widely recognized, and up-and-coming. While breakout songs aren’t as well-known, they offer a fresh and innovative sound that can make your ad stand out.

  1. When browsing for songs, check their analytics to see their performance over your specified time period.

You can also see their predominant audience age ranges and popularity by region. For this song, we can see that 63% of its listeners were aged between 18-24 in Belarus. You may have just found your next soundtrack if your audience is in this range! 

Once you've chosen the perfect soundtrack for your ad, it's time to decide how you want it incorporated. Do you want to use the whole song in the ad or just a snippet? Also consider your ad’s duration and pacing. If it's short, a catchy snippet can work. On the other hand, for longer content, using a more extended portion or even the entire song can help maintain viewer engagement.

6. Find Top Keywords in Your Industry

TikTok users type keywords when searching for content, much like when you look for something on Google. By using relevant keywords in your ad, audiences can easily find it when searching for related content. 

You can use the TikTok Ad Library's keyword insights feature to get the right keywords to reveal what your competitors are using in their ads. 

To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Go to 'Inspiration' in the menu, and select 'Keyword Insights

  1. Filter keywords by country, industry, objective and keyword type. 

  1. Under 'Keyword Type' you can choose your keyword's category or theme. This narrows down your search and reveals keywords that best fit your ad's goal. For example, if you select 'Pain points', you'll get keywords that address specific challenges or problems your target audience might face.

  1. In this example, we want to find pain point keywords for the 'Beauty and Personal Care industry.'

  1. You'll then get a list of all keywords related to that theme, i.e wrinkles, acne, dark spots, etc., along with how popular the keyword is and their respective CTRs.

  1. Click on 'Details' to the right of the keyword to view example sentences showing how the keyword was used. You can also view related keywords and hashtags that can enhance user search relevance of your ads. 

7. Use Highly Engaging Hashtags 

Hashtags help put your content in front of the right audience. The TikTok Creative Center offers the most popular hashtags for you, saving you from researching them yourself. 

  1. To find top-performing TikTok Hashtags, go to 'Trends' > 'Hashtags'

  1. You can then filter your hashtags by country, industry and date. Or, you can search for a hashtag using their search bar. 

  1. For a closer look, select 'See Analytics'.

  1. You can then see how many posts and views your chosen hashtag has had in your designated time and its interest over time. #schoolsupplies, for example, has seen a downturn in interest, as shown below:

Scroll down to see its popularity by region, age, and related interests. Like keywords, you want to use industry-relevant hashtags that your target audience will engage with. 

8. Find Popular Products that Resonate with TikTokers

The Top Products page is a curated product list that Tiktokers like. This information can be used to enhance your own sales and marketing strategy and ad creative. 

Let's act as a pet supplies business who wants to know which pet products resonate best with TikTok users:

  1. Start by going to 'Inspiration' > 'Top Products'

  1. Filter products by country, industry and date. In this example, we'll use all products related to pet supplies. However, you can be far more specific if need be.

  1. You can now see the best-performing products are ‘Collars, Harnesses & Leads’, ‘Feeding Supplies’ and ‘Combs & Brushes’. Each also comes with metrics, CTR, CVR, etc., to help assess their performance. 

  1. To learn more, click on 'Details'. 

  1. You'll then get a complete product performance overview, including popularity, impressions, likes, shares, and comments. In March 2023, for the United States, "Collars, Harnesses & Leads" had a popularity score of 494, a CTR of 0.59%, and garnered 26M impressions. 

  1. This data, combined with related interests and hashtags like #dogsoftiktok and #dogs, gives you insight into what kind of pet-related products perform well on TikTok. 

  1. Check 'Audience Insights' to understand the primary age range and interests of viewers engaging with your hashtag.

9. Enhance Your TikTok Ad Strategy with MagicBrief 

While the TikTok Ad Library offers a plethora of insights, MagicBrief serves as a complementary tool to streamline and enhance your ad creation process.

Ad Curation: With the MagicBrief Chrome extension, you can effortlessly curate ads from TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. This allows you to have a broader perspective on ad trends across different platforms.

Storyboard Creation: MagicBrief's 'Storyboard' feature lets you transform ads into visually engaging storyboards, allowing you to create compelling narratives.

Collaborative Planning: The 'Brief' function, meanwhile, facilitates collaborative campaign planning, allowing your team to draft detailed briefs, ensuring everyone is aligned and can swiftly bring an ad campaign to fruition.

By integrating the insights from the TikTok Ad Library with MagicBrief’s features, advertisers can craft more effective and engaging TikTok ads. Register today and use MagicBrief to create captivating ads on TikTok! 

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I access the TikTok ad library?

To access the TikTok ad library, log in with your email address to the TikTok Creative Centre. Go to 'Inspiration' from the menu, then click 'Top Ads Dashboard'. You can now use the TikTok ad library to search for industry or country-specific ads and explore trending ads for inspiration.

How do I download videos from the TikTok library?

While TikTok doesn't allow direct downloads from their library, you can use our MagicBrief Chrome Extension to download videos with just one click. 

  1. Start by installing our extension
  2. Afterwards, find and save your ad from the TikTok ad library. It will then be stored into your MagicBrief ad library or collection. 

You can then download ad creative onto your device by doing the following:

  1. From your ad library, find your preferred ad and click on the three-dotted icon > 'Ad Details'.

  1. Click on 'Download Media' on the page's right-hand side.

  1. Your ad's creative media will be downloaded onto your device as a zipped file.
  2. Unzip and open the file folder to access your creative media!

What is the purpose of the TikTok Ad Library?

The TikTok Ad Library is a public resource that offers a comprehensive look at the running ads on TikTok. Due to the growing pressure from users and regulators, it was launched as an advertising transparency initiative that provided details for online ads. Ads on the library include information about the advertiser, whether their budget was high or low, and overall metric performance. 

Of course, for businesses and advertisers, it gained traction as a rich repository of performance data and insights. Infact, ad campaign data is still used today to develop targeted and engaging campaigns, explore trending content, or study the competitor landscape. 

What types of ads are available through the TikTok Ad Library?

TikTok Ad Library offers two primary ad formats: Spark and Non-Spark ads. 

Spark ads utilize native TikTok content, either from an advertiser's own posts or from other creators with proper authorization. They blend seamlessly with organic content, offering an authentic feel. 

'Non-Spark ads', meanwhile, are TikTok in-feed ads. Unlike Spark ads, ad engagements aren't attributed to the original organic post. This gives advertisers a choice between a more integrated or traditional advertising approach on the platform.

How much does it cost to use the TikTok ad Library?

The good news is that using the TikTok Ad Library is free! This means anyone can access the wealth of data it offers and use it to craft an effective advertising strategy.

While you can see top-performing ads without an account, you'll need to log in to see all available ads. But don't worry; creating an account is free and easy.