Fix your failing TikTok Ads
Howdy readers đ„°
In this newsletter you will find:
đȘ Fix your failing TikTok Ads
đ§ Email Marketing Insights for 2025
đAd of the Day
If youâre new to ScaleUP, then a hearty welcome! Youâve reached the right place, along with 50k+ CEOs, CMOS, and marketers. Letâs get into it, shall we? Oh! Before you forget, if someone forwarded this newsletter to you, don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss out!
Together with Insense
Save $500 + get UGC ads for Q5 within 14 days
UGC videos are high converters for Q5 because they influence purchase decisions.
Leading eComm brands have a way of using UGC content across all their organic and paid marketing channels; from their own brandâs social media to their website, their email campaigns, and their paid social ads.
But get this: The #1 pain point for marketers is having the manpower to find, communicate, and manage collaborations with influencers - especially during Q4.
Insense is the leading platform for UGC and influencer campaigns, used by 2,000+ major eCommerce brands like:
- Nurture Life â Streamlined their UGC content flow with a single team member, reducing their turnaround time from 2 months to 2 weeks, while significantly decreasing CAC
- Solawave â Received 180+ assets at $0 cost through product seeding at scale
- Particle for Men â Achieved up to 2x ROAS using Meta whitelisted ads with creators sourced from the marketplace
Through Insense a single marketer can manage multiple campaigns to scale UGC sourcing, or you can opt for their managed service plan and receive up to 18 ready-to-use UGC ads within 14 days.
Book a free no-commitment strategy call and save $500 when you purchase a 4-month plan.
đȘ Fix your failing TikTok Ads
TikTok isnât just another platformâitâs a cultural phenomenon. Ads on TikTok have the potential for explosive wins, but theyâre also an unforgiving money pit if you approach them like Meta ads. Success here hinges on cracking the TikTok code, and itâs all about precision, creativity, and adaptability.
Letâs diagnose whatâs going wrong and how to turn the tide:
1. Youâre Forcing Square Pegs into Round Holes
Reusing Meta ads on TikTok is like showing up to a costume party in business attireâit just doesnât fit. TikTok thrives on spontaneity and relatability, and polished, corporate-style content sticks out like a sore thumb.
Fix it: Dive deep into TikTokâs ecosystem. Study trends, mimic native content styles, and let your brandâs personality shine through in a way that feels at home on the platform.
2. Youâre Guessing Instead of Testing
Throwing one or two creatives into the mix and hoping they work is like tossing darts blindfolded. TikTokâs audience is diverse and ever-changing, so what worked last week might flop today.
Fix it: Think like a scientist. Run wide-scale tests across multiple hooks, angles, and formats. Focus on finding creative patterns that consistently draw attention and clicks.
3. Your Ads Feel Like an Interruption
On TikTok, the best-performing content blends seamlessly into the feed. If your ad feels like a commercial break, itâll be swiped away faster than you can say âskip.â
Fix it: Start strong. Your hook should spark curiosity or emotion within the first three seconds. Use dynamic storytelling and visuals that feel authentic, not overproduced. Bonus points for hopping on viral trends with your own twist.
4. Your UGC is Missing the Sweet Spot
User-Generated Content (UGC) is TikTokâs secret sauce, but thereâs an art to balancing creative freedom with brand consistency.
Fix it: Create a structured-but-flexible brief. Highlight your brandâs core message and tone but leave room for creators to improvise. Audiences can spot over-scripted content a mile away.
5. Youâre Not Scaling with Strategy
TikTok moves fast. Without a scalable system for ideating, testing, and optimizing, your content pipeline will choke, and ad fatigue will set in.
Fix it: Build a TikTok-specific creative machine. Develop a workflow for rapid iterations. Identify what works, tweak what doesnât, and always keep the content fresh.
đ§ The TikTok Mindset
TikTok isnât just another ad channelâitâs a playground where creativity, culture, and commerce collide. Success means being nimble, authentic, and bold. The brands that get it right? They donât just winâthey dominate.
đ§ Email Marketing Insights for 2025
Insights from Stacked Marketer
Email marketing remains one of the most reliable channels for driving engagement and conversions. From leveraging back-in-stock campaigns to personalized subject lines, hereâs what you need to know to refine your email strategy in 2025.
The Breakdown:
- High-Converting Emails: Back-in-stock emails lead with the highest conversion rates, followed by welcome and cart abandonment emails. Product review emails also convert well, highlighting the revenue potential of informational sequences.
Cross-sell emails, however, perform better when bundled with incentives like discounts during checkout. - Open Rates & Engagement: Unique open rates are declining due to newsletter fatigue and Appleâs Privacy updates. However, click-to-open rates are rising, signaling stronger engagement from those who do open emails.
Retail and online community emails perform well, while software and app emails trail behind. Social networks and newsletters lead in clicks, emphasizing relationship-building. - Email Marketing Advantages: Marketers value email for precise targeting, tracking, and creative flexibility, enabling personalized designs and automation. Familiar imagery, like local events or recognized brands, captures attention better than generic visuals or people-centric images.
Email continues to deliver results when paired with smart strategies. By focusing on personalization, leveraging high-converting email types, and tracking performance, businesses can drive loyalty and engagement effectively in 2025.
đAd of the Day
What Works:
- Seasonal Relevance: The âNew Year, Healthier Youâ tagline taps into New Year resolutions, appealing to consumers motivated to prioritize wellness at the start of the year.
- Lifestyle Alignment: Featuring a woman practicing yoga in a serene, home-based setting reinforces the ad's health-focused message and connects with audiences pursuing a balanced lifestyle.
- Product Placement: The bottle and lemon-lime hydration pack are subtly but clearly displayed, ensuring the product gets visibility without overpowering the visual narrative.
- Clean Design: The minimalist layout with a neutral background complements the health and wellness theme, keeping the focus on the message and product.
- Call-to-Action Implied: While subtle, the visual prompts users to consider how hydration could enhance their health goals.
What Can Be Better:
- Direct Call-to-Action: Adding a phrase like âStart Your Hydration Journey Todayâ or âShop Nowâ would make the ad actionable, guiding viewers toward purchase.
- Key Benefits Highlight: Briefly mentioning the productâs unique selling points, such as instant hydration, natural ingredients, or electrolytes, would add depth and make the value proposition clearer.
Broader DTC Insights:
Health and wellness brands thrive when they connect emotionally with consumer goals, particularly around key seasonal moments like the New Year. Combining relatable visuals with actionable CTAs and product-specific benefits drives higher engagement and conversions.
Advertise with Us
Wanna put out your message in front of over 50,000 best marketers and decision makers?
We are concerned about everything DTC and its winning strategies. If you liked what you read, why not join the 50k+ marketers from 13k+ DTC brands who have already subscribed? Just follow this.
At ScaleUP, we care about our readers and want to provide the best possible experience. That's why we always look for ways to improve our content and connect with our audience. If you'd like to stay in touch, be sure to follow us EVERYWHEREđ„°
Thanks for your support :) We'll be back again with more such content đ„ł