TikTok Launches Automotive Ads for Auto Brands and Car Dealerships to Boost Car Sales

TikTok plans to reach more automakers, brands, and car dealerships with a new format for performance ads that shows more information about products and connects to online stores. TikTok stated on February 19 that it would introduce Automotive Ads to all companies after testing the format with automakers and dealers, such as Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz.

Even while it might not seem like the best option for car advertisements, TikTok has consistently highlighted how it can increase car sales because of its active and engaged community of automobile enthusiasts, many of whom are actively looking to buy at any given time.

To help auto sellers take advantage of the app’s potential, TikTok has now introduced a customized advertising option.

With the use of car-specific data links and an improved user experience, automotive ads can help your business achieve greater success.

Automotive Ads can help you effectively reach your audience, increase interaction, and improve ROI with minimal effort and smooth integration thanks to its dynamic creative, simple setup, and automotive-specific optimization models.

What are TikTok Automotive Ads?

Automotive Ads are catalog-based advertisements that match consumers with your models, deals, or inventories according to their preferences and in-market behavior. They assist you in matching customers with the appropriate car or deal.

According to TikTok:

“Automotive Ads offer an upgraded user experience that compresses the shopping journey and automotive-specific data connections to drive better results for your business. With easy setup, dynamic creative, and automotive-specific optimization models, Automotive Ads will help you efficiently reach your audience, boost engagement, and maximize ROI – all with minimal effort and seamless integration.”

With less setup and automatic product flow that relies on accessible inventory lists to power the display, TikTok’s dedicated auto advertisements seek to streamline auto promotions within the app.

“Automotive Ads are catalog-based ads that match your models, offers, or inventory with users based on their in-market activity and preferences. They help you match users with the right car or offer for them.”

There are now two innovative formats available for automotive ads:

Video + Product Card: Combine tailored and shoppable product recommendations from your catalog with the captivating videos that visitors anticipate from TikTok.
Multi-link Carousel Card: No issue if there is no video. Use photos directly from your inventory to run advertising with little lift when you upload your catalog to TikTok. Every picture is mapped to its specific URL destination.

Through the Vehicle Inventory Page or a website link of your choosing, users can also explore your complete inventory within the TikTok app.

With a variety of goals, TikTok’s new auto advertisements come with video or multi-link carousel cards.

Additionally, it might be a good answer. Once more, TikTok has stated that its very active community of auto enthusiasts views billions of car-related videos every day.

Types of Automotive Ads

Model ads and Inventory ads are the two types of Automotive Ads. Model Ads advertise models, trims, and offers (usually used by OEMs), whereas Inventory ads advertise specific VINs (usually used by dealers and marketplaces).

Automotive Ads for Inventory

Inventory Ads, created for and working together with dealership and marketplace partners, provide high-quality traffic, increase leads, and need little setup. With features like sophisticated car matching and automated creative pulls, campaign management is made easier, freeing up dealerships to concentrate on expansion using a high-impact, efficient strategy.

Plug and play: To promote your cars and generate leads with the least amount of effort, just set your feed and budget. It’s now easier than ever to reach the TikTok audience without completely changing your operations and marketing approach because the feed requirements and signal settings are identical to those on other platforms. The dynamic Multi-Link Carousel format, on the other hand, requires no extra setup and takes creative directly from the feed.
Automotive intent + vehicle matching model: Indicators such as content engagement and a rich set of data connections enable the product to identify the target audience for your goals and pair them with a vehicle that suits their needs. In comparison to “business as usual” shopping ad formats, auto advertisers who tested Inventory Ads had improved performance. For example, they saw a 41% decrease in cost per acquisition (CPA) and a 51% decrease in Last-Click CPA when compared to other TikTok shopping formats.
Complete car management: You may establish product sets, diagnose pixel matching, and manage your feed schedule with the catalog manager.

Automotive Ads for Models

With a speedy campaign launch and a lightweight, straightforward catalog setup, Model Ads, which is designed for OEMs, makes it simple to achieve excellent TikTok performance. Shoppable video formats enable OEMs to drive results efficiently by utilizing their current creativity in a smooth, streamlined approach.

Get the most out of your TikTok performance to date: After a month, OEMs who tested Automotive Ads had an average CPA improvement of over 40%, and all testers reported a significant positive lift over previous non-automotive ads campaigns.
Set up is a breeze: Model Ads use a very light catalog with only a few basic necessary fields, making setup simple. The campaign construction method may also be used to create catalogs, making setup simple and seamless.
Use your creativity more: Video format shoppability enables OEMs to promote lower-funnel actions while utilizing current upper- and mid-funnel assets.

How do Automotive Ads work?

Automotive ads integrate event signals from your website and catalog to provide a dynamic user experience according to the user’s observed preferences.

Product logic & flow

Set up your data connections and upload your catalog first. At least three well-organized Web Lead Gen events are advised for optimal results, with View Content being an essential requirement. In addition to improving efficiency, parameters like content_id, manufacturer, and model aid in informing the models of user preferences.
You can choose between two creative formats during campaign setup: Multi-link Carousel Cards and Video+Product Cards.
A TikTok user will see items from your catalog that qualify when they are shown an Automotive Ad. The item’s mapped URL destination will be displayed to them if they click on it.
To view your whole catalog within the app experience, the user may finally land on an Instant Page format or URL of their choosing if they keep swiping through the goods.

Drive Your Brand Forward with TikTok Automotive Ads

TikTok Automotive Ads stands out as a customized solution made to address these particular challenges head-on as the car industry continues to adjust to the changing digital environment. By providing a variety of adaptable and user-friendly advertising options, these advertisements not only improve the visibility of car inventory but also expedite the buying process, enabling customers to make well-informed decisions more rapidly.

37% of TikTok users are looking to buy a new or used car.

TikTok Automotive Ads offer the resources required to produce noteworthy results, regardless of whether you are an OEM trying to increase model recognition and consideration or a dealership trying to promote individual autos. TikTok gives car advertisers the tools they need to successfully and creatively navigate the digital landscape with modern formats like Video + Product Cards and Multi-link Carousel, as well as strategic features like automated creative pulls and sophisticated vehicle matching.

Dan Zinman