Succeeding with TikTok Ads is hard.

Like, it’s really really really hard.

TikTok Ads require a serious investment of people, resources, favors, relationships, tools, and time. If you aren’t ready for that, TikTok might not be for you.

That said, there are some proven strategies to make TikTok Ads work.

And Nick Shackelford, co-founder of Structured and Konstant Kreative agencies, has a great system called… CRAP.

Nick and his team at Structured spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars developing the four-part CRAP system for finding creators, coaching them, and testing TikTok Ads quickly.

And because Nick shared this strategy at Affiliate World Europe, we get to share it with you now 😉

CRAP For TikTok Ads

The CRAP system for TikTok Ads breaks down like this:

  1. Creative
  2. Research
  3. Accumulation
  4. Performance

1. Creative

At the creative stage, you’re developing ads with internally-created content, repurposed content, or creator/influencer content. And those videos will fall under one of the following categories:

  • Unboxing / Step-By-Step
  • Demos
  • Remix / Reverse Story
  • Follow Trends

When you’re preparing to develop TikTok Ads content, you’ll also need to address logistical questions like:

  • Who sources creators? How much does the creator cost?
  • Who communicates with creators? Who sends the product?
  • Do we need a script? Who writes it?
  • Who collects, edits, and quality checks the content?
  • Do we have repurposing rights?

Answering those questions will require having the right team in place, which Nick lovingly refers to as a CRAP Pod —

tiktok ads crap pod

— and from there, you can move on to Research.

2. Research

Researching TikTok Ads on the platform is relatively easy, and should start with these four areas:

  1. Top Ads appear for free in the Creative Center, and TikTok provides conversion, impression, reach, and dropoff data for top-performing ads.
  2. The Creative Marketplace can connect you with TikTok creators and help you identify the placement you’re looking for.
  3. Trend Discovery displays user interest over time, indicating trends to leverage with your ads.
  4. TikTok’s user-friendly Ad Showcase can help you find angles and inspiration for your ads.

3. Accumulation

Nick and the Structured team realized early that they needed a well-defined system for capturing TikTok Ads content.

They started by creating an accumulation workflow that qualifies potential influencers with a form. Influencers who qualify get a formalized content brief, and the completed content gets added to a submissions spreadsheet.

nick shackleford crap sheet

4. Performance

The Structured team uses Tok Audit and VidIQ to track performance.

Tok Audit pulls up likes, comments, and view metrics more easily for aggregating data during the research phase. And VidIQ shows shareability metrics like engagement ratios to track creator performance after publication.

Quick TikTok Ads Tips

Once your CRAP is flowing (sorry), here are some tips & tricks for launching TikTok Ads effectively:

  1. The Learning Phase is real. Unlike Facebook, the learning phase for TikTok Ads is strict and will cause your CPA to fluctuate. Expect 3-5 days of learning before you can optimize your campaign.
  2. Simplified Ad Structures. Nick recommends starting with one ABO campaign, one ad set, and one ad to control your spend.
  3. Don’t use CBO. CBO campaigns just aren’t working well on TikTok yet.
  4. When in Doubt, Dupe it Out. If an ad is working, make a new campaign or ad set to keep it rolling.