TikTok Advertising 
If you are a marketer or a business owner looking for ways to make your brand known on TikTok, you might have come across the term ‘Branded Effect.’ This is one of TikTok’s innovative initiatives to help brands become better, and more authentic storytellers!
In this article, we will explore everything you need to know about TikTok Branded Effect and how it can help you boost your brand’s engagement on the platform.
What is a TikTok Branded Effect?
Branded Effect is a unique creative solution that brings your brands closer to your audience via virtual simulation. Thanks to animation, filters, and augmented reality (AR) effects that users can shoot, play, and interact with, Branded Effect enables brands to emphasize their brand names, products, and ad campaigns.
Branded Effect provides many feature to help brands succeed in lower-funnel marketing than a regular Community Effect, like a call-to-action, or Custom Audiences for retargeting, and more. Besides, Branded Effects can be promoted with other ad products, such as Branded Mission and TopView, to amplify the impact of the TikTok campaign.
2024 Update: Save your time with Effect House Branded Effects
For many brands, their limited experience in designing or editing can be a huge obstacle to creating their own effects from scratch. Fortunately, since March 2023, TikTok has introduced Effect House Branded Effects to help brands tap into the creativity of the platform.
TikTok will allow brands to work directly with creators from Effect House, TikTok’s effect creation platform, to produce custom Branded Effects. Particularly, branded elements and features like calls-to-action can be included, and audience targeting can be more customed to fit a brand’s specific campaign needs. Pretty awesome, right?
How can you apply to join in the Effect House Branded Effects Beta?
Since the Effect House Branded Effect Beta is still in the testing phase, credentials are the most important criteria for TikTok to decide if a brand can use this new feature. More specifically, TikTok said it would prioritize creators and agencies who had demonstrated experience in collaborating with brand clients, as well as a proven ability to create a diverse range of effects within Effect House.
To apply, you need to fill out the interest form based on your region. Throughout this year, TikTok will filter the forms and select qualified creators to onboard this program. However, since the number of applicants can be very high, you should make your decision quickly to cut the waiting time short!
What makes TikTok Branded Effect important?
Despite being one of the most significant feature of TikTok, some people still undermine the power of a TikTok Branded Effect. Here are the reasons why we believe brands should hop on the trend and consider Branded Effects for their next campaign.
Increase brand awareness and brand visibility
Videos made with Branded Effects will display natively on the For You Page, offering the chance for any brand to be discovered. In addition, once brands have sponsored an effect, they will have a guaranteed placement on the effect panel. This can increase the visibility of the brands and help them reach a broad target audience.
Supercharged engagement
Besides, using Branded Effects on TikTok can help boost user engagement with your brand. By offering a more convenient and enjoyable way for two-way interaction, Branded Effects can encourage the creation of user-generated content. Besides, thanks to the fun and engaging nature of TikTok effects, users are more willing to use branded effects to interact with brands. Furthermore, when paired with other ad types like Branded Hashtag Challenges, the chances of users trying out the branded effect increases even more. So if you’re looking to boost engagement and interaction with your brand on TikTok, Branded Effects could be a great option to explore.
Better way to enhance brand messages
With so many users on TikTok, it can be challenging for businesses to get their message across. Hence, branded effects can serve as a fun and engaging visualization of brand messages, making it more graspable and shareable. A clear illustration of how TikTok branded effect can benefit business is Up’s Easy Money campaign. To change the perception of young Australians about banking, Up took a fresh approach: Gamified effect, paired with an appealing contest prize. The results were more than satisfactory: 25M hashtag view and 250+ User-generated content videos.
Types of TikTok Branded Effect
TikTok currently have three types of brand effects that guarantee to fulfill every brand’s creative wishes: 2D, 2D Pro, and 3D.
2D Branded Effects
2D is a flat filter that simulates 2D images or animations. This Branded Effect is simple to create and easy to use with various applications such as:
- Two-dimensional masks follow head movements
- Fixed or partially animated foregrounds and backgrounds
- Face and hand gestures effect
This type of Branded Effect is tailor-made for any brand that wants to discover AR on TikTok with the aim of brand recall and brand engagement.
2D Pro Branded Effects
2D Pro is similar to 2D Effect but it offers more advanced augmentations related to appearance like face modifications, hair color adjustment, iris color change or make-ups, etc. This branded effect is perfect for product try-ons, and The Beauty and Personal care is one of the industries that knows how to utilize this type of advertising.
3D Branded Effects
Brands can use the 3D Branded Effect in three ways:
- Create 3D masks with 3D animated elements/characters: With dimensional and realistic-looking items and products, this effect encourages deeper engagement and interactivity with a user’s facial expressions or environment.
- Add 3D Special Effects: With green screen, cloning (duplication), etc., 3D Special Effects bring the user’s engagement to the next level.
- Leverage 3D Gamified (GBE): Thanks to the highest level of detail and interactivity along with the most complex textures and realistic immersion, GBE is definitely ideal for any brand to enhance users’ excitement and involvement in the brand.
Winning TikTok Branded Effect examples
To provide you with a deeper understanding of how branded effects benefit businesses, we have collected some of the most inspiring success stories of TikTok Branded Effect for you to learn from.
JD and Nike virtual sneaker try-on
JD Sports is the UK’s leading retailer in sneaker & sports fashion, with limited editions and exclusive shoe designs from all-time famous footwear brands. In 2021, the sports retailer JD in partnership with Nike launched a campaign using the 3D AR Branded Effect on TikTok to promote the new Nike Air VaporMax in the UK market.
Together, JD and Nike collaborated to develop an exclusive music track to go along with the challenge’s visual components. Users would dance in the AR shoes while using the hashtag #JDVaporMaxShuffle. In addition, they also had the chance to win a year’s worth of Nike sneakers as an added incentive.
Kia Rio X Style brand awareness campaign
Kia is undoubtedly one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world. It is also famous for its innovative designs and top-notch quality. In 2021, the company wanted to advertise the brand new Kia Rio X Style, a modern and sporty hatchback version of its well-known Rio line.
By using TikTok and its creative branded solutions, Kia wanted to raise awareness of and encourage engagement with the Kia X Style among Russian digital natives. Hence, they executed a brand challenge based on a Branded Effect that required TikTok users to do a series of gestures. Each gesture represented the key design feature of the car and at the same time, TikTok users could perform the best moves.
What worked:
- Combined with a Branded Hashtag Challenge (HTC) and branded music to amplify the campaign
- Collaborated with popular Russian TikTok creators to spread awareness and spark creativity among Russian users to retake the challenge in their own ways
- Successfully showcased a modern and young brand image through the effect and the challenge
The results:
- 1.2 billion video views
- 1.3 million videos submitted
- 13.7% engagement rate
M.A.C product launching campaign
M.A.C cosmetics is a high-quality makeup brand known for its wide range of products, particularly its lipsticks. To celebrate the launch of the new Love Me Liquid Lipcolour, the brand collaborated with both TikTok and Spotify to innovate a multi-media campaign.
What worked:
- Inspiring campaign idea that encouraged people to celebrate their authentic selves
- Amplified the campaign with the support of TopView and In-Feed Ads
- Partnered with creators and Spotify and to add an interactive dimension to the campaign.
The results:
- 1.8 million unique branded effect users
- Over 174,000 video views
- Overall engagement rate of 6.08%
- Over 14,000 users clicked through to listen to M.A.C’s playlists on Spotify
- 3.7% increase in purchase intent
Elements of creating a TikTok Branded Effect
If you are stunned by the examples, right now you are probably having a lot of questions regarding the process of creating a TikTok Branded Effect. We think there are 2 basic elements that you should equip yourself with first when starting your branded effect campaign, which are the cost and the specs.
TikTok Branded Effects cost
To advertise with Branded Effect, you would have to spend a heaping amount of $45,000 for 30 days. This is undeniably a hefty price, but if you are getting ambitious with your marketing campaign, we recommend you to take a risk to see if it is truly a good fit.
After you have decided this is worth your budget, the next step understand TikTok’s Specifications to maximize the potential of your branded effects.
Creation panel and For You Page specs
Sponsor mark picture and text
Sponsor mark picture and text are mandatory in some locations and optional in other regions. The text can be up to 30 English characters and emojis and special symbols are not supported.
Image specs
- File format: PNG
- Safe area: 144x144px
- Export size: 162 x162px
- File size: < 60KB
Hint text
- The text that describes trigger movements must be provided precisely. When people click on an effect in the panel, the Hint text appears and describes how to use the effect.
- Characters are limited to 48 English characters. For optimal display, the effect name should be under 24 English characters.
- Emojis and special symbols including # are not supported.
Branded Effect page specs
Effect name
- Characters are limited to 30 English characters. For optimal display, the effect name should be under 18 English characters.
- Emojis and special symbols including # are not supported.
Effect icon
- Use your own icon or the TikTok icon provided. Keep your icon image relevant to your Branded Effect.
- Format: PNG
- Safe area: 144x144px
- Export size: 162x162px
- Size: < 60KB
Sponsored display/Disclaimer
- Provide your User ID for sponsored display. Then your brand name will be preceded by an ad icon above the Branded Effect description. People can access your TikTok profile by clicking the ad icon.
- If you don’t have a TikTok account, your brand name will be displayed as “Sponsored by: brand name” in the disclaimer box below the Branded Effect description.
Effect description
- No character limit.
- Can include emojis
- Special symbols including &, <, >, “”, or URLs can’t be used.
External link
- Only add 1 external link.
- The text of the external link is customizable with limited characters (up to 30 English characters without emojis and special symbols. If exceeded, the text will be cut off)
- The text of the landing page title can be modified with limited characters (up to 20 English characters without emojis and special symbols. If exceeded, the text will be cut off)
Key Takeaways for TikTok Branded Effect
So, before working on your next Branded Effect project, remember to ask yourself these questions:
- What is your desired objective when creating branded effects?
- With the objective(s) in mind, what activity or tactic should you prioritize to boost the campaign’s success?
- How can your effects be natural and authentic for everybody to use?
- How can you make the effects resonate with your brand voice?
We believe that once you’ve been concrete with your answers, you can decide whether to spend on this ad type.
However, there is one more thing to note here. Because branded effect belongs to TikTok’s premium ad category, you will need support from a TikTok-partnered agency to set up the campaign. If so, you can contact the TikTok agency to help you begin!
On the other hand, if you’re a small to medium business owner with limited financial resources, we suggest beginning with regular ads such as In-feed ads. This approach is very easy for beginners to use, and it also ensures good ad coverage on TikTok.
In that case, NestAds might be just what you need! We aim to simplify the ad creation process, so you can build your campaign from scratch without any stress. Best of all, you can try NestAds for free and see for yourself how it can help launch your winning TikTok ad campaigns with ease.
Marketing Attribution 
