Custom Identity TikTok: How to personalize your ads?

TikTok has radically changed the face of social networks and online advertising. With the arrival of an immersive video format, the platform has managed to conquer more than a billion users in a very short time. Many brands and advertisers have therefore taken advantage of this to launch advertising on TikTok Ads in order to reach a new target of consumers (and they are right). Indeed, a significant percentage of users are present only on TikTok and are not reachable via other platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat. For example: 23% of TikTok users are not present on Instagram, just like 42% of TikTok users who are not on Facebook.  

Advertising on TikTok Ads

TikTok Ads is TikTok’s advertising network. Its operation is similar to what is found on Facebook Ads (Business Manager) or Google Ads. The structures of the advertising campaigns are identical with different levels:

• The campaign
• Ad groups
• Advertisements

  As with other advertising platforms, you can:

• Define your campaign objectives (awareness, sales, traffic, etc.)
• Target your audience (gender, age, interests, country, behavior on the application, similar audiences, etc.)
• Choose your advertising placements and formats

  On TikTok Ads, there are different advertising formats:

• TopView
• Top Feed
• In Feed
• Branded Hashtag
• Branded Effect
• Branded Mission
• Spark Ads

To learn more about TikTok advertising and its formats , you can read our 2023 advertising guide here . In this article, we’ll cover an ad type that has been around for a while, but can be used in a way that makes your ads perform even better. This ad type is called Custom Identity .  

What is TikTok Custom Identity Ad?

Custom Identity, as its name suggests, allows you to customize the identity of your ad. In other words, it is possible to modify elements of the profile that broadcasts your ad. In addition, thanks to Custom Identity TikTok , you can modify the profile photo of an ad as well as the nickname or username associated with it.  

Other TikTok Identity Announcements

To fully understand how Custom Identity ad works, let’s explain the other types of identities available. There are 3 types of identities you can choose from when creating a TikTok Ads ad.  

1) Brand identity

Brand identity allows you to sponsor a video that belongs to you by having previously linked your TikTok account to the TikTok For Business advertising manager. Please note : You can only link one single TikTok to your advertising account. This type of identity is used in Spark Ads, that is, to sponsor an ad for a video that has already been posted organically on your account beforehand. However, with brand identity, it is not possible to change the photo on your ad or the username (unless you change them on your TikTok account).  

2) Identity of a third party

With this identity, you can sponsor posts that don’t belong to you. In particular, you have the possibility to promote videos from UGC content creators who have posted on their personal account. To do this, the creator must activate the advertising options on their account and share with you the access codes of the post to be sponsored (which can be tedious and time-consuming). This identity is used exclusively in Spark Ads format. To learn more about Spark Ads and how to set it up, you can read our full article here . As with the brand identity, you cannot change the profile picture and username that appear on the ad, unless you make the changes directly from the original account of the video.  

3) Custom Identity

This is the identity presented in this article, it allows you to publish advertisements without needing a personal TikTok account or that of a third party. With the Custom Identity, you can therefore modify the profile photo and the username that appears on the ad. Custom Identity ads are only used in Dark Ads and are not available for Spark Ads.  

Custom Identity TikTok: Advantages and Disadvantages?

The advantages of Custom Identity TikTok

The major advantage of the Custom Identity feature is that it allows you to set up ads that appear much less advertising-like and more authentic. Indeed, using a profile picture of a real person rather than a brand logo can generate more clicks and engagement. As with the username displayed on the ad, a first name instead of the brand name can attract more attention from viewers. It is also possible to add emojis to the username to go even further in customization and get closer to a classic account. Another advantage: with Custom Identity, you no longer need to waste time with content creators and have them post on their account to retrieve their Spark Ads codes. You import your video into TikTok Ads and then replace the profile picture and username with those of the creator by pretending to be on their own account. For Custom Identity ads, you can link to a landing page or an instant page. Custom Identity allows you to achieve much better performance than classic ads and saves you time compared to Spark Ads.  

The Disadvantages of TikTok Custom Identity

There are still some drawbacks to using the Custom Identity format. These ads are only used in Dark post (video directly imported into the ad manager), so the advertising video can only last a maximum of one minute compared to 10 minutes for Spark Ads. With Custom Identity, you are limited to a description of 100 characters while for other formats, you can go up to 2200 characters. Finally, it is not possible to use a Hashtag or @ tag in your description unlike other formats. Lastly, TikTok Custom Identity does not allow you to link to a TikTok profile as is the case with Spark Ads.  

How to create a Custom Identity TikTok ad?

Here are the different steps to create a Custom Identity ad.

• Step 1: Go to TikTok’s ad manager
• Step 2: Create a campaign and define your objective
• Step 3: Set up your ad groups (budget, targeting, etc.)
• Step 4: Create your ads
• Step 5: In the Identity section you can set up “Set custom identity”

You can then add the profile picture and username You then have a preview of your ad, which is easier to set up than collaborations with creators in Spark Ads.

Can I change the TikTok Custom Identity once it is created?

Yes, you can edit your Custom Identity after you create it. However, it is not possible to edit it while the ad is running.  

What formats are eligible for Custom Identity?

The Custom Identity ad type can only be used with the In Feed Ads format. These are the video ads that appear between the organic videos on the “For You” page.  If you want to set up TikTok Ads campaigns with the “Custom Identity” feature, Neads supports you in your project with a creative team, TikTok Ads experts and a network of more than 400 content creators.