Is This TikTok Video A Paid Promotion? How To Tell

Social media platforms depend on advertising revenue to survive and thrive.

Naturally, they all have different approaches to bringing in advertisers. On TikTok, a key strategy is to ensure that promoted content merges almost seamlessly with the posts that scroll through TikTok users’ For You pages (FYP).

Sponsors use the TikTok Promote advertising tool to bid for and buy those promoted posts. They can target their ads to specific groups of TikTok users selected by demographic groups, interests, and other attributes, and they’re provided with a robust suite of tools allowing them to see how well their posts perform with their target audiences.

Promoted videos are also allowed to include a call-to-action, usually a clickable link that leads to the advertiser’s product pages, websites, or special deals. Most paid advertising content is highly-produced and engaging, enticing viewers to check out the sponsor’s offerings.

Since the goal is to make these paid promotional TikTok posts look much like any other video that scrolls through a feed, it can often be difficult to be sure whether you’re watching ordinary TikTok content or a paid ad. There are several telltale signs, though, that let you distinguish between the two.

How To Tell If a TikTok Video Is Promoted

It can sometimes be easy to tell if a post is a paid promotion simply by the content it contains. The prominence of company branding, familiar slogans, effusive praise for the featured product or service, and/or the calls-to-action we just mentioned are all signs that you’re watching a paid ad.

You may not have to give the question much thought, though. Here are the other features common to paid promotions that take the form of TikTok videos.

• Sponsorship labels: Ads will carry a “Paid Partnership” or “Sponsored” identification label, usually located below the creator’s TikTok username or the video’s description on the bottom-left of the screen.
• Hashtags: Paid promotions, as well as sponsored collaborative videos created in a partnership between a TikTok user and a brand, are supposed to include the hashtag #ad in their captions. Other hashtags to look for are #advertisement, #promoted, and #sponsored.
• Brand-specific content: It’s unlikely to see an ordinary TikTok post devoted to promoting a company or brand. Chances are good that you’re watching a promoted video if it’s selling you a service or product.

You should be aware that other types of TikTok content can also be paid promotions. Branded Hashtag Challenges, for example, are often featured on the Discover page and lead to a standalone page explaining the guidelines for the challenge and allowing visitors to submit user-generated content.

Of course, it may not matter to you whether a post has been promoted by an advertiser. If you enjoy TikTok content, it probably doesn’t matter to you whether you’re watching a paid ad or a standard post.

And needless to say, that’s exactly what advertisers are paying for.