At Micky Creatives we use paid advertising to scale creator content that has already proved itself organically. Because if the content doesn't work, the advertising won't either.
What is social media advertising?
Social media advertising, also called paid social, means paying the platform to show your content to more people, or to very specific people.
Unlike organic content, where the algorithm alone decides the reach, you control the budget, audience, placement and goal yourself.
For us, paid advertising isn't something you go into blind. It's a complement to the content and campaigns that have already been made.
It's where you can scale what works, target more precisely, work in a data-driven way and predict results with more confidence.
Paid advertising can serve different goals:
- Visibility and reach: being seen by lots of people in your audience, for example in the run-up to a launch.
- Traffic: sending people on to a website, an online shop or a ticket page.
- Conversions and sales: getting people to buy, sign up or apply.
- Retargeting: reaching people again who have already watched a video or visited the page.
Which platform makes most sense always depends on the campaign. What matters most isn't the platform itself, but how content and audience work together.
TikTok advertising vs Meta: what's the difference?
TikTok and Meta (Instagram and Facebook) are the two platforms we use most for paid advertising. They do different things, and it's often the combination that delivers the best result.
Ads appear in the For You feed between organic videos, so they have to feel like TikTok, not like advertising. Sound, hook and pace in the first few seconds are everything. With Spark Ads you can run ads straight from a creator's profile, so likes, comments and followers end up where they belong.
Meta covers Instagram and Facebook, with placements such as Reels, Stories and feed. The platform is strong for precise targeting, retargeting and campaigns where you want to measure all the way down to purchase. Creator content works here too, both from the brand's own profile and in collaboration with the creator.
TikTok is a big part of our work, and we know the platform's tools, data and advertising options inside out. But we work across whichever platforms make sense for the campaign. That might also be Snapchat, YouTube or LinkedIn.
Content first: test organically before you turn up the spend
The most common mistake in paid advertising is putting budget behind content nobody has tested. That's why we recommend letting content run organically for 3–7 days before it goes into paid. It gives you a clear picture of what actually works with real users.
If a video does well organically, it has potential as an ad too. If not, we adjust the hook, the edit or the message, or choose another video. That's far cheaper than paying for views of content that doesn't grab attention.
It's also why, for us, paid advertising is closely tied to creator marketing and UGC content.
Creator content is often what performs best in paid, because it feels natural in the feed. We prefer content made for the platform over traditional ad films.
When we judge whether a video is ready for paid, we look especially at:
- How many people watch the video to the end, and where they drop off.
- Whether the first few seconds make people stop scrolling.
- Shares, saves and comments, which show genuine interest.
- Whether the message and product come across clearly, even with the sound off.
How we run TikTok and Meta advertising
Every campaign starts from the individual brief. We don't work with fixed set-ups, but the process typically follows the same steps.
Objective and KPIs
We always start with the objective. Is the goal awareness, traffic or conversions? It decides everything from the choice of platforms to how we measure performance.
Content and creators
We find or create the content that will carry the advertising, often with creators from our network and with a clear plan for how the videos will be used in ads.
Organic test
Content runs organically first, so we can see what grabs attention. The strongest videos go through.
Set-up
We set up the campaigns on the relevant platforms, for example with Spark Ads from creators' profiles on TikTok or ads from the client's own channels, often based on UGC.
Optimisation
Along the way we continuously adjust audiences, budget, content and messages. We start from what works and build from there.
Evaluation
Finally, we pull together the results and learnings, so the next campaign starts sharper.
Sometimes we deliver content and advise the client's own team. Other times we handle the entire execution. If you need advice rather than a full set-up, you can read about our free consultation.
Measurement: the numbers we steer by
We go deep on performance. Which numbers matter most depends on the goal, but these come up in most campaigns:
CPM
The cost per thousand impressions. The key number when the goal is visibility and reach.
Clicks and CTR
How many people click through, and what share of those who see the ad they make up. Crucial when the goal is traffic.
CPA
The cost of an action, such as a purchase, a sign-up or an application. It shows what a result really costs.
ROAS
Revenue relative to ad spend. The number that tells you whether the advertising pays for itself.
The numbers only make sense together. A low CPM isn't worth much if nobody clicks, and lots of clicks aren't a success if nobody buys. That's why we always look at the whole chain, from impression to action.
It also means we don't always turn up the budget. Sometimes the answer is to adjust the content, the timing or the audience instead.
Common mistakes in TikTok and Meta advertising
- Starting paid advertising before the content has been tested organically.
- Using a traditional ad film in a feed where users expect creator content.
- Measuring views when the real goal is sales.
- Spreading a small budget across too many platforms and audiences at once.
- Letting the campaign run without continuously optimising audiences and content.
- Treating paid advertising as something separate from strategy, content and creators.
What these mistakes have in common is that the advertising comes before an understanding of what works. We reverse the order: content and insight first, then scale.
Paid advertising isn't always the answer, either. Many campaigns perform strongly organically, through creators and content alone.
Disney's #FriendsLikeMeChallenge led to more than 155,000 videos with no budget for TikTok paid.
If the goal is to start a trend, it can be better to invest in the creative and in the right creators than in ad spend.
On the other hand, paid advertising makes particular sense when you want to reach a narrow audience, such as young people in particular cities, when there's a deadline such as a premiere or an application deadline, or when you want to take people all the way to a specific action.
That's also where retargeting comes in: showing a new video to people who have already shown interest, so they take the final step.
Results in practice
We've run paid advertising for a range of different clients and campaigns. What the best results have in common is that the advertising was built on content that was already working.
Paid advertising works best as part of the whole
Many agencies work either with performance or with content. We work with both. We understand how to create content that works on the platform, and we know how to scale it through paid advertising.
Paid advertising rarely stands alone.
It should be built in from the start of your social media strategy and your specific campaign strategy, so content is made with paid in mind.
Once the campaign is running, paid advertising is a fixed part of our campaign management.
When it all works together, that's where we see the best results.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on the goal, the audience, the period and how much content needs producing. The ad budget is paid to the platform, and on top of that comes the work on content, set-up and optimisation. We always start with the objective and recommend a budget that suits what you want to achieve, rather than a fixed package. Sometimes the best investment is better content rather than more ad spend.
Spark Ads is an ad format on TikTok that uses an existing organic video as an ad, for example from a creator's own profile. The ad therefore looks like an ordinary post, and engagement builds up on the original video. It gives a more authentic feel, and in our experience creator content run as Spark Ads often performs better than traditional ads.
It depends on who you want to reach and what the goal is. TikTok is strong at grabbing attention and building hype with content that feels native to the platform. Meta is strong at precise targeting, retargeting and measurement all the way down to purchase. Many campaigns use both: TikTok to spark interest and Meta to follow up and convert.
Because organic performance is the cheapest test of whether a video grabs attention. We recommend letting content run organically for 3–7 days first. If a video does well, it has potential as an ad too. If it does badly, we adjust the hook, edit or message before any ad spend goes in. That saves budget and gives better results.
It depends on the goal. For awareness, look mainly at reach and CPM. For traffic, clicks and click-through rate matter most. For sales and sign-ups, CPA and ROAS are the decisive numbers. We always look at the whole chain from impression to action, because a single number rarely tells the whole story of whether the advertising works.
Yes. We run ads both from creators' profiles and from the client's own channels, often based on UGC. What makes most sense depends on the campaign. Sometimes we deliver content and advise your team, who handle the advertising themselves. Other times we handle the entire execution, from set-up to reporting.
