TikTok Insider Newsletter |🧠 Outthink Last Click Attribution

Plus: 🧠 PMAX vs Paid Search – What’s Working Now?

Author

Rafe Houston
April 09, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 32 minutes

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Welcome to TikTok Insider, your trusted source for insights into the trends and strategies shaping social media and video marketing on TikTok.

Editor’s Pick 🌟

Curious to know the optimal way to allocate your Google Ads budget? Fospha’s latest analysis of top performers reveals key insights into balancing Performance Max (PMAX) and Paid Search:

🥇 How Top-Performers Do It: For the highest-performing 25% of brands, a strategic allocation of around 55% of total Google budget to Performance Max and 12% to Paid Search appears to be the sweet spot for driving results.

🏢 Size Matters: Note, this optimal allocation does vary slightly between different brand sizes. Top-performing small brands were found to have a 52% PMAX / 15% Paid Search split, while top-performing large brands allocated more to PMAX, with a 59% PMAX / 9% Paid Search split.

Why? Consumer goods adopt search-heavy strategies because their products often address specific functional needs that consumers actively search to solve. Fashion brands, by contrast, primarily sell products through visual storytelling and emotional appeal, better suited to other Google ads formats including PMAX.

Unlock the full potential of your Google Ads budget! Fospha’s new Performance Max and Paid Search Playbook is your guide to cultivating cross-channel synergies, reducing wasted ad spend, and maximizing blended performance.

Expert View 🧠

TikTok, Superman, and the New Rules of Cultural Attention

With the 2025 box office forecast facing a projected deficit—and studios banking on tentpoles like James Gunn’s “summer of Superman” to save the slate—the pressure to capture audience attention has never been higher. But the truth is, attention isn’t just slipping from cinemas. It’s fragmenting across screens, speeds, and subcultures—and nowhere is that shift more visible than on TikTok.

For brands, the message is clear: you’re not just competing with other advertisers—you’re competing with fan edits, micro-trends, creator takes, and AI-generated nostalgia. TikTok isn’t a platform—it’s a proving ground for cultural relevance. And the brands that thrive there aren’t borrowing Hollywood playbooks. They’re writing their own.

Traditional storytelling arcs are collapsing. In a scroll-driven world, the hook is the headline, and performance lives or dies in the first three seconds. Brands investing in TikTok need to flip their thinking: start with narrative instinct, not media planning. The most successful campaigns don’t announce—they participate. They don’t launch—they evolve.

This is where smart analytics matter. Completion rate and comment sentiment should guide creative decisions, not vanity metrics. And community managers aren’t support staff—they’re cultural antennae. If your content isn’t earning remix energy—duets, stitches, riffs—it’s not sticking.

Meanwhile, TikTok creators are becoming the cultural curators studios once were. They don’t just amplify stories—they validate them. The future of influence isn’t about follower count, it’s about cultural proximity. That’s why long-term creator partnerships built on creative freedom—not controlled messaging—will outperform celebrity cameos every time.

Sector Spotlight 🎥

SOCIAL COMMERCE INNOVATION

TikTok Shop is transforming eCommerce with live shopping events, as highlighted at the Retail Technology Show 2025 in London. Nora Zukauskaite from TikTok Shop UK & EU emphasized that 2025 will be pivotal for mainstream adoption of live shopping, particularly benefiting sectors like fashion and beauty where real-time product demonstrations provide strategic value. Unlike traditional TV shopping channels, TikTok's dynamic interaction between hosts and customers creates an engaging, responsive experience, fostering customer loyalty and boosting sales.

Highlighting success stories, Zukauskaite discussed brands like P Louise, which sold two million products in 12 hours during a TikTok event, underscoring the platform's capability to scale from a simple setup to an expansive studio. Despite misconceptions, TikTok Shop isn't limited to Gen Z or low-value items; it also caters to Millennials and high-end products, showing growth in premium categories. As more traditional brands like Lidl explore innovative digital strategies, a shift led by agile startups is reshaping eCommerce retail towards integration and collaboration.

STRATEGIC ACQUISITION

Amazon's bid for TikTok's US operations signals its strategic push into the fast-growing arena of impulse-driven eCommerce, blending entertainment with buying actions. The acquisition could enhance Amazon's fulfillment expertise with TikTok's engaging content and digital market influence, offering marketers insights into evolving consumer behavior trends. This move highlights potential synergy between social content and digital commerce platforms, presenting significant opportunities for market adaptation and engagement.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

With another prospective TikTok ban looming, marketing strategies across businesses face potential upheaval. TikTok plays a vital role in engaging American consumers, with 7 million businesses utilizing its unique social commerce platform, TikTok Shop, to engage audiences and boost sales. As 136 million Americans use TikTok, its effectiveness in helping businesses connect with hard-to-reach demographics is unparalleled, underscoring its integral role in many marketing plans.

The impending decision by TikTok to secure a US buyer is crucial, as a failure could enforce a lasting ban, compelling companies to pivot to other platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Moreover, the strategic implications for businesses are vast, from potential declines in audience engagement to shifts in marketing expenditures towards alternative platforms. Thus, marketers must prepare to adapt their strategies to maintain outreach effectiveness and seize opportunities in this dynamic digital landscape.

In the last 12 months, we made £2.5 MILLION through TikTok Shop Alone... 🤯 

Last Year this platform SAVED my company. ☠️

I know my last post said see you in 2026, but I'd feel so guilty not telling you about the opportunity right now on TikTok Shop. 😥 

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

Apple maintains TikTok in its App Store for 75 days, following assurances from the Trump administration. This extension allows the potential creation of a US version, backed by US investors. For marketers, this situation opens new avenues for engagement strategies on a widely used platform amidst shifting geopolitical influences.

Influencer Corner 📢'

We chatted with Amy J. Oelkers, TikTok’s GM, US Head of Commerce, about how the power of discovery on TikTok is driving commerce everywhere | TikTok for Business

📌 4 in 5 users are discovering brands through creators' recommendations.*

📌 After discovering something on TikTok (via a creator), 45% of users continued searching for more information on the platform.

📌 1 in 4 users search within the first 30 seconds of opening the app (internal user data).

In our Shoptalk 2025 wrap up with ClickZ.com, one thing was clear | Lee Arthur

This industry is operating in a new reality. From full-funnel AI to omnichannel orchestration, the conversations weren’t speculative,they were tactical.

Here are the biggest shifts we heard on the ground:

🔹 AI is everywhere
“AI isn’t a concept -it’s a capability,” summed up by voices across the floor. From text-to-buy to media measurement, brands are moving from testing to scaling.

🔹 Omnichannel is baseline
“Omnichannel isn’t a trend - it’s the new baseline,” said Sam Carter, CEO at Fospha. The new standard is unified journeys online and off.

Optimization Hub ⚙️

BUSINESS MEASUREMENT FRAMEWORK

Breaking organizational silos is essential for building effective measurement frameworks, ensuring data-driven insights drive marketing success. By involving all stakeholders and focusing on real-world applications, businesses can align metrics with strategic objectives. Tailored frameworks improve communication and performance across departments, essential for today's competitive landscape.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Instagram's new monthly recap feature provides creators with valuable insights into their content performance, including total views, follower engagement, and specific audience activity times. This feature aids marketers by offering actionable tips to enhance content strategy based on the unique behaviors of their audiences, fostering a more tailored approach to growth and engagement.

ECOMMERCE OPTIMIZATION

Adjusting the Google Ads bid strategy, specifically the Target ROAS, can enhance Shopping Ads revenue without reducing profitability for eCommerce businesses. Use Impression Share and Search Lost IS metrics to identify and rectify revenue loss. Gradual budget and ROAS adjustments ensure consistent performance improvement.

ClickZ is a Contentive publication in the DTC Ecommerce division