TikTok launches TikTok For Business for marketers takes on Snapchat with new AR ads

TikTok is announcing to advertisers that it’s open for business. The company is today officially introducing a new brand and platform called “TikTok For Business” that will serve as the home for all its current and future marketing solutions for brands. At launch, the site will include access to TikTok ad formats, including its marque product, TopView, which is the ad that appears when you first launch the TikTok app. Other products under this TikTok For Business umbrella include Brand Takeovers, In-Feed Videos, Hashtag Challenges and Branded Effects.

Brand Takeovers are the three to five-second ads that can be either a video or image. In-Feed Videos can be up to 60 seconds in length and run with the sound on. Hashtag Challenges allow brands to participate in the user community by inviting TikTok users to create content around a hashtag of their choice. This includes Hashtag Plus, which also adds a shopping feature to this experience.

Meanwhile, Branded Effects allow brands to insert themselves more directly into the content creation experience. The effects allow a brand or product to be added to a video in a 2D, 3D or now AR format in either the foreground or background of the video. These can also be combined with Hashtag Challenges to boost engagement with the brand.

The new AR effect, “Brand Scan,” is being added today alongside the formal launch of TikTok For Business itself. Digiday had previously scooped TikTok’s AR ad plans, noting how these would present a direct challenge to Snapchat’s Sponsored Lens and Word Lenses AR formats.

Except for the AR effect, most of the marketing products on TikTok For Business were offered before today, but the new platform organizes them under one roof and provides a place to introduce new products, as they arrive.

In addition, the platform is launching a new e-learning center that will help marketers learn about TikTok and its ad offerings. This center will include product guides, resources and creative best practices to help them launch successful campaigns or learn about the Branded Effects Partner Program.

TikTok doesn’t publicly disclose the pricing for its ad tools and solutions, but says pricing is based on what the brand wants to achieve and the scope of its campaign. Its own website details some of its budgeting requirements, like a $50 minimum on both daily campaign budgets and total budgets, for example. Digiday recently reported TikTok’s ad rates on a CPM basis have been cheap amid the recession, in comparison with Facebook.

Read more: techcrunch