LONDON, SEATTLE – September 4, 2024 – Eight out of 10 videos released by brands on TikTok are under-performing.

That’s according to new research from global creative effectiveness platform DAIVID, which found that despite TikTok’s increasing importance to marketers, 84% of content released on the social media platform is generating below average levels of positive emotions, attention and brand recall. 

A mini study carried out by the global platform, which helps advertisers measure and improve the effectiveness of their content at scale, also revealed that a quarter (24%) of TikTok videos were potentially damaging to brands after evoking intense negative emotions. 

With TikTok’s share of the global ad market growing rapidly, DAIVID used its AI-powered content testing platform to measure the effectiveness of the content being posted on the social platform. Metrics evaluated as part of the study included the positive and negative emotions elicited by each video, the attention they generated and the impact the content had on various brand metrics, including brand recall. 

The findings include:

> Just 16% of branded TikTok videos scored higher than the average Creative Effectiveness Score (CES) of 5.8 out of 10 – a composite metric created by DAIVID that combines the three main drivers of effectiveness: attention, emotions and memory; 

> Six out of 10 videos (60%) were simply forgettable, with below average positive emotional responses and below average brand recall. They also scored higher than the global average for confusion and boredom;

> 24% evoked intense, extreme negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, awkwardness, disgust and shame. These videos run the risk of doing damage to brand reputation;

> Overall, TikTok content was 9% less likely to generate intense positive emotions than the global average and attracted 2.5% less attention.

Ian Forrester, CEO and founder of creative effectiveness platform DAIVID, said: “This research reveals that the vast majority of content being released on TikTok simply isn’t up to scratch. Sixty per cent of the creative is simply forgettable, under-indexing for positive emotions and over-indexing for negative emotions such as confusion and boredom. In one ear and out of the other for the viewer.

“Yet, even more concerning for brands are the 24% of videos that evoked intense, extreme, negative emotions such as disgust, anxiety and shame. If these emotions are attached to the brand, they’re likely to do the brand damage, negatively impacting future sales potential. This should be a wake up call to brands and underlines the importance of analysing the effectiveness of your social creative beyond just the basic reach, impressions and engagement rate data provided by the platforms to understand the real impact that it’s having.”

Based in London, DAIVID uses a suite of technologies – including facial coding, eye tracking and computer vision – to help advertisers optimise the business and emotional impact of their ad campaigns. 

In today’s content-saturated, always-on world, DAIVID’s suite of solutions helps marketers cut through the noise, enabling them to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of their creative at scale. The platform empowers brands, agencies and influencers to ditch the guesswork and measure the effectiveness of their content quickly and accurately across a range of different platforms, formats and channels.