3 tips to make native-feeling paid social ads

Every marketer knows that authenticity sells.

It can be hard to define what authenticity looks like, though.

The same ad read feels forced from one creator, but authentic from another.

One brand hops on a trend and goes viral, while another gets “ok boomer” comments. 🙃

What gives?

Inauthentic ads violate unspoken, often unconscious, rules about how native content should look.

If you’re unfamiliar with these rules on a platform like TikTok, you may end up the butt of the joke. (Remember the millennial pause?) 

To build a winning creative strategy, you'll have to immerse yourself in the culture and language of the platform. Today we’ll get practical about how to achieve true authenticity.

The secret? Learn to think like a creator.

Here’s how...

Authenticity is a must for paid social

Let's learn from Meredith Unger — a creative strategist at Tinuiti who works with top brands like e.l.f., Poppi, and Liquid I.V.

She joined us for a value-packed session on winning TikTok ad formats and shared some key reasons why authenticity is so important when it comes to paid social.

Bottom line: If you want to increase conversions on social, lower CPAs, and build brand trust, it’s important to feel real.

Simple stuff like shooting in the real world on an iPhone instead of in a studio with a $20,000 camera rig can make your ads feel more authentic.

But if you’re reading this newsletter, you’re probably doing that already.

Let’s go deeper.

Study your customers’ favorite content creators ✏️

Who is your audience? What content or creators are they watching regularly? 

Don't just guess — here's a step-by-step approach to help you see your content through the eyes of your customer.

Step 1️: Create a fresh TikTok account so you can take full advantage of the algorithm.

Step 2: Ask ChatGPT to suggest some creators. Here’s a sample prompt: 

“I work for a DTC beauty brand and I'd like to understand our customers better. I want to see what kind of content and creators resonate with my audience. Can you suggest the top 25 TikTok creators in beauty and skincare for me to follow?”

Step 3️: Follow the suggested accounts and interact with their content. 👇

• Follow at least 25 creators to start
• After the big names, look for smaller creators with die-hard fans
• Use the For You page to see how your audience finds new content
• Which videos get the most views? What do they have in common? 

Use the rubric below to guide your evaluation. 

Copying the top creators in your space will make your content feel more relevant.

The more seamlessly your ad fits into someone’s feed, the more likely they’ll watch it.

Lead with sound for vertical social media ads 🔊

When you’re making ads for vertical social (TikTok, Reels, Youtube Shorts), choose the sound you want to use first → then, come up with your concept.

Mirella Crespi (Founder of Creative Milkshake who ships 2000+ ads per month) found that using original or custom sounds for her clients can lower CPAs by up to 50% on Meta & TikTok. 

🤯 50% CPA reduction 🤯

Here are some of the prompts Mirella and her team use to make sound-first ads.

Try working your way through these prompts next time you’re concepting, and see if something jumps out for you!

Mimic the content on the medium 👯

Ads that blend in with the feed perform better. This is why UGC works so well. 

Creators talk to their audience like usual, they just happen to be talking about a product.

It’s also why the “fake podcast” ad format has been working so well on TikTok. 

Like TikTok, podcasts are a sound-first medium. Adding clips and sound bites make sense for the platform. 

In turn, these ads feels organic and approachable, like this one from Skinesa: 

Create winning paid social ads

The best advertising has always emulated the medium in which it appears. 

In the heyday of print advertising, great writers made great marketers.

The same thing happened when television took over. The best TV shows told a captivating story — commercials followed suit.

Learning from the history of advertising, one thing is clear...

You need to think like a content creator to win in paid social.