TikTok Spark Ads

How do Spark Ads differ from normal TikTok ads?

A Spark Ad is a post first and an ad second, and most of the differences follow from that. A normal In-Feed ad is TikTok’s standard video ad, which sits among posts in the feed. It runs under a custom identity: a name and picture you set in Ads Manager.

File limits and safe zones sit in TikTok ad specs.

TikTok’s own figures favour Spark Ads. Its Spark Ads 101 post claims a 134 per cent higher completion rate than standard In-Feed ads. It claims a 157 per cent higher 6-second view rate too. Both come from its 2022 internal tests.

Those figures measure watching. Neither tells you what a sale costs. Run both formats on one product and compare cost per purchase.

How to get a Spark Ads code and run the ad

The creator does the first four steps in the TikTok app. You do the rest in TikTok Ads Manager. These steps follow TikTok’s help article.

1. The creator opens the post, taps the three dots and taps Ad Settings.
2. They agree to the advertising terms and turn on the Ad authorization toggle.
3. They generate a video code and choose 7, 30, 60 or 365 days.
4. They tap Copy Code and send it to you.
5. In Ads Manager, you go to Tools, then Creative library under the Creative tab.
6. You click Spark ads posts, then Apply for Authorization.
7. You paste the code into the search bar and click Search.
8. In a new campaign, you click “+ Add videos or images”, open the TikTok posts tab and pick the post.

Ads Manager takes up to 20 codes at a time, so test several creators in one batch.

A creator can’t delete a post while it runs as a Spark Ad. TikTok says the video must be un-authorised first.

Spark Ads

What they are: You can use Spark Ads to leverage organic TikTok posts and their features in your advertising.

Codes: You can batch authorize up to 20 video codes at a time. There is an authorization period for you to review beneath each post.

Deleting: A video code can only be deleted when all the ads this video is used in are deleted in TikTok Ads Manager.

Which of the three Spark Ad routes fits you?

TikTok’s creation guide gives three routes. A code covers one creator post. Linking a creator’s account is the alternative, and you then choose from that account’s authorised posts.

The push route suits AI video. You upload a finished file, and Ads Manager posts it to the account you hold rights over.

Can an AI avatar video run as a Spark Ad?

Yes, from an account you control. TikTok’s overview covers “organic videos from any TikTok account”, and its Spark Ads pages name no ban on AI video. The label is what changes.

TikTok’s AI toggle in Ads Manager lists “Is not a Spark ad” among its conditions. A Spark Ad follows the Community Guidelines on AI content instead. They require a label on AI content “that shows realistic-looking scenes or people”, and unlabelled content “may be removed, restricted, or labeled” by TikTok.

That rule meets the caption lock from the steps above. Any AI wording in the caption has to go in before the post is authorised, because it can’t go on afterwards. TikTok’s AI-generated content label sets out each case.

The harder limit is what the avatar says. An AI actor who claims to have used your product falls under the FTC’s fake-testimonial rule, as AI UGC and the law explains. Creatify’s terms make all use subject to a Moderation Policy that bans deceptive practices, and clause 6.2 ends your rights on a breach.

Write the avatar as a presenter talking about the product, and keep “I used this for a month” out of the script.

What Creatify does for Spark Ads, and what it leaves to you

Creatify’s Spark Ads page describes an Agent, a chat assistant that works in your connected ad account. It writes a first-person hook, puts the product in hand by the third second and makes the 9:16 video.

Its sample hook is “I dropped it on tile. Twice.”, the kind of line the section above tells you to cut. Rewrite it as a presenter’s claim before you approve the launch.

The page also shows a weekly check that ranks Spark Ads on cost and 6-second views.

The launch runs “as a TikTok account your ad account can post as (your own, or one authorized through Business Center)”, once you approve. Its FAQ sets the limit plainly: “Boosting a creator’s existing post with a code is done in TikTok Ads Manager.” The Agent then reads results for every Spark Ad in the account, coded ones included.

Standard at $15 a month includes the Ad Agent and Ad Launcher. Scheduled Ad Agent Automations start on Pro at $55 a month.

Avatar video bills 5 credits per 15 seconds, rounded up, so a 16-second ad costs the same as a 30-second one. Agent runs use a variable number of credits. Users report credits draining faster than the pricing suggests (15 of 61 sources: Trustpilot, Reddit).

What should you pay a creator for a Spark Ads code?

Budget for a separate fee on top of the video. Influencer Marketing Hub calls 20 to 25 per cent of a creator’s base rate per 30-day flight the industry standard. It gives no sample or source, so treat that as an opening figure in a negotiation.

Apply it to Insense’s guide, which puts lower-tier TikTok creators at $125 to $300 a video. The code then runs from about $25 to $75 for 30 days.

Influencer Marketing Hub also shows a flat example of $500 a month whatever you spend. UGC creator rates lists the fees around a video.

Match the code to the test. A 30-day code suits a first run, and a 365-day code suits a post that has already sold. Agree the length before the creator generates the code, because the fee follows it. Twelve 30-day flights at the same rate make a 365-day code about $300 to $900, so expect to negotiate a flat fee.

The creator has a job too. TikTok’s Branded Content Policy asks them to turn on the commercial content disclosure toggle on a post made for a brand. Put that in the brief, since a code boosts the post as it stands.

When a creator beats Creatify

Creatify is the wrong tool when the creator is what you are buying. A Spark Ad on a real creator’s account brings their handle, their face and their followers, and no avatar supplies those. Hire the person: Insense’s pricing page starts UGC campaigns from $100 a video, with its fee and plan on top.

A Spark Ad sits among real people’s posts, and viewers can tap through to the account. Users say Creatify’s avatar ads have a recognisable, templated look, fine at scroll speed and less so on a close look (6 of 61 sources: Reddit, Reddit).

Price alone points elsewhere. JoggAI makes a 30-second avatar video for $0.12 to $0.24 on Starter if every credit is used. Its terms bar you from presenting output as entirely human generated. CreateUGC works out at $2.69 a video on Launch, with no length stated.

Questions about Spark Ads

What is a Spark Ads code?

It is a code a creator generates for one post, in that post’s Ad Settings. You paste it into TikTok Ads Manager to get permission to run that post as an ad.

How long does a Spark Ads code last?

The creator chooses 7, 30, 60 or 365 days when generating it. TikTok shows the authorisation period beneath each post in Ads Manager.

Can a creator delete a post running as a Spark Ad?

Not straight away. TikTok says the video has to be un-authorised as a Spark Ad before it can be deleted from the organic account.

Do likes from a Spark Ad stay on the post?

Yes. TikTok says everything the boost earns, comments and follows included, counts towards the original post.

More pages for Creatify users, sorted by job, in the Creatify hub →