Background
TikTok is a leading destination for short-form mobile video, built to inspire creativity and bring joy. As the platform has become an increasingly influential part of the consumer journey, brands are using TikTok not only to drive discovery but also to influence consideration and purchase decisions.

Marketers today face mounting pressure to demonstrate measurable full-funnel impact. Brands need clearer guidance on how specific creative choices influence movement from unaware to aware, aware to considering, and considering to conversion – and how drivers differ by four distinct types of audiences.

To deepen its understanding of creative effectiveness, TikTok partnered with Alter Agents to identify which creative elements are most effective in moving TikTok users from unaware to aware, aware to consideration, and from consideration to conversion on TikTok.

Challenge
Creative must work differently at each stage of the funnel and for different audiences. What captures attention at awareness is not always what drives consideration or conversion. To build content that performs across objectives, marketers need clear guidance on which creative elements resonate at each stage and how those drivers shift across low consideration and high consideration verticals, as well as across audiences defined by life stage and income.

TikTok sought to better understand how specific creative elements drive awareness, consideration and conversion across the funnel. The goal was to identify which attributes are most strongly associated with each stage of the marketing funnel and how responses vary across audiences defined by life stage and income.

Traditional lift metrics could indicate performance, but they do not isolate the creative attributes responsible for driving movement down the funnel. TikTok needed a statistically grounded framework linking creative components to measurable brand outcomes.

Solution
Building on a strong existing partnership, TikTok partnered with Alter Agents for its thoughtful, multi-layered approach to research design and its ability to move beyond surface-level performance metrics to uncover the deeper drivers shaping behavior.

Alter Agents designed a large-scale quantitative research program among 7,350 U.S. adults ages 18 to 55 who are monthly active TikTok users. Participants were independently recruited by Alter Agents and opted in to participate in the study. Users were exposed to ads within a simulated, in-context TikTok For You feed environment to reflect natural viewing behavior, with creative tested based on its position within brand marketing funnels. 

Each asset (24) was coded across more than 40 creative elements, including tone, humor, narrative structure, audio cues, creator presence, captions, product-in-use visuals and calls to action. Advanced drivers analysis was applied to determine which attributes had a statistically significant influence on driving awareness, consideration and conversion.

The study also examined four priority audience segments to understand how creative effectiveness varies by life stage and income.

Results
The study reinforced that the purchase funnel is not linear. While awareness, consideration and conversion are often discussed as distinct stages, they are deeply interconnected, and creative must be intentionally designed for each stage and audience. What captures attention does not automatically drive consideration, and what builds interest does not always convert. Full-funnel effectiveness requires aligning creative with consumers’ mindset at every step.

Key findings included:

• Awareness: Humor increases brand familiarity by 40% compared to ads without humor, making it a strong driver of awareness. When audiences laugh, they’re more likely to engage, and find the content relevant, which helps set the stage for consideration and conversion.
• Consideration: 85% of TikTok users say TikTok allows them to see how real people use products before making a decision. Highlighting the product is  important  in the consideration stage, when users are most receptive to various forms of educational content (e.g., demos, product in use, product benefits, reviews/testimonials )
• Conversion: Conversion happens when users feel in control, guided by trusted creators rather than urgency. In the lower funnel, product-focused content performs best when it’s entertaining and story-led. Creators shine at showing products in action, especially when there’s a strong brand fit, and even at conversion, storytelling still drives results.

The research also identified meaningful differences across audience segments, highlighting the importance of aligning creative to user mindset at each stage of the funnel.

Impact
For TikTok, the study provides a data-backed framework providing guidance on what creative elements drive measurable brand outcomes across awareness, consideration and conversion. The findings inform advertiser guidance and support the development of a practical playbook for full-funnel creative optimization.

For brand partners, the research delivers statistically grounded insight into how to design content that not only captures attention but also builds consideration and drives action within a single platform environment.

“We partnered with Alter Agents because their team has conducted extensive full-funnel research and understands that creative effectiveness isn’t one-size-fits-all. What resonates during discovery can differ from what drives consideration or conversion. This new research helps equip brands with the knowledge to apply the right creative tactics to achieve specific business objectives across the funnel.” – Jacqueline Cervantes, TikTok