What is Open Applications?

Open Applications is a new TikTok Creator Marketplace campaign type, where advertisers can post details of upcoming campaigns and open the campaign invite to all creators on TikTok Creator Marketplace to proactively apply. This makes it easier for advertisers to reach out to the network of over 800K creators on TikTok Creator Marketplace.
Creators are able to self-apply to the Open Applications campaign by submitting their pitch, including their idea for the campaign, selected videos that showcase their creativity, and proposed payment rates. From there, advertisers can view the profile of creators who apply and select the creators they want to work with.

3 reasons to use Open Applications for branded content campaigns

🤼 Expand your reach and open your invite to more creators on TikTok Creator Marketplace

Open Applications makes it easy for advertisers to send out a campaign brief to the TikTok Creator Marketplace network of creators, and expand their reach by allowing creators to self-apply to the campaign brief and pitch their creative ideas within their application.
Based on the submitted applications and our matchmaking algorithm, advertisers can pick from a selection of relevant creators who have applied to their campaign.

😎 Find the right creators faster, with preference filters and screening questions

With Open Applications, advertisers can set preference filters and screening questions to surface the most relevant creators faster. Use Preference Filters to indicate your preferred qualifications for creators applying to your campaign brief, such as Creator Country/Region, Audience Age, and Video Categories.
Advertisers can also set Screening Questions (optional) asking about a creator’s product experience or partnership history. This helps to narrow down the search and make it easy to surface the most relevant creators for your campaign.

📊 Work with specific creators at the same time

With the Open Applications feature, advertisers can open their campaign invitation to the TikTok Creator Marketplace network of over 800K creators, where interested creators can self-apply.
At the same time, advertisers can also choose to work with specific TikTok Creator Marketplace creators that they have in mind.

After creating the Open Applications campaign, advertisers can simply navigate to “Manage" > “Open Applications" > and select “Invite creators".

This allows advertisers to see their shortlisted creators and invite these specific creators to their Open Applications campaign as well.

How to use Open Applications to run branded content campaigns

Keen to know how to use Open Applications to run your branded content campaign? Follow these easy steps below!

1. Verify your TikTok Creator Marketplace account

If you have not already done so, you need to verify your TikTok Creator Marketplace account to start using Open Applications.
Watch this quick video to learn how to create and verify an account on TikTok Creator Marketplace, or check out this page for verification requirements.

2. Create an Open Applications campaign

  • Create a new campaign and select “Open Applications under Collaboration Type
  • Click “Confirm" and fill out your Brand and Contact Information.

How to select an Open Applications campaign on home page

3. Set preferred qualifications and screening questions

  • Fill in the preferred creator qualifications and screening questions (optional)

    • It is recommended for advertisers to set creator qualifications and screening questions as this will help you surface the most relevant creators when you are shortlisting the creators who have applied.
    • Preferred Qualifications: Set qualifications for creators who apply, such as your preferred creator country/region, target audience age, video categories/niche, or your preferred minimum engagement rate.
    • Screening Questions: This optional step allows you to set questions to learn more about a creator’s location or experience doing paid partnerships.

Filling out preferred qualifications and screening questions

4. Publish the campaign

  • Fill out the deliverables and payment section. If you select online transaction for payment, note that both advertisers and creators must agree to the TikTok Creator Marketplace Contract
  • Select ‘Publish’ after everything has been filled.
  • Creators on TikTok Creator Marketplace will be able to see the campaign invite in the “Open Applications" section of their Creator Console.
  • Creators will then choose to accept/apply to the Open Applications campaign.

Sending Open Applications campaign invites to specific creators

Besides opening up the Open Applications campaign invite to all creators on TikTok Creator Marketplace, advertisers can also send invitations to specific creators that they wish to invite to their campaign as well.

Steps to follow:

1. Make sure you have created and published your Open Applications campaign per the steps above.

2. Create a shortlist of specific creators you want to work with

3. Navigate to “Campaigns" > “Manage" > “Open Applications" > Invite creators

4. Select desired creators from your shortlist

5. Invite these creators to your Open Application campaign

What to do after your Open Applications campaign is published

Review and accept creators who have applied

To view which creators have applied to your campaign:

1. Navigate to “Campaigns" > “Manage" >Open Applications
2. Click on the specific campaign to see a list of all of the creators who have applied.

3. Click on individual creators to view their application and their answers to your screening questions (if you provided this in your Open Applications campaign).

4. Decide if you want to accept or decline the creator’s application. Creators will receive an in-app notification once their application is accepted, declined or modified

Note: Advertisers must respond to the creator’s application within 7 days.

If you miss out on a creator’s application but would still like to work with him/her, you would need to create a new campaign invite via Direct Invitation.

FAQs about Open Applications Campaign

Q: What is the difference between Open Applications and Direct Invite campaigns?
Open Applications is an open-invite campaign opportunity that allows all creators on TikTok Creator Marketplace to apply directly to the campaign. Direct Invite, on the other hand, is where advertisers shortlist specific creators on TikTok Creator Marketplace and invite them directly to be part of their campaign.
Q. How long do I have to review the Open Applications campaign?
Once the application period has started, advertisers will have 7 days to respond to a creator application. Usually, creators will start expressing interest and submitting applications within the first 24 hours. Most creator applications are submitted within the first 30 days of a campaign being published. We recommend you actively manage your Open Application campaign to ensure you do not miss out on responding to creators who have applied.
Q: Can I extend the original dates of my Open Applications campaign so more creators can join?
Yes, advertisers can extend the application period for their Open Application for a maximum time period of two months.
Q: If I extend the application period, does that reset the time needed to respond to creators that have already applied?
Extending the application period does not reset the time needed to respond to creators that have already applied. Advertisers still need to respond to an application within seven days of the application date.

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Driving brand love for McDonald's 50th birthday by remixing their iconic brand audio

As part of its nationwide birthday party, McDonald's (Australia) wanted to connect with its existing super-fans and re-engage with people who may have drifted away from the brand – all while turbo-charging brand love.

Alongside the golden arches and Big Mac, Macca's iconic jingle – “ba da ba ba ba" – is one of the most recognisable parts of the brand and an audio icon. So, the brand wanted to leverage this iconic sound and stand out on TikTok by connecting with the community authentically and giving its audience the chance to play with the sound. 

With the community already playing organically with the brand on TikTok, Macca's knew this was a natural fit for the platform.

KEY RESULTS

10.3%

6-second VTR

>41.2M

Impressions

>4.2M

Unique Reach

McDonald's worked with TikTok Creator Marketing Solutions to find creators on TikTok Creator Marketplace to deliver the campaign. The brand worked with six up and coming Aussie artists from a spread of musical genres to reinterpret the jingle with their own musical flares.

Each creator brought a unique lens to the brief: violinist @joelsvnny had cinematic drama, @h3rizonmusic showed off their acapella nous. Rapper @jaycee spat some bars, @mikaela_swan showcased incredible skills in drumming, @jhekhoos brought a laid-back acoustic spin and @djparislawrence created the remix to remix them all.

Each creator brought their own special sauce to the iconic jingle, and by partnering with a diverse range of creators, Macca’s was able to show up in unexpected ways to many different communities. 

This fit-for-platform campaign showed how sound-first creativity on TikTok can be a powerful brand-building tool. View-through rates of all creative performed well above the benchmark at 10.28%, indicating high community interest. Total impressions hit an impressive 41.2 million.

There was also a 34.9% increase in ad recall, more than 10,000 comments, and 400,000 likes. This indicated the campaign not only stayed with users, but also authentically encouraged fan engagement through the use of diverse creators. 

Client Testimonial

“Over the past 50 years, Australians have a rich history of making our brand their own, having christened us 'Macca's' for generations, so the launch of this campaign was a fantastic way to celebrate our ongoing connection with the local audience. With creativity on TikTok being underpinned by great sounds, it just made sense for us to work together to open up our famous jingle to our community and allow them to remix it for our anniversary."

Chris Brown, CMO
McDonald’s Australia

Excited to start your own creator-led campaign? Visit TikTok Creator Marketplace and start discovering new creators for your brand!

Loved this read? You may be interested to check out how Rimmel London achieved high brand awareness with TikTok Creator Marketing Solution’s Client Success team or how vivo achieved high engagement rates with TikTok creators!

*This success story was first published on TikTok for Business (Australia).

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