TikTok unveiled new advertising offerings as part of its TikTok Pulse suite. These solutions guarantee that brands’ campaigns will run adjacent to the top trending content across all categories on the platform, in addition to the existing Pulse lineups.

The TikTok Pulse suite is an advertising solution that allows brands to effectively land their message by placing ads next to the hottest trending and most premium brand-safe content resonating with audiences. It consists of three main components:

1. Max Pulse: The newly introduced Max Pulse unlocks campaigns’ full potential by ensuring ad placements alongside the top 4% of trending content across all categories, supplementing the existing Pulse lineups.
   
2. Pulse Lineups: Advertisers can build a brand association with specific content genres and benefit from contextual priming by securing placements alongside the top 4% of trending and brand-suitable user-generated content under 13 category lineups (including Beauty & Personal Care, Sports & Recreation) and seasonal or cultural moments (like Thanksgiving, Holiday Season, Back to School, and more).
   
3. Pulse Premiere: This offering enables brands to place ads alongside content from premium publisher partners across entertainment, sports, and lifestyle verticals. Pulse Premiere opens new opportunities for publishers to monetize their content on TikTok directly through a revenue-sharing model, amplifying existing media partnerships on the platform.

TikTok claims that the Pulse suite delivers higher unaided recall, higher purchase intent, and longer view times compared to other video platforms due to its ability to create strong alignment between advertisers’ creative and the adjacent content. 

According to the company’s data, Pulse ads watched for more than 75% of the total ad time drive 8% higher unaided ad recall, while those watched for a quarter of the time drive 4% higher purchase intent than a VOD forced view, where 100% of the ad was watched.

In addition to the Max Pulse launch, TikTok is expanding the Pulse Premiere lineup by adding partners like Paramount Global and the NHL, joining existing partners like Buzzfeed, Conde Nast, DotDash Meredith, Hearst Magazines, MLS, NBCUniversal, UFC, Vox Media, WWE, and more. The company is also introducing special Premiere lineups designed to cover tentpole events, including the Paris Olympic Games from NBCUniversal and The Met Gala from Vogue.

“By deepening our partnership with Pulse Premiere, we’re able to expand our monetization offerings, allowing brands who want to engage with our incredible fan base to appear in their feed adjacent to the unique and engaging content the League and our member Clubs create,” Kyle McMann, SVP & Global Business Development at NHL, stated in the announcement.

Furthermore, TikTok plans to leverage Generative AI to curate Custom Pulse Lineups tailored to specific marketing needs for more precise and relevant content adjacency. Alpha testing for Custom Pulse Lineups will begin in the US with select partners later in 2024.