As the social platform launches new Smart+ automation and Google Analytics tie-ins, its North American head of business marketing, Rema Vasan, tells The Drum why it is now shifting perception among advertisers from viral fun to vital performance.
Rema Vasan, head of North America business marketing, TikTok
For years, TikTok has been the industry’s cultural spark plug – the place where skits go viral, products sell out overnight and billions of views fuel buzz. But when it comes to boardroom metrics, it’s easy to dismiss it as more hype than hard results.
That perception is shifting and behind TikTok’s latest wave of announcements at Advertising Week New York lies a bigger story. A story of more: More creators. More audience. More videos. More engagement. More advertisers. And now, more tools designed to give marketers control, creativity and proof of performance.
“We’ve been seen as a vanity platform – a place that drives awareness, trends and discovery,” says Rema Vasan, TikTok’s head of North American business marketing, speaking with The Drum following the announcement of its suite of new AI-powered tools and measurement updates.
“We’re all of those things, yes. But really, the shift we’re seeing now is: how do we take all of that [all those trends, awareness, reach, millions and billions of views] and show how it translates to culture. And then how culture translates to conversion.”
TikTok wants to be more than the platform that sets trends. It wants to be the one that turns them into results advertisers can measure. A vital partner, not a vanity partner.
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That’s not to say that TikTok is turning its back on its cultural roots; rather, it’s doubling down on them. TikTok’s distinctive strength has always been its ability to shape culture in real time. But cultural cachet has often been dismissed as unmeasurable, or at least unproven, when it comes to hard business outcomes, and Vasan wants advertisers to understand how moments of cultural spark can turn into measurable business impact.
“Culture doesn’t take a day off,” she says. “Our role is to help brands turn that cultural energy into real results.”
And there is no shortage of examples of how this is already playing out on TikTok. Focus Features, for example, tapped TikTok-first creative to launch Nosferatu, layering eerie branded effects into the platform’s aesthetic while offering in-app ticket sales. The campaign drove 8,000 ticket purchases and a 27% more efficient cost per acquisition.
Meanwhile, when Skittles spotted fans freeze-drying its candy, the brand launched a freeze-dried Skittles line, Pop’d, exclusively on TikTok Shop, which sold out in nine days.
TikTok is going big on automation to keep pace with advertiser needs. Recent research conducted by NewtonX found that 93% of marketers say AI automation improves their effectiveness by reducing manual work and enabling more strategic focus and 90% of executives see AI as critical to future business growth.
At the core of the platform’s latest product push is Smart+, TikTok’s performance advertising system. The revamped buying flow gives advertisers more control, letting them adjust automation levels across targeting, budget and creative rather than choosing an all-or-nothing approach.
Alongside this comes Symphony, TikTok’s generative AI suite, which can recommend creatives, resize and dub videos, refresh music or scale assets across product lines in seconds, making it easier to create, enhance and optimize performance content.
Then there’s GMV Max Creative Hub – a new dashboard that gives more visibility and granular, customizable reporting on which creative and creators drive the most results, to help advertisers maximize return on investment.
“AI isn’t a substitute for creativity – it turbocharges it,” says Vasan. “Tools like Symphony help scale brilliant ideas, making them faster and more adaptable without losing authenticity.”
If automation is about possibility, measurement is about credibility. Historically, TikTok has been undervalued in last-click attribution models, undercounting its role in purchase journeys by as much as 73%.
To address this, the platform is expanding its Attribution Portfolio with third-party optimization, starting with Google Analytics, so marketers can view TikTok results in the tools they already trust. Additionally, Assisted Conversions will capture TikTok’s role in priming purchases that occur later or off-platform.
Early testing showed a 54% increase in conversions and a 27% drop in CPA with the Google Analytics integration.
“Marketers need open gardens,” Vasan says. “Interoperability with tools like Google Analytics shows TikTok’s impact across the full journey – not just the last click.”
It’s a clear signal to marketers that TikTok wants its role measured on the same playing field as the platforms it competes with.
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The idea of “more” could sound like marketing spin. But TikTok is betting that more control, more creativity and more credible measurement can unlock more trust and ultimately, more ad spend.
The product updates themselves may look like tweaks, but the strategy is bigger. TikTok wants to shed its reputation as the fun, experimental channel and claim a central role in performance marketing.
“As a marketer, I don’t just care which trend I tap into,” says Vasan. “I care what business outcome it delivers.”
TikTok’s challenge has always been one of perception: irresistible to culture, but not yet indispensable to marketers. At Advertising Week New York, Vasan and her colleagues made it clear that the company’s next chapter is about closing that gap.
If TikTok can consistently show that more engagement means more value, then the “story of more” may become the story of its next chapter – one where vanity metrics give way to vital outcomes.
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TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles,...