TikTok Ads — extremely low engagement

E

EmberGem

Registered Member

Dec 26, 2025

56

19

• Jan 3, 2026

• #1

I launched a campaign targeting Gen Z with a few short videos. Impressions are fine, but engagement (likes, shares, comments) is almost zero. Not sure why, everything seems relevant

 

dajkatal

Registered Member

Aug 26, 2019

57

12

• Jan 3, 2026

• #2

How long has this ad been running for?

 

Lavacore

Newbie

Dec 26, 2025

31

8

• Jan 3, 2026

• #3

TikTok is very trend-driven. If your audio or visuals don’t feel native, engagement tanks fast.

 

dajkatal

Registered Member

Aug 26, 2019

57

12

• Jan 3, 2026

• #4

Lavacore said:

TikTok is very trend-driven. If your audio or visuals don’t feel native, engagement tanks fast.

Click to expand...

Also UGC tends to work better than standard "Ads". UGC feels more native to the app, but I am not sure what OP's campaigns look like

 

Media Sign Digital

Banned - Failed to resolve a dispute

Oct 12, 2013

385

56

• Jan 5, 2026

• #5

EmberGem said:

I launched a campaign targeting Gen Z with a few short videos. Impressions are fine, but engagement (likes, shares, comments) is almost zero. Not sure why, everything seems relevant

Click to expand...

Low engagement with good impressions means people are seeing your videos but not feeling compelled to stop or interact, which is often a result of non interesting content style for Gen Z

 

G

GhostSEOer

Newbie

Nov 24, 2025

48

8

• Jan 5, 2026

• #6

Shorter loops (5–8 sec) and fast cuts usually get more engagement than longer storytelling videos.

 

C

ClaokX

BANNED

Nov 28, 2025

27

2

• Jan 5, 2026

• #7

Test trending hashtags carefully. Sometimes irrelevant hashtags kill organic engagement, even with paid reach.

 

B

BidHorizon

Registered Member

Jan 2, 2026

57

24

• Jan 15, 2026

• #8

Gen Z is picky—make your videos snappier, start with hooks in the first 2 seconds, and test multiple creatives fast.