So you're running a Shopify fashion brand in London and everyone's telling you TikTok is the place to be. They're not wrong, but they're not telling you the whole story. The platform is littered with the burnt-out ad accounts of brands who thought they could just post a few cool videos and watch the sales roll in. It doesn't work like that. Most brands are just setting their money on fire, chasing vanity metrics like views and likes that do absolutely nothing for their bottom line.
The truth is, TikTok isn't some magical exception to the rules of direct response advertising. It's a performance channel, a powerful one, but it demands the same strategic rigour as Meta or Google Ads. You need a proper plan, a solid structure, and a ruthless focus on what actually matters: turning scrollers into customers. Forget going viral. Let's talk about getting profitable.
Why are my TikTok ads failing? (It's not bad luck)
Let's get one thing straight. "Going viral" is a lottery ticket, not a business strategy. If your entire plan hinges on the algorithm randomly deciding to show your video to millions of people, you might as well spend your ad budget on scratch cards. The core problem is that too many brands treat TikTok like an awareness channel. They set their campaign objective to "Reach" or "Video Views" because it feels good to see big numbers and it's cheap.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: when you do that, you are giving TikTok a very specific instruction: "Find me the largest number of people for the lowest possible price." The algorithm, being incredibly efficient, does exactly that. It finds users who are happy to watch videos all day but have absolutely no intention of clicking a link, let alone buying something. Their attention is cheap because no other advertiser wants it. You are literally paying to reach the worst possible audience for your product.
The only objective that matters for a growing fashion brand is 'Website Conversions' with the goal of 'Complete Payment'. From day one. Every pound you spend must be aimed at driving a sale. Awareness is a byproduct of making sales and having a great product, not a prerequisite for it. If your ads are getting lots of views but no one is buying, the first thing you need to check is your campaign objective. If it's not set to conversions, you've already found your biggest problem. Many businesses get a lot of traffic that simply doesn't convert, and fixing this often comes down to a mismatch between your ad creative and your landing page.
What does a winning London fashion campaign look like?
The London fashion scene is notoriously competitive. Your audience is savvy, trend-aware, and can spot an inauthentic ad from a mile away. That's why the slick, overproduced video ads that might work on other platforms often fall flat on TikTok. They scream 'ADVERT' and people scroll right past them.
Success on TikTok hinges on creating ads that feel native to the platform. They should look and feel like the organic content users are already consuming. This is where User-Generated Content (UGC) becomes your most powerful weapon. These are videos made by real customers (or creators who look like real customers) showing off your product in a genuine way. It's authentic, it builds trust, and it converts far better than a polished studio shoot. I've seen this work wonders for clients across different niches, not just fashion. We had a SaaS client see incredible results just by switching from corporate-style videos to simple, authentic UGC clips.
Don't overthink production. A simple video shot on an iPhone, showing someone unboxing your product, trying on an outfit, or styling a piece in a few different ways, will almost always outperform a high-budget commercial. The key is the first three seconds. You need a strong visual or verbal hook to stop the scroll. Think "Three ways to style our trench coat for a rainy London weekend" or "The secret to looking put-together when you have 5 minutes to get ready." It's direct, value-driven, and feels like advice from a friend, not a sales pitch from a faceless brand. For more ideas on creating this kind of content, our guide on authentic creative for London D2C brands has some great pointers that apply just as well to TikTok.
How should I structure my TikTok ad account?
Running all your ads in one campaign is a recipe for disaster. You cant properly controll your budget, you cant analyse what's working, and you end up mixing cold audiences with warm audiences, which confuses the algorithm. A proper structure is non-negotiable.
Borrowing from what works best on Meta, I always recomend a simple but powerful two-campaign setup for any eCommerce brand. This approach gives you clarity and control over your spend. The principles for a strong ad account are universal, and a good Facebook ads structure for a clothing brand provides a solid foundation for your TikTok strategy too.
Campaign 1: Prospecting (Top of Funnel - ToFu)
- Objective: Website Conversions (optimised for Complete Payment).
- Audience: This is where you find new customers. You'll create different ad sets here to test various audiences: broad targeting (e.g., Women aged 20-35 in London), interest-based targeting (e.g., people interested in sustainable fashion, ASOS, and London Fashion Week), and Lookalike audiences (e.g., a 1% Lookalike of your past purchasers).
- Budget: This campaign should get the majority of your budget, probably around 80%. Your job here is to feed the funnel with new, potential customers.
Campaign 2: Retargeting (Middle/Bottom of Funnel - MoFu/BoFu)
- Objective: Website Conversions (optimised for Complete Payment).
- Audience: This is for people who've already shown interest. You'll target website visitors from the last 30 days, people who have viewed a product, and most importantly, people who have added an item to their cart but didn't buy. Make sure to exclude recent purchasers.
- Budget: This campaign needs less budget, around 20%. These are high-intent users, so your cost per purchase here should be significantly lower than in your prospecting campaign. Your ads here can be more direct, perhaps mentioning a limited-time offer or reminding them of the item they left behind.
This separation is crucial. It lets you speak to new and returning customers differently and allows you to allocate your budget far more effectively, pushing money towards what's actually driving sales.
Who exactly should I be targeting in London?
If your targeting consists of a single interest like 'Fashion' or 'Clothing', you're doing it wrong. That's like trying to catch a specific type of fish by draining the entire ocean. It's inefficient and expensive. The goal in a dense market like London is precision. You want to reach your ideal customer, not every person who has ever liked a photo of a handbag.
You need to go deeper. Think about the specific subcultures your brand appeals to. Are you selling Y2K revival pieces? Target interests related to early 2000s pop culture and artists. Is your brand focused on minimalist, Scandi-style basics? Target interests around brands like COS or Arket, and publications like Cereal Magazine. Layering interests is powerful. For example, target people who live in London AND are interested in 'Vintage Clothing' AND 'Depop'. Now you have a much more qualified audience.
Once you have enough data (at least 100 purchases through the TikTok pixel), Lookalike audiences become your best friend. Start by creating a 1% Lookalike audience in the UK based on your list of past purchasers. This tells TikTok to go and find more people who share the same characteristics as your best customers. It's almost always the highest-performing cold audience you can build. As you get more data, you can test lookalikes of people who add to cart, or even high-value customers. The core principle is to stop wasting money on broad audiences and focus on targeting high-value customers from the outset.
| Ad Set Name | Targeting Details | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Competitor Interests | Interests: Palace Skateboards, Stüssy, Corteiz, Patta. Demographics: London, Ages 18-30. | Reaches users who are already fans of similar brands and aesthetics. High purchase intent. |
| Subculture & Media | Interests: Hypebeast, The Basement, Boiler Room, UK Grime. Demographics: London, Ages 18-30. | Targets the cultural ecosystem around streetwear, capturing a passionate and engaged audience. |
| LAL (Purchasers) | Audience: 1% UK Lookalike of customers who have purchased. Demographics: London, Ages 18-30. | Uses your own customer data to find new people with the highest probability of converting. Often the best performing ad set. |
What kind of budget do I need and what results can I expect?
This is the big question, and the answer is: it depends. But I can give you some realistic benchmarks based on what we see with UK eCommerce clients. For a start, I'd recomend a minimum daily budget of £50-£100. Let's say you split that £80 to your Prospecting campaign and £20 to Retargeting. This gives the algorithm enough data to learn and optimise effectively. Starting with less than this can make it really slow to get results.
In terms of costs, the metrics you need to watch are Cost Per Click (CPC), Conversion Rate (CVR), and most importantly, Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). In the UK fashion space on TikTok, you might see CPCs anywhere from £0.40 to £1.20. A decent eCommerce conversion rate is typically between 1% and 3%. So, let's do some quick maths. If your CPC is £0.80 and your CVR is 1.5%, your Cost Per Purchase (CPA) would be (£0.80 / 1.5%) = £53.33. If you're selling a £40 t-shirt, that's a disaster. If you're selling a £200 jacket, you're profitable.
This is why obsessing over low CPAs is a mistake. What truly matters is ROAS. Are you making more money than you're spending? A 2x ROAS means for every £1 you spend, you get £2 back. This is break-even for many brands once you factor in product costs, shipping, etc. The goal should be to hit a 3x-4x ROAS to be comfortably profitable. We've managed to get much higher for some clients, I remember one women's apparel campaign that hit a 691% return (a 6.9x ROAS), but that's exceptional. Aim for profitable, then scale.
My ads are getting clicks but no sales. What's broken?
This is probably the most common and frustrating problem for eCommerce brands. You're spending money, people are clicking, but your Shopify dashboard is a ghost town. It feels like you're just pouring water into a leaky bucket. The good news is, this is a diagnostic problem. You just need to figure out where the leak is.
Think of your customer journey as a funnel:
- Ad Click (CTR): If you have a low Click-Through Rate (below 1%), your creative is the problem. Your hook isn't strong enough, your video is boring, or your message isn't resonating with the audience you're targeting. Go back and test new videos.
- Product Page View to Add to Cart: If you're getting plenty of clicks but very few people are adding items to their cart, the leak is on your product page. Is there a disconnect between the ad and the page? Are your product photos poor quality? Is your pricing unclear or too high? Do you lack a compelling product description or social proof like reviews? This is a common issue, and if you're finding that your Shopify ads are not converting, the product page is the first place to look.
- Add to Cart to Purchase: If you have lots of abandoned carts, the leak is in your checkout process. The most common culprit is a surprise shipping cost revealed at the last minute. Be upfront about shipping fees. Other issues could be a complicated checkout form that asks for too much information, or a lack of trusted payment options like Apple Pay or PayPal. Sometimes, even with a smooth process, you'll still get drop-offs. If you find yourself in a situation with TikTok ads that get clicks but zero conversions, your checkout and retargeting strategy need a serious review.
You have to systematically work through this funnel. Fix the biggest leak first. There's no point sending more traffic to a product page that doesn't convert, just as there's no point optimising a product page if your ads aren't getting any clicks in the first place.
| Symptom | Likely Cause | How to Fix |
|---|---|---|
| High Impressions, Low Clicks (Low CTR) | Your ad creative is weak. The first 3 seconds aren't stopping the scroll. | Test 3-5 new videos with completely different hooks. Focus on UGC-style content. |
| High Clicks, Low Add to Carts | Your product page isn't convincing. Poor photos, confusing description, price shock, or lack of trust signals. | Improve product photography. Rewrite description to focus on benefits. Add customer reviews and trust badges. |
| High Add to Carts, Low Purchases | Problem in your checkout. Usually unexpected shipping costs. | Offer free shipping or be upfront about costs. Simplify the checkout form. Ensure mobile experience is seamless. |
So, what's the actual plan? Your step-by-step guide
Alright, that was a lot of theory. Let's boil it down into an actionable plan you can implement this week. This isn't about finding some secret hack; it's about executing the fundamentals flawlessly. If you follow this structure, you'll be ahead of 90% of other fashion brands trying their luck on TikTok.
I've detailed my main recommendations for you below. Think of this as your pre-flight checklist before you launch any new campaign. Getting these elements right from the start will save you a ton of time, money, and frustration down the line.
| Component | Actionable Advice |
|---|---|
| Objective | Always, without exception, choose 'Website Conversions' and optimise for the 'Complete Payment' event. Anything else is a waste of money for an eCommerce brand. |
| Campaign Structure | Create two separate campaigns: 1) Prospecting to find new customers and 2) Retargeting to win back visitors and cart abandoners. Allocate 80% of your budget to Prospecting. |
| Creative | Start with 3-5 different UGC-style videos in your Prospecting campaign. Test different hooks in the first 3 seconds. Use clear, bold captions. Don't make ads, make TikToks. |
| Targeting (Prospecting) | Create 3 ad sets to start: 1) Layered interests relevant to your niche (e.g., Competitors + Media). 2) A 1% UK Lookalike of your past purchasers. 3) A broad audience (e.g., Women 20-35, London) to let the algorithm work its magic. |
| Targeting (Retargeting) | Create 2 ad sets: 1) Website visitors (last 30 days, exclude purchasers). 2) Add to Cart (last 14 days, exclude purchasers). Your 'Add to Cart' audience is gold dust - treat them well. |
| Landing Page | Ensure your product page is mobile-first, loads in under 3 seconds, has high-quality images/videos, and displays customer reviews prominently. The vibe must match the ad. |
| Budget & Scaling | Start with at least £50/day. After 3-4 days, analyse performance. Turn off losing ad sets (those with high CPA). Double the budget of winning ad sets every 2-3 days as long as ROAS remains above your target. |
Why you might want to consider expert help
As you can probably tell, running effective TikTok ads is a full-time job. It's not just about setting up a campaign and hoping for the best. It requires constant testing, analysis, and optimisation of your creative, your audiences, and your website. It's a relentless process of finding what works and doing more of it, while quickly cutting what doesn't.
For a busy founder in London, juggling design, production, logistics, and everything else, dedicating the required time and focus to advertising can be almost impossible. That's where working with an expert can make a huge difference. An experienced paid advertising consultant can help you avoid the costly mistakes most brands make, accelerate your learning curve, and implement a proven system for scaling profitably.
It's about having someone in your corner who lives and breathes this stuff every single day. Someone who can diagnose problems quickly, spot opportunities you might miss, and ultimately, help you build a reliable, scalable engine for growth. If you're serious about making TikTok a major sales channel for your brand and want to see results faster, we offer a completely free, no-obligation consultation to review your current strategy and identify your biggest opportunities.
