Organic Sales Drop After Running Tiktok Ads?

How many of you have noticed that after running TikTok Ads, your organic sales start to decline while the portion of sales from advertisements keeps growing? Is this normal? Or should it be a concern?

Based on my experience, I’d say this is completely normal. Let me explain why in this post.

Let’s start with an example. Suppose that with pure organic traffic, you manage to sell 100,000 units. The following month, you start running ads and notice that your total sales increase to 120,000 units. However, out of these 120,000 units, 80,000 are from ads, while only 40,000 come from organic traffic. At this point, you might be wondering… Is this normal?

Yes, it is. One key reason is that your ads may be intercepting potential organic buyers before they make a purchase. By running ads, you take the first step in securing sales before your competitors do. In this scenario, either you intercept the order first, or your competitor will.

Another reason is the way TikTok's algorithm and inventory slots work in content placement, particularly regarding attribution. TikTok Ads have an attribution model of 7-day click and 1-day view. This means that if a user clicks on your ad today but makes a purchase tomorrow after seeing your livestream organically, that sale will still be attributed to your ad.

Besides these factors, there are many other reasons that could affect your sales distribution between organic and ads. If you're facing challenges and are unsure about your situation, feel free to drop me a message. I'll be happy to provide a free consultation for those who read my post!