Screenshot from: From Storytelling to Sales: Short and Long-Term ROI of TikTok. A Marketing Mix Modeling Study By Dentsu. February 2025.
Storytelling Ads Perform Better
The study examined two main types of user-generated content (UGC):
Storytelling UGC: Content with a narrative focus and no direct promotional offers.
Tactical UGC: Content centered on pricing, sales promotions, or direct product calls to action.
Dentsu found that storytelling-based UGC drove stronger sales results than tactical promotions.
The narrative approach generated better audience engagement and recall, translating to 70% higher ROI than promotional content.
What This Means
Dentsu’s data shows TikTok can help meet both short-term sales goals and long-term brand goals.
Advertisers looking for quick sales and lasting brand impact could consider including TikTok in their media strategy.
Methodology
Dentsu used a three-step approach to measure TikTok’s full impact:
Short-Term Sales: Tracked direct revenue within 6 weeks of ads running while filtering out other market factors.
Brand Metrics: Measured how TikTok advertising shifted consumer perceptions.
Long-Term Sales: Connected those brand perception changes to additional sales 1-10 months later.
The study analyzed actual spending and sales data from 15 Nordic brands over 2-3 years. Statistical models isolated TikTok’s contribution from external factors like seasonality, competition, and other marketing channels.
This methodology captures both immediate performance and longer-term brand effects in a single framework.
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