Growth in the FMCG sector is becoming harder to win. Consumers are more fragmented, attention is more competitive, and brands are under increasing pressure to prove that media investment is driving measurable business outcomes beyond digital engagement metrics.

To better understand what drives incremental in-store sales, TikTok partnered with Circana to analyse the results of 97 Geo Lift studies conducted across the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.

Using geo-testing methodologies and advanced modelling approaches, the research explored how different campaign variables; including media mix, campaign duration, format strategy and creative execution, influence both sales lift and ROI on TikTok.

Rather than focusing on isolated campaign performance, the analysis set out to identify the patterns consistently linked to stronger commercial outcomes across markets and categories.

Here are the six key strategic principles emerging from the research:

1. TikTok delivers stronger sales impact at comparable efficiency

Across the studies analysed, exposure to TikTok campaigns drove stronger offline sales impact compared to broader social benchmarks, while maintaining ROI performance in line with the category.

On average, TikTok campaigns generated a 2.7% uplift in in-store sales compared to a 2.3% benchmark across social.

2. Non-seasonal moments create outsized opportunity

Brands often concentrate investment around peak trading periods. However, analysis suggests that quieter moments may offer some of the strongest growth opportunities.

Campaigns activated during non-seasonal periods generated a 46% higher sales lift on TikTok, while activity during peak moments still outperformed social benchmarks by 13%.

In less crowded environments, brands have greater opportunity to capture attention, build memory structures and drive incremental demand before competition intensifies.

The lesson is not to avoid seasonal moments, but to rethink the role of always-on presence in driving sustained business growth.

3. Longer campaigns build stronger commercial momentum

Short bursts of activity can generate spikes in attention, but sustained exposure creates cumulative impact.

Campaigns running for seven weeks or longer, with increased investment levels, delivered stronger sales lift, whilst maintaining ROI efficiency.

This reinforces an important principle for marketers: maintaining presence over time allows brands to compound attention, strengthen recall and improve conversion potential across the customer journey.

4. Premium formats deliver premium outcomes

Campaigns incorporating premium TikTok formats such as TopFeed and Pulse generated significantly stronger business outcomes, delivering both higher sales lift and stronger ROI performance.

The analysis found that premium format inclusion drove:

• 62% stronger sales lift

• 14% higher ROI

Premium placements create stronger visibility, greater attention capture and higher contextual impact, helping creative work harder from the very first second.

For brands launching major campaigns or seeking breakthrough awareness, premium formats justify their investment through disproportionately stronger commercial impact.

5. Reach remains the foundation of scalable growth

TikTok’s Reach objective delivered the strongest overall sales impact per dollar spent, demonstrating the importance of penetration and scale when driving CPG growth.

At the same time, Video View campaigns proved highly efficient at converting attention into ROI, supported by lower CPMs and consistent performance efficiency.

The strongest outcomes emerged when brands combined formats strategically:

• Reach to maximise scale

• Video View to convert attention efficiently

Campaigns combining TopFeed and Video View created a particularly effective balance between visibility, persuasion and commercial return.

6. Creative quality remains a great multiplier

Circana’s analysis found that campaigns adhering to TikTok’s Brand Basics principles performed within marginal efficiency zones, highlighting how they are more likely to drive strong effectiveness and efficiency outcomes.

Three factors emerged as particularly important:

1. Reach

2. Weekly frequency

3. Number of creative variations

The findings suggest that effective campaigns are not driven by media strategy alone. Creative structure and consistency also play a role in improving performance over time.

In particular, campaigns that refreshed creative regularly and maintained clear branding throughout were more likely to sustain effectiveness across longer durations.

Ultimately, Circana’s analysis showed that campaigns combining all of TikTok’s Brand Basics principles together were more likely to achieve the strongest overall performance across both Sales Lift and ROI.

Turning measurement into a growth strategy

The findings from this analysis reinforce several clear principles for brands looking to maximise retail impact on TikTok.

Firstly, maintaining an always-on presence helped brands drive impact beyond peak seasonal moments, while premium formats such as TopFeed and Pulse further improved sales lift and ROI.

Campaigns that combined broad Reach, longer durations and strong creative execution consistently delivered stronger business outcomes.

The research also highlights the importance of balancing efficiency with effectiveness. Rather than optimising toward a single metric, the strongest-performing campaigns combined scale, attention and creative quality to drive measurable offline sales growth.

Discover some of our success stories with Circana here and reach out to your TikTok team to find out more about measuring the offline sales impact of your media.