86Against the backdrop of globalization and the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce, more and more enterprises and individuals are turning their attention to overseas markets. For creators, brand owners, or sellers who are new to the Tuke field,“How to run Tuke ads” is often the most urgent and confusing question.
With numerous platforms, different rules, and significant cultural differences, without a clear mindset and actionable plan, it’s easy to fall into the trap of blind advertising and poor results.
Today, starting from the core logic for beginners, we will break down the starting point selection, path planning, and budget allocation strategies for advertising, providing Tuke practitioners with a reference guide that combines professionalism and practical operation.
Image source:Google
Cognition First: Clarify Goals and Markets
The first step for beginners is not to directly open the ad backend and create a campaign, but to build a systematic understanding of“Tuke advertising”.
Many beginners are eager for quick success, following the trend when they see peers launch a hit on a certain platform, but ignore the differences in user habits, competitive landscape, and platform characteristics in different markets.
For example, users in Southeast Asian markets rely more on social platforms than traditional search, while mature European and American markets pay more attention to content professionalism and brand trust; TikTok ads are more suitable for short and explosive traffic generation, while Google Ads are good at capturing users with precise search intent.
Image source:Google
Therefore, beginners need to answer three key questions first:First, what is the core goal? Is it brand exposure, product conversion, or user retention?
The goal directly determines the focus of the advertising strategy. If it is conversion, priority should be given to platforms with short conversion paths (such asFacebook/Instagram shopping ads); if it is brand building, both content tone and long-term reach should be considered (such as YouTube brand story videos).
Second,what is the user profile of the target market?You can use third-party data tools (such asSimilarWeb, Statista) to analyze the age distribution, consumption preferences, popular categories, and competitor trends in the target country, avoiding “one-size-fits-all” content and advertising approaches.
Image source:Google
Third,how suitable is your own product?High unit price, strong experience products (such as3C devices) are more suitable for building trust through KOL reviews and in-depth content, while low unit price, high-frequency repurchase daily necessities can quickly scale up through social media feed ads.
A clear understanding can help avoid ineffective efforts in subsequent actions and truly anchor on effective battlefields.
Path Breakthrough: From Single Point Testing to System Building
After clarifying the goals and markets, beginners often struggle with“which platform to start advertising on”. In fact, instead of struggling with the choice of a single platform, it is better to adopt a progressive path of single-point breakthrough—multi-platform verification—system integration. In the early stage, it is recommended to focus on 1-2 core platforms that are highly matched with the target market, concentrating resources to go deep rather than spreading efforts too thin.
Take mainstream Tuke markets as an example:
If you focus on theSoutheast Asian market,Shopee, Lazadaand other e-commerce platforms’ in-site ads (such as keyword promotion, related recommendations) can be the starting point, as their users already have clear shopping intent and the conversion path is shorter.
Image source:Google
At the same time, combine withFacebook, Instagramlocalized community operations, using local hot topics (such as festivals, pop culture) to design interactive content and reduce ad resistance.
If targeting theEuropean and American markets,Google Adssearch ads are suitable for capturing users’ active needs, whileTikTokchallenges and influencer collaborations can stimulate potential interest, forming a dual drive of search+interest.
Image source:Google
It is worth noting that beginners need to develop the awareness of testing—review—iteration. There is no need to pursue a large-scale budget in the early stage; you can set up small-scale A/B tests (such as different creatives, targeting audiences, landing pages), and quickly verify effectiveness through core indicators such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate (CVR), and cost per acquisition (CPA).
Budget Calculation: From Survival to Growth
Budget allocation is the easiest pitfall for beginners——either being too conservative and resulting in insufficient traffic, or blindly expanding and causing waste of funds. Scientific budget planning needs to balance the survival baseline and growth flexibility, with the core being that every investment serves the stage goal.
First, you need to divide the basic survival budget and growth exploration budget.
The basic survival budget is used to ensure stable advertising on core channels and ensure brand presence in the target market (usually accounting for50%-60% of the total budget); the growth exploration budget is used to test new platforms, new creatives, or new audiences (20%-30%), and the remaining 10%-20% is reserved for emergencies, such as sudden traffic fluctuations or competitor shocks.
Image source:Google
Second, budget allocation must be strongly tied to stage goals.
In the cold start period (the first1-3 months), the focus is on validating the model, and the budget should be tilted towards high-conversion-potential channels (such as proven effective search ads or high-repeat-purchase old customer recall), avoiding cost overruns due to the pursuit of scale.
In the growth period (3-6 months), it is necessary to expand the coverage of quality channels and gradually increase the proportion of new channel exploration.
In the maturity period (over 6 months), you can introduce automation tools (such as Facebook’s Campaign Budget Optimization) to achieve intelligent budget allocation, and at the same time, improve the priority of high-value user advertising through LTV (lifetime value) analysis.
Image source:Google
Conclusion
For beginners, instead of worrying about where to start, it is better to calm down and do market research and testing; instead of struggling with how much budget, it is better to learn to verify logic with the lowest cost.
With the accumulation of experience, advertising will change from luck to predictable science, and ultimately help Tuke practitioners find their own growth rhythm in the global market.
