In the era of hyper-targeted advertising, regional sensitivity has never been higher. Especially when we’re talking about TikTok Ad Experts—one that thrives and survives on culture, local trends, and highly personalized content. Our brand set its sights high: to establish our online presence in two of the most culturally rich cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Both are in California, but content preferences, user behaviors, and community engagement in the two markets couldn’t be more different.
Instead of jumping into these discrepancies in the dark, we collaborated with ad experts at TikTok Ad Experts who were masters at bridging city lines when it came to brand storytelling. To our surprise, the perfect collaborative partner wasn’t a LA or SF-based business—it was a New York-based TikTok advertising agency.
This agency added to the mix a degree of cross-market intelligence, creative flexibility, and paid media expertise that totally changed how we marketed TikTok in every single city. Here’s how that partnership worked—and why hiring experienced TikTok ad experts was the best decision we made in 2025.
Why We Needed Local TikTok Experience
When we first began to try and expand our reach on TikTok, we had high stakes. LA and San Francisco are both innovation hotbeds with highly active online communities. What works in LA in terms of style, tone, and content speed will not work in SF, and vice versa.
Here is why local knowledge mattered:
Diverse Audiences: LA is highly skewed towards entertainment, fashion, and celebrity culture. SF audiences, however, are more tech-forward, wellness-oriented, and socially conscious storytelling.Creative Differentiation: Having the same TikTok material for both markets would have been a disaster. We had to have strategies specifically suited to each market, down to creator choice, scripting, and even background music.
Rather than diluting our budget into multiple boutiques, we sought out a single, centralized partner who possessed the skill to execute regional TikTok campaigns with the finesse they deserved. That quest led us to a New York-based TikTok advertising agency—a firm already managing cross-market campaigns coast to coast.
Selecting Our New York TikTok Ad Agency
Selecting a TikTok ad agency on the other coast wasn’t a simple process. Nevertheless, during our RFP process, the New York agency impressed us with the following reasons:
1. U.S. Market Demonstrated Performance
This agency had success case studies from New York, Atlanta, Austin, Seattle, and so on—each with various audience tones and content needs. That adaptability led us to believe they should be able to do LA and SF with ease.
2. Access to a National Creator Network
Their collaborations involved dozens of TikTok creators across multiple verticals—beauty, lifestyle, tech, gaming, fashion, wellness. That breadth of creators would be instrumental in adapting content for LA’s entertainment-biased audience and SF’s tech-savvy consumers.
3. End-to-End Ad Execution
Above all, however, they weren’t just a creative shop. This was a full-funnel TikTok ad agency with a specialty in:
Paid media managementInfluencer collaborationsTikTok Shop integrationsSpark Ads administrationPerformance measurement and optimization
Campaign Strategy & Regional Adaptations
Once our deal was inked, the agency came into action. Their approach was simple: build two campaigns atop the same underlying brand story, but execute at each touch point in a way that would resonate with the regional tastes of LA and SF.
West Coast Style and East Coast Storytelling
Although we were looking for a contrast between SF and LA, the agency was able to demonstrate how East Coast storytelling could actually impact West Coast content style. Here’s what they did:
LA Strategy: Visually driven, with aesthetic hooks, creator glamour, fashion-leading user-generated content, and aspirational storytelling with lifestyle focus.
SF Strategy: Based on authenticity, values-driven storytelling, technology-facilitated demonstrations, product training, and eco-friendly messaging.In LA, our influencers included actors, fashion influencers, and street-style influencers. In SF, our influencers included product reviewers, startup entrepreneurs and founders, and social impact creators.
Platform Audio & Trend Use by Region
Our New York office provided unexpected insights into how music and trends function differently in each market:
LA content was fueled by popular audio trends and cinematic cuts.SF videos were more effective with lo-fi sound, voiceover, and voice synthesis for learning.
Instead of tracking viral waves, the agency used culturally appropriate trends based on what each city’s audience actually consumed.
Performance Measures for All Cities
What finally put this strategy to the test was the numbers. By executing region-specific campaigns, we witnessed wildly divergent—but no less dazzling—results.
Los Angeles Campaign Highlights:
3.2M Views on five creator collaborations9.1% Engagement Rate$0.43 CPE (Cost Per Engagement)$18.90 CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)Emphasis on visual appeal created above-average view-throughs on Spark Ads.
San Francisco Campaign Highlights:
1.8M Views on four creator collaborations11.6% Engagement Rate$0.39 CP$14.40 CPAAdditional shares and comments from value-based storytelling
Critical Takeaways By Market:
Aesthetic finish and visual appeal become the focus in LA.Value-based and authentic content influence conversion in SF.
Due to our agency’s customized implementation, both campaigns succeeded on ROI goals, albeit for various reasons.
What TikTok Ad Experts Brought to the Table
By collaborating with seasoned TikTok ad specialists, we didn’t just gain more than campaign deployment. We opened the door to a long-term content plan that could grow with our brand. Here’s what they particularly helped us with:
1. Regional Nuance
Without guessing, the agency built a playbook for what worked in LA vs SF—from content cadence to creator voice. Their ability to localize campaigns with subtle differences made all the difference in engagement.
2. Scalable Ad Formats
The agency rolled out Spark Ads, Branded Content ads, and TikTok Shop integrations in a modular fashion. This allowed us to:
Test several hooks in each regionRepurpose top-performing creative for similar marketsEasily mix organic and paid
3. Localized Testing
Rather than testing big and hoping, the agency sent small test groups to each city prior to fully going live. This gave them:
Quicker feedback loopsSmarter budget spendingInsights by region, data-driven
Their analytical rigor—paired with creator-friendly content—ensured both style and substance.
The Spark Ads Advantage
One of the most important strategic differentiators was their expertise in Spark Ads—a TikTok ad type that promotes active creator posts as paid content.
This is how it happened:
In LA, we ignited UGC fashion hauls and “day-in-the-life” posts to encourage clicks to our Shop page.We activated how-to demos and value explainers in SF to pre-warm cold audiences prior to retargeting.
Spark Ads allowed us to expand influencer coverage without having to produce too much branded content. And the content felt native—resulting in higher watch-through and conversion rates.
Conclusion
Our journey from LA to San Francisco demonstrated that all it takes to be a TikTok star is not to be viral, but to be regional. Having a New York-based TikTok marketing agency to collaborate with enabled us to combine East Coast strategy with West Coast creativity to develop a winning formula.These TikTok ad experts didn’t just know media planning or creator handling—they mastered the art of putting both together in an informed way that was attuned to local audience habits. That’s a skill not many agencies have, and fewer can duplicate across numerous cities without losing nuance.For those marketers considering running regional TikTok campaigns in 2025, the message is straightforward: don’t think local—think local with national wisdom. And the best partner may be on the opposite side of the country, rather than the opposite side of the street.Struggling to tailor your TikTok approach by city, region, or vertical? Work with The Short Media—your trusted partner in TikTok growth.
FAQs
1. Why employ a TikTok marketing agency in New York for LA and SF campaigns?
New York agencies tend to have national exposure and inter-regional insights that enable them to render brand narratives across cities like LA and SF without sacrificing authenticity.
2. What are Spark Ads and why do they work?
Spark Ads are a TikTok ad type that amplifies authentic creator content. They work natively on the platform and perform better than standard ads in engagement, watch-through, and conversion.
3. Can a single agency handle local differences in content and audience behavior?
Yes—nationally-scaled organizations with local knowledge can craft campaigns that change tone, creators, and messaging by market, becoming relevant and performative in each marketplace.
4. How do I run regional TikTok campaigns?
Allocate spend testing budgets by city, invest in highest-performing creators in every city, and spend on local content to boost engagement and return on investment.
5. What are the key KPIs for TikTok regional campaigns?
Key performance metrics are retention of audience, engagement rate, watch-through rate, and CPA (Cost Per Acquisition). These have to be tracked independently by city in order to inform optimization.