Anna VoroninaThe Challenge: Testing New Waters
Burkit Finance, a credit consulting & brokerage services company decided to explore TikTok for lead generation. It wasn't an obvious choice — fintech and TikTok don't typically appear in the same sentence. But they committed to testing it. From June through August 2025, they would run a structured campaign and see what happened.
The Strategy: Going Where the Audience Is
Rather than assuming TikTok wasn't for fintech, Burkit decided to test it. From June 1 to August 31, 2025, the team launched a strategic campaign targeting Kazakhstan with a broad demographic approach, leveraging city-level targeting to refine their reach. They employed a dual-track strategy, combining manual campaigns with TikTok's Smart+ solution — the platform's AI-powered optimization tool — alongside smart creatives and recommended creative formats.
The philosophy was simple: let the data and the algorithm work together, not against each other.
The Execution: Balancing Art and Algorithm
What made Burkit Finance's approach particularly effective was their understanding that lead generation on TikTok isn't about hard-sell tactics. It's about meeting users where they are, with content that resonates naturally. By leveraging TikTok's Smart Creatives — visually engaging, platform-native formats — and combining this with Smart+ automation, Burkit Finance created a system that was both scalable and authentic.
The team tested different creative variations relentlessly, recognizing that consistency in engagement was key to lowering costs. They also discovered something crucial about their market: broad targeting with localized city focus delivered both volume and quality. In Kazakhstan's market context, this meant reaching a wide audience while ensuring geographic relevance.
One of their creatives even appeared in TikTok’s official Top Ads Dashboard — a public showcase of the platform’s highest-performing campaigns. That recognition underscored the effectiveness of Burkit Finance’s approach: authentic, data-informed storytelling that resonates with real users.
What is Smart+ Is For and Why It Works
Smart+ is ideal for fintech companies that want to scale efficiently without constant manual optimization. It works best when you have:
- Clear conversion goals — Smart+ thrives when you define what success looks like (form submissions, app installs, purchases)
- Budget flexibility — The algorithm needs room to test and learn, so budgets under $100/day may not provide enough data for optimization
- At least six creative variations — Feed the algorithm different ad formats and messaging; it will find what works best
- Patience through the learning phase — Expect the first 1–2 weeks to be a testing ground; results typically stabilize after that.
For Burkit Finance, Smart+ meant they didn't need to manually adjust bids, audiences, or placements constantly. The algorithm handled it. Their role? Provide quality creatives and let the system do what it's designed to do.
The Results: Numbers That Tell a Story
Over three months, here's what the campaign delivered:
Impressions: 16,711,331
Clicks: 62,115
Average CTR: 0.37%
Lowest Cost Per Form Submission: $0.12
Primary Performance Metric: Cost per form submission
But raw numbers only tell part of the story. What's truly remarkable is the consistency and the efficiency. In an era when cost per lead is climbing across most platforms, Burkit Finance achieved form submissions at prices that would be considered exceptional in any market — and they did it at scale.
The Revelation: Why TikTok, Why Now
When asked if TikTok met expectations, Vladislav Nyu, PPC Manager at Burkit Finance, was unequivocal:
"Yes, TikTok fully met our expectations. The campaigns delivered excellent cost-per-lead results and maintained consistent performance throughout the entire period."
More importantly, when compared head-to-head with other advertising channels for the same lead generation objectives, TikTok demonstrated superior performance.
The insight? TikTok users interact with ads and complete target actions more frequently than on other platforms with similar budgets. For fintech companies specifically, this is transformative — it means access to a younger, increasingly digitally-native demographic that's actively engaged and willing to take action.
Key Insights for Fintech Leaders
1. Broad Targeting + Local Focus = Winning Formula
Contrary to traditional B2B marketing wisdom, broad targeting in Kazakhstan combined with city-level refinement delivered both reach and quality. For fintech companies entering new markets, this suggests a path to efficient scaling.
2. Algorithm Trust Pays Dividends
The stability and consistent performance achieved with minimal manual tweaking demonstrates that modern advertising algorithms — particularly TikTok's — have matured significantly. Giving the algorithm room to work, rather than over-engineering every aspect of a campaign, can yield better results.
3. Creative Iteration Drives Efficiency
Testing different creative variations wasn't busy work; it was directly responsible for maintaining high CTR and driving down the cost per form submission. In fintech, where creative differentiation is often overlooked, this is a critical lesson.
4. Engagement Beats Reach
TikTok's superior cost per lead compared to other platforms stems from one fundamental advantage: higher user engagement. For fintech companies, this means quality leads that are more likely to convert, not just inflated click counts.
The Bottom Line
From June to August 2025, Burkit Finance proved what many fintech marketers still doubt: TikTok works. With form submissions costing as little as $0.12 and consistent performance across 16.7 million impressions, the case is clear — the platform can deliver high-quality leads at scale, even in regulated industries.
A Note from Evido
At Evido, we help fintech and finance teams turn insights like these into repeatable success. Our platform streamlines compliant campaign launches, keeps your ad accounts safe from bans, and provides real human support when it matters most.
With built-in analytics, flexible payment options, and escalation-level access to platform support, Evido helps you stay ahead of ever-changing TikTok’s ad policies — and keep your campaigns running smoothly when others can’t. In digital finance, consistency isn’t just luck — it’s infrastructure.
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