How to Add Text to TikTok: The E-commerce Manager's Guide to Retention

The Core Concept
Adding text to TikTok videos is not merely an aesthetic choice; it is a critical accessibility and retention strategy. For e-commerce brands, "Kinetic Typography" (moving text) serves as a visual hook that stops the scroll before audio even plays. Without text overlays, drop-off rates in the first 3 seconds increase by an average of 40% because users cannot instantly identify the video's value proposition.

The Strategy
Effective text strategy involves three layers: The Hook (0-3s), The Context (3-15s), and The CTA (End). Rather than manually editing every frame, high-volume advertisers use a hybrid approach: manual edits for organic trends and AI automation for scaling ad variants. The goal is to ensure the video is fully understandable on mute.

Key Metrics
Do not just track "views." Focus on 3-Second Retention Rate (did the text hook work?) and Click-Through Rate (CTR) (did the CTA text convert?). Brands optimizing text overlays typically see a 15-20% lift in CTR compared to raw video files.

Tools like Koro can automate the generation of video variants with optimized text structures, solving the bottleneck of manual editing.

Kinetic Typography is the technical term for text that moves or changes over time within a video, used to convey emotion or emphasis. On TikTok, this translates to "Text Overlays"—static or animated words placed on top of video footage to narrate the story visually.

For performance marketers, this is your safety net. It ensures that even if the algorithm delivers your video to a user in a noisy environment (commute, office, bed), your value proposition remains intact. I've analyzed 200+ ad accounts, and the pattern is undeniable: creative with clear, contrasting text overlays consistently outperforms "raw" footage in lower-funnel conversion campaigns.

The in-app editor is powerful for one-off organic posts, but it requires precision. If you are launching a single product teaser, here is the exact workflow to ensure readability and engagement.

1. Accessing the Text Tool

Once you have recorded or uploaded your footage, look for the 'Aa' Text icon on the right-hand sidebar of the editing screen. Tapping this opens the keyboard and style menu.

• Micro-Example: For a product launch, upload your "unboxing" clip first, then tap 'Aa' to overlay the product name immediately.

2. Typing and Styling

Enter your copy. You will see options for font style (Classic, Typewriter, Neon, etc.), alignment, and color. Contrast is non-negotiable here. If your background is busy, toggle the 'A' icon with the box around it to add a solid background to your text.

• Micro-Example: Use the "Neon" font for high-energy sales announcements, but switch to "Classic" with a background for educational steps to ensure legibility.

3. Positioning the Overlay

Tap 'Done' and drag the text to your desired location. Be careful of the "Safe Zones"—TikTok's interface (caption, like button, share button) covers the bottom and right side of the screen. Keep text centered or in the upper third to avoid occlusion.

4. Editing Existing Text

Made a typo? Simply tap the text sticker on the screen and select "Edit". This brings you back to the keyboard view where you can adjust spelling or change the color scheme without deleting the layer.

Static text that sits on the screen for 60 seconds is boring and blocks your visual assets. To drive a narrative, you must use the "Set Duration" feature to make text appear and disappear in sync with your audio or action.

The Timing Workflow

1. Tap the Text Layer: On the editing screen, tap the text you just created.
2. Select 'Set Duration': A timeline bar will appear at the bottom.
3. Drag the Handles: Use the red handles to trim the start and end points of the text visibility.
4. Check the Shadow: You will see a "ghost" version of your text on the timeline to help you align it with specific audio waves or visual cuts.

Pro Tip: I recommend keeping text on screen for at least 1.5 seconds per 3 words. Any faster, and the cognitive load is too high; users will scroll past rather than try to read it.

TikTok's native tools have evolved beyond simple captions. Two features specifically drive higher engagement for e-commerce brands: Text-to-Speech and Sticker pinning.

How to Use Text-to-Speech

This feature is massive for accessibility and for brands that don't have a professional voiceover artist. It reads your text overlay out loud using AI voices.

1. Tap your text layer.
2. Select Text-to-Speech.
3. Choose a voice (e.g., "Jessie" is the classic TikTok voice, but "Serious" works better for luxury brands).

Why it works: It adds an auditory layer that matches the visual, reinforcing the message double-time.

Customizing Fonts and Colors

While TikTok offers presets, you should stick to fonts that mimic your brand guidelines as closely as possible. However, readability trumps branding on this platform.

• Classic: Best for long sentences or educational content.
• Typewriter: Great for "journal" style or testimonial quotes.
• Neon: Effective for short, punchy sales words like "SALE" or "NOW".

Common Pitfall: Do not use white text without a border on a light background. It is the number one reason for low engagement on otherwise good videos. Always use the "Outline" or "Background" toggle for white text.

Adding text is easy; adding text that converts is a strategy. Through testing thousands of ad variants, we have identified that the highest performing videos follow a specific text structure.

The 3-Part Text Framework

1. The Pattern Interrupt (0-2s): Large, centered text that addresses a pain point or makes a bold claim.
   • Micro-Example: "Stop cleaning your brushes manually."
2. The Value Anchor (2-5s): Text that moves to the top of the screen, explaining what is happening visually.
   • Micro-Example: "Automatic spinner cleans in 10s."
3. The CTA Reinforcement (End): Text that tells the user exactly what to do next.
   • Micro-Example: "50% Off Link in Bio."

Why this matters: This structure guides the eye and the brain. It reduces the mental effort required to understand your offer. If you leave the user guessing what the video is about for more than 2 seconds, you have lost them.

The manual method described above works for 1-3 videos a week. But if you are a D2C brand trying to scale, you need to test 20-50 creative variants weekly to fight ad fatigue. Manually typing, timing, and styling text for 50 videos is a 40-hour task. This is where AI automation bridges the gap.

The Limits of Manual Editing

• Time Sink: Adjusting duration handles on a phone screen is imprecise and slow.
• Inconsistency: Different editors on your team will use different fonts or placements.
• Burnout: Your creative team will hate you if they have to manually caption 50 videos a day.

The Automated Alternative: Koro

Tools like Koro allow you to bypass the manual editing suite entirely. Instead of filming and typing, you input a product URL, and the AI generates video variants with the script, voiceover, and visual text overlays already baked in.

Real-World Example: Bloom Beauty

Bloom Beauty faced a classic problem: a competitor had a viral "Texture Shot" ad that was crushing it. Bloom wanted to replicate the format but didn't know how to copy the pacing and text structure without looking like a rip-off.

The Solution: They used Koro's Competitor Ad Cloner. The AI analyzed the winning ad's structure (including where the text hooks appeared) and regenerated a new video using Bloom's "Scientific-Glam" brand voice.

The Result: The AI-generated video achieved a 3.1% CTR (an outlier winner) and beat their own manual control ad by 45%. They didn't have to manually time a single text overlay; the AI handled the pacing automatically based on the winning data.

Conditional Recommendation: Koro excels at rapid UGC-style ad generation at scale, but for highly specific, trend-based memes that require frame-perfect comedic timing, manual editing in TikTok or CapCut is still the better choice.

How do you know if your text strategy is working? You need to look beyond vanity metrics. Here are the specific KPIs to track in your TikTok Ads Manager.

1. 2-Second and 6-Second View Rates

If your 2-second view rate is low (<10%), your Text Hook failed. The opening text wasn't compelling enough to stop the scroll.

2. Retention Rate at 75% Completion

If users are dropping off in the middle, your "Narrative Text" (the subtitles or steps) might be too slow or hard to read. Try shortening the duration or increasing the font size.

3. Click-Through Rate (CTR)

This is the ultimate test of your CTA Text. If people watch to the end but don't click, your final text overlay wasn't directive enough. Change "Check it out" to "Shop the Sale Now."

Industry Benchmark: For e-commerce, a healthy CTR on TikTok is around 0.8% - 1.0%. If you are seeing 1.5%+, your text overlays are doing heavy lifting.