TikTok Ad Targeting Guide

TikTok is the fastest growing social network in the world. In the years since its launch, TikTok has grown 9 times faster than Instagram. Of course, it was only a matter of time before social networks launched ads. And the first advertising on TikTok was launched in January 2020 in the United States, then the practice spread to all regions. However, for TikTok affiliates, the source is still quite new and unusual. In our article, we will talk about what targeting looks like in TikTok.

How TikTok targeting works

In general, the main feature of TikTok is the recommendation system. The “For you” section is a feed based on the user’s preferences. These recommendations are based on many factors. For example, take into account the device and device language. If the user is in the US, then the user is less likely to be shown Spanish-language content. Of course, every interaction with a video is also reflected in the feed. Likes, views, and forwards matter. The end result is a custom-fitted tape that keeps the user firmly hooked.

All this is also true for ads on TikTok. Ad Manager helps you fine-tune how ads are shown and to whom. So, you can define:

• Gender and age. Everything here is exactly the same as in other social networks. However, age cannot be specified with an accuracy of one year, users are divided into six age subgroups.
• Location. The application automatically determines where the user is, up to the metro station. This allows local producers and establishments to advertise.
• Language. It is automatically detected, depending on device settings. This way you can show ads to, for example, Hispanic users in the US.
• Interests. Ads will be shown to users who interact with certain videos more often. For example, if you need to show a video to a gamer, the system will suggest users who watch content about video games.
• Behavior. This is a more complex and large-scale category. You can set up the ad to be shown not just to users who watch the selected video category, but to everyone who shares or likes certain categories. Thus, you can select more active viewers who are more likely to be interested in advertising.
• Technical settings. This includes the device and its cost, the operating system.

How to run an advertising campaign on TikTok

The social network has its own advertising account called TikTok Ads Manager. The main aspects there are about the same as in other social networks.

Home page of TikTok Ads Manager

When launching a new advertising campaign, you first need to select its objective. TikTok introduces five goals: reach, traffic, app installs, conversions, and video views. The social network is smart, so the internal settings will change depending on the chosen goal.

Reach is chosen when the video needs to be shown to the maximum number of users. Such a goal is suitable for promoting a blogger or when the video itself is viral. Traffic should be chosen when you need to attract as many people as possible to the site. Video views are a site-specific goal, chosen when they want videos to be watched to the end. Conversions are needed to increase targeted actions on the advertised site. Downloading apps, on the other hand, needs no explanation.

If a specialist chooses to install an application or a conversion as a goal, then they still need to connect the mobile application to the advertising account and install the TikTok pixel on the site so that it reads the statistics.

The next step is actually setting up targeting for displaying ads. You can select all the settings in the advertising account, or you can load a typical audience from a file.

The “Audience” subsection allows you to exclude inappropriate users – useful if you have formed an image of such and they often come across to you.

Further, advertising is configured according to interests. There are now 15 groups, which can be divided into even smaller subgroups.

The next step in setting up an advertising campaign is the budget. You can set the entire amount at once or set the budget for only a day. There are also restrictions: for one segment of the audience, you must spend at least $20 per day.

After setting the budget, you need to move on to rates, they are set both manually and automatically. The second option will place a bid on the auction to get results at the lowest price. If you set manually, the system will still offer its price, although it will not insist.

The last stage is the creation of creativity. TikTok is good for unobtrusive videos without any overly complicated topics, “before-after”, humor. You can try to make something out of trends, but it’s quite difficult – you have to figure them out.

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