TikTok isn’t just a place for dance challenges or trendy lip-sync videos; it’s now one of the most powerful platforms for advertisers.
With its unique mix of authenticity and creativity, TikTok offers marketers a golden opportunity to reach engaged audiences in fresh ways.
But setting up a campaign is only the beginning. Once your ads are live, optimizing them to meet your goals is where the real magic happens.
In this guide, we’ll dive into practical, data-driven steps to improve TikTok ad performance after setup.
Whether your goal is to boost brand awareness or drive conversions, this article will show you how to refine your strategy for maximum impact.
1. Know Your Objectives And KPIs
Before diving into optimization, it’s essential to clarify your campaign’s objectives and identify key performance indicators (KPIs).
Are you aiming for brand awareness, engagement, or conversions?
Each objective requires different tactics and metrics to gauge success.
Review KPIs like impressions, clicks, click-through rates (CTR), and conversions regularly. Tracking these lets you adjust your approach based on how close you are to your goals.
For instance, if your primary goal is brand awareness, focus on engagement rates rather than immediate conversions. Keeping your objectives front and center will help shape every decision as you optimize.
2. Audience Refinement And Targeting Adjustments
TikTok’s wide-reaching audience is one of its strengths, but casting too broad a net can dilute your results.
Once you have initial data from your live ads, it’s time to refine your targeting:
Demographic Adjustments: Analyze the demographics of users interacting with your ads. Adjust your target audience to match the profiles that are responding best. For example, if you see a strong engagement from a particular age group or gender, double down there.
Interest And Behavior-Based Refinement: TikTok allows for interest-based targeting, which can help you reach specific niches. If you see that users interested in “travel” engage with your content more, consider adjusting your interests or behaviors to focus on that.
Custom And Lookalike Audiences: Custom audiences (based on engagement or website traffic) and lookalike audiences (based on your existing customers) are invaluable for re-targeting and prospecting. These segments let you focus your budget on high-intent users who are likely to convert, creating a win-win for efficiency and results.
Additionally, TikTok Ads has the ability to create “AND” audiences, allowing for further refinement based on behavioral performance.
For example, you can create an audience that includes a certain demographic factor, AND portrays a specific interest. This type of targeting narrows down the focus instead of using an “OR” behavior, which targets anyone in either of those categories chosen.
3. Optimize Your Ad Creative
TikTok is all about eye-catching content, so optimizing ad creative is non-negotiable.
Dive into your metrics – CTR, engagement rate, completion rate – and identify trends in what’s working.
A/B Testing: Split-testing different video creations can provide insights into what resonates most. Test elements like video length, style, and music choice to see what improves results.
Trendy, Authentic Content: TikTok users are drawn to authenticity. Swap polished brand visuals for raw, relatable content that feels natural in users’ feeds. Experiment with user-generated content (UGC) styles to tap into TikTok’s unique vibe.
Adjust Visuals Regularly: TikTok trends move fast. Refresh visuals, sounds, and messaging to stay relevant and avoid “ad fatigue,” where users tune out repetitive content.
If possible, try to have five to 10 creatives per ad group running at all times to reduce creative fatigue.
When first starting out, try testing creatives with big differences between the two, not small nuances, to really understand what’s going to capture your audience from the start.
These steps help you create a feedback loop where the data from each test iteration informs the next, sharpening your creative with each optimization cycle.
TikTok has a variety of creative tools in its Business Help Center, including:
Video template tool.
Smart creative.
Creative exchange.
Creative best practices.
And more.
4. Use Automated Bidding Strategically
TikTok’s automated bidding options, like “Maximum Delivery” and “Bid Cap,” can help streamline budget management. Knowing when to use them effectively, though, is key.
Start With Manual, Then Test Automated: Many advertisers find value in starting with manual bidding for tighter control, then testing TikTok’s automated options once they gather performance data.
Bid Adjustments Based On Engagement: If an ad shows high engagement but low conversions, consider using manual bid adjustments to focus spend on high-engagement periods or audiences.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the two automated bid strategy options:
Cost Cap Bidding
How It Works: Keeps your average cost similar to your bid, regardless of daily/lifetime budget.
Advertising Objectives available: App Installs, Conversions, or Lead Generation objectives can be chosen with this strategy.
Cost Metrics: Cost per Click (CPC), Cost per Thousand (CPM), Cost per View (CPV), and Optimized Cost per Thousand (oCPM).
Maximum Delivery Bidding
How It Works: Maximizes budget usage by driving the most results possible, given a specified budget and a certain time period.
Advertising Objectives available: Traffic, Reach, Video Views, App Installs, Conversions, Lead Generation, and Catalog Sales objectives can be chosen with this strategy.
Cost Metrics: CPC, CPM, CPV, oCPM.
Automated bidding is particularly beneficial when managing multiple campaigns, but always monitor closely.