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How To Conquer TikTok - Completed Guide (25)


08-26-2021 10:04 AM #1 cassshy (Senior Member)
How To Conquer TikTok - Completed Guide

Guys this time I wanna share my experience on how to run ads with TikTok.
Here’s is what you gonna know:

1. Offers that work
2. Pixel setup, events
3. Campaign setup, what type of links to use, manual bid, day parting
4. Creatives, spy tool
5. TikTok Issues - Rejected ads, appeals

My telegram: cassshy



I have been running TikTok since August 2020. It was a time when you were limited with GEOs and only big players could get features like ‘manual bid’. You had to be whitelisted to get them. Now, everyone can get these features.


Offers that works now - Q3/Q4 2021
Most of our volume goes to leadgen offers such as refinance and auto insurance. Offers like Quotza perform great. And they are allowed to run with TikTok, obviously. Ping me for more, I will point you to good ones. It’s not so easy to find a good offer for TikTok, and not all the networks are ok with this traffic source regarding the traffic quality.


How to setup pixel

  1. Go to Assets > Events > Create pixel

  2. Manually install pixel code

  3. Copy Pixel Code

  4. Set up custom events

  5. Here’s is what you need to setup for leadgen campaign












  6. the place where you can get your final pixel html code for the network - ask your AM to hardcode the pixel code.



That’s all about the pixel.



Now here is a guide how to build campaigns and optimize them



1) Understanding the auction
The decision if an ad enters and wins an auction is based on their eCPM model. This model creates a score for the ad based on a multiplication of three metrics -> Bid X Install Rate (also known as CVR. For web campaigns the focus is on the CTR) X CTR. Since we cannot usually bid more than a certain amount based on KPIs, usually the main focus will be to improve CVR and CTR to bring volume to a campaign.


Usually from how we're seeing it - CTR is mainly improved through testing ad texts and creatives (try as many different creative templates - with/without people in ads, a showcase of the product, feature descriptions, etc.), while CVR is mainly improved through creative content (to find creatives that match the app store or target URL) and app store or web page content (making sure it is optimized for the audience).


The first (and the most important) step to campaign performance is getting CVR and CTR to a good level so that volume is achievable, afterwards the focus is on maximizing the main KPI through audiences and ad group duplication.


From the current analysis, "good" results start at 1.5-2% CTR and 20-30% CVR, while top advertisers usually reach 2%+ CTR and 30%+ CVR (however, there are some differences between industries).


2) Learning period
In TikTok, the campaign learning period is a lot more important than elsewhere. If the ad group does not get good results during the learning period (usually the first 3 days), then it will be impossible to get results later. Any changes in targeting or bids alter the learning period, so it is best to change bids rarely, but focus on finding the right bid from day 1. To do this we usually create multiple ad groups with only different bids/budgets. Example: Ad group 1 - Bid 1$, Budget 300$, Ad group 2 - Bid 2$, Budget 200$, Ad group 3 - Bid 3$, Budget 100$.
*Bid change - as the system is very sensitive, we suggest changing bids 1x per 2 days (at most). The system will have time to adjust and be more effective.


To sum up - try copying ad groups frequently, even if the targeting is the same to run through the learning phase again;
Initiate campaigns with multiple bid values;
Let the ads run until the learning phase has finished (if using automatic creative optimization, it will show when ads are Exploring).


3) Campaign structure
Always start with a more broad approach so you have data with every demographic to analyze. Many of the targeting options such as age are based on user activity not an actual data point in the accounts, so it is inaccurate. Any reduction in audience size would have to be compensated with a higher bid. For example, if you see that going all ages gets you 70% volume on the 13-17 age group, look at the conversion rate for that age group and if it is bad, copy the ad group in parallel without the age group. If the 13-17 age group brings up the total CPP by 10%, relaunching without the 13-17 age group will bring up CPP by 50-100% due to lower audience size. It is better to reduce the bid for all of the ad groups and test new variations in parallel, without that age group but with a higher bid.


Separate campaigns by App/GEO/Placement.
Separate ad groups by everything else.
Minimize campaign count while maximizing ad group count.


4) General best practices
- Many countries require localized creatives. Even if they do not require it, having them localized helps with CTR/CVR, so it is always best to localize.
- Start with automatic placement selection, afterward create copies of a specific placement if seeing improvement in conversion rate.
- Automatic creative optimization usually works best. Have 3 ads per ad group so that the ad group focuses on only some of the creatives. Start with 4-5 ad texts and narrow down to 1-2 after initial results in 1-2 weeks.
- Creatives decay after around a week. The best practice is to add new creatives every week.
- You cannot view the conversion rate for all events in the interface breakdown. This can be done through custom reports in the report section.
- If a narrow audience from the broadly targeted campaign performs well, try to launch it in parallel as a separate ad group.
- Bid change should happen no more frequently than once in 2 days.
- Any change (targeting, bid, budget) sets campaigns in review mode. This means that if an ad that is breaking TikTok's rules got approved, it can get blocked after a bid change, as an example.
- When testing creatives, test as many types as possible (communication strategy). TikTok looks at competitor creatives, and if yours is very similar to others on the platform, this type will get slightly de-prioritized in auctions.
- It is possible to disable comments. If you see that in other channels you get a lot of negative comments, disable them for ad groups.
- Budget cannot be changed on a campaign level. This means you should leave the budget in the campaign level as unlimited and the ad group level should be fixed.
- Smart optimization on, as it gets you through the learning phase quicker.
- Ad tags can be in English regardless of GEO targeted. Furthermore, best to have them more and more descriptive (15-20 ideally).
- Creative management is a bit different in case of the Automated Creative Optimization is turned ON or OFF.


Lowest cost or Manual bid
I do recommend to run both. While running manual bid, you need to create 2-3-4 or more ad groups with different bids. Put one for 30% lower than your CPA, another one - same as your CPA, another one 2 time higher, another one - click on adopt what TT suggests. IMPORTANT: do not change manual bid. Just cut off unprofitable ones in 2 days or after spending enough budget.


Creatives and spy tools
I do recommend you to install TikTok and spend at least 30 min daily to analyze trends and content concepts. It’s very important to use this type of video creatives in your ads. There is no spy tools for TikTok on the market yet. You can start with FB creatives (verticals) and use TikTok studio to ‘voice over’, text scripts and special effects. Then I’d recommend you to go on fiverr and look for some freelancers who can produce videos for you. The normal price is 50-200 usd/video. I got a custom made spy tool for TikTok.
Ping me for video samples


TikTok Issue, rejected ads
TikTok can reject your ads often. It happens all the time with me. I am 100% confident that it’s 100% manual moderation. But all you need to do is to appeal for re-activation of your ads - and it will be active again.
All you need to do - just go to the ads level and appeal with a simple sentence: please, re-activate my ads, it must be a mistake. If you don’t have this option, then point to the yellow triangle and click on View > Show Feedback > appeal.


Ofc, if you’re running 100% WH links/offers. Also, if you need to spend a lot - just keep launching campaigns, more & more. I have a TikTok agency with unlimited accounts on board and some credit on it

And no worries for bans - you can just move funds from one ad account to another within 5 secs.


I hope it will help you guys to jump on board and migrate from FB which became a real challenge these days

My telegram: cassshy



08-26-2021 11:33 AM #2 cpamario2019 (Member)

I have a few questions adding you


08-26-2021 12:12 PM #3 jack_l (Veteran Member)

Quote Originally Posted by cassshy View Post
Guys this time I wanna share my experience on how to run ads with TikTok.
Here’s is what you gonna know:

1. Offers that work
2. Pixel setup, events
3. Campaign setup, what type of links to use, manual bid, day parting
4. Creatives, spy tool
5. TikTok Issues - Rejected ads, appeals

My telegram: cassshy



I have been running TikTok since August 2020. It was a time when you were limited with GEOs and only big players could get features like ‘manual bid’. You had to be whitelisted to get them. Now, everyone can get these features.


Offers that works now - Q3/Q4 2021
Most of our volume goes to leadgen offers such as refinance and auto insurance. Offers like Quotza perform great. And they are allowed to run with TikTok, obviously. Ping me for more, I will point you to good ones. It’s not so easy to find a good offer for TikTok, and not all the networks are ok with this traffic source regarding the traffic quality.


How to setup pixel

  1. Go to Assets > Events > Create pixel
  2. Manually install pixel code
  3. Copy Pixel Code
  4. Set up custom events
  5. Here’s is what you need to setup for leadgen campaign










  6. the place where you can get your final pixel html code for the network - ask your AM to hardcode the pixel code.



That’s all about the pixel.



Now here is a guide how to build campaigns and optimize them



1) Understanding the auction
The decision if an ad enters and wins an auction is based on their eCPM model. This model creates a score for the ad based on a multiplication of three metrics -> Bid X Install Rate (also known as CVR. For web campaigns the focus is on the CTR) X CTR. Since we cannot usually bid more than a certain amount based on KPIs, usually the main focus will be to improve CVR and CTR to bring volume to a campaign.


Usually from how we're seeing it - CTR is mainly improved through testing ad texts and creatives (try as many different creative templates - with/without people in ads, a showcase of the product, feature descriptions, etc.), while CVR is mainly improved through creative content (to find creatives that match the app store or target URL) and app store or web page content (making sure it is optimized for the audience).


The first (and the most important) step to campaign performance is getting CVR and CTR to a good level so that volume is achievable, afterwards the focus is on maximizing the main KPI through audiences and ad group duplication.


From the current analysis, "good" results start at 1.5-2% CTR and 20-30% CVR, while top advertisers usually reach 2%+ CTR and 30%+ CVR (however, there are some differences between industries).


2) Learning period
In TikTok, the campaign learning period is a lot more important than elsewhere. If the ad group does not get good results during the learning period (usually the first 3 days), then it will be impossible to get results later. Any changes in targeting or bids alter the learning period, so it is best to change bids rarely, but focus on finding the right bid from day 1. To do this we usually create multiple ad groups with only different bids/budgets. Example: Ad group 1 - Bid 1$, Budget 300$, Ad group 2 - Bid 2$, Budget 200$, Ad group 3 - Bid 3$, Budget 100$.
*Bid change - as the system is very sensitive, we suggest changing bids 1x per 2 days (at most). The system will have time to adjust and be more effective.


To sum up - try copying ad groups frequently, even if the targeting is the same to run through the learning phase again;
Initiate campaigns with multiple bid values;
Let the ads run until the learning phase has finished (if using automatic creative optimization, it will show when ads are Exploring).


3) Campaign structure
Always start with a more broad approach so you have data with every demographic to analyze. Many of the targeting options such as age are based on user activity not an actual data point in the accounts, so it is inaccurate. Any reduction in audience size would have to be compensated with a higher bid. For example, if you see that going all ages gets you 70% volume on the 13-17 age group, look at the conversion rate for that age group and if it is bad, copy the ad group in parallel without the age group. If the 13-17 age group brings up the total CPP by 10%, relaunching without the 13-17 age group will bring up CPP by 50-100% due to lower audience size. It is better to reduce the bid for all of the ad groups and test new variations in parallel, without that age group but with a higher bid.


Separate campaigns by App/GEO/Placement.
Separate ad groups by everything else.
Minimize campaign count while maximizing ad group count.


4) General best practices
- Many countries require localized creatives. Even if they do not require it, having them localized helps with CTR/CVR, so it is always best to localize.
- Start with automatic placement selection, afterward create copies of a specific placement if seeing improvement in conversion rate.
- Automatic creative optimization usually works best. Have 3 ads per ad group so that the ad group focuses on only some of the creatives. Start with 4-5 ad texts and narrow down to 1-2 after initial results in 1-2 weeks.
- Creatives decay after around a week. The best practice is to add new creatives every week.
- You cannot view the conversion rate for all events in the interface breakdown. This can be done through custom reports in the report section.
- If a narrow audience from the broadly targeted campaign performs well, try to launch it in parallel as a separate ad group.
- Bid change should happen no more frequently than once in 2 days.
- Any change (targeting, bid, budget) sets campaigns in review mode. This means that if an ad that is breaking TikTok's rules got approved, it can get blocked after a bid change, as an example.
- When testing creatives, test as many types as possible (communication strategy). TikTok looks at competitor creatives, and if yours is very similar to others on the platform, this type will get slightly de-prioritized in auctions.
- It is possible to disable comments. If you see that in other channels you get a lot of negative comments, disable them for ad groups.
- Budget cannot be changed on a campaign level. This means you should leave the budget in the campaign level as unlimited and the ad group level should be fixed.
- Smart optimization on, as it gets you through the learning phase quicker.
- Ad tags can be in English regardless of GEO targeted. Furthermore, best to have them more and more descriptive (15-20 ideally).
- Creative management is a bit different in case of the Automated Creative Optimization is turned ON or OFF.


Lowest cost or Manual bid
I do recommend to run both. While running manual bid, you need to create 2-3-4 or more ad groups with different bids. Put one for 30% lower than your CPA, another one - same as your CPA, another one 2 time higher, another one - click on adopt what TT suggests. IMPORTANT: do not change manual bid. Just cut off unprofitable ones in 2 days or after spending enough budget.


Creatives and spy tools
I do recommend you to install TikTok and spend at least 30 min daily to analyze trends and content concepts. It’s very important to use this type of video creatives in your ads. There is no spy tools for TikTok on the market yet. You can start with FB creatives (verticals) and use TikTok studio to ‘voice over’, text scripts and special effects. Then I’d recommend you to go on fiverr and look for some freelancers who can produce videos for you. The normal price is 50-200 usd/video. I got a custom made spy tool for TikTok.
Ping me for video samples


TikTok Issue, rejected ads
TikTok can reject your ads often. It happens all the time with me. I am 100% confident that it’s 100% manual moderation. But all you need to do is to appeal for re-activation of your ads - and it will be active again.
All you need to do - just go to the ads level and appeal with a simple sentence: please, re-activate my ads, it must be a mistake. If you don’t have this option, then point to the yellow triangle and click on View > Show Feedback > appeal.


Ofc, if you’re running 100% WH links/offers. Also, if you need to spend a lot - just keep launching campaigns, more & more. I have a TikTok agency with unlimited accounts on board and some credit on it

And no worries for bans - you can just move funds from one ad account to another within 5 secs.


I hope it will help you guys to jump on board and migrate from FB which became a real challenge these days

My telegram: cassshy


Hey man - absolutely brilliant! Can't tell you how stoked I was to see this

You seem to have a finger in all these big pies man!

Anyway have read it all the way through several times now, but was hoping to bounce a few specific follow-up q's off you:

-You mentioned the age data not being that accurate... in that vein, if you were trying to run an age 45+ offer, would you select only groups 45-55 and 55+? Or would you just do all ages or all 18+ because the benefit of doing so would outweigh the negatives? (for instance on Yahoo Gemini I ignore their age targeting entirely even when running senior offers as it seems to increase cpc's to an extreme degree)
-Do you put multiple different videos within the same Ad Group? Or do you do a different Ad Group for each video and then just test small variations in name, text, cta within the ad group?
-If you have a campaign that starts out well but then either quits spending or quits converting, would you recommend starting a whole new campaign for it? Or just new ad groups within that same campaign?
-If you were spending 30k a day on an offer on TikTok, how many Campaigns/Ad Groups/Ads would you expect have going live for it at any given time? Like 1/5/10? Or like 10/50/500? etc?

Anyway, I'm sure the answer to all of them is "split-test it" lol, but if I can beg of your patience and you can share any additional thoughts on those subjects would be highly welcome!

And thanks again for this fantastic post man!


08-26-2021 02:40 PM #4 cassshy (Senior Member)

Quote Originally Posted by jack_l View Post
Hey man - absolutely brilliant! Can't tell you how stoked I was to see this

You seem to have a finger in all these big pies man!

Anyway have read it all the way through several times now, but was hoping to bounce a few specific follow-up q's off you:

-You mentioned the age data not being that accurate... in that vein, if you were trying to run an age 45+ offer, would you select only groups 45-55 and 55+? Or would you just do all ages or all 18+ because the benefit of doing so would outweigh the negatives? (for instance on Yahoo Gemini I ignore their age targeting entirely even when running senior offers as it seems to increase cpc's to an extreme degree)
-Do you put multiple different videos within the same Ad Group? Or do you do a different Ad Group for each video and then just test small variations in name, text, cta within the ad group?
-If you have a campaign that starts out well but then either quits spending or quits converting, would you recommend starting a whole new campaign for it? Or just new ad groups within that same campaign?
-If you were spending 30k a day on an offer on TikTok, how many Campaigns/Ad Groups/Ads would you expect have going live for it at any given time? Like 1/5/10? Or like 10/50/500? etc?

Anyway, I'm sure the answer to all of them is "split-test it" lol, but if I can beg of your patience and you can share any additional thoughts on those subjects would be highly welcome!

And thanks again for this fantastic post man!
thanks for your question, Jack

1) yes, I am running different targeting from 25+ in my case
2) yes, I am putting 2-3 tested videos - I am just giving a option for TT to hook up with the right audience
3) I am duplicating campaigns and ad groups all the time to find the best converting one
4) like 20-30 campaigns


08-26-2021 08:15 PM #5 turbobader (Member)

Wow can’t wait to get home and read trough this! Thanks for sharing


08-26-2021 11:00 PM #6 affpayinggao (Veteran Member)

Thanks a lot for the post @cassshy, very timely


08-28-2021 12:40 PM #7 cassshy (Senior Member)

Guys, for all these warm words and your feedbacks. You are motivating me to continue posting stuff like this


08-29-2021 01:13 AM #8 jack_l (Veteran Member)

Quote Originally Posted by cassshy View Post
Guys, for all these warm words and your feedbacks. You are motivating me to continue posting stuff like this
Yes, please keep em coming man! Hugely helpful!

I had a few more questions if you're up for it:

1) How broadly do you recommend using individual pixels? For instance if you were running one single offer in 10 different languages/geo's, would you do one single pixel or one per language? Same with vertical - would you use the same pixel for Refi and Homeowners Insurance, for instance? Or always a different one for each offer/vertical?
2) Am I understanding right that TikTok's AI "learns" on both an Ad Group and Pixel level? So not only will it build up knowledge about each pixel's performance, but ALSO each ad group? Or is it only one or the other?
3) Is TikTok okay with sweeps offers? Clickbank VSL's?
4) Do you have a TikTok rep you talk to regularly like you would on Taboola/Outbrain/etc? Or is it pretty much self-serve all the way up?

Thanks again for the awesome info man!


08-29-2021 04:24 PM #9 npinct (Member)

What is a good network for leadgen on TT?
Any recommendations?


08-30-2021 01:30 PM #10 cassshy (Senior Member)

Quote Originally Posted by jack_l View Post
Yes, please keep em coming man! Hugely helpful!

I had a few more questions if you're up for it:

1) How broadly do you recommend using individual pixels? For instance if you were running one single offer in 10 different languages/geo's, would you do one single pixel or one per language? Same with vertical - would you use the same pixel for Refi and Homeowners Insurance, for instance? Or always a different one for each offer/vertical?
2) Am I understanding right that TikTok's AI "learns" on both an Ad Group and Pixel level? So not only will it build up knowledge about each pixel's performance, but ALSO each ad group? Or is it only one or the other?
3) Is TikTok okay with sweeps offers? Clickbank VSL's?
4) Do you have a TikTok rep you talk to regularly like you would on Taboola/Outbrain/etc? Or is it pretty much self-serve all the way up?

Thanks again for the awesome info man!
1) Running US only
2) correct
3) I have never tried it. I think not - at least you need to add a disclamers and contact info on a LP
4) yes, she is very helpful


08-30-2021 05:31 PM #11 vortex (Senior Moderator)

Stickied! Always exciting to see another post from @cassshy - thank you so much for the wonderful information.



Amy


08-31-2021 01:46 PM #12 cassshy (Senior Member)

Quote Originally Posted by vortex View Post
Stickied! Always exciting to see another post from @cassshy - thank you so much for the wonderful information.



Amy
thanks. Will work on more content for the community


09-01-2021 05:58 PM #13 guriboy007 (Member)

Awesome broo, for the pixel, in case im running direct to the offer, using tracker to open a html page with the pixel on conversion won't stick right? did you find any way to trigger it in a different way? thanks


09-02-2021 07:50 AM #14 cassshy (Senior Member)

Quote Originally Posted by guriboy007 View Post
Awesome broo, for the pixel, in case im running direct to the offer, using tracker to open a html page with the pixel on conversion won't stick right? did you find any way to trigger it in a different way? thanks
I am running direct link campaigns with hard-coded html pixel code on a LP. But yes, working on an API solution, will work with macroses for more precise tracking. I am not using any trackers


10-03-2021 12:08 PM #15 leadmarketing ()

how to make tik tok ad creatives?


10-04-2021 02:07 AM #16 vortex (Senior Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by leadmarketing View Post
how to make tik tok ad creatives?
He mentioned this in the original post:

Creatives and spy tools
I do recommend you to install TikTok and spend at least 30 min daily to analyze trends and content concepts. It’s very important to use this type of video creatives in your ads. There is no spy tools for TikTok on the market yet. You can start with FB creatives (verticals) and use TikTok studio to ‘voice over’, text scripts and special effects. Then I’d recommend you to go on fiverr and look for some freelancers who can produce videos for you. The normal price is 50-200 usd/video. I got a custom made spy tool for TikTok.
Ping me for video samples

Amy


11-20-2021 02:09 AM #17 lightning (Member)

I'm confused, what type of accounts are you using? Creator account? Business account? Forgive my stupid question, as I don't see a description of the account type in any of the threads.


11-22-2021 10:54 AM #18 affimediabv (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by lightning View Post
I'm confused, what type of accounts are you using? Creator account? Business account? Forgive my stupid question, as I don't see a description of the account type in any of the threads.
On default you start with a "normal account" by sign-up here: https://www.tiktok.com/business/en/apps/tiktok
For a agency account you need business center account. More info can be found here: https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article?aid=12789


11-25-2021 02:04 PM #19 lightning (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by affimediabv View Post
默认情况下,您从“普通帐户”开始,请在此处注册:https ://www.tiktok.com/business/en/apps/tiktok
对于代理帐户,您需要商务中心帐户。更多信息可以在这里找到:https : //ads.tiktok.com/help/article?aid = 12789
Thank you very much for your help, but I'm having problems activating the SMS, I tried to use the free SMS receiving platforms to activate my account, but their numbers are almost always marked as occupied, can you provide me with a free or relatively cheap SMS receiving platform? Thanks again.


11-25-2021 04:08 PM #20 vortex (Senior Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by lightning View Post
Thank you very much for your help, but I'm having problems activating the SMS, I tried to use the free SMS receiving platforms to activate my account, but their numbers are almost always marked as occupied, can you provide me with a free or relatively cheap SMS receiving platform? Thanks again.
I'm assuming you're in China and can read Chinese? This article may help: https://fanqiang.info/archives/insta...-in-china.html



Amy


11-26-2021 12:10 PM #21 lightning (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by vortex View Post
我假设您在中国并且可以阅读中文?这篇文章可能有帮助:https : //fanqiang.info/archives/install-TikTok-in-china.html



Amy

Thanks,It's useful


12-04-2021 08:49 AM #22 nidaligameer298 (Member)

Hi there, thanks for the amazing guide.
Has anyone experience with the lead quality for dating offers in tiktok?


07-13-2022 07:32 PM #23 longhababa7872 (Member)

What is the tiktok campaign goal for lead gen affiliate offers?

Thank you


07-14-2022 01:18 AM #24 stungads (Senior Member)

Quote Originally Posted by longhababa7872 View Post
What is the tiktok campaign goal for lead gen affiliate offers?

Thank you
From what I understand, by default you should run conversion campaign with optimization to submitform.


07-25-2022 11:10 AM #25 cassshy (Senior Member)

It doesn't really matter what will be the goal name. But yes, it can be Submit form, or Purchase


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