TikTok Ads Tutorial for Beginners: How to Set Up Your First Campaign

Getting started with online advertising can feel daunting, but platforms like TikTok offer powerful ways to reach new audiences. If you're looking to harness the potential of short-form video to promote your business, setting up your first TikTok ad campaign is a crucial step. This guide, based on a step-by-step tutorial, will walk you through the process from creating your account to publishing your first ad.

Step 1: Setting Up Your TikTok Ads Account

The very first thing you'll need to do is make sure you have a TikTok Ads account. If you don't already have one, the process is straightforward. You can typically go to a specific page and click on "get started" to begin. The sign-up process is designed to be quick, taking less than 5 minutes to complete.

A significant benefit of signing up is the potential to claim ad credits. TikTok often runs offers for new users. For example, one current offer mentioned involves a "spend $500 get $500 ad credit" promotion. Checking the latest offer when you sign up ensures you get the best possible start. Once your account is set up, you'll land in a view that allows you to create your first TikTok ad. If your view looks different, clicking on "campaigns" and then "create campaign" should take you to the correct place.

Step 2: Campaign Setup: Objectives, Naming, and Placements

Creating your ad begins by setting up your campaign. The first decision is choosing an advertising objective. While there are various objectives available, a common one, particularly for directing visitors to a specific page, is the "traffic" objective.

Next, you'll need to name your campaign. A simple, descriptive name like "traffic" is suggested.

You may encounter a section for special categories. You should declare if your ads fall into one of three specific industries. However, for most advertisers, these special categories will not apply, and the boxes can be left unchecked.

Moving on, you need to select an optimization location. For the majority of users, this will be sending traffic to a website. If you have a mobile app, you have the option to choose that instead.

When it comes to ad placements, it's important to select placements manually. The options typically include TikTok and Pangle. Based on observed performance and results, running ads only on TikTok is recommended for better outcomes, although testing different placements is possible.

Additionally, within the placements settings, you'll want to ensure the "includes search results" button is checked. Checking this box allows your ad to potentially show up for specific keywords related to your product or service when users are searching on TikTok.

Step 3: Mastering TikTok Ad Targeting

Targeting is where you define who sees your ads, and TikTok offers flexibility here. For those new to advertising or seeking simplicity, TikTok actually recommends leaving targeting "pretty wide open". This allows TikTok's algorithm to use its data to find your customers for you. Personal experience suggests this approach can work very well. If you choose this simple path, you can skip the detailed targeting options and proceed directly to setting your budget and schedule.

However, if you want more control, you can explore the various targeting options available. These include:

• Location Targeting: You can target specific geographic locations. It's important to note that you cannot target everywhere in the world; TikTok has specific places available for targeting.

• Demographics: You can define your audience by age brackets, gender, languages, and even household income.

• Interest and Behavior Targeting: This is highlighted as a potentially very powerful aspect of TikTok targeting. By clicking into this section, you'll find different ways to target users. The main categories are:

  • Purchase Intention: Targeting users based on their likelihood to purchase certain products.

  • Video Interactions: Targeting users based on how they interact with videos.

  • Creator Interactions: Targeting users based on their engagement with specific creators.

  • Hashtag Interactions: Targeting users based on the hashtags they engage with.

Using the example of targeting people interested in buying a phone tripod, you would navigate through Purchase Intentions, then find categories like "Tech and electronics," drill down to "cell phones," and finally select "cell phone accessories". As you select targeting options, TikTok provides an idea of your potential audience size in a right-hand column.

It's generally recommended to keep your selected interests and behaviors focused, ideally limiting them to 1 to 3 for simplicity. If you're new to exploring targeting, it's a good idea to click through all the different options available to become familiar with the possibilities. You can add multiple interests and behaviors if desired.

Step 4: Setting Your Budget and Schedule

Establishing your budget is the next critical step for your campaign. You have two main choices: a daily budget or a lifetime budget. It's important to be aware of the minimum requirements; the minimum daily budget that needs to be set is $20 per day.

You also have control over when your ads run. You can schedule a specific start date and end date for your campaign. Additionally, you have the option to run your ads only during a specific time of the day.

The platform will ask for your optimization goal. For a traffic campaign, it's generally recommended to keep this setting on "clicks".

You'll also see an option for "cost cap per click". For your first time running an ad, the recommendation is to leave this blank. This strategy allows you to collect data and understand what a competitive bid actually looks like on the platform for your specific targeting and creative. If you absolutely want to set a cap, around a dollar ($1) is suggested as a potential starting point, but leaving it blank initially is advised to gather data.

Step 5: Creating Your Ad Creative

Now comes the exciting part: creating the ad itself. You have options for your ad's identity. You can use a Spark ad directly from one of your existing TikTok profiles. This is considered a more advanced feature. Alternatively, you can set a custom identity. With a custom identity, you can upload a profile picture, such as your business logo, and set your brand name. This custom identity will replace the default icon and name displayed with your ad.

When it comes to ad formats, you have two primary choices: running a video or running Carousel image ads. If creating a full video seems like too much effort, you can opt for Carousel ads using a series of images.

If you choose to create a single video ad, there are multiple ways to source the creative. The three main options are: making it yourself, hiring a Creator (often referred to as UGC - User-Generated Content), or using AI. Each of these options has its own pros and cons, and various tools are available to assist with each method. (Note: This tutorial focuses on setting up the ad within the platform and does not cover the process of actually creating the video content itself).

Within the ad setup, you can upload a new video, choose one from your library of previously uploaded content, or potentially create one from scratch. The tutorial example demonstrates choosing a video that has already been uploaded to the library.

Below the video selection, you need to add some text for your ad. This text has a character limit and needs to be under 100 characters.

Crucially, you must choose your call to action (CTA). Make sure the CTAs you select are applicable to your specific video and offering. You can click the dropdown to see the available options. Examples include "Shop Now," "Shop and Order Today," "Order Immediately," "Buy Today," and "Order Yours Now". It is recommended to select multiple call to actions where applicable. The more CTAs you select, the better, as this allows TikTok to test them in real-time to see which performs best.

You will also need to provide the URL where you want people to go when they click your ad. Make sure the destination URL is correctly entered.

On the right-hand side of the screen, you can typically see a preview of what your ad will look like both in the feed and potentially in search results.

Finally, there are a couple of checkboxes related to ad content. If you used AI in your ad creative in any way, be sure you check the box indicating this. The source also mentions another box that should be unchecked and states you should "never want to check that box right there", though it doesn't specify which particular box this refers to.

Publishing Your Ad

Once all the settings are configured and your creative is ready, the final step is simple. Just go through and hit "publish all", and your ad campaign will become active.

Conclusion

Setting up your first TikTok ad campaign involves a series of steps, from account creation and campaign objective selection to targeting, budgeting, and creative assembly. By following these steps, you can launch your first ad and begin reaching potential customers on this dynamic platform. Remember to leverage options like broad targeting initially or dive into specific interests, set an appropriate budget, and create compelling video or carousel ad creatives with clear calls to action. As you gain experience, you can explore more advanced features like Spark ads or specific optimization strategies.