What is TikTok Ads? More and more people are becoming aware. Businesses will miss out on a potential market if they don’t advertise on a platform with around 1 billion users. So, is there an effective way to run TikTok Ads? Let’s explore with Dali Agency in the article below!
What is TikTok Ads?
TikTok Ads are marketing methods used on the TikTok platform with the goal of increasing brand awareness and promoting products for sales.
The campaign directs consumers interested in a product from the TikTok page to external websites as per the desired setup. Examples include: Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Having a large user base and great potential for reach
However, many businesses still don’t know how to leverage this market. TikTok is still a relatively new term, but it is a promising place for businesses due to its low competition and high effectiveness.
Not all industries are suitable for TikTok. First, businesses need to understand which advertising channel is best suited for their industry. Consider investing the budget for advertising channels appropriately.
Types of TikTok Ads accounts
Self-serve
This type of account allows businesses to manage their own advertising.
Businesses top up funds, run ads, and handle advertising policy issues by themselves. In case of any technical issues or problems, they must contact the support team for assistance.
Advantages
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Full control over budget selection and ad formats.
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Management: Optimize, pause, or resume ads anytime.
Disadvantages
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No quick support for campaign execution.
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Large budgets, high skills, and experience required.
Overall: TikTok Self-Serve doesn’t offer much support for business accounts. Consider using an Agency account instead.
TikTok Ads agency account
This type of account is created by TikTok Agencies (either authorized by TikTok or its partners).
When running ads, businesses receive full functions, benefits, and direct support from the agency. This includes: topping up funds, setting up campaigns, optimizing operations, providing reports, etc. Businesses receive professional support from the agency throughout the process.
Benefits
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Professional agencies provide support during the campaign setup and after the campaign ends.
Advice
If your business is new to running TikTok Ads, it’s recommended to choose an agency for the ads. Through an agency, they can shorten the time and receive more support, while also optimizing costs.
What do you need to prepare to launch TikTok Ads?
To run TikTok Ads smoothly, businesses should prepare the following steps in advance:

1. Create a TikTok ads account
The process of registering for a TikTok Ads account involves two main steps:
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Register for a TikTok account through a TikTok partner.
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TikTok reviews and responds to the registration.
Once approved, businesses will receive support from the Agency to run TikTok Ads.
2. Register for payment
Currently, the only payment method for TikTok Ads is through international payment cards. Businesses need to prepare a Visa/Mastercard or JCB card (Debit or Credit).
3. Top-up
Typically, the funds will not be updated to the advertising account immediately. Sometimes it can take 3-5 days. Therefore, businesses should top up the TikTok Ads account before launching the campaign.
4. Landing page
This is where businesses will collect customer information after they click on the ads on TikTok.
5. Select an advertising video
For shop owners or businesses with a moderate advertising budget, TikTok In-Feed ads are usually the most suitable format.
Having a video introducing products or services is the minimum requirement to start running ads on TikTok. Users who see the ads can click on the Call to Action button to go to the business’s sales landing page.
Tips for optimizing TikTok Ads effectively
To run TikTok Ads effectively, businesses can follow these steps:
Campaign goals for ads
First, log into TikTok Ads Manager. Select “Campaign” (Create Campaign).
There are 7 campaign goals divided into 4 categories:
Increase awareness
- Reach: Ads are run to reach as many users as possible.
- Brand awareness
- Views: Maximize video ad views.
- Traffic: Direct traffic to a specific URL (link).
- Download: Increase traffic to download the business’s app.
Lead generation
- Use pre-made forms to collect leads.
Conversion rate
- Encourage specific actions on the business’s website (e.g., purchase, sign-up).
- Ads on product categories.
Set up campaign name and budget for TikTok Ads
Naming your campaign is important. TikTok limits the name to approximately 512 characters. If you have enough budget for the entire campaign, you can choose the “No Limit” option for the campaign.
Select between the “Daily” or “Lifetime” budget options. Choose the one that best fits your campaign goals and available resources.
Allocate ad groups and ad placement
Each campaign can have 1-999 ad groups.
Ad group names can be up to 512 characters. Ad groups allow businesses to target specific audiences, set ad placements, schedule ads, and allocate a specific budget.
Target audience
TikTok allows targeting based on:
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Gender
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Age
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Location
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Language
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Interests
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Consumer Behavior
Start time
There are two options: Daily or Lifetime.
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Schedule: Set the start and end times for the campaign.
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Dayparting: Set specific times for ads to display throughout the day.
Bidding & Optimization
If you are new to TikTok Ads, it’s recommended to choose the Delivery Type as Standard.
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Bid strategy: Set the budget for each click on the ad.
Based on the product’s return on investment and budget limits, decide the best approach. After completing the setup, click Next to move on to the ad creation phase.

