TikTok
Channel
TikTok Ads
TikTok is treated as the brand budget. It gets a quarterly burst, a repurposed sixteen-by-nine film, and a report about views that nobody can connect to revenue.
- Funnel stages
- 5
- Campaign types
- 13
- Checked against the platform
- 14 September 2026
5 funnel stages13 campaign typesChecked Sept 2026
Why it is worth running
Run as a performance channel, not a brand experiment. Creative volume is the media plan.
TikTok stopped being a reach channel some time ago. It now has search, a shopping stack and automated performance campaign types that close sales inside the app. The thing that breaks most accounts is not targeting or bidding, it is creative volume: the platform needs a constant supply of native, sound-on, hook-first video, and an account fed four assets a quarter will fail regardless of how well it is built.
The accounts that work on TikTok are not the ones with the cleverest targeting. They are the ones with a creative process that produces enough native assets to keep the automated campaign types fed, and measurement good enough to prove what the platform actually contributed.
Both of those are fixable. Neither is fixed by spending more.
Full funnel
Every stage, and what it is judged on
Discovery
- They are
- Scrolling, not shopping, open to being interrupted by something good
- We run
- Reach and frequency buys, TopView and in-feed video against broad interest signals
- Judged on
- Cost per thousand reached and hook rate in the first three seconds
Interest
- They are
- Watching, following, reacting, starting to recognise you
- We run
- Video views and traffic objectives, Spark Ads amplifying organic and creator posts
- Judged on
- Two-second and six-second view rates, and cost per engaged view
Consideration
- They are
- Searching inside the app, reading comments, checking whether it is real
- We run
- Search Ads against in-app queries, creator content that answers the objection in the comments
- Judged on
- Cost per qualified visit and in-app search impression share
Conversion
- They are
- Ready to buy, usually without leaving the app
- We run
- Web conversions and lead generation objectives, Smart+ for automated performance, GMV Max for TikTok Shop catalogues
- Judged on
- Cost per acquisition and return on ad spend, verified against the back end not just the pixel
Retention
- They are
- Bought once, followable, worth a second sale
- We run
- Customer file and engagement audiences, catalogue retargeting, creator content aimed at repeat categories
- Judged on
- Repeat purchase rate and cost per returning customer
Every campaign type
Grouped by whatthey are for
Checked against the platform on 14 September 2026, because these names change, and a stale campaign name on a paid media site is worse than no page.
Core objectives
The standard campaign objectives, chosen by what the campaign is actually for.
- Reach and frequency
- Guaranteed reach at a fixed price, booked in advance. For launches and moments with a fixed date.
- Traffic
- Sends people to a site or app. Useful for testing creative before spending on conversions.
- Video views
- Optimises for watch time. Judge it on completion and hook rate, not on view count.
- Community interaction
- Followers and profile visits. Supports Spark Ads later, rarely a goal in itself.
- Lead generation
- Instant forms inside the app or on your site. Strong for services, needs CRM feedback to stay honest.
- Website conversions
- The workhorse for direct response, dependent on a correctly configured pixel or Events API.
- Product sales
- Catalogue-driven sales through TikTok Shop or your own site.
- App promotion
- Installs and in-app events where the product is an app.
Automated performance
The automated types now carry most direct-response spend. They need clean signal and a steady creative supply; neither is optional.
- Smart+
- Automates targeting, bidding and creative selection across placements. Works when it is fed enough distinct assets to choose between.
- GMV Max
- Automated campaigns for TikTok Shop, optimising against gross merchandise value across product and live formats.
Creative and search formats
- Spark Ads
- Runs organic posts, yours or a creator's, as ads. Keeps social proof attached, which usually outperforms a clean-build ad.
- Search Ads
- Places you against queries typed inside TikTok. Closest thing on the platform to paid search intent.
- TopView and brand takeover
- First-impression placements bought for a launch moment. Priced accordingly, and not a performance tool.
Verified 14 September 2026 against TikTok Ads Manager, GMV Max campaigns, TikTok Smart+ and GMV Max in 2026.
Measurement
How we know it worked
We build all of this for free before you commit to anything.
What the free setup covers- 01Pixel and Events API both configured, because browser-only signal understates TikTok badly
- 02Post-purchase survey or a holdout test, since TikTok's contribution is chronically under-credited on last click
- 03Creative reported at asset level, so you learn which hook worked rather than which campaign did
- 04Back-end revenue reconciled against platform-reported revenue every month
- 05Frequency and creative fatigue monitored, because the same asset stops working faster here than anywhere else
Questions we get
Asked before,answered plainly
- Do we need to make TikTok-specific creative?
- Yes. Repurposed sixteen-by-nine film is the single most reliable way to waste budget on this platform. Native, vertical, sound-on, with the hook in the first two seconds.
- How much creative does it actually take?
- More than any other channel on this site. The automated campaign types are choosing between your assets, so a thin library limits what they can do. We will be specific about volume against your budget before you commit.
- Is TikTok only for consumer brands?
- No, but the honest answer is that it is easiest for considered consumer purchases and hardest for long-cycle B2B. We will tell you which side of that you are on during the audit.