Goal:
Create a new TikTok lead generation campaign.
Ideal Outcome:
Generate new leads to your business from TikTok lead generation campaigns.
Prerequisites or requirements:
You will need to have a TikTok Ads Manager account before creating a TikTok campaign. Refer to SOP 229 (web version): How to set up a TikTok Ads Manager account if you do not have one.
Why this is important:
TikTok has been one of the world’s most downloaded apps in recent years. It is an effective way to engage with a wider audience (more than 150 countries). TikTok has a variety of ad formats and templates for you to choose from and increase your number in lead generation.
Where this is done:
In TikTok Ads Manager.
When is this done:
Whenever you want to launch a TikTok lead generation campaign.
Who does this:
The business owner/manager or the person/agency digital marketer.
Click-Worthy TikTok Campaign Ideas Checklist
Before you jump into [Simplified Mode] or [Custom Mode], you may want to consider different types of video ideas before you publish a campaign. Click here for 30 different campaign ideas.
A simplified mode relies more on TikTok's algorithm, while custom mode gives you complete control with the ability to A/B test, define your audience targeting, and more. If you are new and looking to set up your campaigns quickly, it is recommended to use the simplified mode.
[Simplified Mode] Create a Lead Generation Campaign in your TikTok Ads Manager
1. Log in to your TikTok Ads Manager account. Hit “Log in with TikTok”.
2.Next, click “Campaigns” and then “Create”.
For a lead generation campaign in simplified mode, select “Lead generation” as your advertising goal. Click “Continue” to proceed to the next step. If you are looking to customize, go directly to “[Custom Mode] Customize a TikTok lead generation campaign”.
Search and add locations where your customers should see your ads.
[Optional] You could set your ad to “Automatic Audience” where TikTok will find the most receptive audience for your business.
[Custom Audience] Otherwise, you could add specific information to your campaign based on your targeted audience’s demographics and interest & behavior. Click each section to expand.
3. Under “Demographics”, choose the appropriate gender, age, and language.
4. Select the gender profile of your targeted audience.
5. Select the age range of your targeted audience.
6. Search and add the languages based on the location of your targeted audience.
7. Under “Interest & Behavior”, include the following interests and people who have interacted with videos.
If you don't know which categories to select, you can click “Recommended”. The recommendation is a feature on TikTok Ads Manager that lets you identify relevant audiences for your ads that most likely contribute to your campaign's advertising objective. Click “Browse” for more options. Tiktok recommends selecting 15 or more interests and/or behavior categories. For instance, if your campaign is about financial education, select “Browse” > “Financial services”, and tick all the relevant services under finance.
According to your targeted audience’s interaction with videos in the past, you can also customize how they have interacted with the videos for this campaign. We recommend ticking all the boxes below.
We also recommend including a category. In this case, a financial education campaign would attract audiences who have interacted with educational videos.
TikTok will track users' behavior in the last 7-15 days and identify the valuable behaviors for your targeting. If you would like TikTok to track faster, select 7 days. If you would like TikTok to collect more data for the future benefit of behavior targeting, select 15 days.
8. Click “Continue” to proceed.
9. Next, set a budget and schedule.
It is recommended to set a daily budget rather than a lifetime budget in the drop-down menu. Enter your budget in the box and ensure it is in the right currency.
10. Schedule a date range for your ad to run.
11. Click “Continue” to proceed.
Upload video(s)
1. Upload a new or use an existing video.
TikTok video ad specifications include:
- Aspect ratio: 9:16, 1:1, or 16:9. Vertical videos with a 9:16 ratio perform best.
- Minimum resolution: 540 x 960 px or 640 x 640 px. Videos with a resolution of 720 px perform best.
- File types: mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp, or .avi
- Duration: 5-60 seconds. TikTok recommends 21-34 seconds for top performance.
- Max file size: 500 MB
- Profile image: square image less than 50 KB
- App name or brand name: 4-40 characters (app) or 2-20 characters (brand)
- Ad description: 1-100 characters, no emojis
Create an instant form
1. Enter your ad name, display name, and text.
2. Enter the ad name for your campaign.
3. Enter a display name.
4. Enter text or description of your ad.
5. Next, choose a call-to-action button.
6. Next, click the box below to allow the add performance to be displayed in the TikTok For Business Creative Center.
7. Create the instant form by clicking “Create”.
A classic form pop-up will appear for you to configure and preview. Fill in the relevant information and question. Click “Complete” to proceed. To create an advanced form, you will need to go to “Custom Mode” and Customize the instant form.
Preview and post creatives
Once you have successfully created an instant form for your lead generation campaign, preview it before you hit “Submit”.
[Custom Mode] Customize a TikTok lead generation campaign
1. Log in to your TikTok Ads Manager account. Hit “Log in with TikTok”.
2. Next, click “Campaigns” and then “Create”.
3. Click “Custom mode”.
4. Next, confirm that you will be switching from simplified to custom mode.
5. Under “Campaign”, select “Lead Generation” as your advertising objective.
Set up your campaign settings.
Key in your campaign name.
You have the option to choose if you would like to conduct a split test. If you tick this option, you will have to provide a payment in advance in the later steps for you to proceed to submit your ad. If you do not want to conduct a split test, you can ignore this step.
You have the option to set a campaign budget. It is recommended to select “Daily budget” in the drop-down menu.
6. Click “Continue” to proceed.
7. Next, name your ad group and select a placement setting.
Name your ad group.
You have the option to select a few advanced settings. Switch on all of the below such as “User comment”, “Video download”, and “Video sharing”.
8. Next, switch on “Automated creative optimization”.
9. Under “Targeting”, you have the choice to either select “Custom targeting” or “Automatic targeting”. If you choose “Custom targeting”, expand all the sections below and input the relevant information under “Demographics”, “Audience”, “Interests & Behaviors”, “Device”, and “Targeting expansion”.
Set your daily budget and schedule.
Next, set your bidding.
To determine the optimal bidding strategy that works for you, you may refer to SOP 235 (web version): How to determine a bid strategy for TikTok ads campaign.
You can also select “advanced settings” and set your “Billing event” and “Delivery type”. Choosing “Accelerated” as the delivery type won't help you increase the amount of budget you consume, it only increases how fast you spend your budget. TikTok suggests increasing your budget if you are noticing that the daily billing event is continuously below your bid.
10. Next, enter your Ad details under “Ad”.
Key in your Ad name.
It is recommended to deliver your lead generation campaign as Spark Ads. Refer to SOP 230: How to set up a TikTok Spark Ad, if you have not enabled ad authorization before this. With a Spark Ad, you will have a higher reach and encourages more engagement and therefore, gain higher lead generation.
If you did not tick “Use TikTok account to deliver Spark Ads”, enter a display name and upload a profile picture by clicking on the pencil icon.
Next, upload the ad video and enter the ad text.
You can choose to click on “Smart Text” for TikTok to generate recommended text for you.
Under “Smart Text”, select a language, industry (optional), and keywords. Click “generate” and then “Confirm” to proceed. To search for keywords, you may follow SOP 154 (web version): Keyword Research for Local Business.
11. Next, add a call-to-action to your destination page. Click “Customize call to action text”.
12. Next, click “Edit”.
13. Next, click “View selected text”.
14. Next, select text options and click “Confirm”.
15. Next, tick the box to allow the added performance metrics to be displayed in the TikTok For Business Creative Center.
Customize instant form
1. Under the call-to-action section, you will be required to create an instant form. Click “Create” under “Instant form”.
2. Choose either an advanced form or a classic form. Click “Confirm” to proceed. By this step, it is recommended to select an advanced form to collect more user information.
3. Next, you will be required to key in all the information required to set up your form according to your needs.
4. Click on the pencil icon to rename the form.
5. Expand all sections to input all the relevant information and questions.
6. Click “Complete”.
Option to track your ad events
[Optional] Finally, before you submit, you will have the option to track your ad events, if any.
Tick the box to allow the add performance metrics to be displayed in the TikTok For Business Creative Center.
You can choose to set a tracker for your website and/or app events from your ads. For this step, you will need to set up TikTok Pixel. Alternatively, you may also choose to add a third-party tracking setting by entering the tracking URL.
Click “Continue” to proceed.
If you have chosen “Split testing” in the earlier steps, you will be prompted to add balance to your account before you submit the ad.
A split test is closely related to your bid strategy. Please refer to SOP 235 (web version): How to determine a bid strategy for TikTok ads campaign to A/B test your ads campaign.
Once you have successfully completed all the steps above, preview it before you hit “Submit”.
If you did not tick “Split testing” in the earlier steps, you are allowed to click “Submit” immediately after filling out your “Campaign”, “Ad group”, and “Ad” details.
