How to run TikTok ads: a step-by-step guide for beginners

TikTok Ads is a unique and effective advertising strategy on the social network TikTok. With billions of monthly users, TikTok has become an attractive investment for companies and brands that want to reach a large, diverse audience. So how do you run TikTok ads effectively? Find out with MONA Media Let's go through the steps in detail below.

What is TikTok Ads?

TikTok Ads, or TikTok advertising, is running marketing campaigns on the Chinese social media platform TikTok. The goal of running TikTok ads is to build awareness, expand your brand and drive sales.

Short videos, a wide library of licensed music and thousands of unique effects make it easy to create engaging clips that attract a wide audience.

As short video grows in popularity, TikTok now lets people sell directly on the platform, which makes promoting a brand and doing business easier. But it is also a challenge, because hundreds of thousands, even millions of competitors are doing the same thing, and some are already succeeding on this channel.

Types of TikTok advertising accounts

To run TikTok Ads successfully, you first need to understand how the platform works, starting with choosing an ad account. Here are the types of TikTok Ads accounts most commonly used today.

Personal account (TikTok Ads Self-serve account)

A personal TikTok Ads account is also called TikTok Ads self-serve. With this account type you run your own TikTok ads, top up your balance, and handle ad policy and optimization yourself.

With a Self-serve account, if you hit any problem while using it, you have to solve it yourself or contact the platform's support team.

Advantages

• You are in control of everything from setup to running ads. You choose the budget, targeting, ad type and more.
• You manage the status of your TikTok ads and can pause them whenever you want and restart when you need.
• You get an Add balance option to fund your ads.

Disadvantages

• There is no Vietnamese-speaking support for running ads. When there is a problem, you work directly with TikTok's support team (in Chinese or English).
• For large campaigns with big budgets, you will need someone to help optimize your ads if you want them to really succeed.

For safer, more convenient ads with better results, we recommend the second account type below.

Agency account

This account is opened for you under an agency, an advertising company authorized by TikTok. With this account type, a professional advertising agency supports you with everything on TikTok. Topping up, building campaigns, tracking reports and optimizing are all handled by the agency, so you don't need to worry.

If you run into any operational problem, the agency will work with TikTok to solve it quickly for you. In return, you pay a fee (usually from 10 USD/month, depending on the agency). When you top up the account, you simply transfer the money to the agency and they take care of the rest.

Advantages

• A professional Vietnamese ad team supports you at every step, even from A to Z.
• Creating an ad account is quick and simple, because the agency stands behind you.
• Better-optimized ads deliver stronger results.

Disadvantages: It is harder to stay in control of operations, top-ups and so on.

Even though you depend on an intermediary, this is the safer route. It reduces risk and makes it easier to succeed when you market with TikTok Ads.

Who should use which ad account?

The platform offers two account types for a reason, and each suits a certain kind of user. So which TikTok Ads account should you use? Our advice for people just starting out with TikTok ads is to use an Agency account.

It is hard to create an ad account on TikTok by yourself. An agency can set one up quickly and cleanly for a small one-time fee. Once you are comfortable advertising on TikTok, you can split off and run your own personal account.

Why choose to advertise on TikTok?

With a huge user base and viral reach, TikTok has taken off like a storm and is seen as an ideal advertising channel for brands. So why is TikTok Ads so sought after? Let's look at the reasons below with MONA.

A platform with a huge user base

One of the key reasons TikTok is a leading choice for ad campaigns is its enormous user base. As of 2024, TikTok has passed 1.5 billion users worldwide and is expected to reach more than 2.2 billion by 2027 (according to Meltwater). 

In Vietnam, TikTok ranks third for downloads on both iOS and Android, with more than 12 million monthly users. Most of them are Gen Z: young, active and quick to pick up new trends. That gives advertisers a strong opportunity to reach a large pool of potential customers easily and efficiently.

Easy access to creative video content

TikTok is known for short videos that let users express their creativity without limits. Most of its users are under 30 and like to show who they are and keep creating. That makes TikTok Ads an ideal way for businesses and brands to reach customers through creative, engaging content. 

Videos on TikTok often turn into trends, which builds brand recognition and attracts attention. So running ads on TikTok helps you reach customers effectively and also lets you build marketing campaigns that are creative and memorable.

High viral potential

TikTok videos are short, usually 3 to 15 seconds, so they catch attention and get interaction easily. Videos with a creative, appealing idea earn high view counts and can also spread quickly, starting new trends and challenges. 

This helps brands build their presence and influence on social media. For fashion, beauty, travel and other products that young people care about, TikTok Ads is a way for a brand to spread its message and connect with potential customers.

Explore now:

• 17 How to trend on TikTok fast and earn “MILLIONS OF VIEWS”
• 15 How to build a TikTok channel “from zero”

The 10 most popular TikTok Ads formats

Each ad type focuses on a specific goal: reach, conversion rate for a website or landing page, app installs, more TikTok Shop orders, and so on. Depending on the goal, TikTok divides its ads into 10 basic TikTok Ads formats as follows:

Brand takeover (for high to very high budgets)

Brand takeover lets businesses with a large ad budget make the most of it. With this format, you set up the ad directly from your own account, without going through an agency, or you can work with TikTok directly if you prefer.

Brand takeover comes in 2 types:

• First-view Takeover: Ads that appear the moment the app opens (for businesses with a very high budget).
• Regular Takeover: Ads that appear at random within the first 80 videos (for businesses with a lower budget).

In-feed video (for low to medium budgets)

TikTok In-feed is the most cost-efficient ad type, suited to individuals and businesses with limited budgets. It comes in 2 forms:

• One day Max: Ads shown for one day (for testing or small budgets).
• Brand Premium: Ads shown regularly (for businesses with larger budgets).

Hashtag Challenge

The TikTok Hashtag Challenge is the third most popular ad format and worth using. It aims to build brand awareness, and it usually does not bring many direct conversions.

You can combine it with influencers to push the video and the brand further. Make sure your budget is high, though, and that you can handle extra costs as they come up.

Image ads

TikTok Ads Manager supports both video and image ads, so you can promote your brand, app name or product with your own images, such as company profile photos, product photos.

Image ads accept JPG, JPEG and PNG files, with a minimum resolution of 720*1280 and a file size of up to 100MB.

Video shopping ads

A TikTok Ads format for video shopping that lets buyers purchase straight from videos in their feed. It shows products inside Collection ads.

It also uses a smart delivery algorithm to reach users in the final stage of the buying journey.

If you are looking for a partner to help your brand sell online on one of today's fastest-growing commerce platforms, such as TikTok Shop then MONA Media is a name worth considering. To give clients a complete solution, MONA now offers both a TikTok Shop store setup service and TikTok Shop management service. Contact the MONA team via FREE HOTLINE 1900 636 648 to get detailed advice.

Pangle Ads

This format lets advertisers reach more people, more effectively, through placements in third-party apps. Advertisers also benefit from app monetization solutions built for publishers.

In short, Pangle ads offer rich ad formats that give a better user experience and aim to raise conversion rates for businesses. Pangle formats you may come across include interstitial, native, banner, app-open and icon ads.

Carousel ads

A TikTok ad type that lets marketers upload up to ten images, each with its own caption. The ad appears in the user's News Feed. Carousel ads are only available in TikTok's news feed apps such as BuzzVideo, and must have at most 10 images.

Branded AR content

Branded AR content, also called Branded Lenses ads. This ad appears as a 2D/3D/AR lens or stickers designed by the advertiser, which TikTok users can then apply in their own videos.

Sponsored influencer content

Branded content ads on TikTok. These can be ads selling products or services for a third party (a business pays you to advertise on your channel). You get paid by that third party, for example the brand, and your job is to produce the posts and disclose the sponsorship properly.

This sponsored format lets marketers boost content from creators, influencers or partners. They can promote creators' videos or live streams to raise views toward their goals.

Spark ads

Spark ads are a native ad format that lets brands use organic TikTok posts as ads. It is a newer ad type TikTok has introduced for businesses.

This option gives a business a big boost without spending time creating content or having to hand it to an influencer.

What do you need to prepare to run TikTok Ads?

Whichever ad type you choose, you need to prepare well first to get results. Here are what to prepare before running TikTok Ads.

A TikTok Ads account

To start advertising on TikTok, the first requirement is an Ads account. As noted above, TikTok Ads accounts come in two types: personal and Agency.

If you have limited resources and are new to TikTok advertising, choose an Agency account. Once you are familiar with it, you can also look at a TikTok Agency account. When registering, you need an email or phone number in your own name for verification.

Register an international payment card

As with other ad channels, TikTok needs your payment details. It accepts international payments with Visa or Mastercard debit cards. Note that TikTok does not accept domestic bank cards or ATM cards.

Add funds to your TikTok Ads account

After entering your international card details, top up the account to match your budget so the ad has enough funds to run.

Landing Page Tiktok Ads

The fourth thing you need is a landing page that collects customer information when they click your ad.

Choose the video to advertise

Finally, you need content, either images or video. For product intro ads you need at least 15 videos. If your video is engaging, viewers will choose to buy and you get sales conversions.

A beginner's guide to running TikTok Ads effectively

Once everything is ready, you can start running TikTok Ads right away. But to run TikTok ads effectively you need to know how it is done, and that is not something to skip. Here MONA will walk you through running TikTok ads in 11 steps below:

Step 1: Set up a TikTok Ads Manager account

TikTok does not yet let users advertise directly from a personal account, so you need to register an account in one of 2 ways:

► For an Agency account:

• Step 1: Register TikTok Business by contacting TikTok's representative company in Vietnam to open the account.
• Step 2: The representative company reviews your registration details and replies to you.
• Step 3: Once approved, you create the account and add funds to run TikTok ads.

► For a personal ad account:

• Step 1: Go to TikTok's ads sign-up page and choose Sign up now.

• Step 2: Fill in the login details TikTok asks for, including email and password.

• Step 3: Check your email and enter the verification code so TikTok can confirm your address.

• Step 4: Add your industry and business details such as website, name, phone number and so on.

• Step 5: After the account is created, log in to continue with the next steps.

Step 2: Define the goal of your TikTok advertising strategy

The goal of your TikTok Ads is a key factor in whether the campaign succeeds. TikTok therefore offers several ad objectives, depending on your business purpose. Each has its own traits and approach, so choose the one that fits your strategy best:

• Traffic: Increase visits to your website or landing page.
• App Install: Increase installs of your app.
• Conversions: Optimize to turn viewers into real customers or users.

Step 3: Name your ad

A clear, memorable campaign name makes it easier to manage and track results. For best results, give the campaign an appealing name that carries the content you want to convey. Avoid names that are too long (over 510 characters), so you stay within policy and do not annoy viewers.

Step 4: Choose your target audience

As on other online ad platforms, TikTok lets businesses choose a target audience based on several factors. Choosing the right audience helps your TikTok ads reach people who are likely to care about and engage with your product or service.

Factors used to define the target audience include:

• Gender and age: TikTok lets you choose the gender and age of viewers. This matters when you want to focus on a particular group of customers.
• Geographic location: Choose the area where you want your ads to appear, so you reach people in a specific location more precisely.
• Language: If your product or service targets a specific language, you can choose your target customers' language so the ad is shown to the right people.
• Interests and shopping behavior: The platform collects information about users' interests from the videos they watch, and even their shopping behavior. This helps you shape the right ad strategy and raises the chance of conversion.

Step 5: Set the ad group budget and schedule

Setting a budget helps you control costs and keeps the campaign on plan. When you run TikTok ads, you have 2 budget options:

• Daily Budget: With this budget, TikTok spreads your spend across the day. For example, if you set a budget of 500,000 VND/day, TikTok will spend about 100,000 VND each day on your ad group.
• Lifetime Budget: This is a budget you set for the whole campaign, not split by day. For example, if you set 500,000 VND for the whole campaign, TikTok will release it gradually over the period you choose.

Once the budget is set, you schedule when the ads run. This helps you show ads to the right audience at the moments that matter. 

The platform also lets businesses deliver ads with the feature Dayparting. This feature lets you pick specific hours of the day to show your ads. You can choose All Day to show ads around the clock, or Specific Time if you want ads to appear only at certain hours, such as morning or evening.

Step 6: Set up the ad display

This is where you choose the images, video and message that will catch users' attention. The basic requirements for setting up the ad are:

• Cover image for TikTok Ads videos: This is what makes an impression at first glance. You can choose up to 8 cover images for your ad video. A cover should be lively, appealing and match the message you want to send.
• Ad preview: Before you run the ad, use the Preview feature to see how it will look on the platform. This helps make sure the ad has no errors and is ready to catch viewers' attention.
• Ad text: Ad copy should be short, easy to understand and suited to your target audience. The text must be 12 to 100 characters, with no emoji, hashtags or special characters.
• Aspect ratio and resolution: TikTok recommends aspect ratios such as 9:16, 1:1 or 16:9. Make sure the video is at least 720x1280px and in a format such as .mp4, .mov or .avi for the best display quality.

Step 7: Set the ad URL

Once the campaign setup is done, it is time to configure the ad so it works as well as possible. To make sure it reaches the right audience and performs well, do the following:

• URL: This is the link to the website or landing page users reach when they click your ad. Make sure it fits the campaign goal and is optimized for mobile.
• Conversion Name: The pixel code lets you track what users do after clicking the ad, such as buying or signing up for a service. It is essential for measuring ROI accurately and optimizing future campaigns.

Step 8: Set placements

Where your ads appear is another factor to think through carefully. TikTok lets you show ads on several platforms, such as BuzzVideo, TopBuzz, NewsRepublic and Babe, in addition to TikTok itself. Depending on your goal and the customers you want to reach, choose the placements that suit your TikTok campaign best.

Step 9: Create and install the TikTok Pixel

In practice TikTok does not require a Pixel, but if you want to see how many people visit your website through ads, or build custom audiences for remarketing, you need to install it. Creating and installing a Pixel on TikTok is fairly simple:

• In the TikTok ads interface, choose Tools >> Management >> Events.

• In the Event Manager menu, choose Manager for a Website Pixel or an App Pixel, depending on the platform you want to install on.

• After following the steps TikTok Ads asks for, click Finish to complete the setup.

Step 10: Bidding and optimizing TikTok Ads

After setting the budget and schedule, you move on to bidding and optimization. This is an important step that helps you find the cost level that gives the best results. A few factors to pay close attention to here:

• Optimization Goal: Choose Conversion if your goal is to drive user actions such as buying a product or signing up for a service. If you want to build brand awareness, you can choose Traffic.
• Smart Optimization: If you are new to running TikTok ads, this feature optimizes your campaign automatically so you do not need much experience.
• Bid: Choose the bid you are willing to pay for each interaction or conversion. It directly affects your chances of winning the auction and getting your ad delivered.
• Delivery Type: Choose Accelerated if you want your ad delivered quickly, or Standard if you want it delivered at a normal pace.

Step 11: Measure and evaluate TikTok Ads performance

Finally, once your ads are live, measuring and evaluating performance is essential. TikTok provides detailed analytics on engagement and conversions, so you can see the strengths and weaknesses of the campaign. Based on these metrics, you can adjust your strategy to get better results in later campaigns.

Tips for running TikTok ads

With its strong appeal and undeniable influence, TikTok Ads has become an ideal platform for ad campaigns. But for strong results, do not overlook some hands-on tips for running TikTok ads below:

• Work with influencers: Working with influential TikTok creators is a great way to extend your brand's reach. They have large followings and strong engagement, which helps your product reach more people.
• Create your own channel and post at least three pieces of content a day: TikTok users come for entertainment or useful information, so keep your own TikTok channel and post engaging, creative videos, including content about your products. This builds natural engagement instead of just pushing ads.
• Cross-share content across social networks: To widen your reach, share your TikTok content on other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. This lets you reach a mix of audiences, from young people to older adults.
• Start new trends on TikTok: Creating new trends draws users' attention. Trends are very influential and can make your account stand out and leave a strong impression on viewers.

Things to note when running TikTok ads

For your TikTok ads to succeed and deliver the results you expect, also keep the following in mind:

Study the ad rules and policies carefully

Understanding how the ad channel works and what its policies say helps you avoid risks, provide suitable content and set up ads that meet requirements, so they run better.

Research your industry, competitors and target customers

This helps you plan ads with the right content, aimed at the right audience, for the best results.

Measure your ad metrics

Measuring ad metrics shows you what is not working, what to optimize and what to learn for the next campaigns.

Optimize TikTok Ads costs

Optimizing ad costs is easier when you invest in content quality and use the right ad type, display format and placement.

Optimize your shop for effective TikTok ads

Optimizing your shop makes your products more striking and appealing to customers. Nobody likes disorder. If your shop is messy and products are hard to identify or find, customers will leave easily.

Frequently asked questions about TikTok Ads

Beyond the above, we also answer some related questions about running TikTok ads that you may care about.

How long until TikTok ads start working?

Usually your ad starts working right after it is Active. Most ads are reviewed within 24 hours, though some cases take longer.

Does TikTok Ads need a lot of money?

The budget depends on the goal, the product and the target audience. To test at first, you can start with as little as 200,000 VND. You can choose to allocate budget as a total budget or a daily budget.

You can change the budget at any time during the campaign, and the ad system will never spend more than the budget you set.

• Minimum campaign-level ad budget: 500,000 VND
• Minimum ad-group-level budget: 400,000 VND
• Minimum budget for a single ad: 200,000 VND

Can one account run several campaigns at once?

Yes! You can create multiple campaigns under a single account, and in Ads Manager you can follow and control each campaign.

In short, this article has covered what TikTok Ads is and, above all, a guide to running TikTok ads effectively. We hope it helps you grab the chance to build brand awareness, engage potential customers and grow sales. And if you are looking for a provider of TikTok advertising service packages that cut costs and bring orders fast, then MONA Media is the solution for you. CONTACT US us on our free hotline 1900 636 648 for advice and a detailed quote.