New Search Ads Campaign tools and features

The landscape for search is changing, with more than half of people now preferring to research products on video and social platforms over traditional browsers.¹ This is clearly evident on TikTok, where 57% of users utilise TikTok's search functionality and 25% search for something within 30 seconds of opening the app.²

That's why we're excited to announce the launch of Search Ads Campaign, a new campaign type that enables advertisers to connect with high-intent audiences in the moments that matter most. Search Ads Campaigns are currently available for Commerce, Entertainment & Media, Travel, Gaming, Autos, Local & Professional Services and Apps & Services verticals – with Financial Services and Telco operating as restricted verticals based on keyword volume.

What is Search Ads Campaign?

Building upon the success of Automatic Search Placement (formerly Search Ads Toggle), Search Ads Campaign enables sophisticated keyword-based ads which specifically target placements on TikTok's search results page. From a user experience perspective, the ads are the same, but for advertisers, a whole host of new features and targeting capabilities are now available.

With TikTok Search Ads, our algorithm will ensure that the right creative is served to the right users at their moment of discovery. To ensure we optimise towards the actions that matter most to you, we currently support both Traffic and Web Conversion objectives.

Why use Search Ads Campaigns on TikTok?

This innovative new campaign type offers brands a unique opportunity to tap into the moments when users are actively exploring content, whether they're searching intentionally or stumbling upon something new. This allows ads to be served to audiences at key decision moments, using keyword targeting to drive impactful engagement and conversions.

Search Ads Campaign isn't just about control and customisation; it's about connecting with users in the moments that matter most. When users are researching on TikTok, they're looking for something specific. With Search Ads Campaign, be the brand their search uncovers.

1. Convert customers when they're most curious

Advertisers can now tap into TikTok's multifaceted search behaviors, where highly motivated users discover content both intentionally and serendipitously. With Search Ads Campaign's comprehensive planning tools, you can effectively align your content with the varied search behaviours of our users, maximising your ad's impact.

2. Capture diverse user intent across search queries

TikTok's diverse search landscape allows advertisers to connect with the audiences across all demographics, and capture demand across a wide variety of interests. Search Ads Campaign offers unparalleled control through keyword targeting, enhanced bidding capabilities, creative flexibility, and comprehensive search budget management, enabling advertisers to target high-intent users with precision.

3. Unlock incremental value

Advertisers that run Search Ads in addition to In-Feed Ads see a 20% increase in conversions on average, at a similar or better cost per acquisition (CPA).³ And 18% of users who see an In-Feed Ad but don't convert ultimately complete the conversion after seeing the corresponding Search Ad.³ Search Ads Campaign is designed to seamlessly integrate with this user journey, offering advertisers a new way to enhance and assist along the way. It's a smart move for brands looking to capture additional intent-driven users.

Where do the ads appear?

The typical search journey starts with a user clicking the search button at the top of the For You page. From there, they type in a search query, which then yields a series of search results. The ads appear among these search results and can be viewed within the in-feed experience. Once a user clicks on a Search Ad, they are able to continue scrolling through the search results in the order they appear on the page.

How to activate a Search Ads Campaign on TikTok

Search Ads Campaign is now available within TikTok Ads Manager. When choosing either the Web Conversion or Traffic campaign objective, simply select 'Search campaign'. You will then be directed to a dedicated campaign creation flow with search-specific features, including a powerful keyword suggestion tool for research and the option to exclude negative keywords.

Once you've researched and selected the keywords, and set your target bids and budgets, you're ready to add your creatives. TikTok Search Ads Campaign supports both video and image carousel assets, and advertisers can include a mixture of these formats within one ad group. The system then automatically selects the creative that is the best match for a specific user searching for terms within your target keyword list.

Advertisers can activate, deactivate, and edit keywords and creative assets during the campaign creation flow and mid-flight. In fact, campaign optimisations are encouraged so that advertisers can improve their campaigns and respond to the dynamic and changing TikTok search landscape.

Through this process, advertisers are able to ensure their ads are only showing up for users searching for content related to their brands, while also ensuring a positive user experience by serving optimal creative.

Check out this short video for an overview of Search Ads Campaigns within TikTok Ads Manager.

New tools and features now available

Keyword suggestion tool updates: In addition to predicting monthly impressions of your selected keywords and suggesting others, you can also now add suggested keywords based on your ad creative, so no stone is left unturned.

AI-powered tools:

• Automated keyword tool: A feature you can turn on after setting your manually selected keywords to automatically help your campaign capture even more scale of searches directly relevant to your selected ad creative.

• Smart multi-text ads: This feature enables advertisers to upload up to 5 text lines. Our AI system will ensure that the right ad text matches the right search.

Must haves for a successful Search Ads Campaign

1. Choose relevant keywords with a tight theme

Keywords are the backbone of Search Ads Campaign. Make sure your ad groups have at least 50 keywords, and that they're bundled thematically to fit with the ad creative that will be served in search results. For brand safety, apply a comprehensive list of negative keywords with broad match applied.

2. Spark interest with ad creative

When a user searches for a term that matches your keyword, they'll see a preview of your ad on the search results page. Make sure the ad creative is geared towards driving engagement and click-throughs. For Traffic objective, 'Carousel' creative formats work best, for Conversions, utilise 'Video' creative formats.

3. Set appropriate bids and budgets

Make sure your bids are appropriate for your campaign budgets. A budget-to-bid ratio of 20:1 is recommended to ensure keywords can be competitive in Search Ads auctions.

Supercharge brand discovery through search

We're continuously innovating the TikTok search experience to provide more ways for brands to connect and engage with the TikTok community. With Search Ads Campaign, brands now have increased control over their targeting to ensure they show up next to content relevant to their business, product, or service, while providing users with a more personalised ad experience.

Search Ads Campaign is currently available in the US and UK, and testing in other markets. Learn more about availability and campaign setup in the Help Center.

Sources

1. TikTok Marketing Science Global TikTok as a Discovery Engine Study 2023, conducted by Material

2. TikTok Internal Data, US users, June 2024

3. TikTok Internal Data, July 2024