How to automate TikTok campaigns for better client performance

Manual campaign management has its limits. As commerce campaigns grow – with more products, placements and performance signals to consider – keeping every optimisation decision on track becomes increasingly complex.For agencies managing multiple clients, the challenge is finding ways to scale campaign management without adding unnecessary complexity.

That's where automation comes in. Smart+ Catalog Ads helps advertisers automate key campaign decisions, using machine learning to identify the products, audiences and placements most likely to drive results.

What automation unlocks for agencies

Smart+ Catalog Ads continuously analyses campaign signals and makes delivery decisions in real time – something that becomes increasingly difficult to manage manually as campaigns grow.For agencies, this creates more room to focus on the work that drives client value: strategic planning, creative recommendations, testing opportunities and growth conversations.

The performance impact is also clear. Clients running Smart+ in a full Smart+ setup see 41% lower CPA compared with fully manual setups [1].

How agencies can set Smart+ campaigns up for success

Smart+ performs best when it has room to learn and the right parameters to learn from. These are the decisions that have the biggest impact on how well the system optimises:

• Use campaign-level budget to give Smart+ enough flexibility to allocate spend efficiently.

• Set attribution to 7-day click or 1-day view

• Use Audience Controls and Audience Suggestions rather than heavy manual targeting restrictions

• Keep placements broad where available and relevant, rather than over-restricting delivery.

• Structure asset groups with varied creative and clean, consistent URL setup

The system needs stability to optimise, which means a period of intentional non-intervention – no bid adjustments, no pausing, no narrowing of targeting – for at least 7 days or until 25 conversions have been reached.

One of the biggest opportunities for agencies is helping clients understand the learning phase. For teams used to frequent manual optimisation, giving a campaign time to learn can feel counterintuitive.

Setting expectations early helps build confidence: automation isn't replacing optimisation – it's changing where optimisation happens.

Common mistake: One of the biggest mistakes agencies make is reacting to early performance dips on a client's behalf – pausing or adjusting before the system has had time to learn. Early fluctuations don't always mean something is wrong. Often, they're part of Smart+ identifying the strongest opportunities. Setting client expectations early, before the campaign launches, makes it easier to hold that stability when performance dips mid-learning.

How OTTO scaled sales and cut costs with TikTok Smart+ Catalog Ads

When OTTO joined TikTok's alpha release for Smart+ Catalog Ads, the goal was simple: more installs, more purchases, lower costs. By handing delivery, creative selection and audience targeting to automation – and pairing it with optimised catalog imagery – the brand gave the system room to learn across both retargeting and prospecting.

The results speak for themselves.

Moving clients from manual control to smarter optimisation

Smart+ works best when agencies combine automation with strategic expertise. By helping clients understand when to automate, how to set campaigns up effectively and why stability matters, agencies can unlock more scalable performance during Peak and beyond.

The Commerce Performance Playbook covers Smart+ Catalog Ads setup in full, including budget guidance, bidding strategies and learning phase best practices.

For a more hands-on checklist, share our practitioner guide with clients to help them prepare their campaigns for Peak.

Sources:

1. Internal beta tests (Sep 30 - Oct 14, 2025). *The Smart+ setup is a campaign setup where all Smart+ solutions are enabled to deliver superior performance through automation.