Introducing Search Ads Campaign

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 utilize TikTok's search functionality and 23% 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.

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 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 Search Ads Campaign, brands have full control over how their content appears on the TikTok search results page, ensuring the right creative is served to the right users. Currently, Search Ads Campaign supports both Traffic and Web Conversion objectives, meaning that advertisers can optimize their campaigns for both scale and performance.

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 customization; 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 behaviors of our users, maximizing 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

Based on our testing, 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

The 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 optimizations 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 content related to their brands, while also ensuring a positive user experience by serving optimal creative.

Tips for a successful Search Ads Campaign

Choose relevant keywords

Keywords are the backbone of Search Ads Campaign. Make sure your ad groups have at least 20 keywords, and that they're bundled thematically to fit with the ad creative that will be served in search results.

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.

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.

Optimize your campaigns over time to improve efficiency and scale

Search Ads Campaign is not a set-and-forget campaign type. With many Search Ads living as evergreen placements, we recommend that advertisers frequently review performance and make optimizations to keyword selection, bids, budgets, and creative, so that the campaigns grow and evolve with TikTok search dynamics and trends.

Supercharge brand discovery through search

We are excited to continuously innovate the TikTok search experience and deliver 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 personalized ad experience.

Currently, the Search Ads Campaign is available in the US, and testing in other markets.

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