How to set up a Streaming Ads campaign
Streaming Ads is a catalog-fueled performance ad solution, purpose-built for streaming service advertisers.
Before you begin
Catalog: Connect or upload an entertainment specific catalog with product details to Catalog Manager.
Data Connections: Set up pixel and/or eAPI to allow seamless data integration between your platform and ours.
Standard events: Implement standard events to track key customer actions. View Content, Search, Initiate Checkout, and Purchase are required for optimal performance.
Tip: Check out TikTok's best practices for Streaming Ads campaigns.
How to create Smart+ Streaming Ads
Log in to TikTok Ads Manager.
Click Create ad.
Select Sales as the campaign objective.
Choose Website as the sales destination.
Toggle on Catalog campaign under Product Source if you want to run catalog ads at the campaign level. If you want to run catalog ads at an ad group level, leave the Catalog campaign toggle off. Note: If you choose to leave the toggle off, you can enable it when configuring your ad level settings. This allows you to run both catalog and non-catalog ads in one campaign.
Add in campaign name and budget strategy details before moving on to the next page.
Select your catalog that was created in catalog manager from the drop-down menu.
Select your optimization type under the Goal drop-down menu.
Conversion: Recommended if you've set up and are passing back signals to TikTok.
Click: Recommended if you are not sharing signals.
If you've set up signals, select your Data connection.
If you've set up signals: Select an Optimization event from the drop-down menu. We recommend selecting Purchase, Subscribe, or whichever standard event you use to track net-new subscriptions on your website.
If you've set up signals: Set your attribution windows by selecting Attribution settings under More options.
(Optional) Select a target CPA or cost cap per click (depending on optimization goal). This is recommended if you prioritize performance over scaling spend.
Enter your budget. Note: Budget format must be Daily.
Set your campaign's start and end dates.
Select your campaign's time zone. Make sure to align with the desired timezone of the target market if serving outside of your ad account's time zone.
(Optional) Set daypart targeting. Note: This is not recommended due to scale limitations, unless you have strict requirements in this area.
Add in your Audience targeting details. We recommend targeting a broad audience.
(Optional) Select suppression audiences from the Exclude audience drop-down menu. We recommend excluding historical subscribers/purchasers to ensure that the majority of your spend goes towards reaching incremental subscribers.
Configure your placement settings.
Select Continue to edit your ad settings.
Select All products or, optionally, a subset of your catalog's products using the Product set option. Note: If you want to use a product set, you will first need to configure it in Catalog Manager.
Select Automatically add URL parameters if you use site analytics tools like Google Analytics to measure TikTok campaign performance. These parameters will be applied to catalog landing pages as well as the one configured at the ad-level
Once you have selected product source details, you can edit, choose or create videos here from your product catalog in the Creative assets section.
Under Edit creatives, toggle on or off creatives linked to your products based on the following scenarios at ad group level
Toggle on: Use when you want a 1:1 mapping of one video to one product card and the catalog includes both image and video links (Singular Media Card format)
Toggle off: Use when you want one video mapped to multiple product cards or when the catalog includes image links only (image-based Media Card / no auto video generation).
Upload a video via TikTok post or Creative library tabs or by creating new videos OR
Use the + Add videos button to select in-feed video creatives to play behind your Media Card add-ons. You can upload local files or choose them from your existing video library.
Select your format by clicking on the edit icon.
Make sure the Interactive add-ons toggle is turned on.
Click on the Edit button, which should automatically open up the Media Card editor.
Once inside the card editor, you can adjust the settings outlined below, while previewing the complete ad experience on the righthand side of the page. Selecting the play button will launch one of the in-feed videos uploaded in the preceding step behind your Media Cards:
Primary and Secondary labels: Choose from the drop-down menus which catalog field you would like to populate into each section of the card. Only the "Genre" and "Custom label" fields are eligible.
(Optional) Button color: You may customize the Media Card CTA button with one of your brand's signature hex codes.
IMDb ratings info: You may optionally opt out of displaying IMDb rating and review count on your Media Cards.
Add text captions under Add text (use + Add to include variations). Use all 5 caption slots; captions should be title-agnostic
Select one or more call-to-actions under the Call to action drop-down menu. We recommend selecting as many as are relevant to your campaign as possible (for example: "Subscribe", "Watch now") to maximize creative optimization variables.
Preview the Media Card in the ad preview window. You can switch between titles to review creative, text, and CTA.
Click Publish to publish your campaign.
