Before getting started: Reach & Frequency is currently only available to qualified customers. Please contact your sales representative for more information.
Reach & Frequency (R&F) is a campaign buying type on TikTok Ads Manager that lets you control the audiences you reach, and the number of times they are exposed to your ad messaging before delivery. This article explains Reservation and purchase methods, as well as step-by-step instructions on how to set up a new R&F campaign.
To get started with Reach & Frequency campaigns, watch our short tutorial.
About Reservation and Purchase method
When you select the Reservation and Purchase method, you will get to control different variables such as budget, impressions, reach, and reach percentage. The system will use this selection to predict the estimated results and total cost for the campaign based on your targeting and placement. There are multiple options to choose from depending on what your organization is looking to achieve and the respective KPI that is used.
About Payment and Billing for Reach & Frequency (Allowlist Only)
Note: Billing options for R&F are now independent of billing options for Auction Ads. These different billing options for Reach & Frequency (R&F) are currently under testing. Advertisers not participating in this test can skip this section.
For Reservation ads, including R&F, we currently support two payment options: Manual Payment (Pre-pay) and Monthly Invoicing. You must select your billing options for Reservation ads, including R&F, when you sign your contract with TikTok.
The billing option for R&F ads does not affect Auction ads.
Note: Irrespective of the billing option you are using for Auction ads, you can still use manual payment or monthly invoicing for R&F to purchase R&F depending on the billing option for Reservation ads agreed in your contract.
Billing Option | Auction Ads | R&F |
Manual Payment (Pre-payment) | Supported. The balances are shared for auction ads and R&F. | |
Auto-payment | Supported as usual. | Not supported. If you are using auto-payment for auction ads, you can manually top up your account to deliver R&F or use monthly invoicing for R&F. |
Monthly Invoicing | Supported as usual. The credit line you see in your ad account is only applicable for auction ads. | Supported if the billing option for reservation ads signed in your contract includes monthly invoicing. |
Manual Payment
Manual payment is supported for R&F ads. The balances are shared for auction ads and R&F.
For example, you have manually topped up your ad account with $10,000. You can use the $10,000 balance for both auction ads and R&F ads.
Once you submit the R&F order, the corresponding amount of balances will be frozen immediately.
Note: To deliver R&F ads with manual payment, please make sure that you add an adequate balance before purchase.
Monthly Invoicing
You need to select monthly invoicing as your billing option for reservation ads in your contract to use monthly invoicing to purchase R&F. If the billing options for Reservation ads include monthly invoicing in your contract, you can purchase R&F and pay expenses with monthly invoicing.
Monthly Invoicing for R&F is different from Monthly Invoicing for auction ads. Unlike Monthly Invoicing for auction ads, there is no concept of "balances". You can directly set an order based on your actual needs, and our system will separately review each R&F order based on your credit history to determine whether the order is approved.
Notably, the purchase of R&F ads will not impact the balances of credit lines for auction ads. If you have topped-up balances or vouchers for Reservation ads in the account, the system will deduct those first, and the remaining amount will be billed in the monthly bills.
If your order is approved, the system will record the spending amount in the monthly bills we will send you. If your order is not approved, please contact your sales reps for help.
When to use Reserve methods
Reach & Frequency supports the following methods to reserve and purchase ad inventory:
Method | When to use |
Reserve using Fixed Budget | You have a specific amount of budget and want to spend it all on a R&F campaign |
Reserve using Fixed Impressions | You use Impressions as your campaign KPI |
Reserve using Fixed Reach or Reach Percentage | When you use Reach as your campaign KPI |
Reserve Using Fixed Budget
Choose a budget amount. The system will predict:
Amount of impressions you will generate.
Amount of people you will reach.
Frequency in which you reach people.
Cost per Thousand Impressions (CPM)
Reserve Using Fixed Impressions
Choose the number of impressions you want to deliver. The system will predict:
Amount of people you will reach.
Frequency in which you reach people.
Cost per Mille (CPM).
Budget.
Reserve Using Fixed Reach
Choose the number of people you want to reach. The system will predict:
Amount of impressions you will generate.
Frequency in which you reach people.
Cost per Mille (CPM).
Budget.
Reserve Using Fixed Reach Percentage
Choose a percentage of the available audience on TikTok (based on your targeting selections). The system will predict:
Amount of impressions you will generate.
Amount of people you will reach.
Frequency in which you reach people.
Cost per Mille (CPM).
Budget.
How to setup a Reach & Frequency Campaign
Overview
To setup a Reach & Frequency campaign, you'll need to make a series of selections at the Campaign, Ad Group, and Ad level. Please note: you must provide enough time for Trust & Safety and other moderation. Campaigns set to launch <24 hours from the time the order is placed run the risk of delayed launch as all R&F ads require a minimum of 24 hours for moderation.
At the Campaign level, you will:
Create a campaign in TikTok for Business Ads Manager and select Reach & Frequency as the Buying Type.
At the Ad Group level, you will:
Define who, when, and how you want your target audience to see your ads with diversified targeting and delivery options.
Enforce your messaging with users through Multiple Creative Strategy.
Gain greater control when your ads appear with Top Feed.
At the Ad level, you will:
Add videos, TikTok posts, and Interactive Add-ons to show to your audience.
Choose specific destinations where audiences will be directed, including:
Deeplinks
URL and app store page
In-app TikTok pages (Music, Profile, etc.)
Branded Effect pages
TikTok Shop Product Detail page
After launching your campaign, you can create a custom audience.
Create a custom audience from a R&F campaign, and re-engage them in future campaigns.
Campaign level
In TikTok Ads manager, create a new campaign.
Select Reach & Frequency as the Buying Type.
Choose an Advertising Objective.
Under Settings, input a Campaign Name.
Click Continue.
Read How to Choose the Right Objective to determine which best supports your needs.
Ad Group level
Input an Ad Group Name.
Placements are set to TikTok by default and cannot be changed. You can choose to enable User Comment, Video Download, and Video Sharing.
Use the Targeting module to define the audience you want to reach. R&F also supports custom audiences.
Audience: Choose to Include and Exclude certain audience types.
Note: R&F campaigns don't automatically refresh audience data. You can update them manually.
Demographics:
Location: Select one or more locations to target your ads. All locations must be in the same country or region.
Age: if you use No Limit, ages 13+ will be included in your audience.
Gender: if you use No Limit, both Male and Female will be included in your audience.
Languages: if you use No Limit, all languages will be included in your audience.
Interest Category: you can target users with a interests based on the videos they watch.
Device: Choose options based on a user's device. You can target based on their Operating System, Device Model, Connection Type, Carriers, and Device Price.
4. Use Contextual Targeting to determine where your ads appear in the "For You" feed.
Read more about Top Feed to determine the Feed Type that works best for you.
5. Use Schedule to select a date range when your ads will deliver.
Ad delivery begins at 12:00 AM based on the timezone of the country/region chosen in Location. The end time is 11:59 PM every day.
Ad delivery can be scheduled up to 225 days ahead of the current date.
Ad delivery can be scheduled between 1 and 90 days.
Ad groups must be created at least one day before ad delivery starts.
6. Use Reserve Using Fixed Reach Percentage to choose a Reservation and Purchase method:
Fixed Budget
Fixed Impressions
Fixed Reach
Fixed Percentage
7. Under Frequency Cap, select how often you want people to see your ads. Choose from:
Default Frequency
Default Frequency is determined by the number of days in the Ad Group schedule.
If Campaign schedule = 1 day: Show ads no more than 3 times a day.
If 2 days ≤ Campaign schedule < 7 days: Show ads no more than 3 times during the scheduled period.
If Campaign schedule ≥ 7 days: Show ads no more than 3 times every 7 days.
Custom Frequency Cap
To use a Custom Frequency Cap, you will need to determine the maximum number of times someone will see your ads in a set period of time.
Impressions ≤ days ≤ # of scheduled days (max 30)
For example: 5 times in 1 day, or 5 times in 14 days.
8. On the Submit ad group and reserve inventory screen, review the terms and confirm settings, then click Next.
Tick the box to receive email notifications about ad group issues.
9. Once the Ad Group has been prepared, click Next to confirm your choices on the Submit ad group and reserve inventory screen.
Note:
There is a minimum threshold of 100K Reach for each order. This is independent of the Reservation method. If the threshold is not met, you may need to adjust your budget and targeting settings at the ad group level until the Reach threshold is met.
If you've chosen to notify selected recipients when submitting your ad group, we will send you an email notification if your creative has not passed ad review, or if your account balance is not sufficient.
Your campaign will automatically close and fail to deliver 5 minutes before scheduled ad delivery if:
No creative has passed ad review.
Your account balance is insufficient.
All ads are paused.
Ad level
Input an Ad Name.
Add your creative by:
Uploading a video.
Choosing one from your library.
Making one using TikTok Ads Manager's creative tools.
Input the Ad Details, including the Display Name, Text, and Profile Image.
Under Destination Page, you can choose to direct your users. Choose from:
Website: Input a URL to drive traffic to your website or app store page.
Deeplink: Input a URL to drive traffic to an in-app location in TikTok. If it's not available, users will be directed to your URL or app store page.
Branded Effect: These are set up by TikTok. To obtain URLs to these pages, please contact your Account Manager for details.
TikTok Instant Page: Create an in-app page for users to experience.
Click + Create to create a new Instant Page
Click + From Library to upload an existing Instant Page.
Under Call to action, select an action for users to take upon seeing your ad. Choose from:
Dynamic: Optimized for your industry and objective. Different call to actions will be shown to different users to achieve optimal results.
Standard: Choose your call to action.
Under Tracking, select your preferred tracking methods.
TikTok supports TikTok Pixel and third-party services. Choose from Impression tracking and Click tracking.
Note: Read about Brand Safety Center to learn how TikTok helps tell your story safely and securely.
Click Submit to finalize and send your ads for review.
Review
For your Reach & Frequency campaign to deliver, there must be at least one ad that has passed ad review, is approved, and is not paused within 5 minutes before the scheduled delivery time. We recommend submitting your ads at least 1 day before the start of the scheduled ads delivery. Campaigns set to launch <24 hours from the time the order is placed run the risk of delayed launch as all R&F ads require a minimum of 24 hours for moderation. There is no exception here.
Read How to Direct Traffic to Pages on TikTok using Reach & Frequency to learn more.