Smart Targeting comprises Smart audience and Smart interests & behavior. It is the updated version of Targeting Expansion. Smart Targeting is an intelligent feature that helps you find the users most likely to complete your objective (for example, Complete payment). When enabled, Smart Targeting will allow TikTok to deliver ads outside the designated Interest & Behaviors or Audience settings when it is likely to improve ad performance for the advertiser. Smart Targeting improves performance for most advertisers by reducing CPA and ad fatigue.
Availability
Smart Targeting is available for auction bidding, using the performance objectives: traffic, web conversion, lead generation, and app installation.
Smart Targeting is not available for ad placements via Global App Bundle or Pangle.
How to turn Smart Audience On/Off
Smart audience is off by default but may be enabled from an Ad Group's Targeting Module. From there:
Make your initial targeting selections. You must select an Audience for this feature to be applicable.
Enable the Smart Audience toggle directly below your audience selection by checking the box.
Complete your Ad Group.
How to turn Smart interest & behavior On/Off
Smart interest & behavior is on by default but may be toggled on or off from an Ad Group's Targeting Module. From there:
Make your initial targeting selections. You must select at least one Interest and behavior for this feature to be applicable.
The toggle will automatically be On after selecting an Interest & Behavior.
To turn it Off, hover over Smart interest & behavior to edit and deselect the check box.
Complete your Ad Group.
How Smart Targeting works
Launch: We launch the ad with the exact targeting criteria you set.
Observe: Our model observes ad performance to determine if the ad is underperforming or if there are users outside the targeting audience that are likely to convert.
Expand: If we believe we can improve performance, our targeting model will expand the selected targeting settings to maximize campaign objectives.
Note: Smart Targeting will not affect other targeting variables that you have selected, such as age, gender, or location.
FAQs
I enabled Smart Audience when I'm creating ad groups, but why does the Audience Size Estimation remain the same?
The Audience Size Estimation Tool uses your targeting criteria to determine the size of the audience. As such, the tool will not provide an updated audience size when you enable Smart Targeting. However, if Smart Targeting does trigger, you will reach users beyond your initial audience size.
How will Smart Audience affect my Audience selection? Will my initial Audience be ignored when Smart Audience is applied?
The ad group will launch with your exact targeting settings. After a period of time, we may expand upon your audience if we determine that we can improve ad performance by delivering ads to users outside your audience selection.
How does Smart Targeting compare to Targeting Expansion?
The products are fundamentally the same, but with Smart Targeting, the user interface gives the advertiser more control over what to expand. Additionally, we have optimized the ad delivery model to improve performance.
When will Smart Audience or Smart interests & behavior start using the expanded audience pool for ad delivery?
There is no set time when the system will apply the expanded targeting settings. Instead, the expanded settings will automatically be applied when the system determines there is a greater chance of delivering ads to the expanded audience than the original one.