Create an ad group
About Smart Targeting
Smart Targeting includes Smart Audience and Smart Interests & Behavior. It helps you find users most likely to complete your objective (e.g., complete payment). When enabled, Smart Targeting allows TikTok to deliver ads outside the designated Interest & Behaviors or Audience settings when it likely improves ad performance. Smart Targeting reduces CPA and ad fatigue for most advertisers.
Availability
Smart Targeting is available for auction bidding with 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 can 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 apply.
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 can 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 apply.
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 checkbox.
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 users outside the targeting audience 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 you have selected, such as age, gender, or location.
FAQs
I enabled Smart Audience when 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 audience size. The tool will not update the audience size when you enable Smart Targeting. However, if Smart Targeting triggers, 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. Over time, we may expand your audience if we determine 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 you 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 for applying the expanded targeting settings. The expanded settings will automatically apply when the system determines there is a greater chance of delivering ads to the expanded audience than the original one.