How to set up a Search Ads Campaign in TikTok Ads Manager

Last updated: August 2026

The Search Ads Campaign uses keywords to help you reach people searching for specific terms related to your product or service. Follow the steps to set up a Search Ads Campaign in TikTok Ads Manager to manage budgets, target specific keywords, and upload creative assets. Learn more about the Search Ads Campaign. The upgraded workflow supports creating a single campaign with multiple ad groups and multiple ads to improve setup efficiency.

Before you begin

Before you set up a Search Ads Campaign in TikTok Ads Manager, consider how the following specifications may impact your set up:

  • Ad groups are limited to TikTok search result placement.

  • Keyword targeting is exclusively selected and managed at the ad group level.

  • We recommend setting budgets to be 20x higher than your bid to ensure adequate budget and bids.

  • Search Ads Campaign supports multiple ad types and ad formats, including video and carousel image ads. All ad creative formatting is aligned with standard In-Feed video ads, so no dimension customization is required.

  • Keywords can be uploaded in bulk using an Excel file. You can use a blank spreadsheet with keywords listed in column A, or utilize our Keyword Template file.

  • Campaign and ad group structure can not be bulk uploaded by file.


How to set up a Search Ads Campaign

Tip: Jump straight into TikTok Ads Manager with your preferred objective pre-selected by clicking the correct link below. Then follow steps 3 - 7 to complete setup.

  1. For the Campaign setup, choose an objective that is currently supported by the Search Ads Campaign. Supported objectives for Search Ads now include Traffic, Sales, Lead Generation, and App Promotion. Select Search Campaign.

    • You can set up campaign-level budget strategy before proceeding to ad group setup.

    • If you have a product catalog, you can turn Set up a catalog campaign on/off. The Catalog setting defaults to your last choice (on if it was on in your last creation, off if it was off or never used). We currently support E-commerce, and Travel and Entertainment catalogs.

  2. To set up an Ad group, complete the below details:

    • Name: Enter an ad group name.

    • Optimization and bidding: Choose where you want to collect results, then review the optimization goal, bid strategy, and target cost per result. Depending on the selected location, you may also see options such as billing event and delivery type.

    • Keywords: Add the search keywords you want to target. You can select suggested keywords or upload keywords in bulk when available.

    • Budget and schedule: Set the ad group budget and schedule. Available budget settings may depend on the campaign budget strategy you selected at the campaign level.

    • Targeting: Select your targeting settings for the ad group.

    • Placements and brand safety: Review placement settings and choose brand safety settings for the ad group.

    • If you have selected a catalog, you can select your product source details in this section.

      • For E-commerce, the supported optimization goals are clicks, landing page views, and conversion.

      • For Travel, the supported optimization goal is conversion.

  3. On the Ad level, upload your ad creative and ad details including:

    • Ad Name

    • Identity

    • Product Details

      • Add your products from your catalog here

    • Ad Details

      • Ad Text (Smart+ 2.0 introduces creative-to-text pairing, giving you more control over how assets are matched).

      • Ad Creative (In this step, you can also use creative automation features like recommended creative, auto creation, and auto enhancement to streamline asset management).

      • CTA

      • Interactive Add-ons

      • Destination Page

    • Tracking


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