How to set up an ad campaign in TikTok Ads Manager

Last updated: July 2025

TikTok Ads Manager structures ads into three parts: campaigns, ad groups, and ads. When you create an ad campaign, you will need to set up the advertising objective, campaign name, and budget.

Before getting started

Before you set up an ad campaign, consider what you want people to do when they see your ads. Objectives fall into three categories: awareness, consideration, and conversion. For example, if your goal is to attract more visitors to your website, you can choose the Traffic objective in the Consideration category. If you're unsure about what objective is right for your campaign, learn How to choose the right objective.

How to set up an ad campaign in TikTok Ads Manager

To set up a campaign:

  1. Log in to your TikTok Ads Manager account.

  2. Click Create ad on your Dashboard.

    • Alternatively, you can click Create from your Campaign list or click Copy under an existing campaign in your list.

  3. Choose an Objective.

    • Your campaign will be automatically saved as a draft. A "Draft saved" message will appear to confirm that your progress is being saved. Learn how to view, edit, or delete drafts in TikTok Ads Manager.

    • For Reservation campaigns, making changes to the Objective, Campaign type, or Special ad category will reset your ad group settings.

  4. Set a campaign name. Note: Campaign names support 512 characters.

  5. Declare a Special ad category, if relevant.

  6. Toggle on/off Create split test and Campaign budget optimization options.

  7. Set a campaign budget. The campaign budget allows you to set a specific amount that you are willing to spend on running ads. Your campaign will stop running when it hits the budget. If you are unsure how much you want to spend on a campaign, you can learn more about ad budgets or edit ad settings later.

If you save a campaign as a draft, it will be stored on your Campaign list under the collapsed heading "You have X draft campaigns". To create a campaign from a draft, find the campaign draft in your list and click Edit draft.


After you create your ad campaign, you can verify your settings before it is delivered. Visit How to view ad settings for quality assurance to learn more.