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Glossary

Clarifying commonly confused terms.

A​

Ad Account​

A TikTok advertising account that allows you to create and manage advertising campaigns. Each ad account has its own billing, permissions, and campaign management features.

Ad Group​

A collection of ads that share the same targeting, budget, and schedule settings. Ad groups help organize campaigns and allow for better performance tracking.

Ad Manager​

TikTok's advertising platform where you create, manage, and optimize your advertising campaigns.

Ad Spend​

The total amount of money spent on advertising campaigns within a specific time period.

Audience​

The group of people you want to reach with your advertising campaigns, defined by demographics, interests, behaviors, and other targeting criteria.

B​

Bid​

The maximum amount you're willing to pay for a specific action (click, impression, conversion) in your advertising campaign.

Budget​

The amount of money allocated to an advertising campaign, ad group, or individual ad over a specific time period.

Business Account​

A TikTok account type designed for businesses, brands, and organizations to manage their presence and advertising on the platform.

C​

Campaign​

The top-level container for your advertising efforts, containing one or more ad groups with shared objectives and settings.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)​

The percentage of people who click on your ad after seeing it, calculated as clicks divided by impressions.

Conversion​

A desired action taken by a user after interacting with your ad, such as making a purchase, signing up, or downloading an app.

Cost Per Click (CPC)​

The average amount you pay for each click on your ad.

Cost Per Mille (CPM)​

The cost per thousand impressions of your ad.

D​

Demographics​

Characteristics of your target audience such as age, gender, location, income, and education level.

Dynamic Creative​

An advertising feature that automatically tests different combinations of creative elements to find the best-performing version.

E​

Engagement​

User interactions with your content or ads, including likes, comments, shares, and saves.

Event Tracking​

The process of monitoring and recording specific user actions on your website or app for advertising optimization.

F​

Frequency​

The average number of times a user sees your ad within a specific time period.

Funnel​

The customer journey from initial awareness to final conversion, typically divided into awareness, consideration, and conversion stages.

G​

Geotargeting​

The practice of showing ads to users in specific geographic locations.

H​

Hashtag​

A word or phrase preceded by the # symbol used to categorize content and make it discoverable on TikTok.

I​

Impression​

A single instance of your ad being displayed to a user.

Interest Targeting​

A targeting method that shows ads to users based on their interests, hobbies, and behaviors.

L​

Learning Phase​

The initial period when TikTok's algorithm learns about your campaign and optimizes delivery based on your objectives.

Lookalike Audience​

A targeting option that finds users similar to your existing customers or website visitors.

M​

Mobile-First​

Design and optimization approach that prioritizes mobile devices, which is essential for TikTok advertising.

O​

Optimization​

The process of improving campaign performance through adjustments to targeting, creative, bidding, and other settings.

Organic Content​

Non-paid content that appears naturally in users' feeds without advertising spend.

P​

Pixel​

A small piece of code that tracks user behavior on your website for advertising optimization and measurement.

Placement​

The specific locations where your ads can appear on TikTok, such as the For You page, search results, or profile pages.

R​

Reach​

The total number of unique users who see your ad at least once.

Retargeting​

Showing ads to users who have previously interacted with your brand, website, or app.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)​

A metric that measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.

S​

Scheduling​

Setting specific times and dates for your ads to run.

Split Testing​

Also known as A/B testing, the practice of testing different versions of ads to determine which performs better.

T​

Targeting​

The process of selecting specific audiences for your advertising campaigns based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and other criteria.

TikTok for Business​

TikTok's official platform for businesses to manage their advertising and marketing efforts.

U​

User-Generated Content (UGC)​

Content created by users rather than brands, often used in advertising campaigns for authenticity.

V​

Video Ad​

An advertising format that uses video content to promote products or services.

View-Through Conversion​

A conversion that occurs after a user sees your ad but doesn't click on it directly.

W​

Website Conversion​

A conversion that happens on your website after a user clicks on your TikTok ad.

Key Concepts​

Campaign Structure​

  • Campaign: Top-level container with objectives and budget
  • Ad Group: Mid-level container with targeting and scheduling
  • Ad: Individual creative with specific messaging and creative assets

Performance Metrics​

  • Impressions: How many times your ad was shown
  • Clicks: How many times users clicked on your ad
  • Conversions: How many users completed desired actions
  • Cost: How much you spent on advertising

Targeting Options​

  • Demographics: Age, gender, location, income
  • Interests: Hobbies, activities, preferences
  • Behaviors: Purchase behavior, device usage
  • Custom Audiences: Your own customer lists
  • Lookalike Audiences: Similar to your customers

Bidding Strategies​

  • Cost Per Click (CPC): Pay for clicks
  • Cost Per Mille (CPM): Pay for impressions
  • Cost Per Action (CPA): Pay for conversions
  • Bid Cap: Set maximum bid amounts
  • Target Cost: Optimize for specific cost targets

Common Confusions​

Campaign vs Ad Group vs Ad​

  • Campaign: Contains multiple ad groups, sets overall objective
  • Ad Group: Contains multiple ads, sets targeting and budget
  • Ad: Individual creative with specific messaging

Reach vs Impressions​

  • Reach: Number of unique users who see your ad
  • Impressions: Total number of times your ad is shown

CPC vs CPM​

  • CPC: Cost per individual click
  • CPM: Cost per thousand impressions

Organic vs Paid​

  • Organic: Free content that appears naturally
  • Paid: Sponsored content that requires advertising spend

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