Are you looking to maximize the performance of your TikTok ads and achieve outstanding results? Look no further! We present to you our extensive guide on how to optimize TikTok Ads with TikTok help and tips straight from our experts.
Quick Summary
- TikTok ad optimization in 2025 revolves around four key methods – Smart+, ABO, CBO, and VBO. While Smart+ Campaigns are ideal for fast scaling and hands-free optimization, the 3 other methods are perfect for testing and maximizing ROAS with value-focused bidding.
- To get the most out of it, combine these methods based on your goals, use ABO for testing, CBO for scaling, Smart+ for automation, and VBO for profitability.
4 Solutions to Optimize TikTok Ads
There are many ways to optimize your TikTok ads, but four powerful strategies dominate in 2025: Smart+ Campaigns, ABO (Ad Group Budget Optimization), CBO (Campaign Budget Optimization), and VBO (Value-Based Optimization).
While Smart+ is TikTok’s latest AI-powered campaign type that simplifies setup and drives strong automated results, ABO, CBO, and VBO still give advertisers granular control over testing, budget allocation, and targeting refinement.
1. Ad Group Budget Optimization (ABO)
What is TikTok ABO?
TikTok ABO (Ad Group Budget Optimization) is a manual campaign setup method that lets you allocate specific budgets to individual ad groups. This gives you full control over how much you spend on each audience segment or creative test.
When using ABO, you divide your campaign budget manually across ad groups. For example:
- Group A: Target male gamers under 25 → $60
- Group B: Target women over 30 interested in beauty → $40
You can pause underperforming groups and reallocate the budget to the best-performing ones.
Ad Group Budget Optimization Structure
When to Use TikTok ABO?
- Ideal for testing multiple audience groups, placements, or creatives separately.
- Recommended for new accounts with limited performance history.
- Useful when you want tighter budget control or to prevent overspending on underperforming segments.
How to set up a TikTok ABO campaign
To start with an ABO campaign, follow 3 steps:
- Determine the target audiences and create ad groups for each audience.
- Set up ad groups.
- Allocate budgets to each group.
ABO offers more control over budget management and allows advertisers to test different ad groups to identify the most successful ones. If an ad group is underperforming or TikTok ads not delivering, pause and reallocate the budget to another group.
For example, picture an ABO campaign with 2 ad groups: Male Gamers & Female Gamers.
Ad Group | Target Audience | Daily Budget Allocation |
|---|---|---|
|
Male Gamers |
Under 25 |
$50 |
|
Female Gamers |
Over 30 |
$50 |
The performance of each ad group can be evaluated after a few time-run campaigns. If the ad group targeting female gamers is generating more conversions at a lower CPA, the ad group targeting male gamers can be paused, and the budget initially given to it can be redirected to the successful female gamers group. This flexibility in budget allocation is one of the main advantages of ABO over CBO.
In conclusion, you can fine-tune budgets and ensure effective spending by pausing underperforming ad groups and reallocating funds to more successful ones.
2. Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO)
What is TikTok CBO?
TikTok’s Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO) lets you set a total budget at the campaign level, allowing TikTok to automatically distribute spend across your ad groups based on performance. This strategy is ideal to optimize TikTok ads when you’ve already identified effective audiences or creatives and want to scale your reach without micromanaging each group.
But if you have a high budget allocated for your CBO on TikTok, you should create more than 2 ad groups within that campaign to optimize your TikTok ads effectively. By dividing your budget among different ad groups, you can experiment with:
- Different targeting
- Creatives
- Placements to identify which combination generates the best results.
When to Use TikTok CBO?
- Scale tested audiences from ABO
- Let TikTok auto-optimize across ad groups
- Reduce manual budget adjustments
How to set up a TikTok CBO campaign?
When setting up a campaign using Campaign Budget Optimization, keep the following parameters in mind:
- Choose from various advertising objectives:
- View
- Traffic
- Catalog Sales
- Lead Generation
- Community Interaction
- App Promotion
- Website Conversions
- Reach
- Consider using TikTok bidding strategies: Cost Cap (goal-based) and Maximum Delivery (spend-based).
- Decide between Daily Budget and Lifetime Budget as your preferred budget mode.
- Opt for a Standard delivery type to ensure consistent ad delivery.
- Remember, Split Test is not supported in this context.
Now, to enable Campaign Budget Optimization, follow these steps:
- Create a new campaign.
- Choose a supported Advertising Objective.
- Turn on the Campaign Budget Optimization toggle.
- Select your bid strategy, budget mode, and delivery type
Remember to configure the remaining settings of your ad group and create your ads. Ensure that all your ad groups have the same Optimization Goal.
Pro Tips
If you want to run a manual Split Test in the CBO campaign, there is still a way. TikTok generally does not recommend running manual Split Test due to potential inaccuracies caused by competing campaigns. However, if you still decide to proceed, keep the following tips in mind:
- Ensure identical settings in both campaigns, including the budget. One should use CBO and the other should not.
- Start both campaigns simultaneously and let them run for at least 7 days without modifications.
- Monitor ad review statuses and address rejections promptly.
- Compare metrics at the campaign level.
Consider the following sample test structure as a reference:
3. Value-Based Optimization (VBO)
What is TikTok VBO?
Value-Based Optimization (VBO) is a TikTok bidding strategy designed to help advertisers reach high-value user, those most likely to generate larger purchases or meaningful in-app actions. VBO is available for Website Conversions, App Promotion, and Catalog Sales.
According to a review from TikTok, by using VBO to focus on quality users rather than quantity, a clothing brand on TikTok successfully increased conversions and improved return on ad spend (ROAS):
- 54.2% decrease in cost per acquisition (CPA)
- 95% increase in conversions
- 8.9% boost in ROAS
To use VBO, your campaign must track value signals through the TikTok Pixel for web advertisers or TikTok App SDK for mobile apps. Mega Digital suggests that advertisers combine TikTok Shopping or TikTok Carousel Ads for better impact and higher conversions.
How to set up a TikTok VBO campaign?
To get started with VBO, this is what you need to do:
- Maximize retargeting
- Run the campaign for at least 7 days
- Set a reasonable minimum ROAS
- Utilize audience analysis.
And don’t stop yet; continue retargeting to engage with users who have shown interest in your brand.. Here are 4 tips & tricks for a value-based optimization campaign.
For improved performance in your TikTok VBO campaigns and to make sure people will spend their money on your product, here are some valuable recommendations to keep in mind:
- Set a reasonable Minimum Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) bid based on your ad account’s performance from the last 7 days. Aim for around 80% of the calculated ROAS.
- Analyze historical campaign data by objectives and countries for a more accurate ROAS calculation.
- Determine an adequate budget for your VBO ad group. Starting with 10 times your CPA is a good guideline, but adjust if your CPA exceeds $100.
- Choose a target audience that is neither too broad nor too narrow. Utilize high-performing Custom Audiences or Lookalike Audiences.
- Allow your VBO campaigns to run for at least 7 days to gather reliable performance indicators.
- Avoid making ad adjustments within the first 3 days to ensure a smooth learning phase for your ad group.
- After 3 days, gradually adjust, focusing on one change at a time. Adjust your budget or bid by following your advertising objective:
- For Web: Adjust no more than 50%
- For App: Adjust a maximum of +/- 20% at a time.
- Remember, if you pause VBO campaigns for more than 24 hours, they will return to the learning phase upon restart.
Pro tips
- Allocate budgets to both AEO and VBO campaigns if your primary objective is to maximize your ROAS (return on ad spend). This allows you to take advantage of the unique benefits offered by each campaign type.
- VBO will help you find users who are more likely to spend more on your app, while AEO (App Event Optimization) will help you find more purchase conversions.
- Monitor their performance periodically, such as every 7 days. This allows you to identify areas for improvement and optimization.
4. TikTok Smart+
What is TikTok Smart+?
TikTok Smart+ Campaigns are TikTok’s latest AI-powered campaign type designed to simplify ad setup and maximize performance. They automate targeting, bidding, creative optimization, and audience expansion, making them ideal for advertisers who want fast, scalable results.
It is now the default recommendation for:
- E-commerce (Shop Now, Catalog Sales)
- App Installs & Engagement
- Lead Generation & Website Conversions
When to Use Smart+?
- Quickly launch campaigns with minimal manual input
- Let TikTok optimize delivery across audiences, placements, and creatives
- Scale successful products or offers with AI-driven insights
- Automatically retarget and expand to new lookalikes
- Maximize conversion volume using TikTok’s machine learning models
How to Set Up a TikTok Smart+ Campaign?
- Access TikTok Ads Manager, click Create under the Campaign tab.
- Choose one of the Smart+ compatible goals, including App Installs, Conversions, Website Traffic, Lead Generation, and Catalog Sales.
- Enable the Smart+ automation option in campaign setup to activate auto-optimization.
- Set Campaign Parameters, including: Buying Type (usually “Promotion”), Targeting, Budget, Schedule, Catalog Ads, and Optimization Goal.
- Add 5-10 short-form video ads (9-15s preferred) to allow Smart+ to test and optimize performance.
- Double-check settings, then click Submit to launch your campaign.
Pro Tips
- Provide at least 3–5 creative variations to give TikTok enough material to test and optimize.
- Let campaigns run for at least 7 days without major edits to allow machine learning to stabilize.
- Use broad product or page-level signals. Avoid overly narrow targeting suggestions.
- If using a Catalog, enable Smart+ Catalog Ads to dynamically match users with relevant product videos.
How to Optimize TikTok Ads: 5 Tips from Experts
After choosing the right campaign structure, whether it’s Smart+, ABO, CBO, or VBO, it’s time to fine-tune your strategy for better performance. Below are five expert-backed tips to help you optimize your TikTok ads beyond just setup.
1. Define clear objectives
According to TikTok, campaigns with specific objectives like app installs or website clicks have a 60% higher conversion rate than campaigns without specific objectives. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or generating conversions, clearly defining your advertising goals will help you optimize your TikTok ads effectively.
2. Test different audiences
TikTok reports that advertisers who test different audience segments see a 43% increase in conversion rates compared to those who only target one audience. So, experiment with various target audiences to find the most responsive ones. Use ABO to allocate budgets to different ad sets targeting specific audience segments and monitor their performance.
3. Monitor ad performance
On average, TikTok campaigns achieve a 50% lower CPC and a 30% higher CTR when advertisers monitor and optimize their campaigns daily.
Keep a close eye on the performance of your ads using the TikTok Ads Manager. Analyze TikTok key metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and cost per acquisition. Use this data to identify top-performing ad sets and optimize your budget allocation accordingly.
4. Implement value-based optimization
Utilize VBO to optimize your ad delivery based on the value it generates for your business. Define KPIs that align with your business goals and track them to measure the effectiveness of your ads. Advertisers who leverage value-based optimization on TikTok have achieved a 25% higher ROAS compared to those who don’t use it.
5. Test and iterate
According to TikTok, advertisers who test multiple ad variations experience a 17% increase in conversion rates compared to those who use a single ad version. Continuously test different ad creatives, audiences, and optimization strategies to uncover what works best for your brand. Experiment with different TikTok ad formats, visuals, and ad copy to find the winning combinations that yield the highest engagement and conversion rates.
Final Word
How to optimize TikTok ads? Well, you got the answer now. Involving leveraging 3 key features: CBO, VBO, and ABO to help you efficiently manage budgets, align campaign goals with desired outcomes, and fine-tune budget allocation at the ad group level.
If you want more experts’ guidelines, you can reach out to Mega Digital – TikTok Marketing Partner – for TikTok advertising support!
