Looking to boost your campaign results? Choosing the right TikTok ad placements is critical to ensure your ads reach the right audience at the right time without overspending.
Quick Summary: What to Know About TikTok Ad Placements?
- TikTok ad placements refer to where your ads appear, like the For You Feed, Search results, Profile Feed, and TikTok Shop.
- You can choose between Automatic Placement (AI-optimized across apps) or Select Placement (manual control over where your ads show).
- Not all placements are available for every ad; availability depends on your ad type, targeting, and country.
- Different placements suit different goals—In-Feed Ads work best for conversions, while TopView Ads drive awareness.
- Once an ad group is created, placement settings can’t be changed, so strategic planning is essential.
What are TikTok Ad Placements?
TikTok ad placements refer to the specific locations where your ads can appear across the TikTok platform and its partner networks. These placements are more than just where your ad shows; they determine how, when, and to whom your message is delivered.
When setting up a TikTok campaign, you’ll choose whether to let TikTok automatically place your ads or manually select where they show. These placements can include:
- For You Feed – The main discovery feed where users spend most of their time
- Search Results – Ads appear when users actively search for related keywords
- Profile Feed – Ads placed within users’ personal content feeds
- Following Feed – For users who view content from creators they follow
- TikTok Shop & Shopping Center – High-conversion placements for product-focused campaigns
- Third-party apps via Pangle or Global App Bundle – Extend your ad reach beyond TikTok itself
Each placement plays a role in helping your campaign achieve specific goals, whether it’s visibility, traffic, or sales.
The Importance of TikTok Ad Placements
Your TikTok ad placement isn’t just about where your ad appears; it directly affects your reach, cost, and results. Choosing the right placements can help you:
- Reach the right audience based on behavior (e.g., discovery via For You Feed vs. intent via Search)
- Align with campaign goals (e.g., TopView for awareness, In-Feed for conversions)
- Increase engagement by using placements with higher click-through or interaction rates
- Control ad spend with smarter bidding per placement
- Gain insights to optimize future campaigns using TikTok Ads Manager analytics
Key Factors of TikTok Ad Placements
Unlike traditional ad platforms, TikTok offers a diverse range of ad positions and ad formats, giving you granular control over who sees your message.
Campaign Goals
TikTok placements can help achieve various advertising goals, including:
- Driving shop purchases
- Boosting product sales
- Increasing video views
- Expanding reach
- Generating traffic
- Capturing leads
- Encouraging app installs
- Maximizing conversions
Supported Bidding Types
You can choose from three bidding methods:
- CPM (cost per mille)
- CPC (cost per click)
- oCPM (optimized cost per mille)
Ad Placement
Advertisements may be featured in:
- For You Feed
- Following Feed
- Profile Feed
- Search results
- New onsite Shopping Ads placements on TikTok and TikTok Lite
Types of TikTok Ad Placements
There are two primary placements available through TikTok Ads Manager include:
Automatic Placement
Automatic Placement utilizes all available placements to provide the best results for your ad.
In this mode, the ad system can explore and learn from a wide audience scope and distribute your ads across various applications. Therefore, we recommend this placement type for most advertisers, especially new advertisers.
During ad delivery, the algorithm uses intelligent calculations to:
- Focus on the likelihood of placing your ad within your selected placements based on a relatively low actual bid. The cost you see is the optimal choice provided by the system, considering:
- Active users
- Competition environment
- Your bid and budget
- Provide the best combination of ad placements across TikTok’s app portfolio. This allows you to spend less time fine-tuning ad placements and more time focusing on your business.
Note: TikTok’s delivery system aims to achieve the most targeted results with the overall minimum average delivery costs, not based on the specific minimum average costs of each placement.
Select Placement
Select Placement enables you to manually choose the apps on which you want to deliver your ads. These placement types provide 3 options:
- TikTok: Following Feed, For You Feed, Profile Feed, ads in Shopping Center, Search ads, and others.
- Global App Bundle: Various ad formats on non-TikTok apps.
- Pangle: Your ad will be displayed in the ad network of ByteDance.
If you use this method, we recommend selecting multiple placements (more than one app) to provide TikTok’s system with flexibility to deliver your ads and maximize results.
However, while we suggest running ads across all placement options to maximize potential reach, you have the flexibility to choose your preferred placement type when creating an ad group.
A few things you need to remember:
- The placement setting cannot be altered after an ad group is created.
- Not all placements may be available. Because their availability depends on the ad type, targeting, ad creation, and country of delivery. For the latest information on available placements, refer to Placements and Available Locations.
TikTok Ad Formats and Their Default Placements
To understand TikTok ad placements, it’s important to first know the different TikTok ad formats, since each one is tied to specific placements across the app. These formats determine how your ads look and where they naturally appear within the user experience.
Here are the 5 main TikTok ad formats and their typical placements:
1. In-Feed Ads
- Where they appear: Inside the For You Feed, Following Feed, and Profile Feed
- Best for: Driving clicks, app installs, and conversions
- These are short video ads that blend seamlessly into the user’s scrolling experience, making them ideal for performance-driven campaigns.
2. TopView Ads
- Where they appear: At the top of the For You Feed, right after the app is opened
- Best for: Brand awareness and visual storytelling
- TopView Ads are high-impact, full-screen videos that immediately capture attention with up to 60 seconds of uninterrupted ad time.
3. Brand Takeover
- Where they appear: App launch screen or immediately after
- Best for: Mass reach in a short time
- These full-screen ads can be static images, videos, or GIFs and are designed to make an immediate impression, perfect for product launches or promotions.
4. Branded Effects
- Where they appear: In user-generated content and the effects tab
- Best for: Interactive engagement and user participation
- Brands can create custom AR filters or effects that users apply in their own videos, turning your audience into brand ambassadors.
5. Branded Hashtag Challenge
- Where they appear: Hashtag discovery pages, trending section, and search results
- Best for: Viral reach and community engagement
- This format invites users to create content using a specific hashtag. It’s often paired with In-Feed Ads and Branded Effects to boost visibility and participation.
How do you choose the right Ad Placements?
Choosing the right ad placements is crucial for the success of your advertising campaign. Here are some steps to help you choose the right ad placements on TikTok:
Step 1: Understand Your Audience
- Identify your target audience and understand their behavior on TikTok.
- Consider factors like age, interests, location, and device usage patterns.
Step 2: Set Clear Campaign Goals
- Define specific and measurable goals for your campaign, such as brand awareness, engagement, conversions, or app installs.
- When you know what you want to achieve, you can make informed choices about ad creatives, placements, targeting, and budget allocation.
Step 3: Review Available Placements
- Each ad placement may attract a different audience or serve a specific purpose.
- You should select TikTok Ad Placements that align with your campaign goals and maximize the exposure of your ads.
- Furthermore, you should review carefully whether your targeted audience is included in the countries you are directing your ads to. If not, you can use a TikTok Agency account to target an unlimited audience.
Step 4: Consider the Nature of Your Content
- Align the nature of your advertising content with the most suitable ad placement. For example, if you have visually engaging content, In-Feed Ads or Branded Effects might be appropriate.
Step 5: Budget Allocation
- Distribute your advertising budget across different placements based on your campaign goals and priorities.
- Some placements may be more expensive than others, so consider the potential reach and impact.
Step 6: Test and Analyze
- Run small-scale tests initially to evaluate the performance of different ad placements.
- Use TikTok’s analytics tools to track key metrics such as impressions, clicks, engagement, and conversions.
Step 7: Optimize Based on Results
- Analyze the performance data and optimize your ad placements based on what works best for your TikTok campaign objectives.
- Adjust your budget allocation and bid strategy based on your ad formats and ad cost for the optimal results
>>> Explore more: How to Optimize TikTok Ads: Guidelines from TikTok Agency
Step 8: Utilize Automatic Placement
- Consider using TikTok’s automatic placement option, allowing the platform to optimize your ad delivery across various placements based on performance data.
Step 9: Stay Updated
- Stay informed about updates and new ad placements introduced by TikTok.
- The advertising landscape on the platform may evolve, and new opportunities may arise.
Remember that the best placement for your ad depends on your campaign goals, target audience, budget, and ad format. Regularly monitor and adjust your strategy to ensure optimal performance.
FAQs About TikTok Ad Placements
Yes. With Select Placement, you can choose specific placements within TikTok and its partner networks. If you want TikTok to decide for you, use Automatic Placement.
No. Ad formats are the creative types (e.g., In-Feed, TopView), while placements are the locations where these ads are shown (e.g., For You Feed, Search, TikTok Shop).
No. Once your ad group is created, you can’t edit the placement settings, so make sure to plan them based on your campaign goals and audience targeting.
Yes. Using Select Placement, you can show your ads on external apps via Pangle or the Global App Bundle, expanding reach beyond the TikTok platform.
No. Some placements are limited by country, ad type, or targeting. For wider access, consider working with a TikTok Agency account to unlock more placement options.
Overall
Remember, on TikTok, your ad is more than just a message; it’s an invitation to join the party. So, let’s choose TikTok Ad Placements wisely, tailor your approach to your goals, and get ready to witness the magic of targeted engagement unfold. With the right strategy, your ad will be the viral hit your brand needs to conquer the TikTok universe.
>>> Read more: TikTok Playable Ads Guide: Set Up & 5 Optimization Tips
