Is your marketing not delivering the same results despite trying new strategies? You’re in the right place! Refresh your campaigns and break the plateau with TikTok Ads behavior targeting. This tool helps you reach new potential customers more likely to engage and take action. Let’s explore how TikTok ads behavior targeting can impact your campaign!
QUICK SUMMARY
- Explains what TikTok Behavior Targeting is and how it uses recent in-app actions (video interactions, creator engagement, hashtag activity) to reach higher-intent users.
- Breaks down the three behavior types with use cases, intent levels, and examples to help advertisers target more accurately than with interest targeting alone.
- Highlights key benefits including better audience testing, higher engagement, improved conversion rates, and more cost-efficient ad spend.
- Provides setup steps and best practices
What is TikTok Ads Behavior Targeting?
Behavior targeting on TikTok allows advertisers to deliver ads based on a user’s recent in-app behavior. Unlike interest targeting, which focuses on long-term content consumption, behavior targeting focuses on a viewer’s recent interactions with content on TikTok. There are three main behavior categories that advertisers can use for targeting:
- Video-related Interactions: They refer to actions that show users’ engagement with organic video content. These actions are limited in video completion, like, comment, and share within 7 or 15 recent days.
- Creator Following Interactions: This category includes two types of engagements: Following and Viewing Homepage. Advertisers can target users that follow specific types of creators or users who have viewed the profile pages of specific creators in the last 30 days.
- Hashtag Interactions: This category allows advertisers to target users who watched TikTok videos with certain hashtags.
3 Types of Behavior Targeting on TikTok
TikTok Behavior Targeting is built around three key behavioral signal groups. Each reflects how users recently interact with content on the platform. Understanding how these categories work will help you reach audiences with higher intent and improve campaign performance.
Below is a clear breakdown of each type, including practical examples and recommended use cases.
| Type | Based on | Intent Level | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video Interactions | Recent video actions | Medium–High | Content-heavy verticals (beauty, lifestyle, fashion) |
| Creator Interactions | Following or visiting creators | High | Influencer-driven niches |
| Hashtag Interactions | Videos containing specific hashtags | Medium | Niche communities (fitness, cooking, hobbies) |
1. Video Interactions
Video Interactions let advertisers target users based on how they engaged with specific types of videos within the last 7 or 15 days.
TikTok tracks four main actions:
- Watched to the end – completed the video
- Liked – tapped “Like”
- Commented – left a comment
- Shared – shared the video
When to use it
- You want to reach users who showed stronger engagement than general interests.
- You are optimizing for video views, engagement, or conversions.
- You operate in content-driven verticals like beauty, fashion, lifestyle, cooking, or home products.
Pros
- Helps build an audience with higher engagement rates.
- Recent behavior signals → better targeting accuracy than Interest Targeting.
Cons
- Targeting too many interaction types at once may dilute audience quality.
Example
A fashion brand wants to reach users who recently watched outfit try-on videos.
→ Select “Watched to the end” + category “Fashion & Style” for better performance.
2. Creator Following Interactions
Creator Following Interactions focus on users who followed or visited creators’ profiles within the past 30 days.
You can target two behaviors:
- Followed – users who followed creators in selected categories
- Viewed Profile – users who checked creators’ profile pages
Creators can be categorized by niche such as:
- Beauty creators
- Fashion creators
- Gaming creators
- Food & cooking creators
- Tech creators
- Micro / mid-tier influencers
When to use it
- You want to target highly engaged communities around specific creator niches.
- You run verticals with strong influencer impact (beauty, skincare, lifestyle, food).
- You’re optimizing for conversions driven by creator-powered trust.
Pros
- Very precise when paired with the right creator category.
- Users who follow creators usually demonstrate higher purchase intent.
Cons
- Selecting too many creator types at once can reduce targeting accuracy.
Example
A skincare brand can target users who follow beauty creators—a group already interested in skincare routines and product reviews.
3. Hashtag Interactions
Hashtag Interactions help you reach users who watched videos containing specific hashtags in the last few days. Common examples include:
- #skincare
- #tiktokmademebuyit
- #homecooking
- #petcare
- #fitness
- #running
When to use it
- Your products belong to a niche supported by strong hashtag communities.
- You want to target users based on content themes rather than creator types.
- You’re refining your audience toward specific interests or hobbies.
Pros
- Highly effective for niche audiences.
- Great for A/B testing multiple content themes quickly.
Cons
- Broad hashtags (#foryou, #viral) → low-quality traffic.
Example
If you’re promoting kitchen tools → Target users who watched videos with #kitchenhacks or #easyrecipes in the past 7–15 days.
Behavior Targeting vs Interest Targeting: What’s the Difference?
TikTok Ads Behavior and Interest Targeting are both based on user behavior. However, they are still different to some extent. Let’s make a comparison in the following table.
Benefits of TikTok ads behavior targeting option
Behavior targeting is a vital tool for TikTok advertisers, providing a variety of advantages that can help you reach your target audience more efficiently and get better results. Let’s look at some of the most prominent features of this targeting option.
1. Audience Testing
Behavior Targeting can help identify your target audience and test hypotheses about their behavior. It would be best if you used it during the first stage of advertising on TikTok Ads Manager.
2. Campaign Boost in A Plateau Phase
When the existing targeting criteria no longer provide more audiences for your campaign, you can turn to behavior targeting to access a good source of new users with strong purchase intent for your product or vertical.
3. Cost-effective advertising
By more efficiently targeting your ads, you may eliminate wasteful advertising spending and focus your budget on those who are more likely to be interested in your products or services.
4. Deeper insights into your audience
Behavior targeting can assist you in gaining a better knowledge of your target audience’s interests and behaviors, which can affect your overall marketing strategy and support you in creating more effective campaigns in the future.
5. Increased engagement & conversion rates
Behavior targeting allows you to target people who are more likely to convert, resulting in improved engagement, conversion rates, and revenue.
How to set up TikTok ads behavior targeting
Setting up behavior targeting for your TikTok advertisements campaign can help you reach a more targeted audience and achieve better results. However, understanding the procedures required in setting up behavior targeting is necessary to ensure the success of your campaign.
Video Interactions
To target audiences who interact with your content, you can follow these steps:
- Step 1: Click Add Behavior: Video Interaction
- Step 2: Select the desired user behavior you want to target: watched to the end, liked, commented, or shared
- Step 3: Determine the look-back time: 7 days or 15 days.
- Step 4: Search for and select the content Category you want to target at the box “Define what kind of video they’ve interacted with”.
Creator Following Interaction
Preferring users who followed certain types of Creators on TikTok or those who viewed the homepage of certain types of Creators on TikTok, let’s do as follows:
- Step 1: Click Add Behaviors: Creator Interactions
- Step 2: Check the box to select either Followed or Viewed Profile
- Step 3: At the ‘Define what type of creative they’ve interacted with’, a drop-down list shows up, and you can choose the one that fits your requirement.
Hashtag Targeting
With Hashtag Targeting, you can target users who watched TikTok videos with certain hashtags. To enable Hashtag Targeting:
- Step 1: Click on the section Add Behavior: Hashtag interactions.
- Step 2: Find relevant hashtags in the segment ‘People who’ve watched videos with the following hashtag’.
- Step 3: Select the hashtags to target.
>>> Read more: TikTok Ads Geo-Targeting 101: How to Reach Local Audience
Best Practices to Improve Performance
Behavior Targeting works best when it’s configured and refined correctly. Below are the key best practices that help advertisers improve consistency, signal quality, and overall performance.
Pick the right look-back window
TikTok offers 7-day and 15-day windows:
- 7 days → smaller audience, stronger intent, ideal for Conversions.
- 15 days → broader reach, ideal for Testing and TOF.
Start with 15 days, then narrow to 7 days once you identify high-intent patterns.
Avoid stacking too many behaviors
Choosing too many actions (like + comment + share + follow) dilutes the audience and weakens signals. Use one or two behaviors per ad group for cleaner targeting and more stable CPMs.
Match behavior signals with the right objective
Different behaviors work best with specific goals:
- Conversions → Watched to End, Followed
- Engagement / Views → Video Interactions
- Leads → Hashtag + Profile Views
Aligning behavior with funnel stages improves efficiency.
Start broad, then Refine
A simple 3-step workflow:
- Test broad behavior categories
- Check which behaviors appear in reports
- Refine toward high-performing ones
TikTok’s system naturally clusters users — your job is to refine based on data.
Keep categories narrow and relevant
Avoid generic categories (“Entertainment”, “Daily Life”). They weaken targeting. Choose 1–2 tightly related categories to create stronger intent and better conversion rates.
Stabilize learning with high-trust Agency Ad Accounts
Behavior signals work best when your account has stable delivery. High-trust accounts (like Mega Digital’s TikTok Ads Agency Accounts for Rent) provide:
- Faster and more consistent learning
- Better recognition of behavior patterns
- Lower risk of sudden performance drops
Final word
TikTok provides advertisers with a variety of methods for targeting their desired audience that go beyond behavior targeting. These possibilities include interest, audience, and geo-targeting, which can be tailored to the campaign’s goals. While TikTok ads behavior targeting is a valuable tool for growing your customer base, it is critical to explore additional targeting choices to see which ones work best for your ads. We’ve collected a complete list of targeting options, as well as their associated benefits. Make sure to have a look!
