TikTok content distribution is based on TikTok users’ behavior and interest. Therefore, running ads with specialized interest targets is one of the most effective ways. Let’s find out about the TikTok interest targeting in this article!
Quick Summary
- TikTok Interest Targeting uses machine learning to predict users’ long-term content preferences based on both organic and paid activity.
- Benefits: Helps advertisers reach relevant audiences, reduce wasted spend, and explore new segments.
- Interest vs Behavior Targeting: Interest focuses on long-term patterns and is ideal for discovery, while Behavior relies on recent actions (7–30 days) and is best for retargeting or short-term intent.
- Best practices: Combine multiple interest tags, use TikTok’s targeting recommendations, enable Smart Targeting, and layer with geo or behavior filters for precision.
What is TikTok Interest Targeting?
TikTok Interest Targeting is a powerful TikTok ads audience targeting method that helps advertisers reach users based on their predicted long-term interests, not just recent behavior. It uses machine learning to analyze user engagement across both organic and paid content, identifying patterns in what users consistently watch, like, and interact with over time.
For example, someone who frequently watches skincare tutorials and makeup reviews, even if they haven’t interacted directly with your brand, can be shown ads under the “Beauty & Personal Care” interest category.
This makes TikTok Interest Targeting highly scalable and ideal for TikTok campaigns aimed at awareness, discovery, or broader reach.
Benefits of TikTok Interest Targeting
TikTok Interest Targeting helps advertisers improve campaign efficiency by reaching users based on what they consistently care about. Below are the key advantages this method offers:
- Find the right audience without guesswork: Ideal for exploratory campaigns when you lack a strong audience hypothesis.
- Target based on long-term behavior: TikTok uses machine learning to analyze both organic and paid engagement over time.
- Improve ad performance and reduce wasted spend: Ads are delivered to users with proven interest in relevant content, increasing relevance and efficiency.
- Combine multiple interests for better results: Using a mix of broad and specific categories gives the system more flexibility to optimize delivery.
- Support campaign scalability: Interest Targeting adapts well as you grow, especially when paired with Smart Targeting or other layers like geo or device filters.
Where does TikTok Interest Targeting list come from?
TikTok Ads tracks how users interact with this content via durations, types of videos, and interactions. When a user’s interaction with a specific category of interest, such as ‘gaming,’ is high (for example, they may regularly watch gaming videos or click on gaming ads), their profile is associated with this interest for future advertising purposes.
Ad delivery accuracy can be significantly improved by fine-tuning your ads to target interest. Let’s look at how we can divide interest targeting into two categories:
- Product Characteristics
- Use Cases
Product Characteristics
You can choose the interest you want to target based on product characteristics in the TikTok Interest Targeting list.
For example, choose “Apparel and Accessories” from the drop-down menu if you promote a Hoodie for this holiday season. You can remove Interest categories unrelated to the product, such as Wearable Tech Devices.
Use cases
With the TikTok Interest Targeting list, you can select the interest based on use cases. For example, if you promote a Hoodie and think that users who travel may have a particular interest in buying a Vacation Hoodie, you can select the interest “Travel.”
For example, when you choose interests including Travel, Apparel & Accessories, and Pets, Tiktok will show your ad to users interested in that 3 fields.
Remember that when you select multiple interests, the target audience is limited to users who meet only one criterion. Choose the claim that best corresponds to your target group.
>>> Read more: TikTok Audience Insights: How to Analyze & Reach Right Users
What is the difference between TikTok Interest Targeting and Behavior Targeting?
TikTok offers two major audience targeting methods that often get confused: Interest Targeting and Behavior Targeting. While both help you reach relevant users, they rely on different signals and timeframes.
| Interest Targeting | Behavior Targeting | |
|---|---|---|
| Targeting Logic | ML-based prediction from long-term engagement | Based on recent, trackable in-app behavior |
| Time Frame | Remote: long-term past patterns | Recent: 7–15 days (video behavior), 30 days (creator follows/views) |
| Content Signals | Organic & paid content | Mainly organic interactions |
| Use Case | Hands-off targeting for broad discovery or early-stage campaigns | Hands-on targeting for short-term retargeting or behavior segments |
| Audience Type | Users likely to show consistent interest over time | Users who recently engaged with similar content |
For example, if a user watches a few skincare videos this week, Behavior Targeting will place them in a beauty-related behavior group. But if that user has spent months watching makeup tutorials and reviews, Interest Targeting may classify them under the “Beauty & Personal Care” interest group even if they didn’t recently engage.
TikTok Ads Interest Targeting List (Updated 2025)
TikTok Ads Manager provides over 440 interest categories that advertisers can use to target users based on long-term content engagement.
You can access these TikTok interests list by going to Ad Group → Interest and Behavior Targeting → Interest Categories, then searching or browsing based on your campaign objective.
Some of the major first-tier TikTok interest categories include:
- Life Services
- Household Products
- Tech & Electronics
- Home Improvement
- Sports & Outdoors
- Education
- News & Entertainment
- Financial Services
- E-Commerce (Non-app)
- Vehicles & Transportation
- Games
- Beauty & Personal Care
- Appliances
- Baby, Kid & Maternity
- Apps
- Food & Beverage
- Apparel & Accessories
- Pets
- Travel
- Business Services
Each of these categories contains more specific sub-interests that help refine your targeting. For best results, combine both broad and detailed interests to balance reach and precision.
How to Use TikTok Interest Targeting Effectively
To get the most out of TikTok Interest Targeting, it’s important to go beyond simply selecting a single category. TikTok’s system performs better when you guide it with a thoughtful combination of interest types and allow it room to optimize.
1. Use Multiple Interest Categories
Instead of choosing just one interest tag, TikTok recommends applying a mix of broad (first-tier) and specific (subcategory) interests. This helps the algorithm test different combinations and find the best-performing segments.
For example, if you’re promoting a skincare product, you can pair Beauty & Personal Care (broad) with Skincare or Facial Cleansing (narrow). This improves TikTok’s ability to explore and learn during the early delivery phase.
However, avoid over-narrowing your targeting with too many unrelated sub-interests. A balanced set of 3 to 5 closely related tags is ideal for optimal learning and performance.
2. Leverage Targeting Recommendations
When you’re unsure which interest tags to choose, TikTok’s Targeting Recommendation feature can help. It analyzes your campaign setup and suggests interest categories based on your product type, landing page, or previous campaign data.
This is especially useful if you’re entering a new market or testing a product without historical targeting data.
To access this feature, go to Ad Group → Interest & Behavior Targeting, and click on the “Recommendations” button next to the search bar. TikTok will suggest interest tags aligned with your business context and targeting history.
3. Enable Smart Targeting When Scaling
As your campaign grows, it’s important to give TikTok’s algorithm more flexibility to find high-performing audiences. That’s where Smart Targeting comes in.
Smart Targeting is especially helpful when:
- You’re scaling to a broader market
- Your performance plateaus with manual targeting
- You want to reduce the need for constant audience testing
To enable it, simply toggle Smart Targeting on in the Audience section of your ad group settings. TikTok will continue to prioritize your selected interest categories but will also explore adjacent segments that may convert better.
4. Combine with Behavior, Geo, and Device Targeting
For more precise targeting, you can layer Interest Targeting with other audience filters such as Behavior Targeting, Geo Targeting, and Device Targeting. This combination allows you to refine who sees your ads while still giving TikTok’s system enough room to optimize.
While these layers improve relevance, be careful not to over-constrain your audience. Too many filters can reduce reach and slow down TikTok’s learning phase. Keep your core TikTok ads objective in mind and test different combinations to find what works best.
Wrap Up
TikTok Interest Targeting is a powerful tool to connect your brand with the right audience based on long-term content preferences. By understanding how it works and applying smart strategies, you can improve ad performance while reducing wasted spend.
If you’re ready to maximize your TikTok ad results but not sure where to start, reach out to Mega Digital. As an official TikTok Marketing Partner, we offer expert campaign setup, optimization, and targeting support tailored to your business goals!
