TikTok Launches Automated ‘Smart Performance Campaigns’ to Boost Ad Performance

TikTok’s looking to make it easier for advertisers to maximize their results in the app, with a new, automated ad process called Smart Performance Campaigns, which essentially requires you to put your trust into TikTok’s machine learning systems for full ad targeting and optimization.

As explained by TikTok:

“Smart Performance Campaign is our first end to end automation solution that leverages machine learning to optimize for best performance and marketing goals. In order to reach the right people and maximize results, Smart Performance Campaign is designed to run performance campaigns at scale, while reducing the number of manual steps to drive results.”

With machine learning processes getting smarter, more platforms are not offering more automated campaign solutions, and TikTok’s new option aims to make it as simple as possible, via a ‘completely hands off’ process.

“Through leveraging machine learning, getting started with Smart Performance Campaign is as easy as it sounds. All you need is a marketing objective, budget, country, and creative assets to begin.”

It’s a big ask to get marketers to put all of their trust into an automated campaign process like this, but again, these systems are getting much smarter, and many performance advertisers now recommend trusting in automated targeting systems, to a larger degree, to improve campaign results.

TikTok says that Smart Performance Campaigns are good for advertisers that are new to TikTok, or marketers who don’t have hands-on campaign management resources.

Of course, it’s impossible to know what the results might be unless you experiment with the option, but TikTok does also note that, in early testing, app promotion campaigns using this process have outperformed manually set up campaigns.

“One of our early adopters, Bolt, took part in testing Smart Performance Campaign to see how it performed in boosting acquisition of new riders in South Africa. Bolt ran a 14-day A/B test campaign with Smart Performance Campaign that lowered CPA by 27% and generated 40% more purchase actions. To continue the success, Bolt has rolled out Smart Performance Campaign across additional markets including the UK, Spain, Sweden, Romania, and Portugal.”

It may be worth considering, at least for a test – though it’s not available to all brands just yet.

TikTok says that Smart Performance Campaign will be globally available for Android App Promotion campaigns at the end of the month, with more to come later this year.

Interested advertisers can contact their TikTok partner contact to inquire about participating in testing.