# TikTok Ads Audit Checklist ## Quick Reference | Category | Weight | Check Count | |----------|--------|-------------| | Creative Quality | 30% | T05-T10 + T20-T25 (12 checks) | | Technical Setup | 25% | T01-T02 (2 checks) | | Bidding & Learning | 20% | T11-T13 (3 checks) | | Structure & Settings | 15% | T03-T04 + T14-T16 (5 checks) | | Performance | 10% | T17-T19 (3 checks) | | Search, Commerce & Tracking | N/A | T-SR1, T-GM1, T-EA1 (3 checks, v1.5) | --- ## Creative Quality (30% weight) | ID | Check | Severity | Pass | Warning | Fail | |----|-------|----------|------|---------|------| | T05 | Creative volume | Critical | ≥6 creative assets per ad group | 3-5 creatives | <3 creatives per ad group | | T06 | Vertical video format | Critical | All video assets 9:16 (1080x1920) | Mixed ratios with some vertical | No vertical video (landscape only) | | T07 | Native-looking content | High | Ads look organic / creator-style (not polished corporate) | Semi-native style | Clearly corporate/polished ads | | T08 | Hook strategy | High | First 1-2 seconds have attention-grabbing hook | Decent hook but not optimized | No clear hook in opening | | T09 | Creative lifespan | High | No creative active >7 days with declining CTR (7-10 day avg lifespan). Frequency <2.5x. Campaigns with 10+ unique creatives achieve 1.3x higher ad recall, 3.0x purchase intent, 1.5x higher awareness vs <5 | 7-14 days with minor decline; frequency approaching 2.5x | >14 days with significant CTR decline. Frequency >2.5x causes 30-40% CVR drops | | T10 | Spark Ads utilization | High | Spark Ads tested and active (+30% completion rate, +142% engagement rate, +43% CVR, -4% CPM vs non-Spark). Profile landing page = 69% higher CVR and 37% lower CPA. Strategy: test with dark ads first, identify top performers, convert winners to Spark | Tested but paused | No Spark Ads tested (~3% CTR vs ~2% standard) | | T20 | TikTok Shop integration | Medium | Shop catalog connected (for e-commerce) | N/A | Eligible but not connected | | T21 | Video Shopping Ads (VSA) | Medium | VSA tested for product catalog accounts | N/A | Not tested despite eligible catalog | | T22 | Caption SEO | High | Captions include high-intent keywords for search discovery | Some keywords in captions | No keyword optimization in captions | | T23 | Sound/music usage | Medium | Trending or engaging audio used | Licensed audio but not trending | Silent ads (TikTok is sound-on platform) | | T24 | CTA button | Medium | Appropriate CTA button selected (not default) | N/A | Default CTA without customization | | T25 | Safe zone compliance | High | Key content within safe zone (X:40-940, Y:150-1470) | Minor elements outside safe zone | Key text/CTA in UI overlay zones | --- ## Technical Setup (25% weight) | ID | Check | Severity | Pass | Warning | Fail | |----|-------|----------|------|---------|------| | T01 | TikTok Pixel installed | Critical | Pixel firing on all relevant pages | Firing on most pages (>90%) | Pixel not installed or broken | | T02 | Events API + ttclid | High | Server-side events via Events API with ttclid passback | Events API active but no ttclid passback | No server-side tracking | ### ttclid Critical Note The TikTok Click ID (`ttclid`) comes in landing page URL parameters and MUST be: 1. Captured on first page load 2. Stored in session/cookie 3. Sent back with ALL conversion events Without ttclid, attribution breaks for many conversions. This is TikTok's key technical difference from other platforms. --- ## Bidding & Learning (20% weight) | ID | Check | Severity | Pass | Warning | Fail | |----|-------|----------|------|---------|------| | T11 | Bid strategy | High | Lowest Cost for volume; Cost Cap for efficiency | N/A | Bid Cap set too aggressively (severe under-delivery) | | T12 | Budget sufficiency | High | Daily budget ≥50x target CPA per ad group. GMV Max mandatory for all Shop Ads (July 2025). For first-time VSA campaigns, budget ≥50x target CPA. Evaluate holistically: Shop total GMV / (Ads cost + affiliate commission) | 20-49x CPA | <20x CPA per ad group | | T13 | Learning phase | High | Ad groups achieving ≥50 conversions/week | 25-50 conversions/week | <25 conversions/week (stuck in learning) | ### Learning Phase Rules - Exit criteria: ~50 conversions in 7 days per ad group - Campaign minimum budget: $50/day - Ad group minimum budget: $20/day - Daily budget should be ≥50x target CPA for sufficient learning room - Avoid changes during learning (resets the phase) --- ## Structure & Settings (15% weight) | ID | Check | Severity | Pass | Warning | Fail | |----|-------|----------|------|---------|------| | T03 | Campaign structure | High | Separate campaigns for prospecting vs retargeting | N/A | Prospecting and retargeting mixed | | T04 | Smart+ utilization | Medium | Smart+ campaigns tested with modular control. Advertisers can lock specific modules (targeting, creative, budget, placement) while automating others. Supports up to 30 ad groups/campaign, 30 asset groups/ad group, 50 creatives/asset group | N/A | Not tested (42% adoption, 1.41-1.67 median ROAS; modular control since 2025) | | T14 | Search Ads Toggle | High | Search Ads Toggle enabled for all campaigns (20% increase in conversions when combined with In-Feed; 18% of in-feed non-converters convert via Search Ad; 2x higher purchase lift; 57% of TikTok users use search). Max 1,000 keywords per ad group | N/A | Search Ads Toggle OFF (missing significant incremental conversions) | | T15 | Placement selection | Medium | Appropriate placements selected (TikTok, Pangle, etc.) | Default placements without review | N/A | | T16 | Dayparting | Low | Ad schedule aligned with target audience activity | N/A | No schedule despite clear patterns | --- ## Performance (10% weight) | ID | Check | Severity | Pass | Warning | Fail | |----|-------|----------|------|---------|------| | T17 | CTR benchmark | High | CTR ≥1.0% for in-feed ads | CTR 0.5-1.0% | CTR <0.5% | | T18 | CPA target | High | CPA within target range | CPA 1.5-3x target | CPA >3x target (trigger 3x Kill Rule) | | T19 | Video completion rate | Medium | Average video watch time ≥6 seconds | 3-6 seconds | <3 seconds average watch time | --- ## Quick Wins (TikTok) | Check | Fix | Time | |-------|-----|------| | T14: Search Ads Toggle | Enable Search Ads Toggle in campaign settings | 2 min | | T06: Vertical video | Convert existing assets to 9:16 format | 10 min | | T24: CTA button | Select appropriate CTA (not default) | 2 min | | T10: Spark Ads | Whitelist top creator/organic content as Spark Ads | 10 min | | T22: Caption SEO | Add high-intent keywords to ad captions | 5 min | | T25: Safe zone | Verify key content within X:40-940, Y:150-1470 | 5 min | --- ## TikTok-Specific Context | Fact | Value | |------|-------| | Smart+ adoption | 42% of US TikTok performance campaigns (surged from 9% in early 2025) | | Smart+ capacity | 30 ad groups/campaign, 30 asset groups/ad group, 50 creatives/asset group | | GMV Max | Default for TikTok Shop Ads (July 2025) | | TikTok Shop CVR | >10% (vs 0.46-2.4% standard) | | CPM advantage | 40-60% cheaper than Meta | | Spark Ads CTR | ~3% vs ~2% standard In-Feed | | Spark Ads CPA | ~$60 vs ~$100 standard | | Engagement rate | 5-16% (far exceeds FB 0.09%, IG 1.22%) | | Search Ads | Launched 2025; available in ~12 markets (US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Japan). Lead Generation: US only | | Safe zone | X:40-940px, Y:150-1470px (900x1320px usable) | | Available markets | 12 countries (US, UK, key Asian/European) | --- ## Search, Commerce & Tracking (v1.5) | ID | Check | Severity | Pass | Warning | Fail | |----|-------|----------|------|---------|------| | T-SR1 | Search Ads alongside In-Feed | High | Search Ads enabled alongside In-Feed campaigns (20% conversion uplift when combined; 18% of non-converters from in-feed convert via Search; 2x purchase lift). Supports keyword targeting with exact/phrase/broad, negative keywords, search term reports | N/A | Search Ads not enabled despite available budget (missing 18-20% incremental conversions) | | T-GM1 | GMV Max for Shop campaigns | Critical | All TikTok Shop campaigns use GMV Max (mandatory since July 2025). Three ad types: Video Shopping Ads, LIVE Shopping Ads, Product Shopping Ads | Non-GMV Max Shop campaigns still transitioning | Non-GMV Max Shop campaigns active (non-compliant with July 2025 mandate) | | T-EA1 | Events API Gateway setup | High | Events API Gateway configured for simplified server-side tracking (recovers 13%+ of missed conversions vs pixel-only). SKAN 4 integration with coarse conversion values active for iOS | Events API planned but not deployed | No server-side tracking (pixel-only, missing 13%+ of conversions) | --- ## Context Notes - **Smart+ modular control (2025)**: Lock targeting/creative/budget/placement independently - **GMV Max (July 2025)**: Mandatory for all Shop Ads campaigns - **Symphony Automation**: AI-powered creative variations from product URLs, which impacts creative refresh evaluation - **Events API Gateway**: Simplified server-side setup for conversion recovery - **Search Ads maturity**: Now supports Sales, Traffic, and Lead Generation objectives in 12 markets - **Creative lifespan**: 7-10 days average. Refresh weekly minimum. High-spend ($1K+/day) needs variations every 3-4 days --- ## TikTok Safe Zone Diagram ``` ┌──────────────────────────────┐ │ 0-150px: Status bar, account│ ← TOP UNSAFE ├──────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ │ SAFE ZONE │140 │ ← RIGHT: Like, comment, │ X: 40-940px │ px │ share, profile icons │ Y: 150-1470px │ │ │ (900×1320px) │ │ │ │ │ ├──────────────────────────────┤ │ 0-450px: Caption, music, │ ← BOTTOM UNSAFE │ CTA, navigation bar │ └──────────────────────────────┘ ``` All critical text, logos, and CTAs MUST be within the safe box.