TikTok enters AI ad race

During the annual Advertising Week in New York, TikTok launched its new AI-powered ad tool, called Smart+, to help advertisers make the best decisions at each stage of the marketing funnel, enhancing performance and boosting ROI. 

This follows in the footsteps of Meta, who have a similar tool, called Advantage+, and Google who have Performance Max. The only key difference is that TikTok are offering more flexibility with their AI tool: Advertisers can choose which part/s of the process they want to automate, meaning they don’t have to relinquish full control and reliance on TikTok’s algorithms. 

Smart+ leverages the TikTok AI platform—Symphony AI (which has already been trained on what drives successful ad campaigns on the platform)—to automate the entire ad process, from developing effective ad creatives and targeting the right audience to bidding on the optimal ad time and space, so that ads are fully optimized and reach the people.

All advertisers need to do is add their assets, budget, and targeting goals, and Smart+ will choose the best assets, select the best audience, and serve the best ads, at the right time and place, to users who are most likely to convert. 

TikTok’s main objectives for Smart+ are to drive traffic, increase conversions, and deliver relevant product recommendations to users based on their interests, intent, and actions. 

So far, according to internal data, Smart+ has increased Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) by 52%, a 42% increase in conversion rates, and a 50% reduction in cost per acquisition.