How to set up TikTok Ads and connect them with AI agents

TikTok Ads is where AIM's AI agents prepare short-form video campaigns and read spend, impressions, video views, and conversions. Every campaign they prepare arrives paused. Nothing spends until you approve it.

At a glance

• Time: about 15 minutes if you already have a TikTok for Business login.
• Access you need: a TikTok for Business user that can view and create campaigns on the advertiser account.
• What AIM can do: prepare paused campaigns and read performance.
• What AIM cannot do: turn on spend, submit your final video for TikTok's review, or see your TikTok password.

Before you start

• A TikTok for Business login. A personal TikTok profile alone is not enough.
• An advertiser account you can see at ads.tiktok.com.
• A vertical video you have the rights to run, or a plan for Creative Studio to prepare a concept. TikTok needs a final video file before an ad can go to review.
• In AIM, the Owner, Admin, or Marketer role on the workspace.

Set up TikTok Ads

1. Open ads.tiktok.com and sign in. If TikTok asks you to create a Business Center, do that first and name it after the business.
2. Create an advertiser account. Set the country, time zone, and currency. The currency is hard to change later, so match it to the account you will pay from.
3. Add a payment method in TikTok when you are ready to spend. AIM never stores your card, and connecting does not charge it.
4. Confirm you can open the advertiser from the account switcher. Note its name. You will pick it in AIM.
5. If a teammate will connect AIM, invite their TikTok for Business user onto the advertiser with permission to view and create campaigns.
6. Check that your product can be advertised. Some categories need extra approval from TikTok before any ad can run, paused or not. You apply for that in Ads Manager. AIM cannot apply on your behalf.

Connect TikTok Ads with AIM's AI agents

1. Sign in to AIM and open Integrations, then TikTok.
2. Click Connect TikTok. TikTok asks to let AIM read your advertiser accounts and create campaigns as drafts.
3. Sign in with the TikTok for Business user that can see the advertiser.
4. Choose the advertiser account for this workspace. A workspace uses one advertiser at a time.
5. When the badge says Active, the connection is ready.

What happens after you connect

Here is what AIM does with the connection, in plain terms.

1. Your access is stored privately. TikTok gives AIM an access grant, not your password. AIM keeps it encrypted, uses it only for this workspace, and deletes it from AIM when you disconnect.

2. The agents read results on a schedule. About twice a day, Analyst & Reporter reviews spend, views, and conversions. If something needs action, Performance Optimizer writes up a proposed change for you. You can also click Refresh insights on the TikTok page at any time.

3. Every campaign is checked before it reaches your account. Before a prepared campaign is sent, AIM checks that:

   • it is paused;
   • the daily budget meets TikTok's minimum and your workspace budget;
   • the landing page link carries tracking;
   • for app campaigns, install tracking is in place.

   Ad text is checked against TikTok's length limits and common policy problems. A draft that fails a check is not sent.

4. You approve, then it can spend. Prepared campaigns show as Needs your approval on your AIM dashboard and in Activity, and you get an email. They stay paused in Ads Manager until you turn them on.

5. Everything is logged. The Agent work on TikTok list on the integration page records every time an agent read from or prepared something in this account.

Which AI agents use this connection

• Campaign Planner includes TikTok when the plan calls for short-form video.
• Media Buyer prepares campaigns. They stay paused until you approve spend.
• Creative Studio prepares the video concept for the placement.
• App Growth uses the advertiser when the goal is installs or in-app actions, and judges success by users who stay, not by cheap installs.
• Analyst & Reporter reads spend, impressions, video views, and conversions.

If something looks wrong

• The advertiser list is empty. That login has no advertiser yet, or it is a personal profile that has never opened Ads Manager. Create the advertiser, then connect again.
• Choose an account. You signed in but have not picked an advertiser yet.
• Sign in again or Expired. TikTok access grants expire over time. Click Connect TikTok and sign in again. Your settings in AIM stay as they were.
• Needs attention. AIM could not reach the advertiser. Open the TikTok page in AIM to see the reason.

What stays in your control

Disconnecting in AIM stops the agents immediately and removes AIM's access grant. Drafts already in Ads Manager stay there, paused, unless you turn them on. To revoke access on TikTok's side too, remove AIM from the authorized apps in TikTok for Business.

Still need help setting this up?

If Ads Manager will not create an advertiser, or AIM shows no account after you sign in, contact the AIM team. Say you are connecting TikTok Ads and include the advertiser name. We will help you finish the setup.