Quick answer: TikTok Ads Manager uses three levels: campaign, ad group, and ad. There is no "ad set." Smart+ campaigns add a fourth level called creative. Each level has its own reporting data. You can drill into performance at any level and export custom reports as CSV or XLSX files.
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The TikTok Ads Hierarchy: Campaign, Ad Group, and Ad (Not 'Ad Set')
Per TikTok's Business Help Center, TikTok Ads Manager organizes ads into three main parts: campaigns, ad groups, and ads.
The term "ad set" comes from Meta. TikTok does not use it. If you're moving from Facebook Ads Manager, replace "ad set" with "ad group." The functions are similar but the terminology is different. Use the right name in your UTM parameters and integrations or your tracking breaks.
Smart+ campaigns go one level deeper. They add a fourth layer called creative, letting you track individual assets inside an ad.
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Campaign Level: Your Strategic Container
The campaign is the top of the hierarchy. It holds your objective and sets the direction for all spend below it.
Campaign objective and goal
You pick one objective per campaign. TikTok offers objectives like Traffic, Conversions, App Installs, Lead Generation, and Video Views. That objective locks in what TikTok optimizes for across every ad group inside the campaign.
Campaign-level budget and pacing
You can set a daily budget, a lifetime budget, or no budget limit at the campaign level. If you set one here, it caps total spend across all ad groups in that campaign. Individual ad groups can have their own budgets on top of this.
Campaign ID and tracking
Every campaign gets a unique campaign ID. You use this in UTM parameters and third-party measurement platforms. It is the top-level identifier for all downstream reporting.
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Ad Group Level: Where Targeting and Budget Happens
The ad group sits below the campaign. This is where the real configuration work happens.
Audience and demographic targeting
You define your audience at the ad group level. That includes demographics, interests, behaviors, custom audiences, and lookalikes. Multiple ads run inside one ad group and share these settings.
Placement selection
You also choose placements at the ad group level. TikTok Feed is the primary placement, but you can also select Pangle and other TikTok-owned inventory. Each ad group can have its own placement settings.
Ad group budget and scheduling
Ad group budgets run independently of the campaign budget, within the campaign cap. You set start and end dates here along with dayparting if needed. Bidding method and optimization goals are also ad group settings.
Why TikTok calls it 'Ad Group,' not 'Ad Set'
TikTok built its terminology separately from Meta. The functions overlap: both hold targeting, budget, and scheduling. But "ad set" is Meta's word. TikTok's word is "ad group." Mix them up and your UTM tracking gets messy. Use the right term everywhere.
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Ad and Creative Level: Your Content
The ad is the individual piece of content shown to a user.
Ad-level structure (video, image, carousel)
Each ad belongs to one ad group. TikTok supports video ads, image ads, and carousel ads. Video is the dominant format. Ads inherit the targeting and budget settings from their parent ad group.
Smart+ creative IDs for asset-level tracking
Smart+ campaigns introduce a creative level below the ad. TikTok's documentation states that Smart+ assigns a unique creative ID to each individual asset. You can track performance at the asset level, not just the ad level. Unique ID macros are available for UTM parameter setup with MMPs and third-party tracking platforms.
Ad copy, CTA, and display settings
Each ad has its own headline, description, CTA button, display name, and profile image. These settings live at the ad level and vary across ads within the same ad group. Strong copy at this level directly affects CTR and CVR.
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How to Access and Export Performance Reports
TikTok Ads Manager gives you three separate reporting interfaces. Per TikTok Ads Manager guidance, each one serves a different purpose.
Dashboard page: bird's-eye view
The Dashboard is the account-level overview. It shows top-level metrics across all campaigns. Good for a quick health check. Not where you do deep analysis.
Campaign page: drill-down by campaign, ad group, ad
The Campaign page lets you move between levels. Start at the campaign view. Click into an ad group. Click further into individual ads. Each level shows its own metrics columns. This is where most day-to-day optimization happens.
Reporting page: custom reports and scheduled exports in CSV/XLSX
The Reporting page is built for structured analysis. You build custom reports or use templates. Reports export in CSV or XLSX format. You can also schedule reports for automatic email delivery at any frequency you choose. This is the right tool for sharing data with your team or pulling it into a spreadsheet.
Dimensions vs. metrics in custom reports
Custom reports use a two-axis structure. Dimensions are your row groupings: campaign, ad group, ad, placement, or date. Metrics are your columns: CPM, CPC, CTR, CVR, conversions, and spend. Choose your dimensions first, then layer on the metrics you need.
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How to Use Reports to Optimize Your Campaign
Reports only matter when you act on them.
Comparing ad group performance
Pull a report grouped by ad group. Sort by cost per result. Find the ad groups with the lowest cost and highest volume. Those targeting configurations are working. Pause the underperformers or build new ad groups to test against the winners.
Testing creatives within an ad group
Group your report by ad. Compare CTR and CVR across ads in the same ad group. Same audience, different creatives. The performance difference is purely the creative. Kill the underperformers fast and rotate in new assets.
Using View Data to segment by audience demographics
The View Data feature on the Campaign page segments performance by age, gender, location, interest, and device. You do not need a custom report for this. Click into any campaign or ad group and open View Data to see daily and hourly trends alongside audience breakdowns.
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Why Coinis Helps: Building Better Creatives for Your TikTok Hierarchy
The reporting structure tells you which creatives win. Coinis helps you build more of them, faster.
Generate video-ready ad images with the Image Ads workflow. Feed a product URL and get on-brand creatives in seconds. Need to test multiple angles in the same ad group? Use Variate inside Coinis Revise to spin up variations of any existing ad image. Swap copy, change colors, adjust layout. No designer needed.
AI Copywriting generates headlines, body copy, and CTAs grounded in your Brand Profile. Every asset stays consistent. Every variant is ready to drop into a new TikTok ad.
Coinis does not publish directly to TikTok today. That integration is on the roadmap. But the creatives and copy you generate plug straight into any TikTok ad format. Your hierarchy stays clean, your assets stay on-brand, and your reporting gives you clean signals to act on.
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Or let Coinis do it.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does TikTok have an 'ad set' like Facebook?
No. TikTok uses the term 'ad group.' It works similarly to Meta's ad set but has a different name. Use 'ad group' in your UTM parameters and tracking integrations to avoid data mapping errors.
How do I export a TikTok Ads report?
Go to the Reporting page in TikTok Ads Manager. Build a custom report or use a template. Select your dimensions and metrics, then export in CSV or XLSX format. You can also schedule reports for automatic email delivery at a custom frequency.
What is the fourth level in Smart+ campaigns?
Smart+ campaigns add a creative level below the ad level. Each individual asset gets a unique creative ID. You can use this ID in UTM parameters to track asset-level performance through your MMP or analytics platform.
What is the difference between the Dashboard and the Campaign page in TikTok Ads Manager?
The Dashboard gives you an account-level overview across all campaigns. The Campaign page lets you drill down from campaign to ad group to individual ad. Use the Campaign page for daily optimization and the Reporting page for custom data exports.