> Quick answer: Go to TikTok Ads Manager, open Assets > Audiences, click Create Audience, select Lookalike Audience, choose a source custom audience with at least 100 matched users, pick your market, choose Narrow, Balanced, or Broad, and save. Done in under five minutes.
TikTok lookalike audiences let you find new customers who behave like your best existing ones. This guide walks you through the full setup.
What is a TikTok Lookalike Audience?
A lookalike audience is a targeting pool TikTok builds for you. You supply the source. TikTok finds users who share similar traits and behaviors.
How lookalike audiences work
TikTok analyzes your source custom audience. It then identifies new users on the platform who match that profile. Per TikTok's Business Help Center, you control the balance between similarity and scale using three size options.
Why use lookalike audiences for prospecting
Lookalike audiences are built for cold prospecting. You reach users who mirror your existing buyers but have never seen your brand. That cuts wasted impressions and raises the odds of converting new customers.
Prerequisites: Setting Up a Custom Audience
You need a custom audience before you can build a lookalike. No source, no lookalike.
Types of custom audiences
TikTok Ads Manager supports four source types:
- Customer file — upload a list of existing customers or leads
- Website or app activity — based on pixel or SDK events
- TikTok engagement — users who interacted with your content or ads
- Audience activation partners — third-party data connections
Minimum audience size requirements
Per TikTok's documentation, your source audience needs at least 100 matched users after mapping before you can create a lookalike. To use a custom audience directly in an ad group, you need 1,000 total matched users. Build your source audience first and let it populate before moving forward.
How to Create a Lookalike Audience in TikTok Ads Manager
The full process takes under five minutes once your source audience is ready.
Step-by-step walkthrough
- Log in to TikTok Ads Manager.
- Go to Assets > Audiences.
- Click Create Audience.
- Select Lookalike Audience.
- In the Source section, click the dropdown and choose an existing custom audience. Or click Create a Custom Audience to build one on the spot.
- Set the Contain Source option. Choose Omit or Contain.
- Select your market and location.
- Choose your audience size — Narrow, Balanced, or Broad.
- Name your audience and click Confirm.
Choosing your audience size (Narrow, Balanced, Broad)
Narrow keeps similarity tight. Broad opens up reach. Balanced meets in the middle. Match your choice to your campaign goal.
Selecting your market and location
TikTok builds the lookalike pool from the market you specify. Pick the country or region where you want to run your ads. The available user base shifts based on that selection.
Understanding Audience Size Options
Narrow audience (highest similarity)
Narrow targets users most like your source audience. Volume is smaller. Use it when relevance matters more than scale, such as high-ticket offers or niche products.
Balanced audience (moderate similarity)
Balanced blends similarity with reach. It is a practical starting point for most prospecting campaigns and works well for testing before scaling.
Broad audience (wider reach)
Broad expands the pool significantly. Similarity decreases, but volume increases. Use it for brand awareness or when reach is the primary goal.
Using Your Lookalike Audience in Campaigns
Once created, your lookalike audience can attach to multiple ad groups at once.
Adding lookalike audiences to ad groups
Open or create a campaign in TikTok Ads Manager. At the ad group level, navigate to the Audience section. Under Custom Audiences, search for your lookalike, select it, and save. Repeat across as many ad groups as needed.
Omit vs. Contain source settings
Omit targets the lookalike users only. Your source audience is excluded from that ad group. Contain targets both the lookalike and the original source audience together. For pure prospecting, Omit is usually the right call. Contain works when you want to layer in retargeting.
Optimize Your Creative for Lookalike Audiences
Why creative matters for new audience prospecting
Lookalike audiences are cold traffic. They share traits with your best customers, but they have never seen your brand. The creative is what makes or breaks the first impression.
Test multiple formats. Make the hook land in the first two seconds. Keep the visuals native to TikTok's feed. Coinis builds on-brand ad creatives using your Brand Profile, so every image and headline that reaches a cold audience reflects your brand accurately. When you're ready to launch campaigns to Meta, the Campaign Launcher brings that same audience-first thinking to Facebook and Instagram. TikTok campaign publishing is on the Coinis roadmap.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum source audience size to create a TikTok lookalike audience?
Your source custom audience needs at least 100 matched users after TikTok maps it to its platform. Per TikTok's documentation, you also need 1,000 total matched users in a custom audience before you can use it directly in an ad group.
What is the difference between Narrow, Balanced, and Broad TikTok lookalike audiences?
Narrow prioritizes similarity to your source audience and produces a smaller pool. Broad maximizes reach but lowers similarity. Balanced sits between the two and is a practical default for most prospecting campaigns.
What does Omit vs. Contain mean when creating a TikTok lookalike audience?
Omit excludes your source audience from the ad group, targeting only the new lookalike users. Contain includes both the lookalike and the source audience in the same ad group. Omit is the standard choice for pure prospecting.
Can I use one TikTok lookalike audience in multiple ad groups?
Yes. Once a lookalike audience is created, you can attach it to as many ad groups as you need across your campaigns.