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How to Create a TikTok Ad Account

Cody Schneider•

Setting up your TikTok Ad Account is the first major step to reaching millions of potential customers on one of the world's most engaging platforms. This guide will walk you through the entire process, step-by-step, from initial setup to navigating your new Ads Manager dashboard. We’ll cover everything you need to know to get your account created and approved quickly.

What Do I Need to Create a TikTok Ad Account?

Before you jump into the setup process, gathering a few key pieces of information will make everything go much more smoothly. Having these details ready prevents you from having to stop and search for them midway through.

Here’s a quick checklist of what you should have on hand:

  • A Valid Email Address or Phone Number: This will be used to create and verify your account. It's best to use a business email that you check regularly.

  • Your Business Name and Information: This needs to match your legal business name. You'll also need your business address and phone number. Consistency is important here, especially if you have a registered business.

  • Your Website URL: TikTok requires a website to link to your account. The landing page should be functional, relevant to what you plan to advertise, and clearly state your business name and contact information. Your ads will be disallowed if they link to a broken or low-quality page.

  • Tax Information: Depending on your country and business type, you may need a business registration number, VAT number, or other tax ID. For example, businesses in the U.S. will often use their Employer Identification Number (EIN).

  • A Valid Business License (if applicable): For certain regulated industries (like financial services, e-commerce with specific product types, etc.), TikTok may request a copy of your business license to verify that you're authorized to sell your products or services.

Once you have this information gathered, you're ready to get started. The actual setup process should only take about 10-15 minutes.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a TikTok Ad Account

Setting up your advertising account is done through the TikTok for Business platform, which is separate from the standard TikTok app you use for watching videos. Follow these steps to get it done right.

Step 1: Go to the TikTok for Business Website

First, open your web browser and navigate to the official TikTok Ads Manager homepage. You’ll see a prominent “Create an Account” button. Click that to begin the process.

Step 2: Sign Up and Create Your Account Login

You’ll be presented with a signup form. You can either sign up using an email address and password or use an existing TikTok account to log in. It's generally recommended to create a separate login for your Ads Manager using a business email. This keeps your personal profile separate from your professional advertising activities.

Enter your email, create a strong password, and agree to the terms. TikTok will send a verification code to your email to confirm that it's yours. Enter that code to proceed.

Step 3: Provide Your Basic Account Info

Now you'll move on to filling out information about your business. This section is straightforward but crucial for getting your account set up correctly.

  • Country/Region: Select the country where your business is legally registered. This determines your currency and the policies that apply to your account, so choose carefully.

  • Business Name: Enter the legal name of your business. This should be the name a customer would see on an invoice or your website, not just a promotional brand name.

  • Time Zone & Currency: Your time zone affects when your campaign data resets daily, and your currency is locked in once the account is created. Double-check that both are correct.

Step 4: Complete Your Business Information

This is where you provide the finer details of your operation. TikTok uses this information to verify your business and understand what industry you're in.

  • Business Website: Enter your website URL. Make sure it starts with https://. A common reason for account rejection is a non-functional website, so test your link first.

  • Industry: Choose the category that best describes your business. Options range from "E-commerce" and "Apparel & Accessories" to "Financial Services" and "Gaming." Selecting the right industry helps TikTok provide relevant benchmarks and suggestions later on.

  • Business Address: Fill in your company's full mailing address.

  • Tax Information: This is the section where you'll provide your business or tax registration number (like an EIN in the U.S. or VAT number in the UK/EU).

Step 5: Select a Payment Method

Next, you'll choose how you want to pay for your ads. TikTok primarily offers two options, though availability can depend on your location:

  • Manual Payment: With this option, you pre-load your account with funds. Your campaigns will run until the balance runs out. This is a great choice if you want to maintain tight control over your budget and avoid accidental overspending.

  • Automatic Payment: This method links a credit or debit card to your account. TikTok will bill you automatically after your ads have accrued a certain amount of spend or on a specific billing date. This is more convenient, as you don’t have to worry about constantly refilling your account balance.

You’ll need to enter your payment details to complete this step. Don't worry, you won't be charged anything until you actively run a campaign.

Step 6: Submit Your Account for Review

After you've filled out all the required information, you'll be asked to review and submit your application. TikTok's team will manually review your account to ensure it complies with their policies. This review process usually takes up to 24 hours.

You'll receive an email notification once your account has been approved. If there's an issue with your provided information (like a broken website link or inconsistent business name), you'll be notified and asked to make corrections.

What Happens After Your Account Is Approved? A Quick Tour

Congratulations! Your TikTok Ad Account is live. When you log in, you'll land on the TikTok Ads Manager dashboard. It might look a little overwhelming at first, but it’s organized into a few key areas.

Dashboard

This is your home base. It gives you a high-level overview of your account's performance, showing key metrics like total spend, cost per click (CPC), impressions, and conversions. You can customize the date range to see your performance over specific periods.

Campaign Tab

This is where the magic happens. The "Campaign" tab is where you create, manage, and monitor all your advertising efforts. TikTok's campaign structure is divided into three levels:

  1. Campaigns: The highest level, where you set your advertising objective (e.g., website traffic, conversions, app installs) and overall budget.

  2. Ad Groups: Within each campaign, you set up ad groups. This is where you define your target audience, placements (where your ads appear), budget allocation, and schedule.

  3. Ads: This is the creative level. Here you upload your videos or images, write your ad copy, and add your call-to-action (CTA) button and destination URL.

Assets Tab

The "Assets" tab is your library for everything you use in your ads. It has several sub-sections:

  • Creatives: A gallery of all the videos and images you've uploaded for your ads.

  • Audiences: This is where you can create and manage Custom Audiences (e.g., website visitors, customer lists) and Lookalike Audiences.

  • Pixels: Here, you can create and manage your TikTok Pixel - a small piece of code you install on your website to track conversions and a visitor's on-site behavior.

Reporting Tab

Once your campaigns are running, this area becomes your best friend. The "Reporting" tab allows you to create customized reports to analyze ad performance. You can break down data by different dimensions (like age, gender, location, or placement) to understand what's working and what isn't, so you can optimize your strategy for better results.

Final Thoughts

Creating your TikTok Ad Account is a simple, required first step toward unlocking a powerful new channel for your business. By following the steps outlined here and having your information ready, you can get through the setup process quickly and move on to launching your first campaign.

Once you are running campaigns across TikTok Ads, Google, and other platforms, knowing what's actually working becomes a new challenge. We built Graphed to solve this. Instead of spending hours jumping between platforms and wrangling spreadsheets to see the full picture, you can connect sources like TikTok Ads, Google Analytics, and Shopify, then just ask in plain English for the dashboard you need. Asking “Create a dashboard comparing Facebook & TikTok ad spend vs. Shopify revenue” provides an instant, auto-updating report, giving you back time to focus on strategy, not manual reporting.