TikTok Ads Learning Phase – Everything You Need to Know

You are a beginner on TikTok and just launched your first campaign? In this case, your TikTok ads may get stuck in the dreaded learning phase. Wanting to know how to advance your campaigns from the learning phase swiftly?

Don’t worry, we are here to show you everything you need to know about advertisements out of the learning stage so that they perform better for your campaigns. Keep reading and you will find the solutions to your problem!

What is the TikTok ads learning phase?

Let’s begin with the most obvious question: What is the TikTok ads learning phase? 

Basically, the term refers to the initial stage of ad distribution when the system continuously investigates new consumers to assist the ad group in reaching the most appropriate audience. 

This step of the ad delivery life cycle is crucial because it helps the system better optimize distribution and provide the most incredible performance. Please note that the TikTok Ads learning phase is an experimental process for your advertising video.

That’s why TikTok Ads learning phase is used to continuously explore new customers to help your ads reach the right audience. It means that in this phase, TikTok will find the audience who are most likely to interact with your ads.

What to expect in the learning phase?

During the learning phase, all marketers might face some problems in common. Let’s predict all the issues before they happen!

Throughout this stage, the CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) may fluctuate, but as more learning data is gathered, it will become more stable. According to historical studies, an oCPM ad group can typically anticipate a constant CPA after reaching 50 conversions. Around this time, the ad group will have finished its learning period.

This testing period is fairly typical, and if TikTok Adverts has gathered sufficient information about your campaign, it will begin serving your ads more stably.

Being more stable, though, does not guarantee that the price for each conversion will never change. As shown by the graph below, occasionally conversions will be gained at a high cost (like the red dot) due to the competitive nature of auction ads.

We recommend a timeframe you should use to track CPA

In general, the results you gain from this phase are likely to be more unstable that the results you get when your campaign is out of TikTok learning phase. Once TikTok has enough data about your campaign, it will start delivering your ad video more stably.

How long is the learning phase for TikTok ads?

Often, TikTok’s requirement to exit the learning phase is 50 conversions over a 7-day period, which is similar to the learning phase for Facebook ads. You may then begin scaling, refining, and optimizing your ads and offers to boost performance.

Remember that TikTok learning phase is only the experimental process and will be not reflected in your TikTok Ads Manager. Achieving 50 conversions is the most significant of passing this phase.

“Don’t” of the Learning Phase you may need to know

• Don’t panic if your ads don’t perform as well as you wish. As we mentioned before, this testing phase is pretty standard, and after TikTok has gathered enough information about your campaign, it will start delivering your ads more steadily.
• Don’t make any changes that can have a negative influence on the data accumulating during the learning phase (for example reducing the bid or the budget, eliminating creativity, or narrowing the target audience).

What to do if an ad group fails the learning phase and how can you tell?

Passing indication

The most important metric for completing the learning phase is 50 conversions. There is nothing extra you need to do after completing the Learning Phase. Now that the system is more familiar to your ads and audience, it will start operating more consistently.

Failure indication

There is a good risk that an ad group won’t make it through the learning phase if it is difficult to get at least 20 conversions in the first 10 days.

If you failed the learning phase, consider to:

• Improve the creative
• Expand your target market
• Raise your bid before trying again

Practical advice to pass the learning phase

When it comes to building your ad creative, one thing became clear quickly: what works on Facebook and Instagram is far from guaranteed to succeed on TikTok. Let’s check out some useful tips to pass the learning phase and optimize your ads today!

Allocate enough budget

Simply said, you could not be investing enough to exit the learning phase and complete the necessary 50 result activities. Instead, all you need to do is to calculate the necessary ad spend based on the 50 event actions needed to leave learning. 

Your current cost per purchase is the most efficient way to determine your TikTok ad budget at either the campaign level (if you’re using CBO) or the ad set level (if you’re not using CBO).

Do you want to know how to allocate your budget effectively and also pass the TikTok learning phase? If you are interested in, check this video to find your best budget strategy for TikTok Ads!

Try to be patient

General advice: You just need to be patient while your ads are still learning. Avoid stepping in for a fast edit at all costs because you’ll likely disturb the learning process and lengthen this stage. TikTok also needs time to learn about the audience and find the best audience for your campaign.

Optimize your campaigns

If you want to quickly pass the TikTok learning phase, try your best to broader your audience, increase your bid, or consider different creatives.

Bonus tip: About adjusting your ad group during the learning phase

Avoid making adjustments 

It is advised that the advertiser hold off on making any adjustments until attaining at least 20 conversions if the CPA performance is significantly below expectation during the learning phase. 

Please be aware that any incorrect adjustments made during the learning period may limit the system’s ability to explore. What’s more, this could lead to additional changes in estimates and CPA.

Optimize the original ad group

According to historical research, the majority of ad groups that fail the learning phase are not likely to succeed without some adjustments. Before making another attempt to pass the learning phase, advertisers are advised to optimize the original ad group.

It’s time to scale your winning Tik Tok ads!

As TikTok’s popularity grows, advertisers will face more competition as they try to reach the same consumers. Winning the learning phase would be the initial process of creating an effective ad campaign for your business!

Still wondering if TikTok might do the trick but you’re not sure how to get started? Feel free to contact our experts for more advice or try our new products NestAds – TikTok Advertising Management Software.