TikTok Custom Audience
Overview
Section titled “Overview”Custom Audiences let you target or exclude people TikTok can match to a list you already hold, and give TikTok a seed for lookalike audiences, which is often the more valuable use of a high-value customer list.
Signals keeps the audience current by syncing from your source, so nobody is exporting a CSV and uploading it by hand. Change what the source returns and the audience follows on the next sync.
Supported sources
Section titled “Supported sources”Sources supported by TikTok Custom Audience
| Category | Supported |
|---|---|
| API | |
| CRM | |
| Database | |
| File & storage | |
| Warehouse |
Prerequisites
Section titled “Prerequisites”Before connecting TikTok Custom Audience, make sure you have:
- An active TikTok Ads account.
- Server-side API permissions enabled on that account.
- A Datahash Studio account with the target project selected.
- A source connected in the same project, configured with Audience as its Integration Type.
Authentication
Section titled “Authentication”In Studio, open Destinations, find TikTok, and click the Custom Audience tile. This connector uses single sign-on.
- Click Continue with TikTok.
- Sign in with your TikTok for Business credentials.
- Review and approve the requested permissions.
- You are returned to Studio. Click Finish.
Manage instance
Section titled “Manage instance”To change the instance, open it from Manage Instances, use the menu in the top right and choose Edit, update the fields and click Finish. Cancel keeps the previous configuration running, so updates apply only after you finish.
Data & identifiers
Section titled “Data & identifiers”Send identifiers already hashed where you can. Plain text also works: they are normalized and SHA-256 hashed before they reach TikTok.
Required
Section titled “Required”| Field | When it is required |
|---|---|
| Audience name | Always. This is the name the audience gets in TikTok. |
| Email address | Always. |
| Phone number | At least one, up to three. Include the country code, or the number will not match. |
| Mobile advertising ID | Only where you have neither an email address nor a phone number. Either the Android Advertising ID or the Apple IDFA. |
Optional
Section titled “Optional”| Field | Format |
|---|---|
| Additional email addresses | Up to two more, one address each. |
The match depends on email, phone and mobile advertising ID.
Best practices
Section titled “Best practices”- Send email and phone together where you have both.
- Include the country code on every phone number. A national-format number will not match.
- Keep the audience name stable. Changing it creates a second audience rather than renaming the first.
- Refresh regularly. TikTok’s own guidance is that audience performance depends on the list being current.
- Keep the authenticating user active and with access to the ad account. If they lose it, the sync stops.
Troubleshooting & FAQ
Section titled “Troubleshooting & FAQ”The permission screen does not complete. Confirm the account you are signing in with has access to the ad account and that server-side API permissions are enabled.
Audience not appearing in TikTok Ads Manager. Confirm a source is connected in the same project with its Integration Type set to Audience, and that it is returning rows.
Audience is smaller than the source list. Expected. TikTok only counts records it could match. Because name and location are not used here, adding phone numbers where you only have email is the main way to close the gap.
Two audiences appeared instead of one. The audience name changed between syncs. Records carrying a new name form a new audience.
Sync stopped. The TikTok permission may have been revoked, or the authenticating user may have lost access. Reconnect through Continue with TikTok.