TikTok Custom Audience Destination

MessageGears publishes audiences directly to TikTok Ads as a Custom Audience (Customer File). This allows you to take segments built in MessageGears and use them to power paid targeting campaigns in TikTok Ads Manager — enabling retargeting, lookalike modeling, and suppression lists.

Prerequisites

Before setting up the TikTok destination, make sure the following are in place:

• A valid TikTok Ads account with at least one active Advertiser account
• Admin-level permissions on the TikTok Ads account (required to grant third-party app access)
• A MessageGears audience or Blueprint ready to publish — see Creating and Editing Audiences and Blueprints for Campaign Segmentation

Step 1: Authorize MessageGears to access your TikTok Ads account

MessageGears connects to TikTok Ads via OAuth. You must authorize the connection once before any audiences can be published.

1. MessageGears will provide you with a TikTok authorization link. Click the link to begin.
2. If you are not already logged in, you will be prompted to sign in to your TikTok Ads account.
3. Review the permissions requested by MessageGears and click Confirm to approve access.
4. After approval, you will be redirected to a MessageGears confirmation page. No further action is required on your part.

Once authorization is complete, MessageGears will associate your TikTok Advertiser account with your MessageGears account and configure the destination on your behalf.

info

If you manage multiple TikTok Advertiser accounts, make sure you are logged in to the correct account before completing the authorization flow.

Step 2: Data requirements and hashing

TikTok requires that all personally identifiable information (PII) is hashed before it is transmitted. MessageGears can handle this automatically, or you can provide pre-hashed data.

Supported identifier types

TikTok Custom Audiences built from customer files support the following identifier types:

Identifier	Format Before Hashing
Email address	Lowercase, whitespace trimmed
Phone number	E.164 format (e.g., +14045551234)

Hashing

All identifiers are hashed using SHA-256 before being sent to TikTok. MessageGears applies normalization and hashing automatically if the Apply Vendor Obfuscation option is enabled on your destination. If your data is already hashed upstream, this option can be disabled to avoid double-hashing.

tip

If you are unsure whether your data is pre-hashed, leave Apply Vendor Obfuscation enabled. MessageGears Support can confirm the correct setting for your configuration.

Audience size

TikTok requires a minimum of 1,000 matched users before a Custom Audience becomes available for targeting in Ads Manager. Audiences smaller than this threshold will be created but cannot be used in ad campaigns until the threshold is met.

Step 3: Build your audience in MessageGears

Use the MessageGears audience builder or a Blueprint to define the segment you want to send to TikTok.

Your audience data should include at least one of the supported identifier fields (email or phone). Ensure the data is clean and properly formatted before publishing.

For guidance on building audiences and Blueprints, see:

• Creating and Editing Audiences
• Blueprints for Campaign Segmentation

Step 4: Create an External Campaign targeting the TikTok destination

Once your audience is defined and the TikTok destination is configured, create an External Campaign to publish the audience:

1. Navigate to Campaigns > External.
2. Under Settings, select your audience or Blueprint.
3. In the Destination dropdown, select your TikTok destination.
4. Set your schedule (one-time or recurring) and click Save or Launch.

For a full walkthrough of the External Campaign workflow, see External Campaigns.

Managing your connection

Token validity

The OAuth access token issued during authorization is long-lived. However, it may become invalid if:

• You remove MessageGears' access from your TikTok Ads account settings
• Your TikTok Ads account permissions change

If your TikTok destination stops publishing successfully, contact MessageGears Support to initiate a reauthorization.

Reauthorizing

If your token is revoked or expires, MessageGears will provide a new authorization link. Follow the same authorization steps to reconnect your account.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Resolution
Audience not appearing in TikTok Ads Manager	Authorization incomplete or token invalid	Contact MessageGears Support to verify the connection
Audience created but not usable for targeting	Fewer than 1,000 matched users	Expand your segment or wait for audience to grow
Match rate is unexpectedly low	Data not normalized correctly before hashing	Confirm email addresses are lowercase and phone numbers are in E.164 format; ensure Apply Vendor Obfuscation is enabled
Campaign fails to publish	Incorrect destination configuration	Contact MessageGears Support to verify Advertiser ID and token validity

For additional help, contact MessageGears Support.