Reporting in TikTok Ads Manager
TikTok Ads Manager shows results on a Dashboard, a Campaigns table, the View Report workspace and custom reports you can schedule by email. This guide covers where to find each, what the main metrics and attribution windows mean, and how video views are counted, using what TikTok states in its Business Help Center.
This guide is built from TikTok's Business Help Center, starting with its page on how to see your ads performance in TikTok Ads Manager and the pages linked in each section below. It covers where the numbers live, how to build and schedule reports, what the main metrics and attribution settings mean, and which insight tools sit next to them. Campaign structure (campaign, ad group, ad) is explained in our TikTok ads basics guide, and setting up the Pixel and Events API that feed conversion numbers is in our TikTok Pixel guide.
The Dashboard and Campaigns pages
TikTok puts results in two places. In its words, "The Dashboard page shows summarized data. The Campaigns page allows you to view details or results of campaigns, ad groups, and ads." Both are in the top navigation bar of TikTok Ads Manager.
The Dashboard shows:
- Recommendations for your account.
- Account overview: account balance and spend at a glance.
- Ad group status: how many ad groups are active, partially delivering or not delivering.
- Performance: summary metrics drawn as a trend, with a calendar icon to change the date and time.
- Insights on top-performing ads and audiences, and a Log of operations on the account.
The Campaigns page is where most day-to-day reading happens. Pick the Campaign, Ad group or Ad tab, find the row with the search bar, and scroll right to see the default columns. To export the table, click the three dots at the top right and choose Export data.
Columns, breakdowns and date comparison
The Custom table dropdown at the top right of the Campaigns page changes which columns you see:
- Pre-defined performance templates under Performance, such as Shop Ads, Reach and Branded Mission, with more under More template columns.
- Setup columns under Settings.
- Custom Columns, where you add the exact metrics you want.
A Breakdown splits the metrics by Day, Week or Month. When you set the date range you also get a Compare toggle to put two date ranges side by side. TikTok notes that if you can't see a breakdown, "you may need to choose an active campaign, ad group, or ad."
View Report
For more than the table shows, TikTok's View Report page calls the tool "a reporting workspace in TikTok Ads Manager that helps you monitor in-flight delivery, analyze performance across dimensions, and review campaign results." Click View report in a row's action list to open it for one item, or select several rows and click View report in the action bar to compare them. It works for Manual, Smart+ and Smart+ 2.0 campaigns, though some tabs only show for eligible accounts or campaign types.
| Opened from | Default tab | Available tabs |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Summary | Summary, Delivery, Creatives, Audience, plus eligible specialised tabs |
| Ad group or ad | Delivery | Delivery, Creatives, Audience, plus eligible specialised tabs |
| Creative asset | Delivery | Delivery only |
- Summary (campaign level) writes a review in three parts: performance and highlights, insights into what drove it, and optimisation directions. The date range must be 3 to 30 days, the data has a one-day delay, and you pick up to four core metrics, with Spend always included.
- Delivery has up to 20 metric cards, trend charts by hour, day, week or month, a comparison chart that plots two metrics against each other, pacing progress for reservation ads, and a Details table you can download as a CSV.
- Creatives breaks Smart+ results down by creative asset, text or enhancement, with key frame analysis for eligible videos. Our Smart+ guide covers how those campaigns are built.
- Extra tabs appear when eligible: Placement (TikTok vs TikTok Ad Network, ad group level, not for Smart+), Search (by search term), Split Test (confidence and winner; see our TikTok split testing guide), Attribution (conversions and cost per acquisition across click-through and view-through windows) and Custom Conversions.
Custom reports
Custom reports live under Analytics > Custom reports. TikTok's custom report page describes the steps:
- Click Create report for a blank report, or use the arrow next to it and Start with a template for a preset set of dimensions and metrics you can then edit.
- Pick dimensions, which become rows (campaigns, ad groups, ads, placements and so on), and metrics, which become columns (such as CPM, CPC, CTR and CVR).
- Set the time range: yesterday, the last 7 days, the last 30 days or custom dates.
- Keep the pivot table or switch to a Trend line, then click Save and name the report.
Users with the analyst, operator or admin role can report across several ad accounts by using the account selector next to Select accounts at the top of the report, which is handy for an agency or a business with one account per brand. When a report is ready you can Export it straight away or set up Scheduled running.
Scheduled reports by email
From a saved custom report, click Scheduled running at the top right, turn it on, then choose the frequency, the recipients and the file format, and save. Points from TikTok's scheduled exports page:
- Up to 5 email addresses can receive the export.
- Processing "typically takes about 5 to 6 hours," and emails should arrive around 5 to 6 AM in the ad account's time zone.
- Only users with access to TikTok Ads Manager can download the report, so a recipient without a login can't open it.
- A schedule is cancelled automatically if no recipient downloads any of its reports for 3 months in a row.
The basic metrics
TikTok's basic metrics page defines the columns most reports start with. The ones that are easy to misread:
| Metric | TikTok's definition |
|---|---|
| Clicks (all) | Clicks from ads, including social interactions |
| Clicks (destination) | Clicks leading to a specified destination |
| Reach | Unique users who saw ads at least once |
| Frequency | Average number of times each user saw an ad in the period |
| Conversions | Times an ad resulted in the selected optimisation event |
| Conversion rate (CVR) | Conversions out of all impressions |
| Conversion rate (CVR, clicks) | Conversions out of all destination clicks |
| Real-time conversions | The same count, shown in real time |
Two things follow from those definitions. Conversions only counts the event the ad group optimises for, so other actions need their own columns. And the plain CVR is per impression, not per click, so it will look much lower than a website conversion rate; use CVR (clicks) when you compare with other channels. Beyond these, TikTok groups its reporting metrics into attribution, in-app event, page event, video play and onsite event metrics.
Attribution windows: CTA, EVTA and VTA
TikTok credits a conversion to an ad in three ways:
- Click-through attribution (CTA): the person clicked the ad, then converted within the window.
- Engaged view-through attribution (EVTA): credit "when a user watches at least 6 seconds of the ad or the full duration for videos shorter than 6 seconds before converting." TikTok's EVTA page lists it for the App promotion, Lead generation and Sales objectives.
- View-through attribution (VTA): the person saw the ad, didn't click, and converted within the window. TikTok's VTA page says it's common to see more VTA than CTA conversions, because every click starts with a view.
The window is set per ad group, under Bidding and Optimization > Attribution settings. TikTok's ad group attribution page lists click-through windows of 1, 7, 14 or 28 days and view-through of off, 1 or 7 days, while its page on the attribution window for app campaigns lists CTA 1 or 7 days, EVTA 1 or 7 days and VTA off or 1 day, so the choices you see depend on the campaign. The key rule is the same on both: "Attribution settings cannot be changed once the ad group has been published." A new window means a new ad group.
EVTA conversions are included in the Conversions column. To split it into CTA, EVTA and VTA, add those columns through Custom Columns. In the attribution metrics glossary, VTA counts are "based on impression time," so a conversion is reported on the day of the ad view, not the day of the purchase. TikTok also warns that turning VTA off suddenly can make campaigns fluctuate "for a few weeks" while delivery adjusts, because it uses those signals to optimise. For app campaigns, the window in Ads Manager doesn't change what your mobile measurement partner reports, and TikTok recommends keeping the two consistent.
Video play metrics
TikTok's video play metrics page defines how views are counted. Replays are excluded from the view counts.
| Metric | Counts |
|---|---|
| Video views | Each time the video starts to play, once per impression |
| 2-second video views | At least 2 seconds of play in one impression session; swiping away and back counts as a new impression |
| 6-second video views | At least 6 seconds, the full video if shorter, or at least 1 engagement in the first 6 seconds |
| Video views at 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% | Plays reaching that share of the video's length |
| Average play time per video view / per user | Average time played, including replays |
| 6-second and 15-second focused views | Only for advertisers using focused view products: watched that long (or in full), or an interaction in that time |
The quartile views tell you where people drop off, which is usually more useful than the raw view count when you judge a hook. For organic posts boosted as Spark Ads, see what you can measure in our Spark Ads guide.
Video, audience and conversion insights
The Analytics menu holds three more tools:
- Video Insights compares your videos by day, by CTR against cost, and against industry benchmarks, with a key frame graph that shows clicks or views second by second. TikTok's Video Insights page says key frame numbers are estimates that may differ from the summary figures, partly because VTA conversions are not included.
- Audience Insights has a Campaign Potential tab for planning and a Campaign Reach tab for who your campaigns reached. Its help page says the data covers users active in the last 30 days and is estimated, not a guarantee of results. For setting the audience itself, see our TikTok targeting guide.
- Conversion Insights shows time to conversion, touchpoint paths, assisted conversions, a comparison with third-party tools such as Google Analytics (subject to availability) and, in Performance Comparison, results under different attribution windows. Its filter defaults to ad impression time, which is the one to use when you compare with Ads Manager, and the lookback is 90 days.
That third-party comparison matters because TikTok and your analytics tool count differently: TikTok credits views and clicks within its windows, while a last-click analytics report only sees the visit that came from the ad link. Tag your ad URLs with UTM parameters so the analytics side can at least see those visits, and read our guide on GA4 attribution models for how the other side works.
How we report on TikTok ads
This is our own practice, not TikTok's guidance:
- We agree the attribution window with the client before launch and write it down, since it can't be changed on a live ad group and it changes every conversion number in the report.
- We show click-through and view-through conversions as separate columns rather than one total, and judge spend on the click-through figure plus what the site's own analytics confirms.
- We keep one saved custom report per client goal and schedule it weekly to someone with Ads Manager access, then use View Report's Summary for the monthly review.
- For video, we look at 2-second views, the 25% and 100% quartiles and average play time per view together, and change the first seconds of a video before we change targeting.
If you want help setting this up, see our services.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find reports in TikTok Ads Manager?
Summary figures are on the Dashboard page and row-by-row results on the Campaigns page, both in the top navigation. Saved and scheduled reports are under Analytics, Custom reports, and deeper analysis of one or several items opens in View Report.
Can I schedule TikTok ads reports by email?
Yes. Open a saved custom report, click Scheduled running, turn it on and pick the frequency, up to 5 recipients and the file format. Only people with TikTok Ads Manager access can download the report, and the schedule is cancelled if nobody downloads it for 3 months in a row.
What attribution window does TikTok use?
You choose it per ad group under Bidding and Optimization. TikTok's ad group help page lists click-through windows of 1, 7, 14 or 28 days and view-through of off, 1 or 7 days; app campaigns list fewer options. It cannot be changed after the ad group is published.
Why are my TikTok conversions higher than in Google Analytics?
TikTok counts view-through and engaged view-through conversions as well as clicks, within the window you set, and reports view-through conversions on the day of the ad view. A last-click analytics report only credits the visit from the ad link. Conversion Insights has a comparison view to explain the gap where it is available.
What is a 6-second focused view on TikTok?
A view of at least 6 seconds, or the whole video if it is shorter, or any interaction such as a like, follow, share or click within the first 6 seconds. It is only reported for advertisers using TikTok's focused view products.
For reporting on other ad platforms, see our guides to Meta ads reporting, the Google Ads Report editor and LinkedIn ads reporting. For more on TikTok, see TikTok lead generation ads and TikTok Creative Center.