Tracking for TikTok Ads
This guide will show you how to set up tracking for the following TikTok metrics in Northbeam:
- Spend, impressions, visits and all conversion-based metrics attributed to TikTok Ads
This involves 2 simple steps:
Step 1: Connect Your TikTok Ad Account (required)
Step 2: Insert Northbeam UTM Parameters (required)
| Input | Output | If Input is missing... |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok Integration (required) | The following data is pulled into your dashboard: - Campaign, Adset, Ad Names - Ad Spend - Impressions - TikTok-reported metrics | Campaign, Adset, Ad Names will be missing, along with Spend, Impressions, and TikTok-reported metrics. |
| UTM Parameters (required) | Revenue, Transactions, and Visit attribution to your Campaigns, Adsets, and Ads. | If your ads are using Standard UTMs (ex. utm_source, medium, campaign), we'll track click-based conversions. Spend will not be pulled in, so not possible to see cost-based metrics (ex. ROAS, CAC). |
Step 1: Connect Your TikTok Ad Account
What does the connection do?
Northbeam natively integrates with the TikTok Ads API. By doing so, we pull all your current and historical Campaigns, Adsets, and Ads from your account, along with a list of useful metrics. Notably, we pull impressions, which fuel our view model and unlock our Clicks and Views attribution model. We also pull ad spend and list of in-platform conversion & creative metrics to help you with decision making.
How to connect your Ad Account
For a visual walkthrough of connecting your Ad Account, reference the video below.
Connecting in Onboarding Flow
If you're in the Onboarding Flow, please go to Integrations.
Connecting in Dashboard
If your dashboard is activated, please go to Settings > Connections.
Note: The credentials used must have admin access to the Ad Account.
Step 2: Insert Northbeam UTM Parameters
Please add the following UTM parameters in the Destination URL for new and existing ads:
?nb_platform=tiktok&nbt=nb%3Atiktok%3A%3A__CAMPAIGN_ID__%3A__AID__%3A__CID__
Please Note:
If you do not have existing parameters, begin our parameter with a question mark (?)
https://www.mystore.com?nb_platform=tiktok&nbt=nb%3Atiktok%3A%3A__CAMPAIGN_ID__%3A__AID__%3A__CID__
If you do have existing parameters, insert ours to the end and begin our parameter with an ampersand (&)
https://www.mystore.com?utm_source=paid&utm_medium=tiktok&nb_platform=tiktok&nbt=nb%3Atiktok%3A%3A__CAMPAIGN_ID__%3A__AID__%3A__CID__
UTM Auto-Appending
To ensure optimal tracking, Northbeam will attempt to place UTM parameters on all newly created TikTok ads from any ad accounts connected to your dashboard. We ask to please also manually append our UTMs.
If you prefer the UTM Auto-Append functionality disabled on your account, please reach out to our Support team.
TikTok Ads FAQ
1. How do I connect an extra account or remove an account?
Reference our step-by-step guide below:
2. Can you track conversions from TikTok Shops?
Our pixel cannot be injected into TikTok's native shopping experience, so we currently cannot attribute these orders. All TikTok Shop orders are synced into your dashboard, but will be categorized under the Unattributed platform.
BUT, Order Tags can be used to recategorize TikTok Shop orders into another Platform group like TikTok Ads.
If you're on Shopify, this is usually straight forward because we inject an Order Tags indicating the order's sales channel name. Learn more here. As a result, your TikTok Shops orders should be tagged with one of the following:
- northbeam:shopify:source_name:tiktok
- northbeam:shopify:source_name:4383523
If you're not on Shopify, you'd need to pass a unique tag through the "order_tags" field in the Order Sync API
Once the tags are in, set the Order Tag exclusions. Learn how to do so here. Once excluded, they'll be separated out into its own line item and you could use a Custom Breakdown to re-categorize it.
3. Why do I see a data discrepancy?
Discrepancies in Revenue and Orders are expected. The reason for this lies in the differences between Northbeam's attribution model and the corresponding platform's attribution model. Each attribution model has a unique method of allocating credit.
For example, Northbeam's Clicks-Only model divides credit across all touchpoints and tries to push credit to your upper funnel channels. Let's say your in-platform model uses Last Click, which gives credit to the last touchpoint in the journey. This is going to cause a discrepancy.
To take it one step further, let's say both Northbeam and in-platform are using Last Click. Northbeam is unique in that we recognize all touchpoints from every single channel. Whereas most platforms only recognize touchpoints from that same platform.
In addition, there's often a difference in the attribution window. By default, Northbeam leverages a 1-Day window, which is different than many other platforms' default.
To get the most apples to apples comparison, be sure to compare data using same Attribution Model and Attribution Window. But keep in mind, it will never be exact.
Attribution Models and Windows
TikTok:
- Attribution Model: Last Click
- Attribution Window: 7-Day Click/1-Day View
Northbeam:
- Attribution Model: Varies (default is Clicks-Only)
- Attribution Window: 1-Day (default, can extend to an infinite lifetime value)
4. Suspect a Tracking Issue?
Please reference our 5 Tracking Principles.
- Connection: Make sure your Ad Account is still connected. Go to Settings > Connections and check for any errors. Connections could break for a variety of reasons, but most commonly, the User losing access to the Ad Account.
- UTMs: Ensure all your TikTok Ads contain Northbeam UTMs, listed above under Step 2.
- Northbeam Pixel: Ensure the Northbeam Pixel is firing on your landing page. Note that some site themes may not automatically transfer to landing pages on certain third-party apps, necessitating manual pixel placement.
- Purchase Pixel: Confirm that the Purchase Pixel is firing on your checkout page.
- A-Record Setup: Verify that the A-Record is correctly configured in your DNS Settings.
Updated 6 days ago