What Are Impressions on TikTok Ads?

If you’re running ads on TikTok, you’ve probably seen the term “impressions” in your analytics dashboard. But what exactly are impressions? How are they different from other metrics like reach or views?

Understanding impressions is key to measuring your ad performance and optimising your campaigns. In this article, we’ll dive deep into TikTok ad impressions. 

We’ll cover what they are, how they’re counted, and what they can (and can’t) tell you about your ads’ success. By the end, you’ll be an impressions expert, ready to use this metric to make data-driven decisions about your TikTok advertising.

Defining Impressions

Let’s start with the basics. An impression is counted each time your ad is displayed on TikTok, regardless of whether it was clicked or engaged with. If your ad appears on a user’s screen, that’s an impression.

Think of it like a billboard on a highway. Each car that passes by is an impression, even if the driver doesn’t read the billboard or take action.

On TikTok, your ads can get impressions in the main feed, on the For You page, or in TikTok’s other ad placements like TopView or Brand Takeovers. Each time your ad loads on a user’s device, you earn an impression.

It’s important to note that impressions are not the same as reach. Reach measures the number of unique people who saw your ad. Impressions, on the other hand, can include multiple views by the same person.

For example, let’s say your ad was shown to 1,000 unique users. 500 of those users saw the ad once, while the other 500 saw it twice. In this case, your reach would be 1,000 (the number of unique viewers), but your impressions would be 1,500 (the total number of times the ad was displayed).

Why Impressions Matter

Now that you know what impressions are, you might be wondering why they matter. What can this metric actually tell you about your ads’ performance?

Here are a few key reasons to track your impressions:

1. Visibility

Impressions are a measure of your ads’ visibility. The more impressions you get, the more eyeballs are seeing your brand on TikTok. This is especially important for brand awareness campaigns, where the goal is to get your name out there.

2. Potential Reach

Your impressions can give you a sense of your ads’ potential reach. If you’re getting a lot of impressions but not many clicks or conversions, that could be a sign that your ads are reaching a wide audience but not resonating with them. You might need to adjust your targeting or creative.

3. Frequency

By comparing your impressions to your reach, you can calculate your frequency – that is, the average number of times each person saw your ad. A high frequency could mean you’re overexposing your audience, which can lead to ad fatigue.

4. Cost

Many TikTok ad buying models, like cost per mille (CPM), are based on impressions. Tracking your impressions can help you understand how much you’re spending to get your ads seen.

Of course, impressions shouldn’t be the only metric you look at. They’re a starting point, not the finish line. To get a full picture of your ads’ performance, you’ll want to look at impressions in context with other metrics like clicks, conversions, and cost per action.

But understanding your impressions is a crucial first step. It’s the foundation that your other metrics build on.

Counting Impressions

So how does TikTok actually count an impression? Is it every single time an ad appears on a screen, no matter how briefly?

Not exactly. TikTok has specific criteria an ad view must meet to count as an impression:

• Viewability: The ad must be at least 50% visible on the user’s screen. If less than half the ad is showing, it won’t count as an impression.
• Time: The ad must be visible for at least one second. Even if the ad is 100% on screen, if the user scrolls past it in less than a second, it won’t count.

• Uniqueness: If the same ad is shown to the same user multiple times in a short period, TikTok may count those views as a single impression. The exact threshold for what counts as a “short period” can vary.

• Validity: TikTok has systems in place to try to filter out invalid traffic, like bots or click farms. Views from these sources shouldn’t be counted as impressions.

These criteria are designed to ensure that impressions are a meaningful metric. They filter out views that were too brief or too obscured to make an impact.

However, it’s important to remember that these are the minimum standards for an impression. Just because an ad was viewed for one second doesn’t mean it was fully consumed or acted upon. It’s still just one piece of the performance puzzle.

Understanding Viewability

Let’s zoom in on that first criterion: viewability. Viewability has become an increasingly important factor in digital advertising, on TikTok and beyond.

Viewability refers to whether an ad had a real chance to be seen by a human user. An ad might load at the bottom of a page but never actually be seen if the user doesn’t scroll down that far. Or it might load on a part of the page that’s obscured by another element.

TikTok’s viewability standards (50% on screen for one second) are based on the Media Rating Council (MRC) guidelines, which are widely used in the industry. By ensuring that impressions meet this viewability threshold, TikTok is trying to give advertisers confidence that their ads are actually being seen.

However, viewability isn’t perfect. Even an ad that’s 100% on screen for several seconds might not be fully viewed if the user isn’t paying attention. And viewability alone doesn’t guarantee impact – an ad can be viewable but not memorable or persuasive.

Still, viewability is an important baseline. It’s a way to filter out the impressions that definitely didn’t have a chance to make an impact.

As an advertiser, you can track your ads’ viewability in the TikTok Ads Manager. Look for the “Video Views” metric, which shows how many times your video played for at least two seconds with at least 50% of the video on screen.

If your viewability is low, that could be a sign that your ads are being placed in suboptimal positions, or that your targeting is off. You might experiment with different ad placements or adjust your target audience to improve your viewability.

Impressions vs. Other Metrics

While impressions are important, they’re not the only metric that matters on TikTok. In fact, focusing too narrowly on impressions can sometimes lead you astray.

Here are a few other key metrics to consider alongside your impressions:

• Clicks: Clicks measure how many users actually tapped on your ad, whether to visit your website, download your app, or take another action. A high number of impressions with few clicks could indicate that your ad is visible but not compelling.

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Your CTR is the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions. It measures how often users click on your ad after seeing it. A high CTR means your ad is both visible and engaging.

• Conversions: Conversions are the ultimate goal of most ad campaigns. They measure how many users took a desired action after clicking your ad, like making a purchase or signing up for your newsletter. Low conversions with high impressions could mean you’re attracting the wrong audience.

• Cost Metrics: Metrics like cost per click (CPC) and cost per action (CPA) put your impressions in financial context. They help you understand how much you’re spending to achieve your advertising goals.

• Video Views: On a video-centric platform like TikTok, video views are a key engagement metric. TikTok offers several video view metrics, like 2-second video views (views that lasted at least 2 seconds) and video watched percentages.

The key is to look at these metrics in relation to each other. A high number of impressions is great, but if those impressions aren’t translating into clicks, conversions, or other meaningful actions, you might need to rethink your strategy.

Impression Fraud

One dark side of impressions is the potential for fraud. Impression fraud occurs when bots or other inauthentic traffic sources artificially inflate an ad’s impression count.

This can happen through methods like:

Ad Stacking: Multiple ads are layered on top of each other in a single ad placement. Only the top ad is visible, but all the ads underneath still count as impressions.

Pixel Stuffing: Ads are crammed into a single pixel or placed in an invisible iframe. The ads load and count as impressions even though they’re not visible to users.

Click Farms: Groups of low-paid workers are hired to click on ads or watch videos repeatedly, generating fake impressions and engagements.

Impression fraud is a major problem in the digital advertising industry. It’s estimated to cost advertisers billions of dollars each year.

Fortunately, platforms like TikTok are fighting back. TikTok uses a combination of human reviewers and AI-powered systems to try to identify and filter out fraudulent traffic. They also work with third-party verification companies to audit their metrics.

As an advertiser, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself from impression fraud:

• Monitor Your Metrics: Keep a close eye on your ad metrics, especially click-through rates and conversion rates. If you’re getting a lot of impressions but very few actual engagements, that could be a red flag.

• Use TikTok’s Built-In Tools: TikTok offers a number of tools and settings to help combat fraud, like the ability to exclude certain IP addresses or limit the frequency of your ads. Make use of these tools.

• Work with Reputable Partners: If you’re working with influencers or other third-party partners on TikTok, make sure they’re reputable and have a history of driving authentic engagement.

• Be Wary of Too-Good-to-Be-True Deals: If a traffic source or ad network is promising sky-high impressions at rock-bottom prices, be skeptical. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Impression fraud is an ongoing battle, but by staying vigilant and working with trustworthy partners, you can help ensure that your TikTok impressions are authentic and meaningful.

The Future of Impressions

As digital advertising continues to evolve, the role and definition of impressions may change. We’re already seeing a shift towards more nuanced metrics that try to capture attention and engagement, not just visibility.

For example, some platforms are experimenting with time-based metrics, like dwell time (how long a user spends looking at an ad) or audible impressions (impressions where the ad’s audio was turned on). These metrics try to get at not just whether an ad was seen, but how deeply it was consumed.

We may also see more emphasis on cross-device and cross-platform measurement. As users move seamlessly between their phones, laptops, TVs, and other devices, advertisers will want ways to track impressions and engagements across all those touchpoints.

TikTok itself is constantly evolving its ad products and metrics. In 2022, for instance, they introduced the Focused View metric, which counts video views where the user watched for at least 50% of the video’s duration or for six seconds, whichever comes first. This is a more stringent standard than the standard 2-second view count.

As an advertiser, you should always stay adaptive. Keep an eye on the latest industry trends and platform updates. Be ready to adjust your strategies and KPIs as new metrics and ad formats emerge.

But through all the change, the fundamental importance of impressions is likely to remain. Whether it’s a view, a listen, or some new form of attention we haven’t imagined yet, the impression will still be the building block of digital advertising – the moment when your message has the opportunity to make an impact.

Wrap-up

Impressions are a fundamental metric in TikTok advertising, but they’re not the whole story. They measure your ads’ visibility and potential reach, but they don’t tell you everything about your ads’ performance.

To get a complete picture, you need to look at impressions in context with other metrics like clicks, conversions, and costs. You also need to be aware of issues like viewability and fraud that can impact your impression counts.

The most effective TikTok advertisers are those who take a holistic approach. They track their impressions, but they don’t stop there. They continually test and optimise their ads based on a range of KPIs, always striving to turn those impressions into meaningful business results.

As far as TikTok is concerned, impressions are just the beginning. But by understanding this metric and using it wisely, you can build ad campaigns that don’t just get seen, but get remembered, get acted on, and get results.