How to set up the TikTok Conversion API?

As privacy regulations tighten and client-side tracking becomes increasingly unreliable, marketers are losing visibility into performance and struggling to optimize their campaigns. Traditional tracking methods like pixels are often blocked by browsers, firewalls, and mobile operating systems, leading to underreported conversions and inefficient spend.

The TikTok Conversions API solves this challenge by enabling server-to-server data sharing between your backend systems and TikTok. This server-side connection allows you to send consented first-party conversion data, such as purchases, signups, or app installs, securely and reliably, even when browser signals fail.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through setting up the TikTok Conversions API using Hightouch so you can deliver better signals to TikTok, improve your event match rate, and drive stronger return on ad spend (ROAS) with privacy-resilient measurement.

How to set up TikTok conversion API?

1. Connect to your data source

Start by creating a Hightouch account. Once you're logged in:

• Navigate to the Integrations, then Sources.
• Select the data source that contains your event and customer data. This could be a data warehouse like Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, or a database like Postgres or MySQL.
• Enter your configuration details, such as credentials and hostnames, to authenticate your data source.

Hightouch will validate your connection and give you access to the schema for building your data model.

2. Define your data model

Next, define the event data you want to send to TikTok. You can do this in three ways:

• SQL Editor: Write custom SQL to join and transform data for precise control.
• Table Selector: Choose pre-built tables and columns directly without needing SQL.
• Visual Audience Builder: Use a no-code interface to filter and segment your data based on behavior, properties, or timestamps.

This data model acts as the source of truth for what gets sent to TikTok. Typical fields include user identifiers (email, phone), event names (purchase, signup), and metadata (value, currency, timestamp).

3. Create a TikTok conversion destination

Now it’s time to connect Hightouch to TikTok:

• Go to the Integrations, then Destinations.
• Click Add Destination and select TikTok.
• Log in to TikTok to authorize the connection.

4. Send conversions to TikTok

Finally, you’ll configure your sync:

• Got to Activation, then Syncs.
• Click Add sync.
• Choose the model you created and your TikTok destination.
• Map the data fields in your model to TikTok’s expected parameters
• Run your sync.

What is the TikTok conversions API?

The TikTok Conversions API (also known as the TikTok Events API) is an alternative to traditional browser-based pixels and JavaScript tags. It provides a more accurate, resilient, and privacy-conscious way to send conversion data back to TikTok. Rather than relying on web scripts that run in a user’s browser, which are increasingly limited by ad blockers, network instability, and privacy regulations, the TikTok Conversions API delivers events server-side, directly from your backend to TikTok.

This direct integration lets you fully control the user-completed events and associated values you share with TikTok, giving you greater flexibility, transparency, and customization. You can enrich your events with first-party data like email, phone number, and IP address to improve match rates and attribution accuracy. It also allows for advanced use cases such as offline conversions, funnel stage tracking, and deduplicated event reporting.

By using the TikTok Conversions API, you unlock more reliable optimization, stronger performance insights, and better alignment with TikTok’s algorithmic bidding. This ensures your campaigns are optimized toward the business outcomes that matter most, even in a privacy-first digital landscape.

Benefits of using TikTok conversion API

The TikTok Conversions API (Events API) offers advertisers a more accurate, resilient, and privacy-compliant way to send conversion data to TikTok. Unlike browser-based tracking methods that rely on pixels and JavaScript tags, the Conversions API sends events directly from your server, helping you reduce data loss and improve campaign performance, even in an environment where third-party cookies and mobile identifiers are disappearing.

• Lower your Cost Per Result (CPR) by up to 13%: The TikTok Conversions API improves the quality of the signals TikTok uses to optimize ad delivery by minimizing signal loss and delivering more complete event data. Stronger event signals help the algorithm better match your ads to high-intent audiences, improving clickthrough and conversion rates. This leads to more efficient bidding and lowers your cost per result across campaigns.
• Increase attributed purchase events by up to 19%: Browser-based tracking is often disrupted by ad blockers, privacy settings, or slow network conditions, which means conversions go unreported. With the TikTok Conversions API, events are sent directly from your server, making them less susceptible to client-side disruptions. This ensures more conversions are captured and correctly attributed, which improves campaign learning and optimization.
• Boost your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Higher-quality conversion data allows TikTok’s optimization engine to make smarter decisions about where to allocate your budget. By sending enriched first-party data and complete event payloads, you help the platform target high-value users more effectively, driving better performance for every dollar spent.
• Unlock better measurement and attribution: Server-side tracking gives you full control over what data is shared with TikTok and how it is structured. You can include offline conversions, enrich events with custom fields such as product type or funnel stage, and implement deduplication logic to avoid double-counting events. This gives you a clearer picture of what’s driving real business outcomes and how to optimize accordingly.
• Future-proof campaigns against privacy changes: As mobile platforms and browsers increase their restrictions on tracking, such as Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) and Android’s Privacy Sandbox, the TikTok Conversions API provides a reliable alternative that doesn’t rely on volatile client-side signals. By delivering first-party data directly from your server, you can continue optimizing and measuring your campaigns even in a privacy-first advertising landscape.

What's the difference between a pixel & the TikTok conversions API?

A traditional pixel runs within the user’s browser or mobile application and automatically sends conversion events back to TikTok when an action is detected, such as a purchase, form submission, or page view. While pixels are relatively easy to implement, their effectiveness has declined as browsers, operating systems, and users adopt stricter privacy controls. Ad blockers, cookie restrictions, and mobile privacy settings can prevent pixel-based events from reaching TikTok.

The TikTok Conversions API (Events API) addresses these challenges by allowing you to send conversion data directly from your server to TikTok, bypassing the browser entirely. This server-side approach gives you greater control over what data is sent, how it’s structured, and when it’s delivered, ensuring more reliable measurement, enhanced attribution accuracy, and stronger campaign optimization.

Though slightly more technical, the TikTok Conversions API offers long-term advantages for advertisers who want resilient tracking, better privacy compliance, and richer optimization signals.

Here’s a quick table highlighting the difference between a traditional web pixel and the TikTok Conversions API:

Why are companies switching to conversion APIs?

Client-side tracking is becoming increasingly unreliable due to the rise of ad blockers, browser privacy features like Safari’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP), and operating system-level restrictions such as Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT). As a result, traditional web pixels can no longer guarantee accurate conversion tracking.

Major ad platforms, including TikTok, are introducing server-side Conversion APIs to address this. These APIs give advertisers a more dependable way to send conversion data, helping ensure campaigns remain measurable and optimizable despite growing privacy constraints.

Here are a few reasons why advertisers are adopting the TikTok Conversions API:

• Offline conversion tracking: Capture and send conversions that don’t happen online, such as in-store purchases, phone orders, or offline CRM activity. This is especially valuable for B2C retailers and B2B companies that track sales stages or lead progression outside the website.
• Advanced matching: Improve TikTok’s ability to match conversion events to users by enriching your event data with first-party attributes like email, phone number, and zip code, as well as system identifiers like IP address or user-agent. This boosts your Event Match Quality (EMQ) and ensures more conversions are correctly attributed.
• Value-based bidding: Send monetary values tied to each conversion so TikTok can optimize not just for quantity but also for value. By unlocking value-based bidding, the algorithm can bid more aggressively for high-value actions and less for low-value ones, improving return on ad spend.

TikTok CAPI use cases

With the TikTok Conversions API, you can tailor your setup and bidding strategy to align with your business objectives. Whether focused on driving more conversions, increasing revenue, or maximizing profit, TikTok’s Events API allows you to send the data needed to optimize campaigns accordingly.

Optimize for conversion volume

To optimize for conversion volume, configure your setup to send conversion events without attaching revenue or monetary values. These events represent actions like purchases, signups, or applications, which aim to increase quantity. Use TikTok’s Maximize Conversions or Lower CPA bidding strategies to drive the highest conversions at the lowest cost per result.

Optimize for conversion value

To optimize for conversion value, send the gross revenue associated with each conversion event, such as the order or subscription amount. TikTok’s Maximize Conversion Value or Target ROAS bidding strategies will aim to increase total revenue from your ads rather than just the number of actions.

Optimize for financial outcome

To optimize for financial outcomes like profit or customer lifetime value, calculate and send the predicted financial value of each conversion. This could be estimated profit margins, post-cost revenue, or LTV. Then use TikTok’s Maximize Conversion Value or Target ROI bidding strategies to align ad spend with real business performance.

What events does the TikTok conversions API support?

TikTok supports two types of events: standard events and custom events.

Standard events are predefined actions that TikTok recommends for commonly tracked conversion behaviors across various industries. These events align with TikTok’s optimization algorithms and ensure the best performance, as their AI models are trained specifically on these event types.

Custom events, on the other hand, are user-defined and allow you to track actions that aren’t included in TikTok’s standard taxonomy. These are useful for tracking business-specific interactions, but should be mapped back to standard events whenever possible to help TikTok’s delivery system optimize more effectively.

Here’s a breakdown of the most common standard and custom events supported by the TikTok Conversions API:

FAQS

Where can I access the TikTok conversions API?

You can read more about the TikTok Conversions API (also referred to as the Events API) in TikTok’s official developer documentation. Depending on your implementation method, you may also need to coordinate with TikTok’s support team or a TikTok account representative to get started, particularly for advanced use cases or enterprise access.

How do I check if the TikTok conversions API is working?

You can confirm that the API is functioning by monitoring your server logs for successful API responses and checking TikTok’s Events Manager to verify event receipt. Once you’ve integrated your events, run a campaign and check if your conversions are being attributed correctly. Note: If you don’t see any conversions, the issue might not be technical, your campaign may simply not be converting yet.

What match rate should I expect from the TikTok conversions API?

Match rates vary based on the completeness and accuracy of the identifiers you send. You can improve your match rate by including a mix of system attributes (e.g., IP address, user-agent), customer attributes (e.g., email, phone number), and pseudonymous identifiers (e.g., Click ID, Mobile Ad ID). TikTok provides feedback on match performance through the Events Manager dashboard, which includes suggestions for increasing match quality.

How often should I upload conversions?

TikTok processes conversion data in near real-time, but to give its optimization algorithms the freshest possible signals, it’s best practice to upload your conversion events daily. Frequent, consistent uploads help maintain learning accuracy and improve bidding performance.

What data should I include when uploading conversion events?

Each conversion event should contain key parameters that allow TikTok to accurately match, attribute, and optimize based on your business goals. These include:

• System Event Parameters: Core attributes that specify what happened (e.g., event name, event ID) and when (e.g., event timestamp).
• Consent Parameters: Indicators that communicate how user data should be processed, in compliance with regional data protection laws and user preferences.
• Customer Information Parameters: Enrichments like hashed email, phone number, mobile ad ID, and click ID that help match the event to TikTok users.
• Conversion Value Parameters: Monetary values such as revenue, LTV, or margin allow TikTok to optimize for value, not just volume.

How long does it take for your conversion data to be available in TikTok?

While TikTok receives the data immediately via API, it may take up to 24 hours to process and reflect in your campaign performance reports. Timing can vary depending on the volume of events, enrichment quality, and TikTok’s internal processing windows.

Does the TikTok conversions API have rate limits?

TikTok’s Conversions API does not have publicly documented hard rate limits, but performance and throughput may vary depending on your account tier, access method, and data volume. For best practices and technical specs, refer to TikTok’s API documentation or consult with TikTok support for guidance on batching and sending events at scale.