This guide walks you through setting up a geo-based incrementality lift test for TikTok Ads using the WorkMagic platform with Automatic and manually configuring exclusions on TikTok Ads.
Step 1: Create a New Lift Test in WorkMagic
Navigate to the Lift Test in the WorkMagic platform.
Select "Create new lift test".
Choose your primary metric (e.g. Orders or New Customers).
Under Test channel, select TikTok Ads.
Click Continue.
Step 2: Select a Geo Pairing
Choose a recommended Geo-Pairing of control vs. test DMAs.
You will see projected percentages of total orders and sales per group.
Select one pairing that best matches your campaign scale or performance distribution.
Click Continue.
Step 3: Holdout Setup
3.1 Setup Custom Audience on TikTok Ads
To successfully implement geo-based lift tests on TikTok Ads, you’ll need to create a Premium Audience that defines your Control group using DMA (Designated Market Area) targeting. This audience is used to exclude specific regions from campaign delivery during the test period.
❗ Before applying the Custom Audience for holdout, your ad account must be whitelisted for Premium Audience. Contact your TikTok Ads Account Manager to request access.
💡 For more details, follow this article: How to Set Up a Premium Audience on TikTok Ads for Lift Testing
3.2 Automatic Holdout Setup for TikTok Ads
Create control audience on TikTok Ads (See 3.1 for instructions).
Once you set up the audience on TikTok Ads. Click I have already finished.
Select control audiences for all the accounts you want to include in the test
Make sure the audience that you select matches the Geo-pairing in the previous step, otherwise you will see an error.
Select the campaigns to apply the holdout
❗ Holdout API Limitations:
For TikTok Ads:
WorkMagic can't implement holdout to Reach & Frequency Campaign due to API limitation of TikTok Ads.
3.3 Manual Holdout Setup for TikTok Ads
Create control audience on TikTok Ads (See 3.1 for instructions).
After custom audiences created:
Go to the TikTok Ads Manager and locate all campaigns included in the test.
At the Ad Group level, click Edit.
In the Targeting section, go to the "Audience" field. Choose Exclude.
Choose the Custom tab and select the custom audience you just created in the previous step.
Confirm the changes and click Save.
Go back to WorkMagic interface and click Finish and continue.
Step 4: Define Your Test Schedule
Set the start and end dates of your lift test.
Testing period and Cooling period are automatically defined.
Click Continue.
Step 5: Review and Finalize
The Test Name is automatically defined (e.g., 20250416 - TikTok - 5% Shopify Orders), you can edit the name if needed.
Review all configurations:
Purpose
Primary Metric
Geo Pairing
Holdout setup reminder
Scheduling
If all looks correct, click Schedule now.