Create an ad

Create Ad runs a creator's original post as an ad, under the creator's handle, from an ad account you connected. A TikTok post becomes a Spark Ad; an Instagram or Facebook post becomes a partnership ad on Meta. The wizard has four steps: Post, Goal, Budget & Audience and Review. Members and above can create ads.

You need a connected ad account on the post's network (see Ads) and the creator's consent: a code from the creator, or a permission they gave you (see Ad permissions).

Where to start

• Create Ad on the Ads page opens the wizard on a post picker. It stays greyed out, with the reason on hover, until an ad account is connected, and for viewers.
• Create Spark Ad or Create Partnership Ad in the menu of a tracked post, for example on Videos, starts with that post. Without a connection on the post's network, owners and admins are taken to the integration to connect one.
• Create Ad on an Approved or Expires Soon row of Video Permissions starts from a post the creator already allowed.
• Create another ad from this post in an ad's menu reuses a post that already runs as an ad.

When you start outside the Ads page, viral.app takes you there once the ad is created.

Step 1: Post

Pick a tracked post. The picker lists your 50 newest posts and searches by caption, creator handle or post ID; type a creator's handle to reach their older posts. The chips above the list narrow it to one platform.

The post decides the network, shown under Network. Then pick the Advertiser Account (TikTok) or Ad Account (Meta) that runs and pays for the ad; only ad accounts with syncing on are listed, and a single one is picked for you. On Meta, pick the Brand Identity too when your connection granted more than one Page: the Facebook Page, and its Instagram account, the ad runs under next to the creator.

Then give the creator's consent for this post:

• TikTok: paste the creator's Authorization Code, the Spark Ads code they generate in TikTok (the video's menu, then Ad settings and Ad authorization).
• Meta: paste the creator's Partnership Ad Code. On Instagram they find it in the post's menu under Partnership label & ads, then Get partnership ad code; on Facebook under Share partnership ad code. A code covers one post.

viral.app checks the code with the network as you paste it, without using it, and shows Code for this post once the network confirms it. Next waits while a code is being checked and stays blocked while the network refuses it.

No code? Ask the creator

Under the code field, a box asks the creator for you:

• Video permission (TikTok and Instagram posts): Request Video Permission sends the request to the creator in viral.app. Send Reminder nudges them while it is open, and View Requests opens Video Permissions in a new tab.
• Creator permission (Meta): Request Creator Permission asks for partnership ads permission on the creator's whole account. They approve it in Instagram or Meta Business Suite; Check Status asks Meta again and Withdraw takes the request back.

Once the creator approves either one, the code field turns optional. An Instagram code the creator gave through viral.app is used for you, so you never paste it. When the creator can't get a request yet, the box says what to do first: Invite Creator, Assign Creator, Track Account, or Copy Steps to send them the steps yourself.

If the step asks you to reconnect, the connection cannot create ads yet: a TikTok connection without the Spark Ads permission, or a Meta connection without a Page or Instagram account. An owner or admin connects again under Integrations; syncing keeps working in the meantime.

Step 2: Goal

The goal is what the network optimizes delivery for, and it decides what the ad's Results column counts on the Ads page. A goal's settings open right under it.

• Video Views: people likely to watch the video. Nothing more to set.
• Reach: as many different people as the budget allows. Nothing more to set.
• Traffic: sends people to a website. Set the Landing Page, Optimize for (Link clicks or Landing page views, both measured without a pixel) and the Button.
• App Installs: pick the App (iOS or Android) from the ad account, Optimize for installs or an in-app event the app already reports, and the Button.
• Conversions: pick the Pixel, the Event (a pixel event or custom conversion), the Landing Page and the Button.

Events the network has not counted enough of yet show "not ready yet" and can't be picked. On TikTok, App Installs and Conversions need app and pixel access; without it they show Reconnect to unlock. Lead ads (instant forms) are not offered here, though lead ads from Ads Manager show on the Ads page.

Traffic and Conversions have Advanced Options:

• URL Parameters (up to 14) are added to the landing page on click. viral.app pre-fills UTM tags for the post: utm_source, utm_medium=paid_social, utm_campaign, utm_content (the creator's handle), utm_term (the post ID) and utm_id (the campaign ID). Values can use {campaign_id}, {campaign_name}, {ad_id}, {ad_name} and {placement}, which the network fills in.
• Attribution Window (Conversions): how long after a click or a view a conversion still counts. 7-day click and 1-day view is the default.

Step 3: Budget and audience

• Daily Budget: what the network may spend per day, in the ad account's currency, at least the network's minimum for the account.
• Duration: 1 to 30 days. The ad stops on its own at the end.
• Start: Right away, or On a date from tomorrow up to 90 days ahead. A scheduled ad starts at midnight that day, on the ad account's clock.
• Target Countries: up to 50. Pick at least one, or regions and cities instead.
• Age and Gender: an age range from 18 up to 65 and older, and All, Women or Men.

On TikTok, an ad that would run past the creator's permission is refused: shorten it, or ask the creator to renew.

Audience, Advanced Options narrow it further: Regions & Cities instead of a whole country, Languages, Interests, and the ad account's Custom Audiences to reach or exclude. Ads about housing, employment, or credit and financial products must declare a Special Ad Category; both networks then reach everyone 18 and older, so age, gender, interests and audiences lock.

Delivery, Advanced Options set how the network bids and where the ad shows:

• Bid Strategy: Highest volume gets as many results as the budget buys; Cost per result goal aims for an average cost per result below the daily budget. Reach ads don't offer a goal.
• Placements (Meta): Instagram offers Feed, Reels, Stories and Explore; Facebook offers Feed, Reels, Stories and Marketplace. The ad stays on the post's own platform, so paid views count where the post lives.
• Let Meta enhance the post (off by default) allows Advantage+ changes such as crops and filters. Multi-advertiser ads (on by default) lets Meta show the ad next to other brands' ads.
• EU Transparency (Meta, when you target an EU country): who the ad is on behalf of and who pays. Leave both empty to use the ad account's saved defaults.

Step 4: Review

Review shows every choice as the network will receive it, with an edit button for each step. Click Create Ad to submit the ad for the network's review.

Going back and picking another ad account, or a post on the other network, clears what belonged to the old account: the app, pixel and event, the budget, the targeting picks and a start date.

After you create

viral.app creates the campaign, the ad set or ad group, and the ad on your ad account. That can take up to two minutes, and the wizard stays open until it is done. Submitting the same ad again after a failure picks up the first attempt instead of creating a second ad.

The ad goes live once the network approves it, right away or on its start date, and stops on its own when the duration ends. TikTok or Meta bills the spend to the ad account you picked.

On the Ads page the ad shows up right away as Syncing, and its numbers fill in after the first sync. From there you can pause, resume, or change its budget and end date; see Ads.