Connect TikTok

Connect a TikTok Business account and its direct messages land in the Inbox, next to every other channel. Comments under your videos can be answered automatically with a public reply, a private message and a like. Connect TikTok Ads as well to answer comments under your ads. Distribution rules, flows and the AI assistant work as on other channels.

For buyer chats and orders from your shop, see TikTok Shop instead.

What it supports

Before you start

• A TikTok Business account. To switch a personal account, open the TikTok app and go to Profile → menu → Settings and privacy → Account → Switch to Business Account.
• An admin login of that account.
• Direct messages allowed from everyone in the TikTok app. Otherwise new messages wait for you to accept them in the app.
• The account is not registered in the EU, Switzerland or the UK: TikTok does not offer business messaging there.
• The Manage level on the Customer Support module, and at least one website under Customer Support → Channels.

Connect the account

1. Go to Customer Support → Channels, click Add channel and pick TikTok under Social.
2. If the business has several websites, choose one under Attach new connections to site.
3. Click Connect TikTok. Sign in to TikTok and allow Ha Tang to read your profile and videos, read and send messages, and read and manage comments.
4. Back in Customer Support → Channels, the account appears under Social as @username with the status Active.

Connect TikTok Ads (optional)

To answer comments under your ads:

1. On the same TikTok page of the catalogue, click Connect TikTok Ads.
2. Sign in to TikTok for Business and authorize your ad accounts.
3. Each ad account appears as its own row with the Ads badge.

If the TikTok login manages no ad accounts, the connection fails with "This TikTok account manages no ad accounts".

TikTok's send limits

TikTok limits what a business can send to one customer:

• up to 10 messages within 48 hours of the customer's last message;
• after 48 hours, up to 3 more messages until the customer writes again.

Messages from agents, bots and the TikTok app all count. When the limit is reached, the message is not sent and the conversation gets an internal note. Keep messages short and end with a question, so the customer replies and the count starts over.

TikTok also only lets you reply after the customer has written to you. To start a conversation from a comment, turn on the private message in comment auto-replies.

Comment auto-replies

Each TikTok account and each Ads account has an Auto-reply to comments tab next to Connection on its page. Tick Turn on comment auto-replies, choose the videos (tick All posts, or paste video links such as https://www.tiktok.com/@shop/video/7351234567890123456, one per line; ad ids for an Ads account), and pick the Public reply: A random line from below or Written by the AI from the comment. For video comments you can also tick Message the commenter privately and Like comments automatically. Click Save.

What is specific to TikTok:

• Ha Tang checks for new comments every 5 minutes. With All posts, it looks at the account's 10 most recent videos.
• Each person gets at most one public reply per video per 24 hours.
• Ad comments only get a public reply: no private message and no like.
• Comments on TikTok LIVE are not supported.

The settings are the same as for Facebook and Instagram. See Comment auto-replies for each option.

Distribution and automation

To send TikTok conversations to one team, tick TikTok under a distribution rule's Channels (none ticked = any). Flows, the AI assistant and reports apply as on other channels, within TikTok's send limits.

Reconnecting and disconnecting

Ha Tang renews the TikTok session on its own every hour. If TikTok stops accepting it, for example because you removed Ha Tang's access in TikTok, the account's status changes to Needs reconnecting: click Reconnect on its page. See Reconnect a channel.

Click Disconnect at the bottom of the account's page to stop new messages. Past conversations are kept, and connecting the same account again in the same business keeps its history and settings.

Troubleshooting

Other problems:

• No messages arrive. Check that the account allows messages from everyone and is not registered in the EU, Switzerland or the UK.
• Comments are not answered. Check that the rule is turned on, that the video is among the 10 most recent (or listed by link), and that the keyword filter matches. Allow up to 5 minutes.