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Tiktok Advertising Cost: How Much Do Tiktok Ads Cost?

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Oct 05, 2023

Running an advertising campaign on social media platforms has proven to be one of the most efficient ways to reach a brand’s objectives.

Modern advertising campaigns have focused on social media advertising for an obvious reason: it brings great and tangible results.

But what about TikTok campaigns?

TikTok is the most downloaded mobile app in the world (Statista), with over 672 million worldwide downloads in 2022.

Nobody has doubts about the huge potential of TikTok, but how much do TikTok ads cost? Let’s find out.

TikTok Ads Campaign: An Overview

TikTok ads are run via the TikTok Business Platform, and they work via auction-based advertising.

The auction-based TikTok Ads platform works similarly to the auction systems on other popular social media platforms, where the bidding strategy decides the actual cost of acquisition.

Many brands that advertise on TikTok focus their marketing budget on identifying the best ways to reach their target audiences.

To understand the true potential of the TikTok social media platform in marketing strategies, let’s check out the following three relevant statistics:

  1. There will be almost 17 million TikTok users in 2024 only in the United Kingdom (Statista), which represents a massive growth if compared to other platforms.
  2. TikTok users demonstrate that they are hooked to the platform - the average TikTok user spends 95 minutes daily on the app (SensorTower).
  3. TikTok ads can potentially reach over 1.080 million adults (over the age of 18) in just one month (DataReportal).

How Much Do TikTok Ads Cost?

TikTok auction ads vary their price based on many different factors, such as format, budget, and audience.

Let’s check how much TikTok ads cost in 2023 based on the current official info:

  1. The cost per click of TikTok ads in 2023 ranges from $0.50 to $1.
  2. Normally, TikTok ads cost around $10 per CPM (cost per 1000 views).
  3. Both of these prices can vary depending on the type of TikTok campaign, ad format, demographics, and more.

Therefore, auction-based TikTok ads have varying prices that are decided at the beginning of the TikTok advertising campaigns.

3 Factors that Influence TikTok Advertising Costs

There are two ways to pay for an ad campaign on TikTok: daily or lifetime budget.

Both of these options have different minimum budget spents that vary based on factors that we’ll mention below.

Typically, these minimum spends look like this:

  1. The minimum daily budget of a TikTok ad campaign ranges from $5 to $20 per day.
  2. The minimum budget for a lifetime campaign ranges from $50 to $140 per campaign.

TikTok’s Ad Creation platform shows you a more accurate idea of the money companies can potentially spend if they decide to run ads on TikTok.

Moreover, there are three main factors that influence ad budgets on TikTok.

1. TikTok Ad Campaigns Goals

There are four different campaign goals that can be set inside the ad creation platform:

  1. Traffic Goals, to send more people to a certain destination within your website or online platform.
  2. Community Interaction , where you aim at getting more page follows, profile visits, and organic engagement with your predetermined audience segments.
  3. Lead generation , where companies aim at getting more leads by getting information from potential customers.
  4. Website Conversions, which aims at driving valuable actions on your website depending on your business objectives.

All of these goals are different from each other, and depending on the goal chosen, the TikTok advertising budget can go up or down.

2. TikTok Ad Formats and Types

There are different ad formats on TikTok, such as the following:

  1. Spark Ads: The Spark Ads Format creates ads from an existing video, and are meant to spark curiosity in viewers.
  2. Brand Takeover Ads: Brand takeover ads appear on the satire screen and can’t be skipped until a few seconds pass.
  3. In-Feed Ads: In-Feed Ads are classic video ads that appear on the user’s For You Page.
  4. Collection Ads: Collection Ads lead users to image ads by tapping on certain parts of the screen.
  5. TikTok Reservation Ads: TikTok Reservation Ads are booked through ad agencies and have better overall ad placement.
  6. Carousel Ads: Carousel Ads gather different image ads into the same playable ads format.

All of these ad types, including in-feed video ads or spark ads, have different ad placements that vary based on the needs of the company.

3. TikTok Target Audience and Demographics

The location of your target audience, their ages, and other demographic data heavily influence the final cost of TikTok ads.

Clearly, running advertising campaigns in certain countries is cheaper ( or more expensive ) than running campaigns in other locations.

This applies to other social platforms as well, so it is not something exclusive to TikTok.

TikTok Ads vs. Other Social Media Platforms Ads

Running ads on other social media platforms is also a great way to get to your audience, but how do ads on other platforms compare to TikTok ads when it comes to prices?

  1. TikTok Ads vs. Linkedin Ads: Overall, the average price of LinkedIn ads ranges from $8 to $11 per click, which makes them way costlier than TikTok ads.
  2. TikTok Ads vs. Meta Ads: Meta ads tend to be cheaper than TikTok ads. Ads that run on Facebook and Instagram prices range from $0.18 to $1 per click.
  3. TikTok Ads vs. Google Ads: The average cost of Google ads per click ranges from $2 to $4.

However, it is worth noting that, once again, the prices of ads on social media platforms are heavily different based on the aforementioned factors and many other variables.

Are TikTok Ads Worth It?

TikTok is a massive player in the social media game - as mentioned before, it has thousands of users ready to watch and interact with your content.

But are TikTok ads worth it? There are three factors to determine whether a TikTok ads campaign is worth it or not.

1. TikTok Ad Spend Budget

Not all companies have the same budget - some brands might end up failing to optimize their marketing resources by overpaying for TikTok ads.

In general, the budget for the daily or campaign-level ad strategy should be analyzed by marketing specialists in order to determine the effectiveness of the campaign.

2. TikTok Ads Campaign Objective and Goals

Since objectives, goals, and milestones vary from company to company , some industries will have better results with TikTok ads than others.

Before advertising on TikTok, it is imperative to consider the overall goals of the brand. This way, it is possible to infer whether the ad campaign will be successful or not.

3. Content Quality and Campaign Analysis

TikTok users are constantly craving for creative and unique content. This leads to the following question: Is your TikTok ad creative enough to appeal to your audience?

Different audience segments engage in their own unique ways with ads, so this is something that should always be taken into account.

Likewise, marketers can determine the course of an unsuccessful or successful campaign on TikTok by accessing TikTok Analytics and the TikTok Ads Manager option.

This feature provides outstanding data points and unique insights about the impact of the ads campaign at a measurable level.

3 Alternatives to a TikTok Ad Campaign

Some companies can find TikTok ads campaigns to be very cost-effective, whereas others will simply not fully enjoy the benefits created by these campaigns.

In this case, it is worth taking a look at three real alternatives to paid TikTok ad campaigns.

1. Organic TikTok Content Strategies

Growing your own TikTok channel ( as a company ) has proven to be a reliable strategy that brings organic results over time.

By creating consistent and engaging content , brands can get in touch with their audiences organically and efficiently.

It is important to participate in trends, use popular sounds, and find the best way to get to your audience by creating original content on your TikTok brand channel.

2. User-Generated Content Campaigns

TikTok is more than just an advertising platform - it’s a free space where people from all over the world merge together and interact with each other.

If your audience is into your brand’s product or service, you can take advantage of UGC campaigns.

On TikTok, user-generated content refers to contests, challenges, hashtag challenges format, and more.

As your audience interacts with your brand (by having a previously set motivation, such as rewards or recognition), they create the content you need to make your voice heard on TikTok.

3. TikTok Influencer Marketing

Working with TikTok influencers can be the key to success without solely relying on TikTok ads.

TikTok Influencers have predetermined audiences that you might want to reach, and if they are aligned with the goals of your company, then the results can be wonderful.

One of the biggest bottlenecks faced by companies who want to start influencer campaigns on TikTok is finding the right influencers.

Thanks to Hypetrace, you can search database of nano, micro, macro, and mega influencers to collaborate with.

After finding genuine influencers, setting an influencer marketing budget and starting the campaign can potentially bring the results you are looking for.

As you can see, the prices of TikTok ads can vary based on a series of factors that need to be considered before starting a campaign.

Luckily, the alternatives are there - TikTok is the medium to reach millions of potential customers , and TikTok ads, influencers, organic campaigns, or USG are the bridges that will connect your brand with them.

FAQ

How Much Are TikTok Ads Per Day?

The daily price of TikTok ads vary from $5 to $20. This can change depending on your ads goals, audience demographics, ad types, and other factors mentioned above.