If you want to publicize your product or services through social media, Facebook and TikTok are among the two main platforms to consider. TikTok has more than 1 billion monthly active users, while Facebook has almost triple that number, and both platforms thrive on ads. They provide tools and analytics that make it easy for you to place your ad and analyze its performance.
You don’t have to be an avid TikToker to place an ad there, but it helps to know the platform. However, you will need to understand how both platforms work for advertisers and decide which one best suits your needs.
This article will compare the main differences between TikTok ads and Facebook ads, how they perform, and how much you’ll typically spend on them.
TikTok Ads vs Facebook Ads: Differences
There are four main aspects of an ad that you’ll need to review: format, targeting, costs, and performance.
TikTok Ads vs Facebook Ads: Ad Formats
Both platforms offer ad placement in multiple formats. For some campaigns, an image ad makes a lot of sense, while for others, a video is more suitable. Below is a comparison of the different formats offered by the two platforms.
Facebook ad formats
Facebook offers seven broad ad formats:
- Display Ads: Have you ever seen an attractive image that entices you to click? Display ads are simply that, an image with attractive text.
- Video Ads – This is also what it sounds like, engaging video and copy.
- Carousel Ads: Imagine a mini gallery that your audience can’t resist scrolling through. Carousel ads consist of scrolling images or videos assembled into a single ad.
- Collection Ads: A combination of images or videos with a cover image showing multiple products.
- Slideshow Ads: Ads that use a series of images or videos to create a slideshow-like format. The slideshow usually advanced automatically, unlike carousel ads.
- Instant Experience Ads: Full-screen mobile ads that provide an immersive experience, including images, videos, and interactive elements.
- Messenger Ads: This type of ad appears randomly in the Messenger app and allows your target audience to start a conversation with you.
TikTok ad formats
TikTok is a video-only platform, so unsurprisingly, it doesn’t offer as many options as Facebook when it comes to ad formats, but nevertheless, there are several ways that people typically promote their products on TikTok. Here are some:
- In-Feed Ads: These types of ads work similarly to ads on Facebook. They appear randomly among other content on TikTok.
- Brand Takeover Ads: That first ad you notice the moment you launch your TikTok app is a brand takeover ad. It is expensive, but there is a guarantee that it will not be buried among other content.
- TopView Ads: These are like brand acquisition ads, but they take longer to disappear.
- TikTok Live Ads: Live ads don’t leave your audience an escape route when they appear during a TikTok live video.
TikTok has more alternative ways for your brand to reach a wider audience. While these methods are marketing, they are not exactly “ads” in the true sense of the word:
- Branded Hashtag Challenges – These are not exactly ads, but it is a way to promote your brand. Get the TikTok community buzzing by creating unique hashtag challenges, inviting users to participate by creating and sharing their own videos.
- Branding Effects: You have to get creative for this one. You create filters, stickers and special effects with your brand or logo. Users can then add them to their videos.
- Influencer Marketing: With this, you leverage the influence of popular TikTok creators, urging them to promote your product.
TikTok Ads vs Facebook Ads: Ad Targeting
One of the key differences between Facebook and Tiktok is in their targeting options. Targeting, in simple terms, is how you make sure you don’t waste money showing your ads to the wrong people. Most advertising providers charge you to show your ad a certain number of times.
With targeting, you can avoid sending your ad to a random person who has no interest in your brand. Instead, you can show it only to high school players living in Asia (if that’s your particular niche) or any similar description of your target audience. It reduces the reach of your ad, but this is a good thing. If your ad is targeted exactly to the people who are most likely to use your services, you are more likely to get a better return on your ad investment.
Facebook vs. TikTok Targeting Options
Facebook arguably has the most advanced targeting options of all the popular social networks. Advanced targeting options save you money by describing the exact type of person you want to show your ads to. Here are some of the targeting options you may find:
- Location Targeting
- Demographic targeting
- Interest orientation
- Behavioral Guidance
- Orientation to life events
- Workplace orientation
Facebook also has some advanced options, such as similar audience targeting that sets up an audience close to your existing user base.
TikTok has similar options for location, demographics, behavior, and interests, but the options for connections and workplaces are not as advanced.
TikTok Ads vs Facebook Ads: Cost of Advertising
It is extremely difficult to accurately compare the cost of ads on platforms like Facebook and TikTok because it can vary depending on several factors, such as ad format, targeting options, audience demographics, competition, and campaign goals. .
The most accurate method to measure ad cost is by using metrics such as cost per click (CPC) and cost per thousand views (CPM).
The average cost per click (CPC) on Facebook is around $1.84, while the average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) is around $14.20. On TikTok, the average cost per click (CPC) is around $1.63, while the average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) is around $10.5.
TikTok’s advertising costs, for example, may be lower, but don’t forget that Facebook has about three times as many monthly active users as TikTok.
On the other hand, while Facebook boasts of having more users, let’s remember that TikTok has a greater concentration of younger users. Therefore, choosing a platform should ultimately depend on what your target audience plans to promote.
TikTok Ads vs Facebook Ads: Ad Performance
The usual way to measure ad performance is through a metric called CTR (click-through rate). CTR is measured by piding the number of clicks on your ad by the number of times your ad is shown to users.
CTR may vary depending on your industry, audience, ad type, and campaign objective.
According to WordStream, the highest CTR for Facebook ads is in the Pets & Animals industry, at 1.68%, while the lowest CTR is in the Technology industry, at 0.47%.
Generally, the average CTR of Facebook ads across industries is around 0.8%.
TikTok, on the other hand, has an average CTR of around 0.5%. This means that users are generally more likely to click on a link from a Facebook ad than from a TikTok ad.
The higher CTR on Facebook can be linked to the fact that simply optimizing your ad copy gives you a higher chance of getting a click on it. On TikTok, you have to offer great visual content, which is a little more difficult, and have a younger audience that has a shorter attention span and brand awareness.
Choose the right platform for your ad
Choosing the right platform for your promotions can be a challenging task. Carefully research your options considering your budget and target audience, or seek help from a professional advertising management company.
Have you used ads on Facebook or TikTok? Tell us your experience, challenges and conclusions in the comments p.
