Helping Small and Medium Businesses Achieve Their Full Marketing Potential | Digital Marketing Expert
How Much Do TikTok Ads Cost?
If you’ve been toying with the idea of using TikTok to market your brand, service, or product, then it’s likely you’ve also been wondering how much it’ll cost.
TikTok is an effective platform for reaching your target audience, and with billions of users, you’ll surely find a way to connect using its many ad options.
Understanding the pricing can be a little tricky, but don’t worry – we’ll break down everything you need to know about TikTok ad costs to ensure you make the right decision.
Why Use TikTok to Advertise?
TikTok is by far the fastest-growing social media platform and boasts a huge active user population–over a billion! It has a unique format that allows brands to connect quickly and effectively with global demographics through creative content.
The platform is known for its selective and reactive algorithm, which is great at locating niche audiences. This makes it far easier for businesses to target customers based on specific interests and behaviours instead of broader, less-defined demographics.
TikTok Ads & Pricing
Each of TikTok’s ad formats offers businesses particular benefits and comes with varying costs. Let’s take a look at these various formats to help you better decide which one aligns with your business objectives.
1. In-Feed Ads
These ads appear as regular TikTok videos and will be marked as sponsored. As users scroll through their feed, In-Feed Ads, as the name suggests, will appear amongst native, organic content.
In-Feed Ads lets you add a clickable link to drive traffic to an eCommerce store, app installs or a landing page. Think of your clickable link as a bridge; it’ll lead customers wherever you’d like them to go.
- Cost: The average Cost Per Mille/Cost Per 1,000 Impressions (CPM) is approximately £6.30. The minimum daily budget is £50 at the campaign level, and when setting an Ad-set budget, the minimum cost is £20 at the ad group level.
2. Brand Takeover
Brand Takeovers are immediate, full-screen attention-grabbers. They appear as soon as a user opens TikTok and are exclusive to one brand per day in each category.
- Cost:<These ads are a premium option and have a premium price tag to match. The estimated minimum cost is £32,700 per day, give or take.
3. TopView Ads
These ads appear at the top of a user’s feed and play after exactly three seconds instead of appearing immediately. They’re often seen as less intrusive than Brand Takeover Ads and encourage organic engagement with their placement.
- Cost: Similar to brand Takeover Ads, TopView ads are a premium option for businesses with a significant advertising budget at hand. Their costs often exceed Brand Takeovers, with an estimated price of £65,000 per day.
4. Branded Hashtag Challenge
Brand Hashtag Challenges are a great way to advertise your brand by encouraging users to engage and participate in campaigns by creating content with a specified hashtag. These challenges often last six days and can generate huge traction through user-generated content.
- Cost: Running a Branded Hashtag Challenge is estimated to cost £120,000 for a six-day campaign.
5. Branded Effects
This ad format utilises filters, lenses and stickers that users can apply to their content. This can inspire engagement while promoting your brand by enhancing the experience of TikTok’s users.
Although they may not drive customer footfall directly to a desired destination, they work great to build a brand’s image and expand your business’ reach.
- Cost: The cost of branded effects can be anywhere between £19,500 and £62,200.
What Influences the Cost of TikTok Ads?
There are several factors at play when TikTok decides how much an ad will cost. Let’s have a look at them:
Target Audience:
Cost will be higher depending on how specific and niche your target audience is. Directly targeting an age, location, or interest is generally more costly than focusing on broader demographics.
Timing:
Timing is everything, and TikTok knows it. Costs can rise and fall depending on demand and peak times. An example would be Christmas, where prices are expected to increase due to businesses competing for ad space and customers.
Bidding Strategy:
Brands have some control over the costs of their ads and can select several bidding strategies to align with their budget. These include cost cap, bid cap and lowest cost.
Bear in mind that your choice in bidding strategy will affect where TikTok places your ads, with businesses that pay more getting priority.
Creative Quality:
The higher the creative quality of your ad, the more likely it is that TikTok’s algorithm will love it. TikTok has a preference for engaging content, so investing in high-quality content that resonates with your target audience is essential.
How Does TikTok Charge for Ads?
TikTok has three ways of charging advertisers that choose to use its platform. These are:
- CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions): You’ll pay every time your ad is shown 1,000 times.
- CPA (Cost Per Action): You’ll pay when your ad elicits a user to take a desired action, such as visiting your website, downloading an app or making a purchase directly from TikTok via the TikTok Shop.
- CPC (Cost Per Click): You’ll pay each time a user clicks on your ad.
Can I Afford TikTok Ads as a Small/Medium-Sized Business?
Of course! Although the costs for TikTok’s ad formats may seem daunting at first glance, small to medium-sized businesses can still experience success when using the platform.
In-Feed Ads can allow you to start with a budget of £20, perfect for smaller campaigns. Over time, as you grow, you might find yourself increasing your daily spending.
There is also the option of using TikTok Promote to boost your organic content in the right direction. This in-app feature can provide small businesses with a budget-friendly option for promoting their posts.
Another great way for small and medium-sized businesses to become a TikTok competitor is to partner with a team specialised in TikTok marketing – like us! The Good Marketer excels in helping business owners just like you. Get in touch today, and let’s get you TikToking to success!