There's no denying that the TikTok app is one of the most popular social media platforms nowadays with over one billion active monthly users across the globe. For comparison, Snapchat has about 500 million monthly active users, while Twitter has about 300 million.
However, despite this fact, many businesses still underestimate the power of this social media app, which is a big mistake.
Just take a look at the #Tiktokmademebuyit hashtag, which at the time of writing this article, has over 33 billion views. So, it's safe to say that if your target audience includes mostly younger people, especially those between 13 and 40 years old, then you should definitely at least consider TikTok advertising.
But how much does it cost to start advertising on TikTok? That's what we will be talking about in this article.
Although TikTok has been around for close to five years now, it took them a while to enter the ads market, and since then they have created their own TikTok ads manager. However, the thing with TikTok advertising is that you first need to assess whether it is the right choice for you and your audience.
While other platforms, for example, Facebook, usually have representatives of almost all age groups within their users, TikTok is mostly dominated by Gen Z and Millenials. In fact, according to statistics from November 2022, 62% of TikTok's users are under the age of 30. Users over 40 make up about 21% of all users.
So, consider who is your target audience - if you're targeting Gen Z or Millennials, Tiktok advertising will probably be an ideal solution. If, on the other hand, your target audience is Baby Boomers, then it's better to consider another social media marketing strategy.
Once you establish that TikTok advertising is the right choice for your business, you need to understand what different types of TikTok ads there are:
The paid TikTok advertising program is probably the most official of all the types of ads on TikTok. There are three main types that you can choose from:
Generally speaking, those are video ads - however, you can choose static image ads if you prefer as well. So, let's talk a bit more about them.
As you can imagine, those are ads that show up on users' For You Page as they scroll. They support Calls to Action in the sense that you can redirect the user to your website, or for example, App Store or Google Play if your goal is app installs.
Those ads show up on a user's For You Page as soon as they open the app, before any other video. Since TikTok has a limit of one advertiser allowed per day, the spots for this type of ad are a lot more limited than for an in-feed ad, which also reflects in the cost.
When deciding on a brand takeover ad, you should remember that your ad needs to be of high-quality and makes people want to redirect to your page - otherwise, you will spend money for nothing.
Tiktok challenges are great for brands because of how much user-generated content you can generate. Sure, you have to pay for the ads to get started, but after that, every video that users create to participate in the trend is basically free publicity.
First things first, we need to mention that there is a minimum requirement for the TikTok campaigns - you need to spend at least $500. It is also still quite difficult to find clear information about how much exactly a Tiktok Ads campaign will cost you.
The TikTok ads' cost starts at $10 per CPM, which is the cost per mille or cost per 1000 views. CPC (Cost per Click), on the other hand, will probably cost you somewhere around $1, although that depends on bidding. Brand takeover's reported cost is about $50,000 per day.
As for the hashtag challenge and branded hashtag ads - this is the most expensive type of TikTok ad, as you have to pay a flat fee of $150,000 for the first six days of the challenge. However, that's not all, as you will also need to invest money into promoting the challenge, which will most likely cost you anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000.
Finally, we have the cost of working with influencers. It's hard to say how much exactly you will pay for that, as every influencer has their own rates.
It also depends on how much content you want them to produce for your brand and whether you want them to also post on their other social media, such as Instagram and so on. However, on average, you can expect to pay between $500 and $10,000 for an influencer's collaboration.
That depends mostly on who your target audience is. If they are part of the TikTok community, and especially if they're younger, then you should go for it. TikTok ads are probably the most effective ones for this group when compared to Facebook Ads or Instagram Ads.
If you're someone who is just starting in this influencer world, you probably want to know if you can earn money from it. The answer is yes. On average, you can earn between $0.01 and $0.02 per view on sponsored video ads.
This means that if your video gets about 100,000 you will earn between $1,000 and $2,000. Once you start becoming more popular and you gain a following, you will be able to reach out to brands on your own and offer your services.
The easiest way to manage your TikTok campaign is by using TikTok Ads Manager. It provides you with transparent tracking, showing you your ad's performance and giving your customized reports.
Creating a business account on TikTok Ads Manager is actually very straightforward. If you don't have a private account on the TikTok platform, then you should definitely consider doing it as a first step, as it will allow you to get familiar with the app.
Here is a short instruction on how to create a TikTok Ad account:
TikTok is slowly becoming the most popular social media platform in the world. With over 1 billion TikTok users active every month on the app, this shouldn't come as a surprise. With the right skills and knowledge, businesses can take advantage of this situation and start investing in TikTok ads and establishing a TikTok presence.
If you want to increase your online presence with digital ads, don't hesitate to get in touch with us - thanks to years of experience, we can help you reach your campaign objective, and we will be there for you every step of the way, from the start of the campaign to the very end.