Are TikTok Ads Worth it? Pros & Cons You Need to Know (2024)

TikTok Ads offers businesses a great way to enhance visibility on the platform thanks to its dynamic and flexibility. While it provides businesses with creative freedom and plenty of opportunities, many are still wondering whether TikTok Ads is worth it or not.

So without further ado, let’s explore the world of TikTok Ads with its pros and cons to find the answer for the question are TikTok Ads worth it.

TikTok Ads: Pros and Cons

In the current business landscape, there are multiple platforms available for marketing products, including Google, Facebook, Instagram, and others. However, it’s important to determine why TikTok Ads should be a part of your marketing strategy. By understanding the advantages and disadvantages of TikTok Ads, you can enhance and optimize your social media marketing strategy to address any shortcomings. To answer the question are TikTok Ads worth it, let’s examine the benefits of TikTok Ads.

Pros of TikTok Ads

TikTok Ads expand your brand’s reach instantly

It is worth highlighting that TikTok has a significant and varied audience. TikTok can be used in 155 different countries and has 1 billion users who actively use the app worldwide. Additionally, TikTok’s advertising has the potential to reach approximately 885 million individuals. As a result, your TikTok videos have an enormous capacity to be seen and reached.

The increasing age diversity of TikTok users is also worth noting. 25% of US TikTok users are between the ages of 10 and 19. In fact, users under 30 make up 47.4%. The percentage of US TikTok users over 40, at 31.3%, is surprisingly high. Therefore, TikTok is an excellent platform to share content with an audience worldwide.

TikTok Ads target your most engaged customers

Backlinko statistics show that users are engaged on TikTok with an average time of 10.85 minutes. That is double the second-place engagement ranking of 5.06 minutes on Pinterest. Even preteens and teens use the app daily for 105.1 minutes, according to MMGuardian data. That’s a lot! Additionally, TikTok also has better possibilities for conversion, which ultimately results in increased sales.

On TikTok, there is space for everyone. Therefore, you can begin right away by using TikTok’s trends, popular music, hashtag challenges, trendy dances, and even TikTok duets.

TikTok Ads offer versatile formats, smart targeting options

There is a wide range of TikTok ad types such as In-Feed Ads, Top-View Ads, Hashtag Challenges, etc. However, to encourage people to like, repost, or create videos within the same TikTok sound, we suggest using In-Feed Ads.

On the other hand, you can make use of a Branded Hashtag Challenge to take advantage of users’ love for creativity and, as well as to increase brand awareness. There are so many great TikTok Ad formats to choose from to achieve your unique marketing goals.

TikTok provides standard audience targeting options, such as:

• Demographic (age, gender, location, etc.)
• Interests (content engagement, the account follows, etc.)
• Device (operating system, device type, etc.)

Notably, you have the ability to create your own Custom Audiences, which can significantly improve the effectiveness of your advertisem*nts. Custom Audiences include:

• Customer File (matches with your first-party data)
• Engagement (ad clicks, ad impressions, ad views, etc)
• App Activity (activity on your app, such as log-ins, purchases, etc)
• Website Traffic (website actions, such as add to cart, page view, etc)
• Lead Generation (engagement with your Lead Ads)

Custom Audiences can be highly beneficial for advertisers, as these segments allow them to target potential customers who are more likely to engage with and convert from their ads, thus increasing their advertising efficiency.

TikTok Ads showcase your products in an authentic way

The most effective TikTok Ads do not look like ads at all but resemble genuine videos created by other TikTok users. This means that marketing teams don’t have to spend a lot of money on expensive equipment or post-production professionals to create an effective ad. Raw and relatable videos are more likely to fit in with other user-generated content on the platform, which is where brands’ ads will be placed.

To create organic content, businesses can use affordable lighting and record videos with a good phone camera. The focus should be on the product being promoted. This approach gives creatives more freedom since they don’t have to work within formal constraints while creating an ad. This is why branded content performs so well and presents an excellent opportunity for both the creator and the brand.

Creativity is strongly encouraged

TikTok is a platform that encourages and expects creative advertising, as it is filled with users and creators producing unique and captivating organic content. In order to make an impact, advertisers must match this creative energy and adopt a more relaxed tone to engage with potential customers. This presents an excellent opportunity for brands to create fun and authentic advertising, and to experiment with new approaches on the platform. The most successful brands on TikTok are often those that embrace these opportunities, such as getting involved with platform trends, collaborating with users and other brands, and using effective calls to action to maximize their campaign’s performance.

Cons of TikTok Ads

TikTok Ads are easy to ignore

It’s widely known that many people actively avoid ads, with 74% of consumers reportedly doing so. Compared to other types of paid advertising, TikTok Ads have a unique disadvantage in that they are easy to overlook. Rather than being prominently displayed, they blend in with the scroll-heavy nature of the platform.

If a viewer doesn’t immediately recognize the ad content or sees the “Sponsored” tag on the post, swiping away is a common response. Therefore, the effectiveness of TikTok advertising depends heavily on the creatives. To catch the attention of viewers who habitually scroll through content, anything that can captivate them and make them stop scrolling is a plus. This is why creator-based TikTok campaigns are popular and effective.

Content format limitation

The rising trend of video content consumption, particularly on TikTok, is undeniable based on statistical data. However, solely relying on video content may not be the ultimate solution for your digital marketing needs. Additionally, if your goal is to share a variety of content formats, TikTok may not be the ideal platform for you.

If you plan to advertise on TikTok, it’s important to note that static graphic ads are not allowed. This means you will always have to produce videos, which could put a strain on your budget.

TikTok Ads require an important time commitment

Running social ads is not a passive process; you must actively participate in creating and upgrading the ad creatives. TikTok Ads demand a significant investment of time and resources, and hence, you need to update, test, and optimize your ads on a regular basis. This entails creating fresh content, crafting new captions, and overseeing more resources. As a result, in order to get the most out of TikTok Ads, you really need to get ready and be willing to put in a lot of time and work.

However, there’s always an alternative that helps you work around this problem. NestAds is a simple yet powerful TikTok advertising management software that helps you with all the stages of TikTok Ads, from setting up your first campaign to optimizing ads that convert. This way, you could save an enormous amount of time and allocate your ad budget effectively.

Being tailor-made to the TRR funnel (targeting – retargeting – retention), NestAds can drive tremendous results with winning TikTok ad campaigns:

• Create TikTok ad campaigns in minutes, with no prior experience required.
• Monitor the performance of your TikTok Ads for key metrics.
• Reach more potential customers with smart audience target options.

Top 3 successful TikTok Ads examples

If you are still wondering whether is TikTok Ads worth it, let’s check these TikTok ad examples to find out the answer, and glean insights into effective marketing strategies and creative campaigns.

Hyundai

Hyundai‘s successful TikTok ad campaign for the launch of the IONIQ 6, their first fully electric vehicle, aimed to captivate the social-first audiences on the platform.

Hyundai implemented a multifaceted strategy for their campaign, leveraging TikTok TopView ads, Auction, and Spark Ads to maximize visibility. On The Big Game day, they employed Pulse, a contextual advertising solution targeting auto and sports communities, extending the reach of their TV ad. The brand tapped into popular trends, collaborating with creators such as @zeth and @amauryguichon, seamlessly integrating the IONIQ 6 into engaging narratives.

The results:

• 13% lift in ad recall
• 3.5% boost in brand awareness
• 2.5% increase in brand familiarity.
• 242M+ impressions and thousands of comments on TikTok

The impressive results underline Hyundai’s ability to navigate diverse channels and resonate with a broad audience. This campaign serves as a testament to Hyundai’s strategic agility and effectiveness in leveraging multiple platforms to achieve meaningful results.

The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company, a global beverage giant, entered the TikTok arena to drive substantial increases in ad recall and enhance brand preference over competitors’ products.

The Coca-Cola Company strategically collaborated with KFC and Pizza Hut in Malaysia, offering a joint promo where customers ordering specific items received a free Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. On TikTok, a creator-led campaign showcased the collaboration, with two creators humorously promoting the joint promos while emphasizing Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.

The results:

• 4.5% increase in ad recall
• 3.6% increase in brand preference for Coca-Cola Zero Sugar
• 95% confidence interval for the campaign’s ad recall metrics

Overall, this campaign demonstrates Coca-Cola’s ability to integrate traditional brands with contemporary platforms for impactful and measurable success.

Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics prepared a social campaign to unveil a feature of the Galaxy Watch6, designed to assist users in achieving their exercise goals by tailoring intensity to their fitness capacity.

Samsung Electronics launched a global campaign using TikTok Branded Mission, featuring a Gamified Branded Effect under the #HRZoneWorkout Hashtag Challenge. Users engaged with randomized HR Workout Zones, tagging hearts to increase their scores. The campaign, spanning the UK, France, Germany, Indonesia, Korea, and Brazil, enlisted influential creators and utilized TopView, TopFeed, and R&F ads, including football star Son Heung-Min.

The results:

• 15.9K creations in just 12 days
• 62.5% higher user engagement in Branded Mission
• 8.5% increase in brand awareness in Korea

Samsung Electronics’ success in this campaign can be attributed to a blend of creativity, strategic use of TikTok features, integration of influential figures, and a data-driven approach to measure and optimize results. This campaign not only achieved its immediate goals but also strengthened Samsung’s brand presence and influence in the competitive tech market.

How much do TikTok Ads cost?

When considering is advertising on TikTok worth it, you might wonder how much do TikTok Ads cost? Choosing between a daily and lifetime budget which you can adjust at any point during your advertising campaign.

• Daily budget: You need to pay at least $20 per day.
• Lifetime budget: The cost is calculated by multiplying $20 by the total number of days you run the ad.

TikTok’s CPM (cost per thousand views) and its CPC (cost per click) for advertising start at $0.50 and $0.02 respectively. Particularly, you have to pay at least $500 for a whole campaign and no less than $50 for the daily budget. PiPiAds’ 2022 analytics show that TikTok’s average cost per 1,000 plays and cost per click or conversion are around $3.90 and $16, respectively.

How to decide whether to advertise on TikTok?

So is TikTok advertising worth it? Investing in an advertising platform is a significant commitment that requires justifying the time and effort involved. However, there are numerous success stories of brands, both large and small, building awareness and driving product sales through TikTok advertising. Before considering whether are TikTok Ads worth it, here are some key questions to ask yourself as you weigh the pros and cons of TikTok Ads:

Are you selling a visual product?

Visual products predominate on TikTok in all industries ranging from food, and fashion, to fitness. Due to the simplicity of promoting these products in videos, they are perfect for TikTok Ads. For instance, makeup can be seamlessly advertised via organic material via tutorials, how-tos, reviews, or before-after transitions that are super popular on TikTok.

Is your target audience present on TikTok?

As you might know, Gen Z and other young consumers below 30 years old prefer TikTok as their social media platform of choice. However, as we mentioned above, TikTok users are getting increasingly diverse, with more than 30% aged over 40, which makes it especially ideal for you to target your specific target audience. So if you are hesitant to join TikTok advertising, just remember you can target a wide range of people there and try testing out TikTok Ads first to see if it’s worth your investment.

Do you have enough funds and resources?

This is a critical question. You could start by testing out TikTok Ads with a minimum daily budget of $50. Also, be aware of the considerable time and resource commitment that you need to make to get good results out of TikTok Ads due to the constant update and optimization of ad creatives.

Have you established goals for the platform?

It’s vital to clearly define your advertising goals on TikTok. Try to link your TikTok ad campaigns to concrete business results, such as brand awareness, sign-ups, and sales, and see if TikTok really suits your specific goals.

If you want to take a closer look at how TikTok and TikTok Ads can bring benefit to your business, check out our video to have a whole picture of this platform!

Are TikTok Ads worth your investment?

So, back to the original question: Are TikTok Ads worth it? Well, the short answer is Yes. With all the great potentials of advertising ranging from its huge, diverse, and hyper-engaged audience, and numerous TikTok ad formats, to its authenticity-driven and user-generated content, we believe TikTok advertising is worth a try.

What kind of ads do you run? Explore the accurate and comprehensive data insights provided by NestAds, connecting seamlessly with TikTok Ads, Facebook ads, Google ads, and more. With NestAds – a robust solution for ad tracking and marketing attribution, you can analyze data effortlessly, monitor essential metrics like ad spend, revenue, ROAS, CPA, and conversions, and make informed decisions on the effectiveness of your ads.

Uncover what works and what doesn’t with creative analytics, identifying the most engaging elements for your target audience. Take control of your TikTok ad strategy with NestAds – your key to making ads worth it!