Social media ads are a sector all of their own, connecting businesses and brands with their target demographic through a series of paid content streams and suggested CTAs.
When ads were first launched on TikTok in 2018, they were renowned for being exceptionally expensive – costing brands hundreds of thousands of dollars to host a hashtag challenge or take over a TikTok channel.
While the cost of ads is not as extortionate today as it once is, there are other options available for brands and accounts that want to maximise exposure and increase visibility of their page.
Having said that, let’s look at the cost of TikTok ads today and whether they are worth it.
What is the TikTok Ads Program?
The TikTok Ads program combines a number of different types of ad that brands and businesses can tap into. The beauty of this diverse selection of advertising formats and processes is that brands can identify the style of ad that best suits their business, their core message, and their target audience.
The four types of ad program are:
- In-feed ads
- Brand takeover ads
- Hashtag challenge ads
- Branded lenses
In-feed ads are presented in the same way as a standard post or TikTok video and are linked with a chosen CTA.
Brand takeover ads give a brand exclusivity as TikTok’s ‘Brand of the Day’. These are costly and enable the brand to create and share images, GIFs, and videos – monopolizing the platform for one day.
Hashtag challenge ads work by encouraging an interactive approach and tap into the community aspect of TikTok as a platform.
Branded lenses are presented as a filter that users can engage with and add to their own content.
As you can see, these different advertising options span traditional marketing and advertising with more interactive and engaging options. And they all have their own benefits – and costs.
Who Can Benefit From the TikTok Ads Program?
When determining the best sites for your social media ad spend, it’s important to consider demographics.
TikTok ads are largely considered a no-brainer for younger users due to the high percentage of users in Gen Z and younger demographics of customers – however, older users will likely prefer other platforms like Facebook.
How Much Do Ads Cost?
Now for the big question – how much does all of this cost?
Well, the price varies depending on the type of ad that you want to tap into and use to market your business or TikTok page.
However, here are some baseline ideas so that you can get a feel for the pricing structure.
- The minimum cost for a TikTok ads campaign is $500.
- Prices start at $0.50 per 1,000 views for a video, and $0.02 per click.
- It costs around $10 per 1,000 impressions on a post.
- A brand takeover ad will start at around $65,000 for the day.
- Branded lenses and filters start at around $45,000 for a month.
- The hashtag challenge ad costs between $130,000 and $160,000 to book for a week.
Suffice to say, TikTok ads are costly – but the results can be transformational for the right brand or profile.
Which type of ad would you be most likely to engage with as a user – and which appeals to you most as a creator?
