TikTok Ads vs Meta Ads: Which platform is right for your business?

01, October, 17:02

Meta Ads and TikTok Ads are among the most popular advertising platforms on the market (along with Google Ads). Each of them reaches a wide audience and offers powerful opportunities for promoting products and services, as well as scaling businesses. At Tech4you.io, we’ve prepared a detailed comparison of these platforms — differences across various metrics, key advantages and disadvantages, a comparison of advertising on TikTok and Meta, and recommendations to help you understand which platform is best suited to your specific needs.

Main differences between Facebook ads and TikTok ads

A qualitative comparison of advertising on TikTok and Meta means understanding that there are differences between these platforms in many aspects: from ads format to advertising cost.

This does not make either platform better or worse, as each meets the different needs of advertisers and users.

Metric TikTok Meta
Format Full-screen 9:16 vertical videos (5–60 sec); interactive hashtags; TopView ads; viral-style UGC Posts with text and images; short and long videos; carousel ads; dynamic product catalogs; dynamic ads
Algorithms Automatic optimization based on behavioral signals; limited retargeting features Meta advertising has highly precise targeting and advanced retargeting with detailed segmentation
Speed of results Instant results through viral reach Gradual, stable, and predictable growth, but slower
Audience interaction TikTok advert only works if presented as entertaining UGC-style content Audience is more loyal to sales content
Advertising cost Lower for cold traffic Higher, but higher-quality leads

A brief comparison: TikTok advert works on the principle of an “emotional hook,” while Meta advertising is more like a complex ecosystem for sales.

Differences between advertising prices in TikTok Ads and Meta Ads

Prices for TikTok and Facebook advertising depend on the audience, country, competition in the niche, and other indicators. In general, TikTok adverts are cheaper for attracting cold leads, while Meta Ads are more expensive but provide higher-quality traffic and a higher conversion rate.

Metric TikTok  Meta 
CPM (per 1,000 impressions) $2 – $8 $7 – $12
CPC (cost per click) $0.10 – $0.30 (even lower with viral creatives) $0.50 – $1.2
CPA (per conversion) $5 – $15 $10 – $30

Brief comparison: TikTok advert is beneficial for new businesses, rapid hypothesis testing, and attracting a large number of users. Facebook advertising is suitable for businesses where stability and predictability of results are important, for promoting expensive goods, and for the B2B segment.

Audience analysis in TikTok and Facebook

The audiences of TikTok and Meta platforms differ in terms of user age and motivation for visiting.

Metric TikTok Meta
MAU (Monthly Active Users) 1.59 billion 3.07 billion
DAU (Daily Active Users) 875-954 million 2.11 billion
Age 16-34 years old 25-55 years old
Primary intent Searching for entertaining content, exploring brands Maintaining ties with family, shopping
Average session duration 55 minutes 30 minutes
Buying behavior Spontaneous, impulsive purchases Thought-out, rational purchases
Best-selling products Fashion, cosmetics, gadgets, gaming Services, B2B, e-commerce

A brief comparison: TikTok has a young, growing, impulsive audience, while Meta has a more stable, rational audience that is ready to make expensive purchases.

Main advantages and disadvantages

Benefits of Meta Ads:

  • Audience of all age groups
  • Accurate targeting and high-quality retargeting, which reduces CPA
  • Meta advertising has a wide range of formats
  • Detailed analytics, possibility of A/B testing
  • Stability and predictability of results

Disadvantages of Meta Ads:

  • High advertising costs and price per lead
  • Audience of users who are “tired” of advertising
  • Complex advertising policy and high requirements for ads, risk of being banned
  • High competition, especially in e-commerce

Benefits of TikTok Ads:

  • Young audience
  • High user engagement
  • Low cost of reach and clicks 
  • Ability to scale without additional costs
  • Simple algorithms for launching TikTok adverts

Disadvantages of TikTok Ads:

  • Limited audience
  • Limited targeting and no retargeting
  • Small selection of ad formats
  • Dependence on creatives — if the video doesn’t go viral, the ad is ineffective

Advantages of Meta Ads

Key benefits of Meta Ads:

  • Reach audiences of different age groups.
  • Ultra-precise targeting and dynamic retargeting to re-engage warm leads and reduce CPA.
  • A variety of Facebook advertising formats — from text to video, with the ability to test 
  • Deep analytics and optimization, detailed reports from Meta Business Suite, and tracking conversions across all stages of the sales funnel.
  • Integrations for online stores: Facebook Shop and Instagram Shopping, dynamic catalogs
  • Supporting B2B and premium product promotion.
  • Stability and predictability of results, easier CPA and ROI forecasting.

The benefits of Meta Ads are the ability to interact with specific audiences and segments and achieve predictable, stable results from advertising.

Benefits of TikTok Ads

Key benefits of TikTok Ads:

  • Huge, rapidly growing audience
  • Lower user acquisition costs, enabling quick hypothesis testing with small budgets.
  • High user engagement, meaning more views and higher CTR.
  • The ability to promote even without a large number of followers, thanks to viral reach and organic scaling.
  • Simple optimization algorithms without overly complex settings; the platform independently selects users for advertising.
  • Driving impulse purchases through authentic UGC content.
  • High efficiency in launching new brands.
  • Ability to scale to 150+ countries without restarting campaigns.

TikTok Ads is the perfect platform for launching, quickly testing, and engaging young users.

What to choose: TikTok Ads or Meta Ads

After comparing advertising on TikTok and Meta, it’s clear that each platform serves different business goals.

The best results for businesses come from a combination of these two promotion methods. For example, when TikTok Ads generates traffic and Meta then converts it through retargeting.

The Tech4you.io team will help you set up advertising accounts for each platform from scratch to make your promotion and scaling as effective and profitable as possible.

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