TikTok Ads vs Facebook Ads: Which is the better advertising choice?

With the increasingly rapid evolution of social media, brands are constantly looking for new channels and strategies to reach their target audience and generate conversions. 

Until now, Facebook has held a monopoly on advertising space to promote its products and services on social networks. But the arrival of TikTok has changed all that, and the application is steadily nibbling away at the Meta group's market share. 

Indeed, TikTok has rapidly become a popular social network for a younger audience , who are more attuned to perception and interaction with advertising. Thanks to its short video format, sound effects, trends and creative filters, TikTok offers brands a new way of connecting with their target market. 

This significant development raises a strategic question for advertisers: which platform to choose for the best return on investment?

It's essential for every advertiser to understand the key distinctions between TikTok ads and Facebook or Instagram (Meta) ads , and what this means for their marketing strategies.

In this article, we'll identify the fundamental differences between TikTok Ads and Facebook Ads . We'll also look at how brands can make the most of these ad formats to maximize their impact on both platforms.

The differences between TikTok Ads and Facebook Ads

In terms of functionality and user experience, the Facebook Ads and TikTok Ads platforms are very similar. So if you're used to creating and running ad campaigns from Facebook Ads Manager and you've never tried TikTok Ads Manager before, you shouldn't feel too out of place. 

While campaign settings, ad formatting options and targeting options vary from platform to platform, the layout and general atmosphere are familiar enough that you'll instinctively know where to navigate from your first use of TikTok Ads Manager.

Nevertheless, there are a number of differences between TikTok Ads and Facebook Ads that you should bear in mind before getting started. 

Ad format 

On Facebook, you can choose ad formats such as photos, videos, carousels or slideshows. On TikTok, the application also offers several advertising formatsvideo-only ads, such as native Ads, TopView and Spark.

These platforms enable brands to personalize their campaigns according to their objectives.

However, the major difference between Facebook and TikTok lies in the content of the ads. Facebook favors high-quality, or retouched, images, whereas TikTok favors authentic, more raw content. Short videos on TikTok encourage storytelling, making product promotion more attractive, holding attention longer, and increasing engagement and conversion rates.

Targeting 

Both platforms offer a variety of targeting options to help companies reach their audience. 

Facebook has one of the most sophisticated targeting options, enabling companies to target users according to their demographics, location, interests, behaviors and connection mode.

However, TikTok comes close to matching Facebook's performance thanks to the vast amount of data it possesses on its users. Because videos on TikTok are so short, users consume a lot of them in a short space of time, helping the app to quickly and accurately pinpoint the type of content they're interested in. This gives you the opportunity tofurther optimize your advertising campaigns for better results.

So your targeting strategy can be aimed at audiences who have already visited your brand's website, registered on a landing page or interacted with your TikTok posts.

The cost 

Advertising costs on Facebook and TikTok can vary considerably.

Facebook lets businesses set their own ad budgets, with costs varying according to targeting, ad format and placement. The average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) on Facebook Ads isaround $14.

Compared to this, TikTok generally has lower advertising costsbased on the same factors, with an average CPM of around $10.

It is therefore more economical for a brand seeking to achieve its marketing objectives on social networks to launch an advertising campaign on TikTok rather than on Facebook.

However, it's worth pointing out that the platform you choose depends largely on the audience you're targeting. Audience demographics must be taken into account when making your decision. For example, TikTok has a particularly young user base: 87% of its users are aged between 18 and 44. So if your target audience is in this age bracket, TikTok could be the most appropriate choice for your advertising campaigns.

Advantages and disadvantages of TikTok Ads

TikTok has become an attractive platform for brands thanks to the creativity of its ads and the engagement of its users.

The main reasons for choosing TikTok Ads are :

• Access to a young, engaged audience that uses TikTok to unearth new trends and products;
• A high potential for virality that helps small brands achieve their goals (engagement, traffic, sales, downloads, etc.) quickly;
• The opportunity to broadcast creative and captivating ads to establish an authentic link with the target audience. TikTok isn't just about acquiring new customers, it's also an effective marketing tool for growing a community and retaining new ones.

However, TikTok offers fewer targeting and ad performance analysis options than Facebook Ads, but continues to develop and add new features.

Advantages and disadvantages of Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads has not yet lost its importance. Indeed, the platform remains the leader in targeting and analyzing advertising performance.

With 2.963 billion monthly active users in 2023, Facebook is still the world's most widely used social network. It remains an excellent option for reaching a large audience who regularly use the network to make purchases, with over a billion monthly active users on Facebook stores.

Nevertheless, it has to be said that engagement on Facebook is declining. The platform is no longer as appealing as it once was, especially to younger generations, mainly because of its less innovative formats and abundance of advertising.

How do I choose between TikTok Ads and Facebook Ads?

It's hard to say exactly which platform is the most effective when it comes to advertising. It depends on your business objectives, your target audience and your advertising budget.

Instead of seeing TikTok Ads and Facebook Ads as competitors, it would be wiser to see them as two complementary tools in your marketing strategy. Each platform has its own advantages and disadvantages, and will therefore be more relevant at different stages of your sales tunnel.

For example, the social network TikTok may be more useful at the beginning of your sales funnel, to generate interest in your brand and reach a wider audience. Meanwhile, Facebook may be more effective in the middle of the funnel, to target (and retarget) a specific audience and prompt them to perform a specific action.

Whatever your strategy, there's no denying that TikTok is the platform where new marketing formats and trends are born. Content that succeeds on Facebook is often influenced by what is created by TikTok users. It's also on TikTok that you'll find tomorrow's consumers, offering your brand an opportunity to capture the attention of Generation Z.

If you haven't explored TikTok Ads yet, now's the perfect time to do so. Check out our guide to TikTok Ads and don't hesitate to contact our accredited TikTok Marketing Partner team to help you create a high-performance ad!