Unless you’ve been asleep, living under a rock, or otherwise distracted for the last eight years, you’ve probably heard of TikTok. TikTok is a social media app developed by ByteDance, and launched in the international market in 2017.
Since its inception, TikTok has exploded in popularity and has over 1.58 billion monthly active users worldwide. It’s available in over 150 countries worldwide, and is one of the most downloaded apps across multiple app stores. Although it began with lip-syncing and dance videos, it’s now used for everything from comedy content to brand promotions
In 2018, TikTok entered the social media marketing game, offering a formal ads programme and providing a framework for businesses to effectively advertise their products and services on the app. One product in particular, the Stanley cup, shot up in popularity thanks to a series of viral videos and creators promoting the product.
Advertising on TikTok was made simpler with its official paid advertising programme, offering different types of ads like in-feed, brand takeover, hashtag challenges, and TopView ads. However, as we know, nothing in life comes for free, and with the opportunity to reach the masses, these ads come with a cost.
So, if you’re wondering how much do TikTok ads cost, you’re in the right place, and today’s blog should provide you with some clarity on the average cost and some TikTok advertising strategies to get ahead of the competition in 2025.
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The Average Cost of TikTok Ads in 2025
TikTok uses a cost per mille (CPM)/ cost per thousand impressions metric when charging for their ads. The average CPM for TikTok video ads is approximately £6.30 in the UK, however sources don’t provide a completely accurate number.
If you’re thinking about starting a TikTok ad campaign, the minimum daily budget is £50, with the minimum daily cost for an ad set at £20. The prices are known to fluctuate, so it’s not set in stone how much you’ll pay to run ads.
Certain Tik Tok ad formats require a flat fee, for example, a Hashtag Challenge that runs on the TikTok discovery banner can cost around £120,000. While this sounds like a lot, and it is, you’re almost guaranteed a huge amount of visibility across app users. Brand Takeovers can reportedly cost between £36,000 – £40,000 per day.
There are TikTok ad case studies that show you how effective a campaign can be and what strategies may work for you, all dependent on your budget.
Source of Statistical Information
What Factors Affect TikTok Ad Costs?
There are a range of factors that can affect the cost of running ads on TikTok:
Campaign Objectives
Prior to running a TikTok ad, it’s important to decide what you want to accomplish, whether that be traffic, conversions, app installs, or something else entirely. Whatever you decide will impact the Cost per Click, Cost per Mille, and Cost per View for your ads. The latter costs will be lower if your campaign is well-optimised for traffic and views.
Ad Format
As stated above, the TikTok ad formats you choose have different pricing structures. In-feed ads tend to be the cheapest as they appear when users scroll through their for-you page. Similar to paying for Google Ads or using Brand Takeovers, Hashtag Challenges come with instant audience reach – but are much more expensive.
TikTok Targeting Options
TikTok ad audience targeting can affect cost, meaning if you’re aiming to target a popular audience (like gen z) the prices will be higher. Various factors like age, location, gender, interests, and language can all impact the cost of an ad.
How to Make the Most of Your TikTok Ad Budget
Despite the sheer amount of users on TikTok, there’s an abundance of content available to them. So, if you’re a smaller business or just testing the waters, maximising your TikTok ad budget is essential. You don’t have to break the bank to create effective ad campaigns, but you do have to be tactical.
Target the Right Audience on TikTok
Having a clear idea of who your target audience is, what they want, and what they respond well to is vital. With this information, you can gauge a better idea about what sort of content will resonate with them. Making use of TikTok’s native features like fonts, their in-app editors, and filming directly through TikTok is preferred instead of reusing something you’ve used on another platform.
Outsource to Influencers or MicroInfluencers
Influencers and content creators are the rulers of TikTok. These personalities are fine-tuned into TikTok and its users, and they’re better equipped when it comes to video production that works on the platform. Even making use of smaller influences (aka MicroInfluencers) are a great way to help you reach tens of thousands of followers who may fit your niche perfectly.
Create Great and Original Content
No one likes plagiarism and authenticity is key on TikTok. You want to stand out, but also blend into the style and feel of a TikTok video. The limitations of TikTok are surprisingly its greatest strength and will allow you to be more creative when trying out ads for your business.
Analyse Your Ad Performance
When implementing an effective SEO strategy on a website, for example, using analytics to discover what works well is the best way to maximise your TikTok ad budget. TikTok ads have a built-in analytics platform which can show you a variety of performance metrics, allowing you to use this data to make changes and effective decisions.
Are TikTok Ads Worth It?
So, the biggest question on any marketer’s mind: is a TikTok ad campaign worth the cost? The answer is yes, and there are a ton of benefits to running a TikTok ad campaign:
- Audience Reach: Since TikTok is massive, and won’t stop growing, you’ll have access to an audience that is predominantly younger and oftentimes don’t use many other social media apps like Facebook or X.
- Budget-Friendly: As TikTok is built on the production of short, raw videos that are viewed on a smartphone, you don’t need a ridiculous budget to make good content. With a focus on TikTok ads over content, you can pick the ad formats that suit your product best.
- Ease of Use: As we mentioned previously, authenticity on TikTok is key. With a simplified editor and limitations on what you can do, you’re able to ‘get it right’ a lot quicker than using something like Google Ads, which requires a lot of testing and innate knowledge.
- Timely Relevance: Since TikTok is categorically one of the most popular social media apps of all time, following trends can be your best way of showing timely relevance to your target audience. TikTok isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so you can rest assured that even in 2025, you’re not too late.
- Content Focused: TikTok is content-driven. Entertaining users while advertising a product or service is the new-wave way of marketing. TikTok allows you to stretch your creative muscles and produce content that catches people’s attention. With the short-form aspect of TikTok, you can always produce something new at a moment’s notice.
Learn More Now
If you’re interested in knowing more about TikTok ad campaigns and how you take advantage of them, Maxweb Solutions can help. Alongside advertising, we can provide other digital solutions including web design and eCommerce web design to help grow your business.
Call us at 0151 652 4777 to learn more today.
Posted on Friday, June 27th, 2025 in Social Media.
