Over the past few years, TikTok has slowly transformed from a platform dominated by dance videos and comedy skits into a serious advertising channel.

Its rapid growth, low cost per reach, and unique content format make it an attractive option for brands looking to expand their marketing mix. The question is: Is investing in TikTok Ads in 2026 worth it, or is it just a passing trend?

What are TikTok Ads and how do they work?

TikTok Ads are paid advertising formats that appear directly on the platform. The most common type is vertical in-feed videos that look and feel like organic user content. TikTok also offers premium formats such as TopView, Brand Takeover, or Spark Ads, which allow you to promote existing content (e.g., influencer videos) as paid ads.

Advantages of investing in TikTok Ads

Native format

Ads blend seamlessly into other content, giving users the feeling they’re watching another fun video, not a traditional spot. Combined with advanced targeting and relatively low costs, TikTok becomes a powerful tool. But this “native” approach comes with challenges, which we’ll discuss later.

Precise targeting

TikTok allows interest-based targeting in sales campaigns, which is now restricted on Meta (Facebook and Instagram). For many e-shops, this is a game-changer, enabling them to reach the most relevant customer segments.

Creative formats

Native videos reduce ad fatigue. If done well, they feel like a natural part of the feed, boosting engagement.

Audience size

According to DataReportal Digital 2025 Slovakia, TikTok has about 1.1M users over 18, with double-digit annual growth. Brands can now reach not only Gen Z but also Millennials and older demographics.

Ad costs

TikTok Ads have the lowest CPM among major social platforms. Benchmarks from SingleGrain and Lebesgue.io show average CPM between $7-10, which is 2-3x cheaper than Meta Ads.

TikTok also acts as an important touchpoint within the marketing mix, boosting synergy when combined with display, YouTube, or Meta campaigns.

Drawbacks to consider

Low CTR

Average outbound CTR is below 1%, typically around 0.8-0.84% (AdBacklog). Users may like or comment, but only a small fraction click through to a website.

Data measurement challenges

Low CTR makes attribution tricky. TikTok provides its own pixel and attribution windows, but to get a realistic picture, brands should add conversion lift studies or causal models (e.g., Causal Impact).

Marketing mix modeling (MMM) shows TikTok often drives more sales than standard analytics suggest. According to Sellforte, its impact can be up to 17× higher for e-commerce, and even stronger in offline sales.

Who should use TikTok Ads (and under what conditions)?

TikTok Ads make sense for brands that are ready to invest in both creative content and budget. The minimum daily budget to launch a campaign is €20, which is sufficient for building awareness and gathering impressions. 

However, if you want to run performance-driven (sales) campaigns, you should prepare at least €60 per day. This threshold isn’t random – TikTok optimizes its Smart campaigns this way, which typically perform better than manually set campaigns.

The quality and quantity of creatives are key. If your organic content doesn’t perform, paid ads won’t save it. From our experience, the best campaigns have at least 10 different sales videos ready at once, with the optimal number exceeding 20 during creative iteration. This allows continuous testing and quick adaptation to audience behavior.

The best platform for competitive analysis

One way to get ahead of other advertisers is to review competitors’ creatives or those of similar advertisers abroad. 

TikTok is very generous in this regard – for some advertisers, you can even see conversion rates, click-through rates, and other key metrics of competitors’ video ads. You also have access to content analysis, which specifies why a given creative performs well. Use the TikTok Ads Library or Meta Ads Library for creative research, and the TikTok Creative Center for deeper insights. Of course, the Creative Center can also be used for Meta Ads or YouTube Shorts creative, even if TikTok isn’t your primary platform.

Explanation of main TikTok Ads formats

TopView Ads

A premium format that appears to users immediately upon opening the app and holds their attention for up to 60 seconds. The advantage is massive reach, while the downside is higher cost – CPM here typically ranges from $15 to $25, roughly 2–3 times higher than in-feed ads.

Top Feed

Ads placed at the top positions of the main feed, immediately after the first organic videos. This position guarantees high visibility, suitable for quickly reaching the audience. Placement is determined by feed position, not content quality – meaning it’s a “premium spot in view,” not a curated selection of trends.

Standard Feed (In-feed Ads)

The most common format, appearing among regular videos in the main feed. They can be liked, commented on, and shared, aiming to blend seamlessly into the user experience. Average CPM ranges around $7-10, roughly 2-3 times less than on Meta Ads.

Branded Mission

A format that engages the community by allowing content creators to produce videos for your brand and compete for a reward. It increases authenticity and expands the campaign’s organic reach.

Spark Ads

Allow promotion of existing organic videos (yours or influencers’) as paid ads. It boosts credibility since the ad appears as user-generated content. Pricing depends on auction, but for successful organic videos, CPM is usually 10–20% lower than for new creatives.

TikTok Pulse Suite

A premium format that places your ad next to top-performing and trending content on TikTok. Unlike Top Feed, which is selected by feed position, Pulse Suite works based on curation and algorithms ensuring brand safety and relevance. The goal is to associate your brand with content that already has high engagement and viral potential.

Playable Ads

Interactive ads that let users try an app or game directly within the ad format without downloading. They significantly increase engagement and conversion rates.

Carousel Ads

Multi-image format allowing presentation of multiple products or benefits in a single ad. Mainly used for e-commerce or campaigns with multiple creatives, well-known from Meta Ads. However, this format isn’t native to TikTok, so performance is usually weaker.

TikTok Shop

An integrated e-commerce solution allowing users to purchase products directly within the app without being redirected to a website. It can be combined with multiple creative formats. In countries where the feature is available, TikTok Shop has average conversion rates between 2–5% depending on the product category – significantly higher than standard TikTok Ads. Best results are seen with low- and mid-priced items suitable for impulse purchases (cosmetics, fashion, accessories). For brands, this means shorter purchase journeys, higher completed order rates, and the ability to link product videos directly to the buy button. In EU countries, TikTok Shop rollout is expected gradually, and once launched, it can be a strong complement to performance campaigns.

How to approach TikTok Ads strategically

Success relies on three pillars: the right stage of use, accurate measurement, and strong content.

See vs. Think & Do phase 

Decide whether you want to build awareness (See) or focus directly on performance (Do). TikTok excels in the See phase, offering large reach at low cost. For performance campaigns, average ROAS is lower than on Meta Ads – in the beauty segment 120–200% (250% is exceptional), and for low-priced impulse products, it can reach 300–350%. However, the contribution is often incremental, i.e., indirect.

Measurement and KPIs

Don’t rely solely on clicks. With low CTR (0.2-0.8%), part of the impact remains hidden. For more accurate data, run an experiment: launch TikTok Ads while minimizing changes on other channels, maintain a stable budget for 4-6 weeks, and compare results with predictions without TikTok Ads. Conversion lift studies provide an even clearer picture, though they require a higher budget and server-side tracking.

Content 

Capture attention within the first 3 seconds. Start with at least 10–15 sales videos and iterate up to 20+ during the campaign, testing formats, hooks, and approaches.

A/B testing

Test hooks (first 3–5 seconds) and entire concepts. With budgets over €2,000 per month, run multiple variations and optimize based on hook rate and engagement rate, not just conversions.

Collaboration with creators

Spark Ads allow you to leverage influencer content, which typically has 20-40% higher engagement rate and greater credibility. Ideally, secure rights for paid promotion for at least 30 days to test the material.

Remember the key point – no TikTok strategy will succeed without quality content. It requires creativity, time, and an experienced creator. Recognizing good content and providing constructive feedback can be structured in a checklist, ensuring the video has the foundation for success.

Evaluation and key metrics

Which metrics to track if you don’t want to rely solely on ROAS and traffic?

  • Hook Rate – The percentage of viewers watching at least the first 3 seconds is a strong indicator of creative appeal and correlates with purchase influence.
  • Engagement Rate (likes, comments, shares) can indirectly impact performance, especially in content-rich campaigns.
  • To understand real revenue impact, use Causal Impact or MMM. 
  • The key metric to evaluate is iROAS, or incremental ROAS, which is not available in GA4 and is always an estimate.

For statistical analysis, you need two things – volume and accuracy. The TikTok budget should be at least €60 per day and at least 15–20% of the total media budget to quantify impact. In statistical evaluation of digital marketing, we work with multipliers, i.e., numbers used to scale revenue attributed to the channel. Your goal is to define this multiplier.

Conclusion

TikTok Ads in 2025 are not just the “new Facebook.” They are a distinct channel with their own rules, requiring a different approach to creation and campaign optimization. Low CPM and a growing user base mean entry costs are relatively low – but from a creativity standpoint, they are high.

Brands that want to succeed on TikTok must think like content creators, not advertisers. This means investing in videos with energy, a clear story, and the ability to capture attention within 3 seconds. They also need to measure success differently than just through direct clicks and accept that TikTok often works as an assisted channel within the overall customer journey. Incrementality is a term you must adopt if planning TikTok Ads.

For some advertisers, TikTok in 2025 can be a performance unicorn, offering excellent cost-to-performance ratio. For others, if they cannot adapt creativity and strategy to the platform’s specifics, it may be wasted money. The difference between these two scenarios is rarely accidental – it is the result of planning, testing, and understanding how TikTok works.