As a digital marketer, by now you’ve most likely contributed significant proportion of your marketing budget to Facebook and Instagram ads, and hopefully experimented with the Meta lead ad format. But have you tried TikTok lead ads yet?
If you don’t use TikTok, as I don’t, then you may be a little bias, but ignore it at your marketing peril! Hopefully this comparison between TikTok and Meta lead ads will help encourage you to at at least test Tiktok ads.
In this article I’ll compare targeting precision, platform usability, and ad effectiveness to help your decision-making process.
Key Takeaways
TikTok Lead Ads offer a cost-effective way to engage a younger demographic with interactive video content and personalized lead forms, but challenges include a complex setup and basic analytics.
Meta Lead Ads boast precision targeting with advanced tools like the Meta Pixel and lookalike audiences, offering multiple ad formats and environments for a wider reach across Facebook and Instagram.
Effective lead generation on both platforms requires understanding each one’s unique features, user behaviors, and ad formats, integrating consistent messaging and leveraging analytics for campaign optimization.
Meta vs. TikTok: Why you should take TikTok seriously
TikTok is absolutely taking the world by storm. With over 100 million users in the United States and a 1.5 billion users worldwide, it’s on track to give Meta a serious run for its money. At this rate, TikTok might just overtake Meta in a few years. Imagine that—Meta has nearly 200 million folks using it in the U.S. and about 3 billion globally. So, what does this mean for advertisers? Well, TikTok isn’t just growing; it’s a goldmine of engagement. Users are glued to their screens for an average of 54 minutes a day—that’s a lot of time to catch someone’s eye with your ads!
But “what about the potential for a TikTok ban in the US?”, I hear you ask. I believe that TikTok will either change their entity to US company, and or fight this ban tooth an nail. Short prediction: TikTok ain’t going anywhere.
Unlocking the Potential of TikTok Lead Ads
TikTok, currently boasts over 1.7 billion active users globally, with a primary focus on video content. It’s a goldmine for marketers aiming to reach a younger audience, often at a lower cost compared to Facebook. TikTok’s algorithm increases user engagement by presenting content that users are more likely to interact with.
Yet, just like any treasure hunt, there are challenges. TikTok ads may be a bit tricky to maneuver due to:
limited guides and information available for marketers
the setup process can be time-consuming
there are minimum budget requirements to meet
the analytics provided are basic
ad formats vary
the platform may not be suitable for all audience types.
Setting Up Your TikTok Lead Campaign
If you don’t already have a TikTok ads account, sign up here.
Similar to Meta ads, choose ‘Lead Generation’ as the objective at the campaign level and create a new ad group with ‘Instant Form’ as the optimization goal. At the ad level, you have options to create a new instant form or attach an existing one, quickly collecting lead information and minimizing friction.
In the Instant Form builder, you customize your form by adding relevant questions for your lead capture needs. On the Thank You Screen of the lead form, you provide a message that sets clear expectations about the next step in the process. It’s like a compass guiding your leads towards the treasure – your product or service.
Refining Your TikTok Target Audience
On TikTok, you’ll find a significant user base under 30, especially the 16-24 age group, with a large presence in countries like the US, Canada, and India. However, the platform appeals to more than just the younger generation. It has surpassed 1 billion users and is witnessing growth among older demographics as well.
It’s still important to grasp TikTok’s youth-centric demographic to align your product or service effectively for advertising reach. TikTok is known for its young and highly engaged user base, influencing the tone, style, and content of advertising for better resonance.
Refining your target audience on TikTok involves adjusting your sails to catch the right wind. Here are some criteria you can specify:
Geographic location
Language
Gender
Age range
Interests
Video interactions
Creator interactions
Hashtag interactions
By incorporating these criteria, you can effectively reach your desired audience on TikTok.
Accessing and Utilizing TikTok Leads
After setting sail and adjusting your course, it’s time to reap the benefits of your journey. TikTok leads can be downloaded directly from the Ads results column, ready for further analysis and utilization.
Meta Lead Ads
Let’s turn our attention to Meta. I’ve written pretty exhaustively about Facebook and Instagram Lead Ads, so check out one of my other articles, or continue on for a quick overview here.
Meta’s advanced targeting algorithm allows for precise audience targeting, utilising criteria like:
age
interests
location
behaviors, including the Meta Pixel for website action-based targeting and the creation of lookalike audiences.
Crafting a Meta Lead Ad Campaign
Creating a Meta Lead Ad campaign involves several steps:
Define your campaign objective as ‘Lead generation’ in Meta Ads Manager.
Build your target audience.
Create your ad.
Write your ad copy.
Create a Lead Form.
Publish your campaign.
Access and monitor your leads.
These steps will help you prepare for a successful lead generation journey.
In your ad copy, you fill in your Primary Text, Headline, and choose your Call to Action. You customize your form questions, link to your Privacy Policy, and customize your Thank You screen.
Setting your budget is akin to preparing for the journey. Consider how the ad spend will affect the reach and effectiveness of your campaign. A minimum daily budget of $5 – $10 is recommended for your Facebook Lead Ad campaign. Once your campaign is published, ensure you’re prepared for immediate results and monitor your cost per lead to manage the campaign effectively.
Advanced Targeting Tactics with Meta
Meta’s advanced targeting capabilities resemble a high-end navigation system. They include the use of Lookalike Audiences, which help marketers identify and reach new prospects that resemble their existing customers. The Meta Pixel allows businesses to track online activities and achieve precise targeting, contributing to a better return on investment.
Meta’s A/B testing tool allows advertisers to fine-tune their campaigns for maximum effectiveness. For instance, Lulus’ campaign improved purchases and ad spend return, showing the power of precision navigation. Advertisers on Facebook can target their audience based on detailed user data such as:
demographics
interests
behaviors
online activities
Managing Leads with Meta’s Tools
Once the campaign is launched and objectives are achieved, it’s time to reap the benefits. Leads gathered from Facebook Lead Ad campaigns, such as a well-crafted Facebook ad, can be accessed either by downloading the leads directly from Facebook or by connecting a third-party app for automation.
Monitoring your cost per lead and employing A/B testing capabilities are essential practices for evaluating the effectiveness of your Facebook Lead Ad campaigns and optimizing them for a better return on ad spend. Facebook offers two methods for generating leads: organically through content and engagement, and through paid lead generation campaigns. Tools like LeadsBridge provide integrations for Facebook campaigns, enhancing the efficiency of managing leads.
The Battle of Formats: TikTok Video Ads vs. Meta Ads
Let’s compare TikTok’s video ads and Meta’s ads. TikTok ads encourage high direct engagement through personalized interactive features like Brand Effects. Creating TikTok ads with a clear content structure including a hook, body, and close can boost viewer engagement and ad recall. TikTok tends to retain audiences on the platform, which enhances user engagement and raises brand awareness.
On the other hand, Meta’s Facebook ad formats like carousel ads enable more organic integration of image-based ads and provide multiple links, offering a window-shopping experience. With a variety of ad format options, Meta offers a wider variety of ad display environments, including the newsfeed, Messenger, and Stories, compared to TikTok’s limited placements.
Visual Appeal and User Experience
TikTok ads require vertically shot, high-resolution videos that work well within the user interface’s safe areas to engage users effectively. Afterall, that’s kind of what TikTok users are expecting: engaging video content.
In contrast to TikTok, you can use still images and carousels on Meta, which to the average marketer or small business owner, reduces the barrier to entry.
If you’re creating video content is stopping you from advertising on TikTok, then check our one of these free stock video resources.
Ad Placement Strategies
TikTok’s ads, often appearing as in feed ads, are commonly displayed in the user’s newsfeed, contrasting with Meta’s photo ads placements that include diverse environments such as newsfeeds, Messenger, and Stories.
Lead ad campaigns on Meta can achieve greater reach by utilizing the connection with Instagram, enabling advertisers to run their ads simultaneously on both Facebook and Instagram.
Pricing Showdown: TikTok Ad Costs vs. Meta Ad Spend
Let’s move on to the pricing showdown between TikTok and Meta.
TikTok’s minimum ad spend requirements are as follows:
A minimum budget is required when setting both lifetime budgets and daily budgets in order to ensure the continuous delivery of your ad.
Campaign level minimum budget: For campaigns, both daily budgets and total budgets must exceed 50 USD.
Ad group level minimum budget: For ad groups, daily budgets must exceed 20 USD. Lifetime budgets will be calculated as the minimum daily budget (20 USD) × scheduled days.”
TikTok
Meta, on the other hand has a minimum budget of around $3.80 per day, so you can experiment with a much lower budget.
While the average cost per click on TikTok ads is typically $1.63, Facebook’s is slightly higher at $1.84; however, Facebook ads generally have a cheaper CPM at around $6.97.
Budgeting for Success
When budgeting for TikTok and Meta lead ads, defining specific campaign objectives is paramount as they determine the necessary ad spend to achieve desired outcomes. Obviously keeping an eye on your cost per lead is easy in both platforms, but it’s important to also keep track of the cost per conversion (to a sale).
In targeting a specific audience, marketers should consider the platform’s user demographics and behaviors to determine the appropriate budget that ensures ad visibility to that audience. Allocating budget in a manner that reflects the interests and online behavior of the target audience can contribute to better conversion rates and a more efficient use of ad spend.
Cost-Effective Ad Copy Optimization
The key to unlocking the treasure chest of user engagement on TikTok lies in the ‘WHO, WHAT, WHY’ script format. This format includes the following elements:
Introduce the influencer
Introduce the product
Explain the reason the audience should engage
Include a call to action
By following this script format, you can increase user engagement on TikTok.
This effective structure for ad copy on TikTok can boost viewer engagement and ad recall.
Leveraging Analytics: From Basic Metrics to Custom Reports
TikTok Ads reporting tools can track a variety of metrics such as visibility, engagement, conversion, and spend, with segmentation by campaign, channel, or date. Custom reports in TikTok Ads Manager can be configured by selecting dimensions and metrics, specifying time ranges, and choosing display formats like pivot tables or trend lines.
TikTok Ads Manager allows for the creation of professional-looking reports using provided templates and enables scheduling of report generation and email distribution. The range of analytics software solutions for TikTok Ads varies in feature set, complexity, and use cases, from built-in analytics to more sophisticated business intelligence platforms.
Interpreting Data for Campaign Adjustments
Advertisers can use TikTok Ads reporting tools to analyze campaign performance and discover what content resonates with their audience to optimize future campaign strategies. TikTok Ads reporting tools enable marketers to blend data from multiple sources for comprehensive cross-channel reporting, which can provide deeper insights into conversions and user engagement.
Regular updates and access to historical data through TikTok Ads reporting tools allow for effective trend analysis, which is crucial for making informed decisions regarding campaign adjustments.
Multi-Platform Mastery: Integrating TikTok and Meta into Your Marketing Strategy
Why limit yourself to one platform when you can leverage two? Combining TikTok and Meta ads leverages the strengths of each platform and can lead to outstanding campaign results. A cross-channel advertising strategy can be important for growing a business as it allows for the collection of more insights and the application of learnings across platforms.
When integrating TikTok and Meta ads into a marketing strategy, consider the target audience, align the strategy with the brand’s goals, and capitalize on the specific strengths of each platform. To maximize lead generation and campaign performance, use both TikTok and Meta ads simultaneously and experiment with different target audiences on each platform.
Centralized analytics and reporting provide comprehensive insights into campaign performance across both TikTok and Meta, aiding in multi-platform campaign management.
Synchronizing Messaging Across Platforms
When advertising across different social media platforms, it’s vital to maintain a consistent marketing message and brand identity. Social media advertising plays a crucial role in this process, as consistency builds trust among consumers, making it important to maintain a clear tone of voice across platforms.
TikTok excels at creating engaging videos to spark interest in a brand, while Facebook is effective for targeted actions, with both platforms serving different stages in the marketing funnel. Synchronizing messaging adapts the strengths of both TikTok and Facebook to each stage of consumer interaction, ensuring a coherent and effective marketing approach.
Innovative Ad Strategies That Worked
TikTok’s unique platform has enabled brands to execute creative ad campaigns that effectively engage targeted audiences, driving user interest and increasing brand visibility. Brands like LevlUp, Cetaphil, and Levi’s have utilized personalized and interactive campaigns such as shopping experiences, Branded Mission Contests, and customized product features in their successful TikTok ad strategies.
On the other hand, brands like Crocs, Gymshark, and Marc Jacobs leveraged their campaigns through humor, user challenges, and influencer collaborations to spur audience engagement and drive successful outcomes on TikTok. These strategic TikTok campaigns, including those by Crumbl Cookies, Amazon Fashion, and Chewy, capitalized on platform trends such as FOMO and pet personification to amass impressive viewership numbers and strong follower growth.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid in Lead Generation
Every journey has its challenges. Ignoring platform-specific features and user behaviors can result in generic ads that fail to engage the unique audiences of TikTok and Meta. Underestimating the creative style and tone that resonates with TikTok users as opposed to Meta users can lead to poor ad performance and low lead quality.
Not conducting A/B tests can cause marketers to miss out on data-driven insights that inform better ad targeting and creative decisions. Failure to test different lead ad visuals and copies across platforms leads to a lack of understanding of what drives the most customer response and conversions.
For example, experiment using different form fields in your lead ad forms. More form fields usually results in fewer leads, but higher quality, more qualified leads.
Summary
The unique opportunities for TikTok vs Meta lead ads really comes down to demographics. In principal, TikTok has a younger audience, so if your brand is targeting 16 to 35 year olds, then definitely test TikTok as a lead gen source.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is TikTok’s user base like?
TikTok’s user base exceeds 1 billion and continues to grow, especially among older age groups. It’s a diverse and expanding community.
How can you refine your target audience for TikTok ads?
To refine your target audience for TikTok ads, focus on selecting geographic location, language, gender, age range, and adding interests and relevant behaviors such as video interactions, creator interactions, and hashtag interactions. This way, you can reach the most relevant audience for your ad.
What is the minimum daily spend for TikTok ads?
The minimum daily spend for TikTok ads is $20.
How can you customize the lead form for a Facebook Lead Ad?
You can customize the lead form for a Facebook Lead Ad by customizing the form questions, linking to your Privacy Policy, and customizing the Thank You screen. This allows you to tailor the lead form to better suit your needs.
What should be considered when setting a budget for a Facebook Lead Ad campaign?
When setting a budget for a Facebook Lead Ad campaign, consider how your ad spend will impact the reach and effectiveness of your campaign. This is crucial for getting the best results.
