The question “TikTok or Facebook” is wrongly framed. The platforms aren’t substitutes, they’re complements. We’ve run campaigns on both for Mondly, Motorola, Muller, Peugeot and Citroen. Here’s what’s different, concretely.
CPM and CTR
On European averages, Facebook CPM is 5-12 EUR, TikTok 3-8 EUR. Facebook CTR sits at 0.8-1.4%, TikTok 1.2-2.5%. TikTok is cheaper on impressions and more sensitive to creative. A weak creative on TikTok has CPM 15 EUR, a good one, 3 EUR.
Creative velocity
On Facebook, a good creative lives 4-6 weeks. On TikTok, 10-14 days. The difference is operational: for the same budget, on TikTok you need 2-3x more monthly creatives.
Real cost: 8-12 new creatives/month on TikTok vs. 3-5 on Facebook to scale sustainably. That changes team structure and production budget.
Attribution
Facebook has more mature attribution, with 7/1 click/view as a reasonable default. TikTok consistently under-reports on conversion, especially on offers with high consideration. Recommendation: 7/1 for impulse e-commerce, 14/1 or 28/1 for B2B and products over 200 EUR.
CAPI is mandatory on both, but the impact is bigger on TikTok: 30-35% data recovery vs. 20-25% on Facebook.
Audience signals
Facebook works well with interests and demographics. TikTok ignores most declared interest signals and optimizes on behavioral signals: which videos you finish, which products you search, which hashtags you follow.
Practically: broad audiences (just geo + age) perform better on TikTok. On Facebook, stacking 3-5 relevant interests still brings lift vs. broad.
Real demographics
Myth: “TikTok is just for Gen Z”. The 2026 reality: 35-44 is the second largest segment on TikTok, after 25-34. At Mondly, the 35-44 cohort delivered 28% of conversions.
Facebook is still strong on 45+. If your core audience is 50+ and buys high-value products, Facebook stays the main channel, not TikTok.
Shopping experience
Facebook Shop and DPA are more stable as infrastructure. TikTok Shop is growing fast, but implementation is uneven across markets. In emerging markets (RO, BG, HU), TikTok Shop is limited, and the best route is video ads pointing to an external landing.
Where TikTok wins clearly
Product launches, awareness for younger audiences, UGC at scale, cultural trends, brands with strong visual aesthetics. At Gillette and Old Spice, TikTok delivered CPM 2x better vs. Facebook for awareness objectives.
Where Facebook still beats it
Direct conversions on mature offers, 45+ audiences, multi-touch retargeting, B2B with long lead cycles, local (Facebook Pages + local awareness).
The practical recommendation
Realistic split for budget under 20k EUR/month: 50/50 in the first 60 days, then adjust on CAC. Over 50k EUR/month: allocate 60% to the channel that converts to target and 40% to the other for diversification. Check TikTok Creative Center and the Meta ad library weekly for creative inputs.
