Meta (Facebook and Instagram) has long been the default platform for brands focused on awareness strategies. I can see why. Its precision targeting, broad reach, and interactivity make it the no-brainer choice for capturing attention and engaging potential customers.
However, relying on Meta alone to drive digital reach is no longer enough in today's oversaturated online space. Brands need a multi-channel strategy to cut through the noise and see meaningful results, especially within noisy funnel stages such as awareness and consideration. This is the advice I give my clients: a unified, multi-platform approach helps brands adapt to different audience behaviours and optimise their entire marketing funnel.
With its viral, trend-driven content and generous algorithm, TikTok can supercharge brand awareness efforts in ways Meta alone cannot. Despite TikTok’s massive growth, many brands still overlook it, believing they must choose between platforms or dismiss TikTok as an immature platform rather than a channel to engage high-net-worth buyers or young professionals who fit their Ideal Customer Profile. This is a costly mistake.
It’s not about picking sides; it’s about playing the right game.
If there’s one word to describe TikTok, it’s “viral.” The platform is designed for fast, organic engagement. As of 2024, TikTok has 1.1 billion users globally, with approximately 425 million monthly active users across the US, UK, and Europe.
TikTok’s algorithm showcases content to users based on behaviour—not on who they follow—which is why a single post can go viral overnight. This makes it ideal for awareness campaigns, grabbing attention quickly. TikTok thrives on trends, challenges, and creative content that users love sharing. TikTok is where you start if you aim to generate buzz and get people talking about your brand.
A common misconception is that TikTok is only for Gen Z and viral dance videos. While that’s how it started, the platform has evolved. Today, 61% of TikTok users purchase after seeing an ad, and 41% happen within a week. The audience is now far more diverse, encompassing millennials, Gen Xers, and beyond—ready to engage with brands and make purchase decisions.
Meta’s strength lies in its targeting capabilities. With around 924.1 million users across key markets, Meta’s ad platform is one of the most sophisticated infrastructures available. You can segment your audience based on detailed demographics, interests, behaviours, and more. Meta’s retargeting capabilities allow you to follow up with users who've already engaged with your brand, ensuring your messaging remains relevant as users move down the funnel.
Meta excels at converting awareness into measurable business outcomes, making it the ideal platform for the consideration and conversion stages of the funnel.
Both TikTok and Meta offer distinct advantages for different marketing funnel stages. So, let’s compare how they compare when we look at the key metrics that matter most to sales and marketing leads: Budget, Engagement Efficacy, and Revenue.
For brands launching new products or working within limited budgets, TikTok is an ideal choice for generating awareness. You can create viral moments and reach a huge, relevant audience without completely exhausting your budget. Even for brands heavily invested in Meta, TikTok provides a cost-effective way to extend top-of-funnel campaigns after you’ve exhausted your primary channel.
TikTok generates buzz and excitement, but Meta is where you drive users to take the next step. With its higher CTR and retargeting capabilities, Meta outperforms TikTok when it comes to driving users to sign up, purchase, or click through to learn more. TikTok makes your brand part of the conversation, and Meta ensures that conversation leads to measurable action.
Here, we see Meta emerge and demonstrate its value as a brand revenue generator.
As you can see, Meta is the stronger performer when it comes to revenue generation. For e-commerce and businesses with easily trackable transactions, Meta’s higher ROAS and more efficient cost of sale make it the platform of choice for conversion-driven campaigns.
However, not all campaigns are focused solely on online conversions. Many brands need to build trust and awareness first, especially when marketing new-to-market products, and that’s where TikTok shines.
The data tells us that TikTok’s strength lies in creating hype and driving top-of-funnel awareness, while Meta excels at converting that buzz into actionable outcomes and sales.
A full-funnel strategy within social media can be a highly efficient approach for many brands. By keeping users within the platforms they are already engaged with, brands reduce the risk of audience drop-off between stages. This unified strategy nurtures potential customers from awareness to conversion, optimising every touchpoint in their journey.
A multi-channel approach also allows brands to get the most out of their marketing budgets, ensuring that their spend is maximized across all stages of the funnel—from initial visibility on TikTok to final conversions on Meta.
Our client, a specialist food manufacturer and household name, does not have an e-commerce platform because its products are stocked in every UK supermarket and smaller grocers nationwide. Despite this, they approached us with the goal of boosting brand engagement and ensuring a competitive edge over their rivals in the market. In addition, the brand was releasing new products to market.
Following a successful year using Meta and YouTube to drive brand awareness and engagement and saturating the platforms, it was a no-brainer that TikTok would be the platform of choice for their new product launches. TikTok’s trend-driven environment is ideal for introducing niche offerings to a wide and highly engaged audience.
By leveraging TikTok’s video-centric format, the supplier showcased their products dynamically, tapping into the platform’s viral nature. This strategy quickly helped them establish brand recognition, positioning them strongly as they entered a new market.
In a campaign for a luxury property developer in London, we implemented a full-funnel strategy using both TikTok and Meta to maximise visibility and drive conversions.
“Luxury property, TikTok?!”. We hear you asking. Yes, absolutely, we put our money where our mouth is when it comes to digital strategy.
TikTok played a pivotal role in generating top-of-funnel awareness. Its engaging video content allowed us to reach a broad audience while achieving a CPM 36% lower than industry benchmarks. This built significant early buzz around the development.
Once interest was captured, Meta’s retargeting tools guided users through the middle funnel, re-engaging those who had interacted with the TikTok content. Meta's performance in click-through rates and conversions demonstrated the effectiveness of the combined approach, proving that the right balance of both platforms drives optimal results.
In today’s saturated digital space, where attention is a scarce resource, the power of a well-rounded social media strategy lies in understanding that no single platform can do it all. The brands that leverage TikTok and Meta together will see sustainable growth and lasting success. Rather than choosing between the two, it’s time to recognise that they are better together, delivering the best of both worlds, from building brand trust to driving revenue.
At Fingo, we understand that navigating multiple platforms can feel daunting for in-house teams. But that’s where we come in. We’ve helped many of our clients tap into the unique strengths of dozens of platforms, building strategies that boost engagement and turn it into real commercial success. If you’re ready to take your digital strategy up a notch, let’s chat and see how we can make it happen for you. Email us at hello@fingo.co.uk