TikTok and LinkedIn sit at opposite ends of paid social. TikTok reaches huge consumer audiences cheaply but demands native, fast-moving creative. LinkedIn costs far more per click but lets you target by job title, company and seniority, which no other platform matches for B2B. This guide covers what each typically costs in the UK in 2026, what drives the price and how to decide whether either is right for you.
TikTok Ads Costs in the UK
TikTok runs an auction similar to Meta's: you set a budget and objective, and the platform bids for you. Typical UK ranges we see are:
- Cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM): roughly £4–£10
- Cost per click: roughly £0.30–£1.20
- Minimum budgets: TikTok sets minimum daily budgets of 50 US dollars per campaign and 20 US dollars per ad group, charged in your account currency
These are typical ranges rather than guarantees. Costs rise in the run-up to Black Friday and Christmas, as on every platform.
What drives TikTok ad costs?
- Creative: the single biggest factor. Ads that look like normal TikTok content (vertical, sound on, a hook in the first two seconds) get cheaper reach. Polished brand ads usually cost more and convert less.
- Creative fatigue: TikTok audiences tire of ads quickly, so expect to refresh creative every few weeks.
- Objective: optimising for purchases or leads costs more per impression than optimising for views or traffic, but usually less per result.
- Audience: TikTok's audience skews younger, though it has broadened considerably. Products aimed at older or highly specialised buyers may struggle.
Our ad creative testing framework for Meta and TikTok covers how to produce and test enough creative to keep costs down.
LinkedIn Ads Costs in the UK
LinkedIn is consistently the most expensive major ad platform per click, because its audience and targeting are uniquely valuable for B2B. Typical UK ranges are:
- Cost per click: roughly £5–£12, and higher for senior or niche audiences
- Cost per 1,000 impressions: often £25–£60 or more
- Cost per lead: commonly £50–£200+, depending on audience, offer and whether you use LinkedIn's own lead gen forms
- Minimum budget: LinkedIn sets a minimum daily budget per campaign, typically around 10 US dollars, though it varies by campaign type and targeting
What drives LinkedIn ad costs?
- Audience seniority and size: targeting C-suite in a narrow industry costs far more than a broad professional audience.
- Ad format: sponsored content, message ads, conversation ads and document ads all price differently.
- Offer: a useful guide, benchmark report or event converts much better than "book a demo" on cold audiences.
- Lead gen forms: pre-filled forms usually lower cost per lead, though lead quality needs checking in your CRM.
TikTok vs LinkedIn vs Meta: How They Compare
- TikTok: cheapest reach, best for consumer brands with strong video creative and products with broad appeal.
- Meta (Facebook and Instagram): the most versatile all-rounder for consumer and many B2B offers. See our guide to how much Facebook ads cost in the UK.
- LinkedIn: most expensive per click, but the strongest targeting for B2B, especially high-value services where one client is worth thousands.
The right comparison isn't cost per click; it's cost per customer. A £10 LinkedIn click that becomes a £20,000 contract can be far better value than a 50p TikTok click that never converts.
How to Set a Budget for TikTok or LinkedIn
- Decide the result you need: sales, leads or qualified meetings.
- Estimate a realistic cost per result using the ranges above.
- Budget for enough results to learn from. As a rough guide, aim for at least 30–50 conversions a month per campaign before judging performance.
- Set aside budget for creative. On TikTok especially, the media budget is wasted without a steady supply of new videos.
For B2B lead generation, our guide to B2B PPC with Google Ads and LinkedIn covers how to combine search and LinkedIn for better-quality leads.
TikTok and LinkedIn Ads FAQs
Q: Is TikTok advertising worth it for B2B?
A: Occasionally, for brand awareness or recruitment, but most B2B lead generation works better on LinkedIn and Google Search, where you can target by job role or capture active demand.
Q: Why is LinkedIn advertising so expensive?
A: Because the audience is professional and the targeting is precise. Advertisers pay a premium to reach decision-makers by title, seniority and company, which other platforms can only approximate.
Q: What's the minimum I should spend on LinkedIn ads?
A: The platform minimum is low, but most UK B2B campaigns need at least £1,500–£3,000 a month to generate enough leads to judge performance.
Q: Do I need a separate agency for TikTok?
A: Not necessarily. What matters is that whoever runs it can produce and test native video creative quickly, which is a different skill from managing search campaigns.
If you're weighing up TikTok or LinkedIn for your next campaign, we can help you decide where your budget will work hardest. Kinsman & Co runs Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn campaigns for UK brands. See how our paid social agency in London works, or book a call to talk it through.
