YouTube Ads vs TikTok Ads — which is actually better for top of funnel?

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CosmicBanana

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Running a test for a health supplement brand. Decent budget, top-of-funnel awareness goal, eventually want to retarget for conversion. YouTube: Using skippable in-stream. Getting views cheap but the audience quality for retargeting feels thin. People watch 5 seconds and bounce.TikTok: Better engagement but harder to retarget since the ecosystem is more closed. Anyone have a framework for which platform to use based on product type/audience? My gut says TikTok is better for younger demo (18-34) and YouTube scales better for 35+ especially with longer-form content. Also has anyone tried running the same creative on both and compared? Curious if video that works on TikTok dies on YouTube or if good creative is just good creative.
 
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TikTok wins for 18-34 engagement, but for supplements, YouTube scales better for 35+; just don't copy-paste creatives, as TikTok style feels too organic for YouTube In-Stream placement.
 
I think the platform depends a lot on the product and creative style. TikTok is great for fast attention and discovery, while YouTube usually works better when you need more explanation and trust.
 
to be honest yeah i think every platform is different and i would use the same creative as a starting point then make small changes based on the results because testing is the only way to know what works best.
 
For supplements I would test both. TikTok can get cheap reach, while YouTube may bring better quality users for retargeting.
 
Tiktok is good for reaching new people, but youtube can bring better quality traffic. I would test both with a small budget and see which one gives better results.
 
i think it depends on the audience and creative becuase tiktok is great for younger users and quick content and youtube can work better for trust and longer videos adn I will test both and compare the quality of traffic not just views.
 
yeah i think it depends on the audience and creative style because tiktok usually works well for younger audiences and quick content and youtube can be better for trust and longer videos and testing both is the best way to known.
 
For me, the best approach would be testing both with small budgets first. The data usually shows which platform brings better quality visitors.
 
yeah i think tiktok works better for younger audiences and youtube is better for longer content and building trust because testing the same creative on both is the best way to see what performs better.
 
CosmicBanana said:
Running a test for a health supplement brand. Decent budget, top-of-funnel awareness goal, eventually want to retarget for conversion. YouTube: Using skippable in-stream. Getting views cheap but the audience quality for retargeting feels thin. People watch 5 seconds and bounce.TikTok: Better engagement but harder to retarget since the ecosystem is more closed. Anyone have a framework for which platform to use based on product type/audience? My gut says TikTok is better for younger demo (18-34) and YouTube scales better for 35+ especially with longer-form content. Also has anyone tried running the same creative on both and compared? Curious if video that works on TikTok dies on YouTube or if good creative is just good creative.
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Youtube can be good for older audiences because people spend more time watching longer videos. TikTok usually works better for younger users.
 
Try TikTok first for younger audiences and check the engagement quality before increasing the budget.
 
I would test both because TikTok can be better for younger audiences and quick hooks while YouTube works well for trust and longer education so just use the same idea, but adapt the creative to each platform and also don’t just copy paste.
 
I would do yt as you have more chance to retarget the audience and can go wider. Though, if budget allows, go test tiktok as well
 
I wouldnt pick based only on age. Run the same creative with similar targeting and compare view quality, engaged audience size and retargeting conversions. That should make the winner pretty clear.
 
hey yeah i think so too because testing the same creative on both is probably the best way to see which one the actually performs better.
 
YouTube is generally better for broad awareness and giving people more time to understand a brand or idea. TikTok is often stronger for quick attention and short, engaging content. The better choice depends on your audience and the type of content you’re promoting.
 
TikTok for young audience like fashion/trends and Youtube generally for e learning and recipes
 
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