A recent Dentsu study, in partnership with TikTok, shows that advertisers on the platform achieve strong returns on investment (ROI) for both short-term and long-term sales.
The analysis (PDF link) focused on 15 brands in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland and compared TikTok’s performance with other media channels.
Dentsu found:
“With a short-term ROI of 11.8, TikTok ranks among the most effective media channels for driving immediate sales, according to dentsu benchmark data. In practical terms, this means that advertisers generate nearly 12 times their initial investment in sales revenue within just six weeks—establishing TikTok as one of the strongest performance marketing channels available.”
In other words, advertisers gained nearly 12 dollars in sales for every dollar spent in six weeks or less.
For comparison, Dentsu measured the average short-term ROI from all media at 8.7.
Other top findings from the Dentsu study include:
75% of advertisers found that TikTok provided the highest ROI compared to other channels.
All advertisers saw a substantial boost in short-term sales from TikTok.
To achieve the best short-term results, combine lower-funnel platforms with TikTok.
TikTok’s sales impact lasts 3 to 4 weeks after a campaign ends.
Advertisers with the best ROI stayed active on TikTok.
User-generated content featuring creators had the strongest sales impact.
What About Long-Term Impact?
The data indicates that, in addition to the 11.8 ROI achieved in the first six weeks, a 4.5 ROI is observed within 10 months after exposure.
This suggests that TikTok can function as a performance channel for immediate results and a tool for building brand equity over the long term.
However, as you can see in the chart below, several ad platforms achieve better results than TikTok in the longer term.