TikTok advertising in Ukraine: return and new business opportunities

The social network TikTok officially resumed advertising tools for the first groups of Ukrainian customers on April 23, 2025. This happened after a two-year pause caused by the risks of disinformation and the blocking of advertising at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. After the return of advertising opportunities, TikTok is committed to adhering to a «strict advertising policy» with restrictions on the promotion of tobacco, weapons, gambling and other sensitive categories.

In this article, we will analyze what this news means for business owners in Ukraine, what TikTok Ads is and how it works, who it is suitable for, and what changes have taken place on the platform. In addition, we will consider a detailed guide on how to create an advertising account, which will be useful for those new to TikTok advertising.

What is TikTok Ads and how does it work?

TikTok Ads Manager is a powerful online tool that allows advertisers to plan, launch, and optimize advertising campaigns on TikTok. According to an article by Influencer Marketing Hub, the platform’s algorithm continuously processes interaction signals such as views, likes, and clicks on a link and redirects the budget to the most effective audiences in real time, which allows you to increase ROI without manual intervention. At the same time, Ads Manager builds Lookalike and Custom audiences based on uploaded databases and user behavioral patterns, offering automatic targeting for those most likely to perform the targeted action.

TikTok’s Business Help Center states that even without in-depth bid settings, the Automatic Bid is adjusted by the platform to achieve the business goal with minimal cost. And for advanced advertisers, Value-based Optimization is available, which focuses on the lifetime value of the customer (LTV) instead of one-time conversions. During the training phase – which lasts several days – the system tests different audience segments and creatives to collect enough data for further optimization and efficiency.

Whenever new capabilities emerge, such as the AI platform Symphony Creative Studios for automated video creation and editing, TikTok quickly integrates them into Ads Manager, allowing advertisers to experiment with creativity and reduce content preparation time. With the Targeting Recommendation module, it is enough to specify key interests or behavioral traits, and the system will offer the best audience categories tailored to your goal.

According to TikTok For Business, the analytics in Ads Manager are represented by both ready-made dashboards with graphs of costs, ROI, and traffic quality, and the ability to fine-tune reports by adding your own metrics (Purchase ROAS, Ad Revenue ROAS, etc.) and exporting data to CSV for detailed analysis. All of this data is updated in near real time, so you can always see which audience segments and creatives are performing best and adjust your budget and bids quickly.

Thus, TikTok Ads Manager blurs the line between creativity and analytics, allowing businesses of all sizes to immediately identify the most productive audiences, automatically optimize costs, and receive transparent reporting without spending hours on manual setup and monitoring.

The main formats of ads on TikTok

Before moving on to specific ad formats, it is worth noting that they are all based on the same principle of TikTok Ads Manager: flexible targeting, automatic optimization, and integration into the user’s feed without «advertising noise». Below are the main advertising formats that allow you to interact with your audience in different ways:

In-Feed Ads

In-Feed Ads are placed directly in the «For You» feed, so they look like organic content. This means that users perceive them less intrusively, which increases the likelihood of viewing and interaction. You can upload a video up to 60 seconds long, add a call-to-action button (e.g., Buy, Learn More), and insert UTM tags for detailed conversion tracking. Thanks to the ability to choose precise targeting by interests and demographics, In-Feed Ads are perfect for complex marketing goals – from lead generation to e-commerce sales.

Spark Ads

Spark Ads allow you to promote both your own posts and third-party content with the author’s consent. The main advantage is that all social activity (likes, comments, shares) is saved under the original video, which increases user trust. This format is ideal for collaborations with opinion leaders: the brand pays only for advertising, not for content creation. The last major update of Spark Ads in April 2025 added the ability to automatically select the most effective organic creatives for promotion, which reduces the cost of video testing.

TopView

TopView is a full-screen video with sound that is displayed immediately after the app is launched. Due to its location and format, TopView guarantees maximum user attention: your message is seen first and in full format. It is an ideal tool for large brand campaigns, new product launches, or seasonal promotions when instant recognition is important. You get up to 80% view-through rate and a significant increase in recall metrics.

Each of these formats uses the power of TikTok’s algorithm in its own way. This diversity allows you to create integrated strategies where the formats complement each other, providing a wide reach and deep audience engagement.

Who is suitable for advertising on TikTok?

We will analyze detailed recommendations on how to choose TikTok Ads for business, as well as practical tips that will help you get the most out of your advertising campaigns.

1. E-commerce projects.

If you are an online store owner and your video with a new clothing collection suddenly “explodes” in the For You feed. In a matter of hours, hundreds of people will learn about your brand, and you’ll spend only a few tens of dollars on it. This is exactly how TikTok Ads works for e-commerce projects: short, catchy videos easily gain millions of views, quickly test the demand for products, and return investments through remarketing via Custom Audiences.

Unfortunately, very few Ukrainian businesses are using this new opportunity to advertise on TikTok, so we’ll use our foreign colleagues as examples for now.

Indonesian shoe brand PVN Shoes tested different bidding strategies in the Video Shopping Ads format. With a small initial budget, they:

• reached 2.2 million impressions;
• received >3.4 thousand completed payments;
• reached 8.8× ROAS.

This case of PVN Shoes shows that even without large investments, it is possible to find the optimal strategy and creativity that ensure high returns and sales scaling.

2. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Owners of a small coffee shop or beauty studio usually value every hryvnia for advertising. This is where TikTok Ads comes in handy: a minimum budget of $5 per day, a simple Ads Manager interface, and ready-made templates allow you to test your first campaigns without any extra effort. Local targeting will bring you to the residents of the desired area and multiply the number of visitors.

For example, Bean&Go Coffee in Singapore tested In-Feed Ads with geo-targeting within a 3 km radius around the establishment. For a budget of $7/day, they:

• received +28% of visitors in 10 days;
• reached a CPA of $1.10;
• increased the average check by 12%.

More details about the Bean&Go case can be found here.

3. Visually-oriented brands (fashion, beauty, FMCG).

For visual brands, TikTok Ads opens up a world of challenges, masks, and AR effects. Imagine your customers creating content with your filter themselves, spreading the brand at no additional cost.

For example, the US cosmetics brand Glossier launched Spark Ads with a branded AR mask that allowed users to try on virtual lipstick shades. In 7 days, they:

• increased the subscriber base by 35%;
• increased sales of the new product by 22%;
• received more than 50 thousand interactions with the AR effect.

Glossier’s case study proves the effectiveness of combining AR masks and Spark Ads to increase awareness and direct sales.

4. Creative agencies and freelancers.

For creative agencies and freelancers, TikTok Ads is a platform for experimentation and portfolio building. By launching several formats with a minimum budget, you will get real cases and data that will attract new customers.

For example, FIFTHWEAPON agency combined Spark Ads, Video Shopping Ads, and Value-Based Optimization during the Black Friday campaign for the Mielle Organics brand. In a short period of time, they:

• reached 63 million video views in 10 days;
• delivered 21,000 conversions in less than 2 weeks;
• reduced cost per action (CPA) by 35% compared to previous campaigns.

This case FIFTHWEAPON study demonstrates how the right combination of formats and TikTok Ads optimization tools allow even moderate budgets to get massive results and scale sales.

New features and analytics in 2025

In 2025, TikTok Ads Manager has significantly expanded its optimization and analytics capabilities by adding tools that help advertisers not only increase short-term conversions but also focus on long-term audience value, test creatives more flexibly, and analyze campaign performance more deeply with new metrics and reports. So, new features:

Value-based Optimization (VBO) to maximize LTV

Value-based Optimization (VBO) allows TikTok Ads Manager to find and show ads to those users who are most likely to generate the highest lifetime value (LTV), not just a one-time conversion.

For mobile apps, VBO supports Highest Value or Target ROAS strategies, optimizing campaigns for maximum revenue or a specified ROI. For web campaigns, VBO selects audiences that tend to make larger or multiple purchases and optimizes for Complete Payment Events, which helps to increase the average order value.

Improved A/B testing of creatives

TikTok Ads Manager has expanded the traditional Split Test by adding the ability to automatically select creatives using AI and quickly scale the most successful options.

• Split Testing (A/B test) officially supports comparing two versions of ads with 90% confidence in the results, allowing you to test targeting settings, bidding strategies, and creative.
• Generate with AI automatically selects up to 10 of the most promising creative variants (videos or images) based on content analysis and AI recommendations, and then allows advertisers to add or remove selected elements before launch.

After the test is completed, Ads Manager offers to extend only the «winning» group of ads with one click, which makes it easier to scale successful creatives.

Advanced analytics and reporting

TikTok Ads Manager has added a number of new metrics and reports that allow for a deeper assessment of traffic quality and cost effectiveness.

1. Purchase ROAS and Ad Revenue ROAS are now available as separate metrics in Ads Manager; to see them, you need to add the corresponding columns to Custom Columns under Conversions →  App.
2. Target ROAS for VBO campaigns allows you to set a minimum threshold of profitability and balance between fully spending the budget and maintaining a set ROAS.
3. Custom Reports in the Analytics section →  Custom reports allow you to create custom reports from any combination of Dimensions and Metrics, and display them in the form of summary tables or graphs for further analysis.

If all of the above advantages and opportunities of advertising on TikTok have convinced you, proceed to creating an ad.

Before you launch your first campaign, you need to set up your account correctly. Below are detailed instructions for businesses in Ukraine with additional tips.

Step 1. Register a business account

Step-by-step steps are as follows:

1. Go to the TikTok Ads Manager registration page.
2. Select «Business Account» and click Sign Up.
3. Enter your work e-mail or phone number, create a strong password (at least 8 characters, with numbers and letters).
4. Agree to the terms of use and confirm registration with a code from an email or SMS.

Step 2. Setting up your account

It needs to be done:

1. In Ads Manager, open Account Settings →  Account Info.
2. Select a country: Ukraine, the industry of your business (for example, Retail, E-commerce).
3. Specify the time zone: Europe/Kyiv (be careful – it cannot be changed later!).
4. Select a currency: USD or UAH depending on the strategy.

Stage 3. Business verification

For quick verification, you need:

1. Go to Business Verification.
2. Upload statutory documents (extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, VAT payer certificate) and proof of legal address (utility bill or bank statement).
3. Click Submit and wait for verification (up to 24 hours).

Step 4. Setting up payments

For this stage, you need to strictly follow the following steps:

1. Open Billing →  Payment Methods.
2. Add a bank card (VISA/MasterCard) or choose an invoice (for budgets from $5000/month).
3. Provide the payment address and tax number (if applicable).
4. Save and wait for confirmation.

Step 5. Create a campaign

We do the following:

1. Click Create in the upper right corner of Ads Manager.
2. Select a campaign goal: Traffic, Conversions, App Install, etc.
3. Specify a total or daily budget (minimum $20/campaign).
4. Set the show dates (start and end dates).

Step 6. Setting up an ad group

You need to perform the following steps:

1. Select placements: In-Feed, Spark Ads, TopView, or Automatic Placement.
2. Customize the audience: location, age, gender, interests, behavior.
3. Choose a betting strategy: Lowest Cost or Target Cost.

Step 7. Adding creatives

The penultimate stage involves:

1. Upload a video (9:16 or 1:1, up to 60 seconds) or image (1:1, 1200×1200 px).
2. Add a body text (up to 100 characters), a title (up to 25 characters), and a CTA (Call-To-Action).
3. Add UTM tags for analytics and activate TikTok Pixel or SDK (for mobile apps).

Stage 8. Submission for moderation and launch

The last stage includes:

1. View a preview of the ad on all placements.
2. Click Submit.
3. Wait for approval (usually up to 12 hours).
4. After approval, click Launch to activate the campaign.

By following these steps and recommendations, you will get a properly configured ad account ready to create effective campaigns. The main thing is to carefully check all the entered data (time zone, documents, payment details) and use minimum budgets for testing before scaling.

Conclusions: Should TikTok Ads be launched in Ukraine in 2025?

The return of TikTok’s advertising opportunities to Ukraine is not just news, but a signal to businesses: it’s time to act. In 2025, the platform offers a powerful arsenal of tools for attracting, retaining and monetizing an audience – from flexible ad formats to real-time analytics and LTV optimization. Today, TikTok Ads is no longer an experimental platform for teenage challenges, but a serious marketing tool that is suitable for both large e-commerce players and local small businesses.

The success of brands from different countries shows: TikTok works even on small budgets, and new features such as Value-Based Optimization and AI creatives make it even more accessible and effective. If your audience is actively using TikTok and your product can be presented visually, launching ads on this platform in 2025 is not just worth considering, but an essential element of your competitive strategy.

The main thing is not to delay: the sooner you start, the sooner you will gain an advantage in the not yet saturated advertising environment of TikTok in Ukraine.

Pavlo Vlasiuk

CMO

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