Metricool published its Social Ads study Sept. 22, 2026, covering 628,969 campaigns from 44,355 advertisers on Meta and TikTok. It compares the same six months of 2025 and 2026. Its summary reports a TikTok click cost of $0.03, but choosing a network by that price first answers a traffic question rather than the profitability of the subsequent purchase.
According to Metricool, the panel represents $471 million in analysed spending and 91% of its advertisers use only Meta. Campaigns, advertisers and expenditure are different units. The summary does not identify the exact six months, country distribution or weights here. Observed concentration invites examining an inherited allocation without establishing that diversification improves every business.
The channel must perform the task being compared
An advertisement seeking visits and one seeking sales can use identically named indicators for different objectives. Review begins with the offer’s task: explain a possibility, respond to an expressed need or facilitate an operation. An average click price does not settle that choice or identify the audience available for the next Spanish campaign.
Market size supplies another reference. Statista’s series based on IAB Spain and PwC places Spanish social-media spending at €1,832.5 million during 2025. The category aggregates surfaces and formats under its own definitions. It does not supply a Meta-TikTok split or returns among Metricool’s advertisers.
Spain 2025: estimated spending in three communication environments
Selected IAB Spain and PwC report categories. Nominal annual amounts, without allocating Social between Meta and TikTok.
EUR million
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
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2025 market estimate: a 78-company panel with half-yearly tracking plus PwC econometric estimation of uncontrolled spending, market sources and interviews. Nominal euros. Display excludes social media and branded content; YouTube is video within Display. Not individual advertiser budgets or a 2026 forecast.
Explore the data table
| Category | Estimated spending |
|---|---|
| Social media | 1,832.5 EUR million |
| Influencers | 158.4 EUR million |
| Connected TV | 174.9 EUR million |
Influencer and connected-television spending involve other distribution and production units. Their amounts place each environment’s scale in context without making campaigns equivalent. The advertiser first needs the cost of preparing a suitable product explanation and maintaining a useful continuation after exposure.
A click neither completes a purchase nor qualifies an enquiry
Creative promises information or an action. The destination retains it: comparison needs comparable conditions; an enquiry needs an available service and somebody able to respond. An inexpensive visit can end before the offer becomes clear. Blaming the network without examining continuation confuses distribution with delivery.
| Question | Entry metric | Commercial check |
|---|---|---|
| Are we reaching an audience? | Reach and frequency | Audience relevance to the offer |
| Are visits useful? | CPC and sessions | Real landing-page access and behaviour |
| Are opportunities created? | Cost per lead | Sales acceptance and effective contact |
| Are sales profitable? | Cost per purchase | Contribution after returns and acquisition |
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This is an editorial evaluation framework rather than an additional study finding. Retail may define the commercial endpoint as a valid order. A service may use a sales-accepted enquiry before closure. Its denominator is agreed beforehand, retaining duplicates, cancellations and unsuitable requests under their own states.
Dashboards need a shared commercial reference
In Nielsen’s 2025 survey carried by Statista, alignment on metrics appears in 22% of responses about the first or second obstacle to measuring digital return. Incomparable data receives 19%, and too many vendors and tools 18%. The sample uses a budget filter and does not describe Metricool customers. It places definition difficulties before the choice of a winning platform.
Nielsen 2025: comparing returns encounters definition obstacles
Brand marketers at manager level or above, minimum annual marketing budget USD 1 million. Online survey February 25–March 6, 2025.
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
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Nielsen: 1,400 brand professionals at manager level or above, minimum annual marketing budget USD 1 million. Online survey February 25–March 6, 2025; 350 per region APAC, EMEA, North America and Latin America. First or second reported obstacle; original pp. 22 and 29. Not Metricool advertisers, campaign outcomes or platform-error rates.
Explore the data table
| Category | First or second obstacle |
|---|---|
| Alignment on metrics | 22.0% |
| Incomparable data | 19.0% |
| Too many vendors and tools | 18.0% |
Google Analytics defines attribution as distributing credit among contacts preceding an action. One purchase can receive credit in several dashboards without becoming several purchases. The commercial account retains unique operations, state and the relevant amount; platforms describe their observed journey and credit rule. An attributed sale also does not itself establish what the campaign added beyond existing demand.
Reported return still differs from net contribution
Metricool reports $2.42 per dollar spent on sales campaigns for US brands against the study’s $4.57 average. This is a summary-attributed comparison involving different populations without public weights for reconstructing a typical Spanish account. Dollars are not silently changed into euros, and revenue is not called profit.
Complete cost includes production, destination maintenance and support alongside media. Contribution recognizes discounts, fulfilment, returns or implementation where relevant. A new network can need work already performed for a mature account. Keeping that imbalance visible permits deciding whether further learning merits funding without calling transferred workload a saving.
Results also need comparable maturity. An enquiry can close after the reporting week, and an order can subsequently return. Initial operational review and later commercial assessment remain useful under distinct names. Choosing the attractive early figure before purchase maturity turns an observational reference into an unsupported promise.
The study helps formulate a company-specific question: which audience, explanation or continuation remains unexamined. A bounded review agrees outcome, cost and decision time, retaining unsuccessful observations too. Allocation can remain unchanged where evidence supports it. The route earning the next dollar explains a serviceable operation and its contribution even without leading the cheap-click ranking.
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Marian Vasile
Marian Vasile is a MarTech and growth professional. His work spans product marketing, SEO, paid advertising and deep online tracking, including behavioral analytics and attribution.