Why TikTok Should Be Included In Your Digital Marketing Strategy
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About TikTok
TikTok has risen in popularity in the last years, especially throughout the pandemic and it has naturally been named the fastest-growing social media platform of all time. It is not difficult to understand why, as the numbers will show you.
The platform is used for entertaining content mostly – dance challenges, and lip–synching, but also for educational subjects, where people discuss complex topics like investments, healthcare, etc.
As happens with all social media platforms, marketers soon discovered the ad reach potential of TikTok. In this article, we put together some data that shows why you should consider TikTok in your digital marketing strategies and which are the most popular formats to target audiences.
Before, let’s look at some curiosities about the app.
Interesting Facts About TikTok
1. TikTok started to skyrocket during the Covid–19 outbreak and still is growing globally
In 2019, the time spent on TikTok was a mammoth 68 billion hours. However, in March 2020 and throughout the biggest part of that year and the year that followed, COVID-19 forced people to stay in confinement in their residences, isolated from family and friends. As many businesses struggled, TikTok soared.
Throughout March 2020, the average U.S. visitor was using the TikTok app for 858 minutes (14 hours and 18 minutes).
And perhaps you might think the app was only used for infinite scrolling and to make silly comedy videos and dances, but it also had informational value.
According to Adam M. Ostrovsky and Joshua R. Chen, from the Pennsylvania State University, TikTok had a massive impact on spreading health advice regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the researchers found that videos with the hashtags “covid-19,” “covid19,” and “coronavirus” have reached 4.4 billion, 33.3 billion, and 93.1 billion views, respectively.
Of these videos, 6.33% were produced by actual healthcare professionals, and 15.66% of videos communicated pragmatic health information. Only 0.66% were related to misleading or inaccurate medical advice.
It is estimated that by the end of 2022, the number of TikTok users worldwide will be 755 million people. Statista also predicts that by 2025 955.3 million people will be using TikTok.
2. TikTok is expected to surpass Snapchat in 2023/2025 across Gen Z
Being already the biggest age user base, Gen Z became even more into TikTok in 2020, due to schools and colleges being closed down. The Kantar “COVID-19 Barometer discovered that between March and April 2020, usage of TikTok was up 33% for Gen Z respondents and 27% for millennials.
Such rapid growth among Gen Z Tiktok is expected to surpass Snapchat, which is still the most popular social media platform across this segment, by 2025.
And it’s not only Gen Z, but also even younger audiences are now more and more on TikTok. In 2020, kids aged between 4–15 spent an average of 75 minutes daily globally watching TikTok videos.
In the US, this number is even higher —87 minutes. This means you can easily share content with audiences younger than Gen Z.
3. TikTok pushed businesses and people to be more creative
According to the State of Mobile 2022 report from Data.ai, “consumer spending on TikTok increased 77% in 2021. Overall, users spent $2.3 billion on the app, compared to $1.3 billion the year before.
Therefore, this platform can not be ignored by marketers, as it has enormous revenue potential. Though, with its very specific format and limited time span, TikTok is often misunderstood.
It forces businesses that wanted to market their products on their platform to come out of their comfort zones and condense information into a very minimalistic and straight-to-the-point concept.
The TikTok algorithm does favor quality content, so it will award businesses whose marketing ideas are engaging, likable, and relatable. Companies need to jump on trends before it’s too late but without trying to copy or take the spotlight of the actual content creators.
@cocacola #ad Sharing our magic through @jalaiahharmon dc!✨ #ShareTheMagic @yasminheroo @davidvooo ♬ Open – Khalid feat. Majid Jordan
4. TikTok influencers could be more cost–effective to reach new people than the TikTok ads platform
Regards, Tik Tok influencer marketing, TikTok is the most cost–effective way to spread awareness for businesses.
In 2021 the total number of views of sponsored videos was over 1.3 billion, with the average views per video being 508k.
There are TikTok creators that have up to 100 million followers and earn around $5 million a year.
Currently, the most followed Tik Tok account is Khaby Lame. The Italian-Senegalese comedian became the most followed account in September 2022, with 149.1 million followers, surpassing Charli D’Amelio (with 145.3 mln). Right now, Khaby has an estimated net worth of $13 million USD.
How popular is TikTok?
1 Billion Monthly Active Users Worldwide
There are 8 new customers are joining TikTok every second, with an average of 650,00 new users joining daily.
6th most popular social media network
Currently, TikTok sits at number 6th as the most popular social media network worldwide. Facebook sits at the top, followed by YouTube, Whatsapp, Instagram, and WeChat. TikTok has already surpassed Facebook Messenger in the number of monthly active users.
It took TikTok only 3 years to reach 1 billion users
It is no surprise the app is known to be the fastest-growing ever, as it achieved 1 billion users in just 3 years. The bookmark number was celebrated in September 2021. For comparison, it took Instagram 8 years to achieve the same number of users.
@tiktok✨ 1 billion✨ people on TikTok! Thank you to our global community ♬ original sound – TikTok
A user spends 52 minutes a day on average on TikTok
Not only that, but according to TheSocialShepherd, the average person opens TikTok 19 times per day.
TikTok Usability And Demographics
TikTok has been downloaded 3 billion times, with 383 million installs in the first half of 2020. The app was downloaded 693 million times in 2019 & 850 million times in 2020.
With 1 billion active users by the third quarter of 2021, TikTok became the fastest-growing app ever. Right now, out of 4.8 billion internet users worldwide, 20.83% use TikTok.
Plus, TikTok’s had a 1157.76% increase in its global user base in 2 years (between Jan 2018 and July 2020).
Most TikTok users also use other social media platforms. In fact, only 0.1% of users are unique to the app and do not use other social media networks. 85% of TikTok users also use Facebook, while 84% use Instagram and 81% on Youtube.
This data underlines the importance of spreading the message on different social media platforms, in order to increase its reach.
Demographics
Available in 154 countries, the highest usability of TikTok is in Asia. Right now, the app is available in 85% of countries around the globe.
While the app’s largest audience lives in the USA, Indonesia is surprisingly second, followed by Brazil and Russia.
Concerning the age of TikTokers, 47% of the users have in the age group of 10 to 29 (2021).
There are more women than men in TikTok: 56% are female and 44% are male. In fact, 24% of TikTok’s global audience are women 18–24 years, whilst males same age are at 18%.
What Is TikTok Marketing?
So, how to choose a social media marketing agency that includes TikTok in its agenda? And why you should do that?
TikTok started running Ads in early 2019 and since then brands like Nike and Apple Music have used the platform to promote their products with unique entertaining ads.
The launch in-app shopping feature of TikTok, added in 2021, became essential to brands looking to connect directly to customers.
TikTok Ads start at $10 CPM, $1 Cost-Per-Click and a $500 minimum monthly spend.
How Do TikTok Ads Compare to Other Platforms?
As we can see from the data below, TikTok has an average CPC that is less expensive than Instagram and Linkedin. It is also one of the cheapest mainstream social media networks regarding the average CPM, with half the price of Facebook and also behind Instagram, Linkedin and Twitter.
The app also has a tremendous reach and therefore it can not be overlooked or frowned upon by marketers. Professionals in this area can reach roughly 12.2% of all the people on Earth using ads on TikTok today.
Most popular industries
Based on a money.co.uk investigation the most popular sector for businesses across TikTok is beauty, following fashion.
Looking at TikTok content categories overall we can see that entertainment, dance, and pranks are taking the top positions. Therefore, it is common to see brands adapting to these formats or collaborating with influencers that are known for being popular in these categories.
New Feature To Look Forward
Being fully aware of its potential, TikTok is launching a new tool for advertising. TikTok Pulse is a new contextual advertising solution that ensures brands’ ads are placed next to the top 4% of all videos on TikTok”
TikTok Pulse was launched in June 2022 for US advertisers. Creators and publishers with at least 100,000 followers on TikTok are eligible for the 50/50 split revenue share program.
The purpose is to attract more creators to the app and to ensure a more “brand-safe” environment.
Final Thoughts
As an emerging platform that is captivating and easily accessible, TikTok should not be neglected by digital and content marketers. This social media network does bring some additional challenges to advertisers in order to get their message through, but since it cuts to the chase it is easier to get the message across to the customer.
According to TikTok itself, 63% of all successful ads with the highest click-through rate (CTR) highlight their key message or product within the first 3 seconds. Therefore, it is crucial to produce content that immediately catches the attention and puts the client’s product on center stage.
Plus, for marketers, it is important to know that the platform is aware of its ad potential and trying to find directions to facilitate, content creation, development, and targeting for marketers. We can see that through initiatives like TikTok Pulse, but also by the variety of options when it comes to ad creation.
The creative marketer can work with in-feed ads, brand takeover ads, and branded hashtag ads. With a plethora of options, there is no excuse to not enter the TikTok boom.
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