In the world of social media, there have been meteoric rises, but then there has been TikTok. We’ll go a bit more into the details of how quickly it’s grown, but you know it feels like it went from unknown to household name in a few years. And as TikTok has grown in general prominence, it has become more important and effective as a marketing tool across nearly all industries. Social media marketing is a key component of any strategy today. And to dismiss TikTok in 2023 would be as foolish as dismissing Facebook or Instagram.
So obviously, it is crucial. Yet what is there to know, and what trends might affect your marketing efforts in the future? Here is a primer on TikTok and the most important stats and trends to follow regarding the platform in 2022:
Just in case you’re new to TikTok, need a reminder, or are not a marketer who is curious about the platform, let’s go over the basics of TikTok for a moment. It is a video-sharing social media app focusing on short-form content (about 15-seconds). It started rising in prominence in about 2018 and has only grown since, running into some controversy along the way. Owned by Chinese company ByteDance, its detractors consider it a security risk and share concerns about collecting personal information.
Currently, with more than one billion monthly active users, including brands, TikTok uses ads to generate revenue. Marketers should note that there are different types of ads and that campaigns on TikTok range from organic content creation to larger ad campaigns.
There is naturally a lot more about the history of TikTok than we can talk about here, but let’s dive into the most important facts and statistics and let them tell the story.
This makes it the world’s sixth most used social platform, according to DataReportal. Only a few titans, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, beat it out, and TikTok is still growing (more on that later). For a larger breakdown, take a look at the graphic below:
Most platforms cannot boast a billion users, and the vast majority of platforms that come out are forgotten quickly after failing. If it feels like there are only a couple of dozen social media networks, it is because you haven’t heard about the rest.
As for what this means for marketers, it means that TikTok has a massive global audience and that practically every demographic is on it to some degree (though some more than others, as we’ll soon say). As we’ve said, it would be foolish to completely ignore it, even if it isn’t the best choice for your marketing campaign right now.
A related fun fact: 12.8 percent of all people on the planet (and perhaps a few astronauts) can be reached using TikTok ads. Yet this only includes people 18 and older. And TikTok’s audience skews young.
When did all these users join the platform? It’s been a steady growth rate since it became prominent in 2018. Since then, it has gained several hundred million users each year from around the world.
And given what we know about the audience reach in 2022, we can calculate that there has been a 900 million user gain since 2018, at the very least. We are uncertain about how much growth is left for the platform (market saturation is starting to become a factor now), but for the moment, TikTok is an example to other platforms about how to become a household name.
One of the main talking points about TikTok is that young people love it and that the older generations know nothing about it and want nothing to do with it. There is some truth to this, but as you can see below, it’s not so clear cut as “older people don’t use TikTok.”
While among this dataset, people aged 18-24 (the youngest) make up the largest user base, with much of the rest being the next youngest. Yet about eight percent of the user base is over 55 years of age. There is an audience to market to on the platform, no matter your preferred demographics.
Unfortunately, we do not have precise data on people younger than 18 using the platform, but it is estimated that they could make up about a third of all users. The above information from DataReportal also is regarding the potential advertising audience. Take note of this as a marketer and someone who should know that the numbers may not be perfect with the total user base.
And as current users grow older, we might see a phenomenon where the content created on the platform is more appealing to slightly older people, balancing out both the platform and the user base.
You might have noticed from the previous graphic that more women than men use TikTok across all age groups. Information from DataReportal on TikTok also lets us know that the gender split among TikTok users isn’t even. Much like Pinterest and a couple of other platforms, TikTok has a larger female audience, and we have no reason to believe that will heavily change soon.
This is actually in contrast with quite a few social media platforms, which more men use. Worldwide, more men have regular internet access than women so statistics would look different in the United States and some European countries.
However, the demographic and, specifically, the gender breakdown of TikTok might not be so relevant to you if you are not working on a worldwide scale. Instead, we recommend you look at the more local demographics for your marketing purposes.
If you’re reading this, there’s a strong chance you are based in the United States or are working on marketing campaigns that will be relevant to the United States. So, you’re likely wondering how many users there are to advertise to there. The answer is about 140 million users that are 18 and older (and tens of millions more that are younger). Check out the graphic below to get a larger picture of which countries have the most users:
In addition to the United States. TikTok has shown to be popular in Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico. The numbers can and will change depending on the work of content creators and where TikTok chooses to focus its efforts in the future, though naturally, countries with higher populations will have an advantage in the above chart moving forward.
Interestingly, while India would be at the top of similar lists for many other social media platforms, as of this writing, it is banned in the country, putting the United States on top. You might also be wondering about China, given that’s where TikTok originated. There is a separate app offered by ByteDance there under the name of Douyin, and that app is enormously popular in the country.
While it might seem like some people are only on TikTok on their phones and do nothing else, this is unlikely to be the case for most users. Less than 0.1 percent of TikTok users are exclusive to the platform. Most people use more than half a dozen social media platforms each month, so this is no surprise to people in the know.
Users of Tiktok are most likely to also use Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. This makes sense, given how commonly used these platforms are in general, but it all shows that TikTok isn’t everything and that other platforms still need attention in marketing efforts as well. Users are on multiple platforms and engage with brands and content differently. Marketers need to be able to match that and work on multiple platforms in their social media marketing efforts.
As of this writing, TikTok is available in 155 countries, and this number will likely grow over time. Among all these countries, TikTok supports 75 languages, and there is no doubt that content exists in many more languages than that.
It is, however, also banned in four of the remaining countries. These are China, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.
Note again, however, that China has its own version of the app with its own content host. Users of Douyin cannot access global TikTok, effectively creating a large content and cultural wall. Some countries were concerned about the content on the platform. India was concerned about China spying on people in India using the app.
While there were also debates and talks about having the app banned in the United States, there do not seem to be any current strong plans to do so. Marketers for the moment can rest easier knowing this channel is open to them for the moment.
While many people use TikTok and enjoy using it, the app does not appear to be too many users’ favorite. Only 4.3 percent of internet users stated TikTok was their favorite social media platform. Comparing this with WhatsApp at 15.7 percent and Instagram at 14.8 percent is surprising, given how many people use it.
Why is this the case? We are uncertain. It could be related to the relative lack of social options or sharing features compared to Facebook. It might be the content on the platform itself and its limitations. People might simply be used to older platforms and prefer them out of comfort. Whatever the case, this is another reminder that marketers need to focus on other platforms in addition to TikTok. And it is a signal to TikTok that they should be working to improve the user experience however they can.
While it is an industry known for needing significant investment and not being profitable for years, that doesn’t mean there isn’t money in it and that there isn’t a lot of revenue coming into the company. In 2021 revenue reached 4.697 billion. In 2022 the revenue seems on trend to surpass that.
Though, as you can see, it wasn’t always so high. In 2017 when things were still getting effectively set up, and the app was finding its audience, revenue was only $63 million. It makes sense, as marketers probably wouldn’t want to spend much of their ad budgets on an unproven app with a relatively small audience. In fact, it was only in 2020 that we started to see the real money coming in, perhaps a combination of better monetization efforts and more brands interested in TikTok.
Unlike a social network like LinkedIn, where people focus on one task for their page or browsing, people using TikTok are primarily interested in entertainment and a quick laugh (and many more after that). You might find that there is a
While views are important to a marketer, engagement with the content or ads is often more important, depending on the campaign’s goals.
And on TikTok, engagement is much higher with influencers of all sizes. Just check out the graphic below and note that engagement rates are below five percent on even platforms such as Instagram. Something different about TikTok encourages users to be more active in the community or on posts. Just look at the breakdown depending on the number of followers:
This might not directly translate to how well marketing efforts do, given that the information is on influencers and not brands, but it does show that with the right content, TikTok is designed to increase engagement and keep users coming back for more. For some products and services, this makes TikTok the place to be.
TikTok is understandably worth a lot of money. Exactly how much currently is up for debate, but one major bid was $50 billion from those who would prefer TikTok to spin off from its parent company ByteDance. As for ByteDance itself, as of this writing, the most recent valuation was generally in the range of $275 billion, which is something of a step down from previous numbers ranging from $320-$450 billion.
Are you wondering how this is relevant to you as a marketer? Simply put, with a valuation like that, TikTok isn’t going anywhere, and you can rely on it (as much as you can rely on any social media outlet) to be there for years to come. This means you can invest in campaigns and strategies for the platform with less fear. And even with ByteDance’s fluctuations, TikTok itself is doing fine.
We talked about influencers on the platform a tiny bit before, but we didn’t stress just how many of them were on the platform. As of this writing, there are 50,000 of them, and this number will only grow as time goes on.
This is a great thing for you as a marketer. Why? If you want to work with an influencer for sponsored content, you have plenty of options to talk to and pick from. And while size varies for influencers, this allows you to choose between mega-influencers who will reach a broad audience but will be expensive and micro-influencers. Micro-influencers are often niche and have higher engagement rates than many larger influencers. Using them wisely can be an excellent strategy.
While TikTok influencer marketing might not be a good fit for every brand, this is low, given what the platform offers. It might be an underutilized opportunity for the business world, making it a great option for you as a marketer to investigate. More brands are using it than ever, but there is room for growth and refinement.
We will look at how this statistic will change over time and how influencers and viewers might respond to that. People don’t want branded content all the time, so it is a careful tightrope to walk.
A natural extension of the numbers regarding the total users of the app, TikTok has been installed billions of times, likely on multiple devices over time as users of the platform upgrade. People want to keep using it, and it is meant to be used on smartphones, despite a browser option.
Of course, the overall trend is common among popular social media apps, and there is nothing signifying TikTok is special. Nonetheless, it is notable and a way to measure just how popular the app is outside of active users.
Note that this is not a precise measurement as it uses hashtags, and not every creator uses hashtags accurately or in the same way. Yet, this scale shows that people are looking for entertainment on TikTok instead of other forms of video. There is a presence for them, to be sure, and your marketing efforts might be able to take advantage of that, but if you’re trying to appeal to the widest audience, your own ads and efforts might want to be focused on entertainment and something more fun. TikTok is not necessarily the place for heavy topics.
Looking at information from Influencer Marketing Hub, the breakdown of the most popular categories is as follows:
Some of these make perfect sense, given the headlines, such as dance and pranks. Others might be a little more surprising, such as the low count for outdoors. Use the information to help plan your own campaigns if you think them worthwhile.
Something that might be alarming to many people is that in just 2020, kids aged 4-15 were, on average, spending 75 minutes a day watching TikTok. In general, this eclipses the numbers for YouTube and is a significant portion of anyone’s day. Now that we’re in 2022 and TikTok is even more popular among kids and people of all ages, it’s possible that the daily watch time is even higher. Whatever they are watching, it also has an immense impact on them. Parents and teachers likely already know this. And perhaps the most important thing to note is that this is an average, meaning many children are using TikTok far, far more than 75 minutes per day.
As a marketer, you may or may not be directly interested in this statistic, depending on who you are marketing to. However, you might find that this is indicative of the future usage of the average user. It might drop off a bit (adults still use it heavily, but not nearly so much), though it indicates that TikTok wants people to keep watching and that there is plenty of opportunities for ads to go around.
Looking at everyone else, the average user still uses TikTok for about 45.8 minutes a day. That is a lot of time to be using an app, and a lot of time marketing like yourself has the potential to make your brand known to a potential customer.
It is important to take the information with a small pinch of salt. Different studies might look at the information and user responses differently. If information is self-reported, people are known to be sometimes terrible at estimating what they have done and their own habits. Nonetheless, people use TikTok a lot, about as much as they use YouTube (45.6 minutes) and more than Facebook (30.1 minutes).
TikTok has become a habit for most people, and they check it every day without fail.
And while most users check it at least daily, many people check it multiple times per day, which can explain the amount of time people spend on it each day. Sitting on TikTok for 45.8 minutes daily can seem excessive if done in one chunk. If it is done in a bunch of 5-10 minutes bursts, which the platform’s content supports and encourages, it adds up with people noticing less.
What this means for you as a marketer is that there will likely be multiple opportunities to reach your audience. If you have devoted followers of your brand page, they will likely see what you have to offer if the content is interesting enough.
This is huge for marketers selling specific products or could do so as opposed to a generic brand. Product research generally leads to sales (or can, if the product is good). If people of any generation are looking to TikTok for this, it warrants information on the products in question to be posted to TikTok, where it is readily available.
The flip side to this statistic, however, is that of other generations, the vast majority of people do not use TikTok for product research. YouTube is still king of that castle by a considerable margin, so efforts might need to be diverted there to educate users about your product. Most people might want a little something longer than a few seconds when making a purchasing decision. This may change as TikTok evolves, but don’t put all your eggs in the TikTok basket.
Music has always been ingrained in the culture of TikTok and continues to be so. Much of the content on the platform revolves around music, dances, and the like. Yet, for marketers’ music seems to present another big opportunity.
About 68 percent of TikTokers say they will remember a brand better if the brand uses a song they like in their video. Similar statistics also state the positive benefits of using popular songs, ranging from feeling a stronger connection to a brand to being more curious about a brand if they didn’t know about it before. Whatever the effects, it is clear that music will be necessary to your marketing efforts on the platform.
Some of these stats are useful in their own right, potentially helping marketers determine where to invest their limited time and resources on the platform (or on other platforms). Adjustments regularly need to be made, and these notes are the guiding lights when making them. Yet, in other cases, larger trends need to be considered, and there is a
• Social media platforms borrow (or blatantly steal) from one another constantly to stay on top, and we can expect more efforts from other social media platforms to mimic some of TikTok’s success, allowing for short-form content and encouraging users to watch it from video to video. Facebook and Instagram already have similar features, and there will be efforts by other top platforms to emulate them unless they are not focused on video content.
• TikTok itself will necessarily adapt to new technologies and be able to do more in the app. As phones get better and internet and wireless infrastructure improve, TikTok may be able to support better videos in terms of resolution and sound quality. TikTok may need to prepare more server space and storage for everything relevant to its operation, but it could also take measures to use resources more efficiently and reduce the amount of space they need. Marketers might want to look at Facebook and Instagram, two other social platforms with a lot of content to manage, to get ahead of the future of TikTok.
• As TikTok steadies its growth and establishes itself more, it will focus less on growth and more on userbase maintenance and finding more ways to monetize its base. This means that ad rates could go up depending on supply and demand for that audience, yet it could also mean more tools for marketers that would make your life easier.
• From a marketing perspective, we suspect there will be a greater rise in influencer marketing as users get used to existing ad types on the platforms and influencers grow in popularity beyond what they already are. That is not to say that ads are going away or will not be effective. We will see more of a hybrid approach, and perhaps TikTok will do more to facilitate such relationships to keep all its users happy (and maybe take a cut).
• Yet most of all, the most likely thing we can expect from TikTok in the coming years is the unexpected. It is a platform driven by user-created content. That means that TikTok will be heavily shaped by the creators that create and innovate on it (and their eventual imitators). We can measure those trends, certainly, but that doesn’t mean we can predict what the next big thing will be or what audiences will move onto next.
There are few things like TikTok online, though we expect it to continue to adapt and grow with its audience. As a marketer, are you prepared for the future of TikTok to make the most of your campaigns and efforts? We hope that these trends and stats were useful and that you look further into them if they are especially relevant to your company or current work. We invite you to return to this page as needed and wish you the best of luck with your TikTok experimentation and audience growth.
