But to be clear it’s not because we want to, it’s because we have to. TikTok is the fastest growing platform in the world right now. That’s right – THE WORLD.
It’s as if Vine & Musical.ly had a baby and now we all have to deal.
Currently, TikTok has 500 million active users.
Yup. This ranks it 9th in size, beating Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn & Pinterest. It’s also 7th in terms of app downloads which places it ahead of YouTube & Twitter, despite only launching in 2016.
Putting it simply – this app has traction, particularly amongst (*shudder*) the youngsters. Why? Because they designed it that way baby.
TikTok targeted under 18s from the get-go, meaning they specifically designed the functionality & features to appeal to this demographic. Lip syncing & creating your own dances, re-enacting your fave movie scenes with your friends is typical of this age group (we all did it, be honest) & TikTok knew it.
TikTok has created a platform that gets users on there no matter whether they are a viewer or creator. This is genius really and the results speak for themselves, with 90% of TikTok users using the platform daily. Typically, users are spending roughly an hour a day (52 mins to be exact) on the app, either creating videos or viewing the absolute plethora of content already on there. Remembering how new this platform is, compare that 52 minutes to Instagram’s 53 minutes, Snapchat’s 49.5 minutes & Facebook’s 58.5 minutes and you can see how far this app has come in such a short time. Not impressed? Ok (wiseguy), within a year of TikTok launching it was tracking 1 million views per day. This stat alone kinda proves our point: it’s time to pay attention to TikTok.
But won’t someone please think of the adults?!?! Unfortunately, they are along for the ride too. 2017 saw 2.6m ‘older’ users, 2018 – 7.2m & 2019 – 14.3m. We’re placing the blame firmly with Jimmy Fallon after he promoted TikTok challenges on his show.
So in real terms, why the f**k are we paying attention to it?
TikTok is geared toward content creators, and wannabe content creators and this means the influencer niche is getting a makeover. Right now this app isn’t catering for businesses, it’s catering for individuals and letting them create and build trends faster than platforms like Instagram (which is still relevant, FYI, but changing too) and YouTube. TikTok allows creativity at every end of the spectrum so the best advice? Just start. Get on TikTok & start playing around with it until you feel comfortable. We recommend treating it similar to your Instagram stories – show your personality, provide BTS insights and use it for content that might not be ‘front page’ worthy.
TikTok might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but when it comes to social media the reality is that hoping things just stay the same is just wishful thinking. Accepting that there will always be a new trend, changed algorithm, upcoming platform or way to advertise is your best way forward. In social media, there are no rest days but it can come with huge rewards.
TL:DR;
1. TikTok has 500 million active users worldwide.
2. Downloaded over 1.5 billion times on the App Store and Google Play.
3. Ranked top most downloaded app in Apple’s iOS App Store in 2019 with more than 33 million downloads.
4. 41% of users are 16 – 24.
5. Users spend an average of 52 minutes per day on the app.
6. TikTok is available in 155 countries, and in 75 languages.
7. 90% of all TikTok users access the app on a daily basis.
8. In less than 18 months, the number of US adult TikTok users grew 5.5 times.
9. There was an average number of more than 1 million videos viewed every day in a year.
