Named as the fastest ever-growing social media platform, TikTok has become so big that it has even made the list of the most popular downloaded apps anywhere in the world for the last three years. 

TikTok saw a significant rise in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many entrepreneurs were looking for new ways to connect with their audiences. They did so to keep themselves occupied, and get their products out there initially. However, now there are currently one billion active users on TikTok and it is now the 7th largest social network site. In fact, in Q1 of 2020 alone, it set the record for the most downloads by any social app for a single quarter: 315 million to be exact. 

How popular is TikTok?

To put it mildly, TikTok is incredibly popular. In three years, they achieved the same number of monthly active users that it took six years for Instagram to attract. Facebook took around four years to reach a similar number. 

It would appear that the reason for this is simple. TikTok is a reflection of the key social media trend towards creative skills and also collaboration, specifically with young audiences. With its faster pace, it keeps users engaged with the app for longer, with the average individual spending around 52 minutes each day on TikTok. Of the users that the app has, a staggering 90% use it on a daily basis, with 68% watching other people’s videos and 55% uploading videos of their own. 

Whilst TikTok’s biggest user group is teenagers it is also becoming increasingly popular with other generations as well. It is available in 154 countries, so its audience is significant, and perhaps most importantly, many of the biggest global brands have already come to realise just how important a tool TikTok is becoming when it comes to connecting with audiences everywhere. Connecting to their chosen audience through TikTok in partnership with the relevant influencers almost certainly has its place in modern marketing. 

How TikTok helps marketing

Because of its global reach and very larger audience, TikTok has a reach that far surpasses many of the other social media platforms, and with an ever-increasing audience it may yet make it to the top of the list. It offers an incredibly easy way of reaching younger audiences with its very creative and more fun, fast-paced environment. There are no requirements for a huge budget in order to post on TikTok, with video content creation a very simple thing to do. Videos are often more spontaneous, taking part in someone’s home, garden, park or even in their cars. 

The platform offers a more level playing field, and thanks to the virtual nature of the algorithm that they use, it is very easy for even those accounts with no followers to get millions of views on a video. 

You may not think that TikTok marketing is for you, but the evidence is clear, there is a huge audience out there on the platform, and if you are not using TikTok, then you could very well be missing out.