23 Reasons Your Business Needs TikTok in 2023

As we kick off the new year, TikTok is the platform that continues to dominate the social media landscape, with over 3 billion downloads worldwide and counting.

From its humble beginnings as a lip-syncing app, to its current status as a cultural phenomenon, TikTok’s influence and reach has been revolutionary for marketers and users alike. But why have more and more brands turned to TikTok as their channel-of-choice? We’ll be taking a closer look at the stats demonstrating how the app is re-shaping social media marketing, transforming consumer behaviour and helping businesses reach their biggest audience yet.

An active audience

Compared to its long line of social media ancestry, TikTok’s level of community engagement is truly unprecedented. For decades, social media platforms have been in a constant battle to win the eyes, ears and minds of the masses – from MySpace in the 90s to Instagram in the 2010s. But now TikTok has finally cracked the code. Short-form video, riddled with trending visual and audio filters is the solution to internet users’ depleting attention span.

1. There are over 1 billion monthly TikTok users. (Sensor Tower)

2. 29% of users who have installed the app use it daily (second only to Instagram at 39%). (SensorTower)

3. An active community: 83% of TikTok users have created and uploaded a video themselves. (Wallaroo Media)

4. The average user spends 95 minutes on the platform every day. (SensorTower)

5. With an average engagement rate of 5.96%, TikTok is the most engaging social media platform right now. (SocialInsider)

6. Over 43% of engaged users on the platform have uploaded a video using the duet feature. (Fanbytes)

7. The average user spends 28.7 hours on TikTok every month. (Bloomberg)

8. FMCG Food is the most popular industry on TikTok, with a 15.82% average engagement rate. Comparatively, the same industry has a 0.13% average engagement rate on Facebook. (SocialInsider)

9. Gen Z is TikTok’s primary audience in the US, with 37.3 million users born between 1997 and 2012. This has surpassed Instagram, which has 33.3 million users in the same age group. (Hootsuite)

10. But TikTok is extremely popular in other age demographics: in 2021, users between 35 and 54 years old made up 36% of TikTok’s total audience, compared to 26% the year prior. (Hootsuite)

TikTok Engagement Rate (By Followers)

Source: Social Insider, Data Range: January 2020 – December 2021

Brand Memorability/Relationships

Where there’s an audience, there’s an opportunity. And with TikTok’s enormous uptake and exponential user engagement, it was never going to be long before brands entered the space. Following decades of clickbait clichés on traditional platforms, users have grown immune to overtly branded content on TikTok. This means that brands must be authentic, snappy, and entertaining to make the algorithm play in their favour. And when it works, it works.

11. Ads work. Over 56% of users claim that in-platform advertisements have helped them discover new products and brands. (TikTok)

12. Compared to other social media platforms, TikTok users are twice as likely to recommend a product or service that they were introduced to through the platform. (TikTok)

13. Ad memorability increases by 13% when consumers are exposed to ads across both TikTok and TV. (TikTok)

14. TikTok ads reach 884.9 million people aged 18+ – that’s 15.9% of the global adult population. (Hootsuite)

15. Brand interaction is extremely effective on TikTok, 76% of users feel that brands that post or reply to comments are central to the platform’s community. (TikTok)

16. 71% of users claim TikTok has a bigger impact on their life than alternative apps, while 79% of users claim it drives them to do new things in real life. (TikTok)

17. Entertainment is the most popular video category, with 535 billion hashtag views to date. (Influencer Marketing Hub)

18. TikTok is 40% more likely to be considered entertaining than traditional social platforms. (TikTok)

19. Songs that trend on TikTok often end up charting the Billboard 100 and Spotify Viral 50, with over 67% of the app’s users locating songs on music-streaming services after discovering them on the platform.

Social Media Engagement Rates (By Followers)

Source: Social Insider, Data Range: January 2020 – December 2021

Shopping

In August 2021, TikTok and Shopify revealed TikTok Shop – a highly anticipated integrated commerce platform allowing in-app purchases and better product discoverability. Given the amount of promotional content already being uploaded to the platform, it was a collaboration that just made sense, and the figures speak for themselves.

20. Within the next 3 months, it is predicted 48% of users will be interested in purchasing a product or service from TikTok. (TikTok)

21. Direct social commerce shoppers are 1.2x more likely to make an impulse purchase compared to online marketplace shoppers. (TikTok)

22. Over 1 in 3 users claim that TikTok Creators have inspired them to buy something. (TikTok)

23. Half of all TikTok users have committed to a purchase after watching a LIVE. (TikTok)

Summary

TikTok has cemented itself as a cultural phenomenon over the past three years, and its forecasted growth comes as little surprise. No longer a passing trend, the platform is here to stay and will continue to evolve and shape the way we consume and create content. It has empowered creators to showcase their talents authentically, and equally empowered businesses to reach and unlock new audiences. If you’re looking for innovative new ways to make TikTok work for your brand, drop us a line today. Our social strategy team would love to chat – no strings attached!