TikTok’s Rise in Popularity
TikTok exploded in popularity starting in 2018. Originally launched as musical.ly in 2014, the app was rebranded as TikTok in 2018 after being acquired by Chinese company ByteDance. Since then, TikTok has seen tremendous growth in users across the globe.
As of December 2022, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide according to Backlinko. This represents a 45% increase from around 689 million global monthly active users in January 2021. In terms of downloads, TikTok hit over 3.3 billion downloads in 2022, making it the most downloaded non-gaming app that year according to Business of Apps.
Looking at user demographics, TikTok enjoys broad popularity across age groups. However, TikTok notes that around 42.9% of its global audience is between the ages of 10 and 19. The rest of the audience spans ages 20 to 29 (29.5%), 30 to 39 (16.9%), 40 to 49 (7.1%) and 50+ (3.5%). TikTok’s audience skews slightly female, with women making up 50.5% of its userbase.
Top Categories and Trends
Some of the most popular content categories on TikTok include comedy, dance, food, animals, gaming, beauty, fashion, and music. Short comedy sketches and skits, often involving trends or memes, are very common. Dance videos demonstrating the latest viral choreography to pop songs are ubiquitous, like dances to Doja Cat’s ‘Say So’ or Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Savage’ (https://slayingsocial.com/tiktok-trends-right-now/).
Many trends originate from popular TikTok songs or sounds. In early 2023, Roddy Ricch’s ‘The Box’ inspired a huge viral dance trend, as did ‘Oh No’ by Capone (https://www.tiktok.com/discover/most-popular-tiktok-trends-right-now?lang=en). Other trends are more conceptual, like outfit changes timed to music transitions, makeup transformation videos, or posing transitions called “wipe transitions.” Challenges frequently spread virally, like the recent silhouette challenge set to Paul Anka’s ‘Put Your Head on My Shoulder’ or the #FlipTheSwitch challenge.
Creator Economy
TikTok has enabled a new generation of content creators to earn significant income through the platform. According to Forbes, the top earning TikTok creators made over $55 million in 2021, a 200% increase from the previous year.1 The highest paid TikTok star is Charli D’Amelio, who earned $17.5 million in 2021.2 Other top earners include Addison Rae ($8.5 million) and Bella Poarch ($5 million).
These top TikTok creators earn income through multiple channels enabled by their large followings. This includes brand sponsorships and partnerships, paid content creation, merchandise sales, and more. Top brands are increasingly partnering with popular TikTokers to promote products and campaigns. The creative video format makes it an engaging platform for influencer marketing.
Effectiveness for Marketing
TikTok has proven to be an extremely effective platform for brands to reach new audiences and drive engagement. With its short videos and viral trends, TikTok makes it easy for brands to create entertaining and shareable content. According to TikTok’s own case studies, major brands have seen great success running ad campaigns and branded hashtag challenges on the platform. For example, Chipotle drove a 21% increase in app downloads during their sponsored hashtag challenge. Some best practices for brands on TikTok include leveraging influencer marketing, jumping on viral trends with branded content, using TikTok’s creative tools, running contests and challenges, and optimizing content for the platform’s unique vertical video format.
Brands that embrace TikTok’s fun, creative culture and focus on providing value to users through entertaining content tend to see the best results. The platform presents a major opportunity for brands to reach TikTok’s young user base, increase brand awareness, and drive engagement. As more brands continue to find success on TikTok, it’s clear that the platform should now be a core part of most marketing strategies.
User Engagement
TikTok is known for having extremely high user engagement rates. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the average user spends 52 minutes per day on TikTok. This is significantly higher than rival platforms like Instagram, which averages just 30 minutes per day of use. TikTok’s addictive short videos and powerful recommendation algorithm keep users highly engaged.
Users are also very active in terms of sharing and commenting. As per Social Insider, the average engagement rate for accounts with 5,000-50,000 followers is around 10% on posts using mentions in captions. Compared to platforms like Instagram where engagement can be under 1%, this demonstrates TikTok’s strength at sparking conversation. Comments and shares allow videos to spread rapidly, fueling TikTok’s viral nature.
Algorithms and Recommendations
TikTok’s main For You Page (FYP) runs on a sophisticated recommendation algorithm that determines which videos will appear to each user. The goal is to keep users engaged on the platform by showing them content that aligns with their interests and viewing habits (Source: https://buffer.com/resources/tiktok-algorithm/).
The FYP algorithm considers a wide range of signals, including information about the video content itself, creator details, user interactions, device and account settings, and more. Some key factors that help maximize distribution and views include:
- Posting content frequently and consistently
- Understanding your target audience and niche
- Using strategic hashtags and captions
- Getting engagement and views quickly after posting
- Posting at optimal times based on audience activity patterns
- Making high-quality videos that match audience interests
By strategically optimizing content for the TikTok algorithm, creators can substantially boost their distribution and earn more views. However, the system is always evolving, so staying adaptable is key (Source: https://blog.hootsuite.com/tiktok-algorithm/).
Moderation and Security
TikTok uses a mix of people and artificial intelligence to moderate content on the platform. According to their content moderation policy, videos uploaded to TikTok are first reviewed by automated moderation technology to identify content that violates their community guidelines. The AI looks for things like nudity, violence, hate speech, and other prohibited content.
If the AI flags a video, it gets sent to a content moderator for human review. TikTok employs thousands of content moderators around the world to review flagged videos and make judgment calls on whether they should be removed or not. Moderators review videos in quick succession, making fast decisions on each one according to TikTok’s policies. It’s a demanding job requiring endurance to view potentially disturbing content for hours on end.
For users who encounter problematic content, TikTok has a reporting system to flag videos that may violate their guidelines. In the app, users can tap the share icon on a video, then tap “report” to file a report. Users can select the reason for reporting and add any additional details. This sends the video to TikTok’s moderation team for review. TikTok claims to remove over 95% of violating videos before they have any views. But with billions of videos uploaded, some inappropriate content still slips through, requiring users to report it.
Demographics and Interests
TikTok has a diverse user base spanning different ages, genders, locations, and interests. According to Backlinko, recent gender demographics from October 2022 show 49.2% of TikTok users worldwide were women, while 50.8% were men. The largest share of users (25%) are ages 10-19, with 47.4% under age 30.
In terms of location, TikTok is most popular in India, making up 21.4% of all users in 2022. The US accounts for 8.2% of users, Turkey accounts for 7.1%, and Russia accounts for 5.4%. Other top countries include Mexico, Brazil, and Vietnam.
When it comes to interests and communities, some of the most popular on TikTok are focused on dance, comedy, animals, food, travel, fashion, beauty, DIY, and more. The app enables users to express themselves and connect over shared interests in creative ways through short videos.
Effect on Culture
TikTok has had a significant impact on popular culture, influencing music trends, dance crazes, fashion, and even language. According to one source, “TikTok has contributed to the cultural conversation and changed how entire industries operate. It has affected what we eat, watch and buy.”
TikTok has been instrumental in propelling certain songs to become massive hits. For example, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” first gained popularity through TikTok before hitting #1 on the Billboard charts for a record 19 weeks in 2019. Doja Cat’s song “Say So” also went viral on TikTok in early 2020, helping it reach #1 later that year. Artists now strategically aim for TikTok success to boost their music. According to TikTok, “the platform is reshaping how hits are made.”
Dance trends originating on TikTok have also shaped pop culture, like the Renegade, Maggage, and Kick Challenge dances. Fashion trends like “coastal grandmother” aesthetic and “clean girl” look also spread via TikTok. The app has even popularized certain slang terms and phrases among youth, like “cheugy” and “I’m unwell.” Overall, TikTok has become a major force in driving cultural conversations and trends globally.
Future Outlook
TikTok is expected to continue evolving with new features and capabilities in the coming years. As noted in this New York Times article, TikTok’s future in the US remains uncertain due to data privacy concerns. However, TikTok plans to invest over $500 million in a new data center in Ireland as part of its ongoing efforts to store European user data locally.
Some emerging features we may see on TikTok include more advanced editing tools, mini-apps and games, expanded ecommerce capabilities, education content, and new augmented reality effects, as outlined in this LinkedIn article. TikTok is also exploring live-streaming ecommerce similar to Twitch and YouTube.
Regarding competition, TikTok continues to put pressure on rival platforms like Instagram and YouTube which have introduced short-video features like Reels and Shorts. However, TikTok’s algorithm and “For You” recommendations remain unmatched. Still, competitors will likely aim to replicate elements of TikTok’s success in order to compete for audience attention and engagement.