You’ve probably heard the song “TiK ToK” by Kesha which was released more than a DECADE ago ? (I know, time really does fly!). But have you heard of the other TikTok? It’s an app with the exact same name, and it’s starting to take over the social media world! ?
What is TikTok?
If you’ve ever seen a TikTok video, it might have looked a little familiar. ? Music.ly was a popular video streaming and sharing app with over 100 million users. The app allowed users a variety of music and dialogue options, where users could lip sync or make funny and entertaining videos. The app was taken over by Chinese company ByteDance and all of its users were moved to TikTok in August of 2018. TikTok, like Music.ly, allows its users to post videos ranging from 15-seconds to 1-minute in total recording.
Here are some mind-blowing stats to think about when it comes to this up-and-coming video app:
- TikTok has 800 million active users nationwide, making it 9th in terms of social network sites. Latest stats show that TikTok is right behind Instagram with the number of active users, which is estimated at nearly 1 billion.
- This app is on fire! Last year, downloads on TikTok surpassed both the one billion and 1.5 billion downloads mark on the App Store and Google Play last year. The latest TikTok stats show that the app was downloaded 614 million times from January to November 2019. That’s nothing short of impressive!
- Teen takeover! The targeted age group for this app is geared towards the younger generation, the tweens and teens of the world. Stats tend to show that around 41% of the app’s monthly active users in the U.S. are 16- to 24- year olds.
- However, teens aren’t the only ones on this video app! Some data suggests that a quarter of the users on TikTok are between the ages of 45-64. That’s not all! 37% of users have a household income in excess of $100,000. This means that TikTok is being used by those that are well off, and can be a key target point for marketers.
How to Use TikTok?
The numbers prove that this networking site isn’t just a mere takeover of Vine and Music.ly. It can truly stand out its own and its stats/numbers are only going to continue to go off of the charts. So, now that you know what it is, here are some tips on how you can use it to create a platform for yourself and/or your business.
- Once you download the app and sign up, make sure to write up a bio about yourself/your company. People need to be able to find out more about who you are and what your brand is all about. TikTok allows clickable links to go in bios, so make sure to include any relevant links like your website.
- TikTok is like a trailer for your business. You need to create videos that are both evergreen AND trending. When your viewers watch your 15-second videos, you NEED to be relevant. If you’re talking about topics that don’t resonate with the younger generation, you will more than likely lose their future views.
- Be consistent. One of the most important things when trying to build up a new brand on any site is consistency. It doesn’t take long to make these videos after you come up with a set of ideas. Post at least one video a day to your profile, and your views will slowly but surely start to rise. Stats show that TikTok users spend an average of 52 minutes per day on the platform and that most users tend to open the app at least eight times.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will continue to have new competitors as sites like TikTok gain popularity with the younger generations. It only continues to show that video content has and always will reign supreme in our ever-evolving digital world.
Have fun exploring all things TikTok!