TikTok might be one of the new kids on the block, but it is rapidly becoming one of the top entertainment platforms of the decade. Notice how I say ‘entertainment’ rather than ‘social media’.

That’s one of the key differences between platforms like Facebook and Instagram when compared to TikTok, Blake Chandlee (Head of Global Business Solutions at TikTok) explains.

As an eCommerce brand owner, when developing a marketing strategy for your business TikTok should be front and centre alongside Facebook, Instagram. With over 1 billion monthly active users it’s clear to see why anyone would want to explore this exciting avenue.

Perhaps instead of looking at TikTok as an entertainment platform, envision it as a business opportunity ready for the taking.

TikTok’s userbase demographics: Who is using TikTok?

TikTok was launched in 2016 and by 2021 it celebrated 1 billion monthly active users, putting it up there with the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and WhatsApp in the 1 billion club.

So it took TikTok 5 years to reach that staggering number? Let’s put that into perspective.

Even though Facebook has more users than TikTok (2.9 billion), it took TikTok 3.6 years fewer to hit 1 billion users.

Let’s dive a little deeper into TikTok’s user demographics and statistics.  

TikTok users by age and gender worldwide:

38.9% of users are aged between 18 - 24. 21.5% are female and 17.4% are male.

32.4% of users are aged between 25 - 34. 17.3% are female and 15.1% are male.

15.6% of users are aged between 35 - 44. 8.2% are female and 7.4% are male.

7.9% of users are aged between 45 - 54. 4.2% are female and 3.7% are male.

5.1% of users are aged 55+. 2.8% are female and 2.3% are male.

Stats from Statista

Where are TikTok users by country?

According to Oberlo, here’s where TikTok users are located.

1. USA - 140.6 million users
2. Indonesia - 106.9 million users
3. Brazil - 74 million users
4. Russia - 56.6 million users
5. Mexico - 51.3 million users.

How should you use this information to inform your eCommerce marketing strategy?

This information alone could have a big impact on where you want to focus your marketing efforts. For instance, in every age category, females make up a larger portion of males. 54% of TikTok’s overall user base is female.

This suggests that if you have a product which is positioned towards a female target audience you may experience marginally more success on TikTok in comparison to other platforms.

Something else to consider is age. Is TikTok going to have the ROI needed for the specific product you are selling? For instance, if you are trying to sell high-ticket items like new cars or furniture you might want to consider a platform like Facebook where the average age of the user is higher and typically has more money to spend. (23.1% of users on Facebook are 45 or over. Whereas TikTok is only 13%).

TikTok users are impulsive, items with a lower price point where you can instantly display the USPs of the product and how they address the pain points of your audience are more likely to succeed on TikTok. They have the problem, you have the solution.

How do users behave on TikTok?

When planning where to allocate your marketing budget, it’s important to understand how users behave on TikTok, so that you can create content that your audience will relate to and engage with. Check out these TikTok user behaviour statistics.

• 90% of users visit the app more than once a day. Users in the UK use TikTok for 27.3 hours a month on average.
• 63% of users liked other's videos
• 54% of users comment on a video
• 55% of users upload videos
• 1 in 3 TikTok live users name TikTok as their go-to platform to connect with brands
• TikTok has an engagement rate of 5.10%. Compared with an engagement rate of 0.60% for Instagram users and 0.15% for Facebook.

As you can see, TikTok users are incredibly active and engage with a lot of the content they see. If you can create content your audience is going to engage and interact with, you’ll be onto a winner.

What makes TikTok unique?

We’ve run through statistics and demographics about the user base and the way that they behave on TikTok. But what actually makes the platform unique?

Content format

First of all is the content format. TikTok is a platform that thrives on delivering short-form, vertical video to its users. Short, snappy, entertaining and engaging video is TikTok’s lifeblood.

Many have seen the success of short-form videos and added an aspect of it to their platform, such as Reels on Instagram and Shorts on YouTube. But are they striving to create something new or just trying to get their slice of the pie?

Trends

One could argue that Vine was the original pioneer of this style of content, but it’s TikTok that perfected it by encouraging the use of viral sounds, trends, and effects to create something that people want to be involved with and a part of.

Usually, something trending on TikTok will eventually spill over into other platforms, albeit late to the party.

The Algorithm

A key aspect of TikTok that makes it different to other platforms is the algorithm it uses to promote content to its users. It doesn’t matter how many followers you have, everyone has the same ability to go viral. It uses a content graph rather than a social graph.

Think of it as a talent show. You make a video and publish it, it gets put in front of an initial panel of ‘judges’. They vote on it with engagement (likes, comments, shares, follows). The more engagement (votes) the video gets, the more ‘judges’ it gets put in front of and so on until people stop interacting with it. This creates a snowball effect, making your video go viral when done right. We’ll talk about the benefits of this to eCommerce brand owners in the next section of the blog, so make sure to keep on reading.

What are the advantages of TikTok for eCommerce brand owners?

The advantage of TikTok to eCommerce brand owners is unmatched by many other platforms right now.

Insane organic reach

The ability for videos to go viral and get seen by millions of people overnight is a clear advantage of TikTok. The power of the organic reach that TikTok holds and the benefits of that for brand awareness campaigns cannot be understated.

Instantly showcase a product's USPs

If used correctly, TikTok videos have the potential to showcase the USPs of a product to a wide audience within the first few seconds of a video, hooking the audience in.

A good product, coupled with a good creator makes content that makes authentic content that looks and feels native to the feed is a recipe for success. If you need to source UGC creative at scale for your brand, get in touch with For You Advertising, they create TikTok UGC creative that converts, through proven methods, tested creators & killer content.

Shop within TikTok

The customer has the ability to shop from within the TikTok app. This removes the need to click through to another website, removing a barrier to buying for the customer. This frictionless customer journey is key to increasing conversion rates. The fewer steps a customer takes to get to a product, the easier it is to buy.

Incredibly engaged audience

The stats speak for themselves. People are spending more and more time on TikTok each day (over 27 hours a week in the UK!). There aren’t many platforms where you get that much attention.

Within these hyper-engaged audiences are incredibly diverse communities with different needs and desires. There is no doubt that whatever product you have to sell, you will find people that are interested in it on TikTok.

Cheap to advertise

Right now in comparison to other platforms, it’s relatively cheap to advertise on TikTok. This is because many brands are still to use the platform to advertise. In Q3 of 2022 on average TikTok CPMs were around $8, whereas Meta CPMs sat at around $14 on average.

With the cheap cost of advertising on the platform, we will be seeing more brands adapting to TikTok this year. More competition means higher CPMs, unfortunately, it may not stay this cheap for long. Be an early adopter and get on board with one of the most exciting platforms of this decade.

If you want to find out how we can help you get started on TikTok, get in touch with one of our team here  - https://calendly.com/joeforyou/15-minute-meeting