It can seem as though there is a new viral app every few months. TikTok has very quickly become an app that has extreme popularity, but is it just for kids? Not necessarily. While ages 10-19 are the most popular on the platform, making 37.2% of users, according to Statista, there are users of all ages, even those in the 50+ age range. There is a range of videos from high school students, college students, working professionals, parents, doctors, and more. Video themes include comedy, dance, music, challenges, informative videos and recreations.
The app, which was launched in 2014 as Musical.ly, became TikTok in 2018. As of the quarter that ended on March 31, 2020 TikTok had been downloaded 315 million times, according to TechCrunch.
Although the videos on TikTok may seem fun and leisurely, there is a definite opportunity for marketing through the app. “eMarketer predicts that marketers will have spent 34.57 billion on digital video advertising in 2019,” up 27.1% from 2018. It is a great platform for brands to get free exposure through viral videos. According to Business Insider, In September 2019 MAC Cosmetics worked with TikTok influencers to create a hashtag challenge titled #YouOwnIt. Within 6 days of the challenge being live on the app, there were a total of 635,000 videos created and a total of 1.6 billion video views. In addition, as of 2019, TikTok is allowing paid in-feed ads on their platform.
Determining whether TikTok is right for you and your business can be dependent on a list of factors. Your key demographic, age range, aesthetic, and reach can all be factors in deciding if TikTok is right the right platform for you. Using the app to create videos can be a fun and unusual way to get a message across.
Works Cited
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1095186/tiktok-us-users-age/
https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/29/tiktok-tops-2-billion-downloads/
https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-marketing-trends-predictions-2020
https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/10/18129126/tiktok-app-musically-meme-cringe
