Why do people use TikTok?

TikTok has released a new Global Authenticity Study providing insight into the app and what makes it unique from other social platforms.

The TikTok research with Nielsen is as a result of a survey with over 8,000 TikTok users. This makes it a truly comprehensive report and delve into the popular social network to “understand people’s perceptions of content and brand authenticity on TikTok compared to other top social and video platforms”.

TikTok prides itself in enabling individual users to be “their authentic selves” and this goes for brands too. In fact, this was confirmed in the survey findings with 64% of respondents saying they can be their true selves on the platform.

TikTok goes onto explain: “Nielsen’s study shows users around the globe find TikTok content to be authentic, genuine, unfiltered and trendsetting. At the same time, when looking specifically at advertising content, users still associated terms such as authentic and genuine, while adding honest, real, unique and fun.”

In terms of TikTok for business, what does this mean?

The report revealed significant findings globally, with an average of 79% of users finding TikTok content to be unique or different; and 68% of TikTok users found advertising content specifically to be unique or different from any competitive platform.

In addition, an average of 60% of channel users said they follow brands. And, an average of 70% say TikTok is a platform they would recommend to others.

This means that a large number of platform users could be receptive to your brand content about product or services.

So, should you use TikTok for your business?

There’s no doubt that these are incredible statistics and consumer brands should certainly review the findings as part of research when considering social channels for business.

However, if you are using social media as part of your overall digital marketing strategy, remember it’s not about jumping on the bandwagon and following the herd. It’s about considering social platforms in relation to your business and your target audience.

You will find that some social channels are more relevant than others so it’s always good to do a bit of investigating first.

Statistics like these offer great insight and can form part of your research into what social media channel is best for you.

Understand the demographics of a social platform and check out your competitors and see what they are talking about and which social channels are popular amongst them. It’s likely that if the majority in your sector are on specific channels more than others for example LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram then there may well be a reason for that.  

Talk to us about your digital marketing needs and how social media marketing can fit within your overall strategy.