Since launching in 2018, TikTok has racked up millions of downloads globally. It can also be a bit of a mystery since TikTok doesn’t always disclose of key app metrics.
As someone who’s gotten sucked into the app, hearted hundreds of posts, and even made a few videos, I’m fairly certain that this platform will stick around for quite some time.
To help you make informed decisions about your strategy, we’ll cover key TikTok statistics and facts to know.
Already know what stats you’re looking for? Jump there with this table of contents:
- TikTok Stats for Marketers
- Userbase, Downloads, and Growth
- Demographics
- User Behavior
- Viral Trends and Influencers on TikTok
- Business, Revenue, and Competition
- Where to Find TikTok Stats
57 TikTok Stats to Know in 2023
TikTok Stats for Marketers
Before we jump into overall TikTok stats, let’s review some key figures and best practices for marketers to know when using the app.
- TikTok usage among social media marketers has increased 15% YoY. (HubSpot Blog Research)
- Marketers say that TikTok and Instagram have the biggest potential to grow in 2023, and 53% of marketers will increase their investments in the app. (HubSpot Blog Research)
- TikTok has the fourth-best algorithm.
- The best times to post on the app are 6-9 PM, 3-6P M, and 12-3 PM, and the best day is Friday. (HubSpot Blog Research)
- Google’s Senior Vice President said that 40% of young people go to TikTok or Instagram when looking for a place to eat instead of Google Maps or Search. (TechCrunch)
- TikTok has the 4th highest audience engagement rate for UGC campaigns. (HubSpot Blog Research)
- A TikTok from a macro-influencer receives an average of 38,517 views. (Statista)
- TikTok says that a few U.S.-based employees can “heat” videos, which means they can intervene to increase their viewership. (Forbes, eMarketer)
- TikTok’s CPM is half the cost of Instagram, a third of the cost of Twitter, and 62% less than Snapchat. (eMarketer)
Userbase, Downloads, and Growth
Within TikTok’s first year, it reportedly reached 500 million monthly active users. While once considered a fluke, TikTok’s growth has only skyrocketed since then.
- In September 2021, TikTok celebrated reaching 1 billion monthly active users. (TikTok)
- Douyin, TikTok’s original standalone app in China, had 300 million users when Musical.ly merged with TikTok. (The Verge)
- In 2022, TikTok was the most downloaded app globally (850 million downloads), followed by Instagram and WhatsApp. (Statista)
Demographics
While TikTok’s user base is dominated by Gen-Z in the United States, adoption is growing among millennials. And, although it might feel like TikTok is huge in the U.S., the app’s biggest audience actually comes from China, where the platform is called Douyin.
Here’s a breakdown of TikTok’s major demographics. Please note that audience data for individuals who do not identify within the binary are not reported.
- TikTok’s largest age group is between the ages of 18 and 24. (Statista)
- 54.1% of global TikTok users are female, and 45.9% are male. (Data Reportal)
- 62% of Gen Z use TikTok and spend the most time on TikTok.(HubSpot Blog Research)
- TikTok is the best platform for building an active community for Gen Z. (HubSpot Blog Research)
- The United States, Indonesia, and Brazil have the largest audiences on TikTok as of January 2023. (Statista)
- TikTok is now available in more than 200 countries. (Oberlo)
User Behavior
TikTok is a fast-paced app. The second you log in, you see a video at the top of a feed that’s algorithmically curated around your interests.
From my own experience, TikTok can easily cause you to spend more time than expected watching an endless stream of often comedic videos. Since these videos can be anywhere from 6 seconds to 10 minutes, the app is ideal for people seeking quick entertainment or longer-form content.
Because of TikTok’s quick pace and entertainment factor, the stats below aren’t that surprising:
- The average user spends 89 minutes per day on the app, according to a leaked deck from TikTok. (Music Business Worldwide)
- TikTok is one of the most downloaded apps in the Google Play Store. (Statista)
- 36% of Gen Z and 22% of Millennials consumers want to learn about products through short-form videos like TikToks. (HubSpot Blog Research)
- 88% of people on TikTok report that the sound on the platform is central to the overall app experience. (TikTok)
- 46% of TikTok users engage with content on TikTok without distractions or using multiple screens at once. (TikTok)
- A quarter of U.S. adults under 30 regularly get news on TikTok. (Pew Research Center)
- 38% of TikTok users say entertaining ads teach them something new. (TikTok)
- TikTokers say ads are entertaining when they’re funny, personalized, and uplifting. (TikTok)
- 4 in 5 users say TikTok is very or extremely entertaining. (TikTok)
- TikTok users are 23% more likely than average to say the feeling of taking part would motivate them to promote an organization online. (GWI)
The Impact of TikTok
- The TikTok community is more frequently and consistently engaging with content on the platform than they are on other social media platforms. (Neuro-Insight).
- When users see brands organic TikTok content before their paid ads, there is a 27% increase in brand recall. (Neurons Inc.)
- TikTok users are 1.3x more likely to agree that the platform helps them hear different perspectives than they normally hear vs. other entertainment and social brands. (Material)
- TikTok users are 1.3x more likely to know about products and trends before their peers. (Material & TikTok)
- TikTok users are twice as likely as users of other channels to recommend something they found on the platform. (TikTok)
- Ads on TikTok viewed for less than six seconds still produce a stronger impact compared to ads viewed for 20 seconds or more. (TikTok)
- Brands are remembered 40% more on TikTok than on other platforms.
- 71% of TikTok users who take action off platform say that TikTok shows them exactly what they are looking for. (Market Cast)
Shopping on TikTok
- 2 out of 3 users are likely to buy something while on the platform. (TikTok)
- 50% of TikTok users have bought something after watching a TikTok LIVE. (TikTok)
- TikTok users are twice as likely as users of traditional social platforms to recommend a product or service they’ve discovered on the app and 1.5x more successful at convincing others to try the product or service. (Material & TikTok)
55% of users use TikTok to research new brands or products. (TikTok)
50% of TikTok users reported feeling joyful, excited, or happy about the products they purchased, which is 25% higher than on traditional social platforms. (TikTok)
- Over half of users look for details about where to buy products they’ve seen on the platform. (TikTok)
Viral Trends and Influencers on TikTok
TikTok has opened doors for influencers, comedians, meme creators, and even some brands. Here are a few interesting tidbits about viral trends and influencers on the app:
- The most followed creator on TikTok is Khaby Lame, with 153.9 million followers. Following close behind is Charlie D’Amelio, with 150 million. (Wikipedia)
- One of the earliest branded hashtag challenges was Guess’ #InMyDenim challenge. According to TikTok, videos marked with this hashtag have received a grand total of 38.8 million views. (TikTok)
- 77% of TikTok users like when brands come up with new challenges, trends, or memes for others to join in on. (TikTok)
- TikTok users say that you don’t need to have thousands of followers to go viral on TikTok. (TikTok)
- 80% of top TikTok videos had music and upbeat songs. (Invideo)
- Remixing a TikTok trend leads to a 14% increase in watch time. (TikTok)
- Rapper Lil Nas X credits the success of his song “Old Town Road” to TikTok. The song was propelled to #1 on the Billboard Top 100 in 2019 after the artist uploaded it to TikTok. (BuzzFeed News)
Here’s a compilation of TikTok’s #CowboyChallenge where people wearing normal clothing cut to themselves in cowboy costumes to the song “Old Town Road.”
Business, Revenue, and Competition
The launch of TikTok not only put its parent company, ByteDance, on the map, but it also resulted in competition from apps like Facebook, which launched a very similar app called Lasso shortly after TikTok went viral. While TikTok and ByteDance are less transparent about revenue and other major details, here’s what we know:
- TikTok has an ad reach of roughly 885 million people. (DataReportal)
- TikTok offers five advertising tiers aimed at big brands. One of which, a branded hashtag challenge, reportedly costs $150,000 per day. (TikTok Pitch Deck Notes First Reported by Digiday)
- eMarketer estimates TikTok will generate $18 billion in ad revenue in 2023. (eMarketer)
- TikTok is the top global app for consumer spend. (data.ai)
- TikTok has a 4.8-star rating in the Apple App Store and 4.4 in the Google Play Store. (Apple App Store, Google Play Store)
- Bytedance, TikTok’s parent company is valued at $140 billion, making it the world’s most valuable startup. (CBInsights)
The Mysteries of TikTok
Although TikTok is a top social platform and is ramping up its options for advertisers, it’s still rather new. When a company or startup is new, it’s not uncommon for leadership to hide early numbers, even when a brand is successful. In fact, we’ve seen this with other major companies like Snapchat and Netflix.
Despite the launch of TikTok For Business in mid 2020, there’s still a lot more to learn as TikTok’s global teams and ByteDance continue to remain hush-hush about major metrics. In the coming years, as TikTok continues to draw in more advertisers, it wouldn’t be surprising if we started to see more transparent information about the app and its user base.
Where to Find TikTok Stats
In the meantime, If you want to learn more about TikTok, you can read up on its short history and early success in this post, or click here to find a how-to guide for using the app. In addition, you can discover important TikTok facts app on various websites:
Want to see what other businesses are doing on TikTok? Check out this roundup of brands on TikTok.
