15 TikTok Marketing Strategies for Marketers in 2024
If you run a business that targets young people, you’re likely already reaching them through TikTok. If not, it’s time to consider how the social media platform might fit into your marketing strategy.
As one of the world’s fastest-growing and most-downloaded social apps, TikTok is where trends are born, stars are made, and hottest products sell out in minutes. Brands who understand TikTok trends and the unique content TikTok users crave can achieve their marketing goals with compelling videos and TikTok ads.
Not sure if TikTok is right for you or your brand? Check out TikTok’s latest usage statistics to learn about the platform’s audience, average time spent on the app, and why working with TikTok creators is a smart influencer marketing strategy.
TikTok statistics for brands and marketers
- How many users are on TikTok?
- What is the age range of TikTok users?
- What are TikTok's gender statistics?
- In which countries is TikTok most popular?
- How many total downloads does TikTok have?
- How popular is TikTok compared to other social media?
- How much time do TikTok users spend on the platform?
- How popular is TikTok for e-commerce?
- How much money does TikTok make?
- How many influencers are there on TikTok and how influential are they?
- What is the ROI of TikTok marketing?
- What is TikTok's Engagement Rate?
The following TikTok statistics cover a number of topics, including the demographics of the TikTok audience, e-commerce, advertising and ROI, and how this social media platform compares to its competitors.
1. How many users are on TikTok?
As of 2024, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users . TikTok is one of the few social media apps to have achieved this number.
TikTok has reached this milestone faster than most apps. The company reached 1 billion users in 2021, less than five years after its launch in 2016. TikTok ranks second only to Meta’s Facebook Messenger app in terms of time it took to reach 1 billion users. Competitors like WeChat, Instagram, and YouTube each took more than seven years to reach the same number.
Launched in 2017 as an international version of the Chinese-developed social media Douyin, TikTok gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in 2020, peaking with about 313.5 million downloads in the first quarter of that year. By 2023, TikTok had about 1.9 billion users worldwide.
As of 2024, TikTok has a total of approximately 2.05 billion users . The popular social media platform is expected to reach approximately 2.35 billion users by 2029 .
2. What is the age range of TikTok users?
When developing a TikTok marketing strategy, it’s important to be specific about your audience rather than targeting a broad audience. But is your audience using TikTok? TikTok has seen high adoption among young people and Gen Zers, but other demographic groups are increasingly using the platform as well.
According to the latest TikTok user statistics, there are 1.58 billion TikTok users who are 18 years or older . This is an important number because it means that these are the users that you can advertise to (the minimum age for TikTok users is 13, but TikTok ads are only shown to users who are 18 or older).
But what about the age distribution among users over 18? As of April 2024, TikTok users over 18 fell into the following age groups:
- 18-24 years old: 572 million, or 36.2% of TikTok users aged 18 and over
- 25-34 years old: 535.6 million, 33.9% of TikTok users aged 18 and over
- 35-44 years old: 249.6 million, 15.8% of TikTok users aged 18 and over
- 45-54 years old: 124.8 million, 7.9% of TikTok users aged 18 and over
- Ages 55 and up: 98 million, or 6.2% of TikTok users aged 18 and up
While Gen Alpha and Gen Z users dominate the platform, usage is also growing, particularly among millennials. This could be a sign that brands with an older target audience should take TikTok marketing seriously.
3. What are TikTok's gender statistics?
According to a study from April 2024, the gender distribution among TikTok users is as follows:
- 45.7% of TikTok users identify as female
- 54.3% of TikTok users identify as male
This represents an opportunity for brands targeting men to advertise on TikTok.
While the study did not include non-binary gender expressions, TikTok is attempting to position itself as a safe space for queer and gender expression by banning gender misidentification and deadnaming (misusing names) on TikTok videos and comments in 2022.
According to the most recent survey, about 5% of young adults under 30 in the United States identify as transgender or nonbinary, compared to 1.6% of the U.S. adult population. Mapping this data with TikTok’s own user statistics suggests that the gender data above may be incomplete.
If your brand aims to connect with the young LGBTQ+ community, TikTok could be the place to do it.
4. In which countries is TikTok most popular?
The app has been praised worldwide (although it has been banned outright in some countries), but it is more popular in certain regions. As of April 2024, the countries with the most active TikTok users are:
- Indonesia: 127.5 million
- United States: 121.52 million
- Brazil: 118 million
- Mexico: 77.93 million
- Vietnam: 69.67 million
Note: China is not included in this list because TikTok is known by a different name to Chinese users. In China, the Douyin app, owned by parent company ByteDance, has more than 755.5 million daily active users.
While Indonesia and the United States currently have the most active users, TikTok is growing rapidly in other markets as well. These include the countries with the highest growth in Apple App Store downloads during the last quarter of 2023 (% growth between Q3 and Q4):
- China: 39.01%
- Japan: 33.6%
- Korea: 24.62%
- Australia: 20.14%
5. How many total downloads does TikTok have?
In 2023, global TikTok downloads continued to grow :
- Q1 2023: 238.93 million
- Q2 2023: 256.11 million
- Q3 2023: 273.31 million
- Q4 2023: 232.22 million
By 2023, TikTok had surpassed 1 billion downloads worldwide.
In total, the TikTok app has accumulated over 4.366 billion downloads since its launch. TikTok has been the most downloaded app for several years, but was overtaken by Instagram in 2023 .
6. How popular is TikTok compared to other social media?
TikTok has a strong lead in terms of growth, but it still has a long way to go compared to many other social media giants. As of 2024, TikTok is the fifth most popular social network in the world (with more active users than WeChat). The ranking is as follows:
- Facebook: 3 billion users
- YouTube: 2.7 billion users
- WhatsApp: 2.4 billion users
- Instagram: 2.4 billion users
- TikTok: 1.6 billion users
- WeChat: 1 billion users
TikTok is expected to reach 2.136 billion users by 2025 , and its growth rate is outpacing its competitors. So it wouldn’t be surprising to see TikTok climb higher in the rankings in the coming years.
7. How much time do TikTok users spend on the platform?
By 2024, global internet users will spend an average of 143 minutes per day on social media , down from 151 minutes per day in 2023. A significant portion of that time will be spent on TikTok.
Social media users in the United States report spending the majority of their time on social apps on TikTok. The popular video-sharing app accounts for 32% of users’ social media time, while Instagram and Facebook, which come in second, each account for just 20%.
But what about actual time spent on the app? By 2024, the average US user will spend 58.4 minutes a day creating and browsing TikTok videos . By comparison, they spend 48.7 minutes on YouTube.
Brands can leverage the growing time spent each day on TikTok to create engaging TikTok videos and feed ads.
8. How popular is TikTok for e-commerce?
In late 2022, TikTok introduced a native e-commerce feature called TikTok Shop. The platform combines the entertainment and shopping experiences of social media by allowing users to browse and purchase products without leaving the app.
By the end of 2024, TikTok is expected to have 35.8 million social commerce users in the United States. This number is lower than Facebook’s 67.8 million social shoppers and Instagram’s 45.3 million social shoppers, but it exceeds Pinterest’s 17.5 million social shoppers.
TikTok’s e-commerce platform is a global phenomenon. As of 2023, the global distribution of TikTok Shops is as follows:
- Indonesia: 20.52%
- Thailand: 18.29%
- Vietnam: 17.54%
- Malaysia: 12.94%
- United States: 11.83%
- Philippines: 11.64%
- UK: 6.19%
- Singapore: 1.004%
The platform has set a target of $17.5 billion in e-commerce sales in the U.S. market by 2024. To make the shopping experience easier, TikTok is rolling out new features, including live shopping events, shoppable video content, and an in-app store. The move signals TikTok’s transition from a pure social media platform to an e-commerce competitor, diversifying its revenue streams beyond traditional advertising.
The good news for brands is that selling on TikTok is easy, thanks to the platform’s native tools and powerful integrations with ecommerce platforms like Shopify. Product links embedded in live content, shoppable TikTok videos, and a store tab on your brand profile are just a few ways to turn fans into buyers.
9. How much money does TikTok make?
As of December 2023, TikTok's parent company ByteDance is seeking to repurchase shares from shareholders at $160 per share, valuing the company at approximately $268 billion . This valuation is derived from the stock price offered under the share repurchase program, and it plans to use up to $5 billion for share repurchases.
As of 2024, TikTok/Douyin is one of the world’s most valuable brands, just behind brands like Samsung Group and Walmart, with a brand value of $84.2 billion .
TikTok’s global revenue from in-app purchases reached approximately $707 million in Q4 2023. The platform experienced remarkable growth in these in-app purchase revenues from late 2021 to early 2022. In particular, in-app purchase revenues surged from $286 million in Q3 2020 to over $606 million in Q4 2021.
TikTok is expected to generate $17.2 billion in net revenue in 2024 , a 30.7% increase from 2023.
10. How many influencers are there on TikTok and how influential are they?
There are an estimated 100,000 influencers on TikTok, most of whom have less than 10,000 followers.
Here are the latest TikTok influencers by audience size worldwide :
- 1,000~10,000 people: 66.96%
- 10,000~50,000 people: 23.06%
- 50,000~500,000 people: 9.04%
- 500,000~1,000,000 people: 0.53%
- 1,000,000+ people: 0.41%
Here's the distribution of TikTok influencers in the United States :
- 5,000~10,000 people: 1,839 people
- 10,000~50,000 people: 25,293 people
- 50,000~100,000 people: 41,879 people
- 100,000~250,000 people: 35,503 people
- 250,000~1,000,000 people: 23,024 people
- 1,000,000+: 8,931
As a brand, you can find TikTok influencers with as few as 1,000 followers. They are called “nano-influencers.” Brands with small marketing budgets can choose to work with small, niche influencers with highly engaged followers. In 2023, nano-influencers with between 1,000 and 10,000 followers on TikTok had the highest engagement rate at 11.97% . The cost of working with an influencer varies depending on audience size and engagement rate, but typically increases with larger audiences.
There are many opportunities to work with influential creators, but there is no guarantee of a return on investment (ROI). It is important to work with influencers who are relevant to your brand and allow them to speak with an authentic voice.
11. What is the ROI of TikTok marketing?
Now that you know that working with TikTok influencers can help your business, what’s the overall ROI of marketing on the platform? According to one study , 24% of marketers report that TikTok provides the highest ROI (return on investment) of any other social platform.
More than half (50.1%) of marketers believe TikTok is the most profitable platform for influencer marketing leveraging short-form video content. Instagram Reels comes in second, with 29.9% of marketers preferring it for ROI, and YouTube Shorts comes in third, with 12% of marketers preferring it for influencer marketing revenue.
In another survey of small business owners, 51% of companies that invested in TikTok advertising reported a positive return on their investment. 45% of brands that run paid advertising on the platform are breaking even on their advertising spend.
Given these results , it’s no wonder that many marketers are planning to increase their investment in TikTok advertising and content in the future . 56% reported that they plan to increase their investment in TikTok advertising and content, which is more than any other social app.
12. What is TikTok's Engagement Rate?
In 2023, TikTok’s median engagement rate was 2.63% , dwarfing social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This means that brands can get high engagement value from the creators they work with, but it’s important to look at each creator’s individual engagement rate.
In 2023, nano-influencers with between 1,000 and 10,000 followers will have the highest engagement rate of all influencers, with an average engagement rate of 11.97%. This is good news for brands: working with smaller influencers typically means lower costs, and gives them access to a highly engaged audience.
Using TikTok for your brand can also vary by industry. Certain content performs better on the platform, and some industries and topics see above-average engagement rates.
The industries with the highest engagement on TikTok are:
Summary: TikTok Statistics 2024
Here are some key TikTok statistics for 2024:
- As of April 2024, TikTok had over 1.582 billion monthly active users.
- Of TikTok’s global users, 572 million, or 36.2%, are between the ages of 18 and 24.
- The gender distribution among TikTok users is 54.3% male and 45.7% female (there is no sufficient data on the use of non-binary genders on the platform).
- The country with the most TikTok users over the age of 18 is Indonesia, with 127.5 million users. Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, has over 755.5 million daily active users.
- In 2023, TikTok had over 1 billion downloads worldwide. In total, the TikTok app has had over 4.366 billion cumulative downloads since its launch.
- TikTok is currently the fifth most popular social network worldwide, ranked by number of active users.
- By 2024, the average US user will spend 58.4 minutes per day creating and browsing TikTok videos.
- By 2024, TikTok is expected to have 35.8 million social commerce users in the United States.
- In Q4 2023, TikTok's global revenue from in-app purchases reached approximately $707 million.
- In 2023, TikTok's nano-influencers with between 1,000 and 10,000 followers had the highest engagement rate at 11.97%.
- 24% of marketers reported that TikTok had the highest ROI among other social platforms.
- More than half (50.1%) of marketers view TikTok as the most profitable platform for their influencer marketing strategies leveraging short-form video content.
- 51% of small businesses that use TikTok advertising reported a positive return on investment in a 2023 survey.
- 56% of marketers reported increasing their investment in TikTok advertising and content, more than any other social app.
- TikTok surpassed other major social media platforms in 2023 with a median engagement rate of 2.63%.
Now that you understand the power of TikTok and its popularity compared to other social media platforms, you’re ready to create a TikTok strategy that will reach a global audience with fun, branded content and conversion-driven TikTok advertising.
TikTok Statistics FAQ
Is TikTok's popularity declining?
TikTok downloads peaked at 313.53% in Q1 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, TikTok continues to grow rapidly worldwide, reaching 2.322 million downloads in Q4 2023. TikTok downloads are not the only measure of success. The TikTok app is growing faster than other platforms, and has acquired over 1 billion TikTok users worldwide faster. Marketers are increasingly using the app because of its excellent ROI.
How fast is TikTok growing?
TikTok’s growth has been unprecedented. In early January 2018, the app had just 55 million users. By 2027, it is expected that there will be over 2.2 billion TikTok users worldwide. In 2023 alone, TikTok downloads will exceed 1 billion worldwide.
What is the age range of TikTok users?
The largest age group among monthly active TikTok users is 18 to 24 years old. Globally, 572 million people, or 36.2% of TikTok users aged 18 and older, fall into this age group.
How many monthly active TikTok users are there in the US?
As of March 2023, there are 150 million monthly active TikTok users in the United States. As of April 2024, TikTok boasts 1.582 billion monthly active users worldwide.
How much time does the average user spend on TikTok?
In 2024, the average TikTok user will spend 58.4 minutes on the social network.
What is TikTok's main goal?
For creators, TikTok’s goal is to provide tools and opportunities to build a following and monetize their content. For brands, the platform offers innovative advertising options and access to a large, highly engaged audience. For users, TikTok offers a personalized, fun experience that keeps them coming back for more.
Why is TikTok so popular?
TikTok is primarily known for its viral dance challenges, lip-sync videos, and highly personalized “For You” page algorithm. The platform has evolved into a content powerhouse, covering everything from educational videos to comedy, and has become a major player in social media worldwide. TikTok’s popularity and widespread use have led to ongoing scrutiny in the United States, with potential bans being proposed due to national security concerns related to its Chinese ownership.