Why is TikTok growing so fast?
With over 1 billion downloads globally it's very clear that TikTok is doing something right.
The app once known as Musical.ly has reinvented itself and captivated the hearts and minds of social media users in over 150 countries.
And yes, most of those users are young people between the ages of 16–24 otherwise known as Gen Zers.
Some analysts view this demographic as “trendsetters”.
Here are some highlights of what we know so far:
- TikTok has approximately 800 million monthly active users
- The app has been downloaded over 1.5 billion times
- 466 million of those come from India, 173 million from China, and 123 million from the U.S.
- The average TikTok user opens the app 8 times per day and spends an average of 52 minutes per day on the platform
- According to Sensor Tower, TikTok was the second most downloaded app in the U.S. in November 2019 with 4 million downloads (trailing only Disney+)
You can get more on these stats by visiting this link.
So how exactly has it done this?
What is accounting for TikTok growing so fast?
While there may be a lot TikTok’s leadership is doing in the background, there are 4 things I can see from the frontend that gives this app a unique edge.
#1: Direct sharing on other platforms
This is probably the biggest reason why TikTok is crushing it.
Almost every social media platform has an insular approach. In other words, they don’t drive sharability on other platforms.
They view other social platforms as competitors and work to keep attention and engagement within the confines of their app.
TikTok was smart. It knew that going to head-to-head with the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Snapchat would be a tough battle.
So rather than fight them, it decided to use them.
It gave users an easy way to download content (no other platform has this in-built) and also a native way to share content directly on: WhatsApp, WhatsApp Status, Instagram, Instagram Stories, iMessage, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, Email, QR Code, etc.
That is A LOT of support for other platforms.
The clear message to the consumer is “Create in TikTok, and distribute everywhere else”.
With this much support, TikTok positions itself, not as an alternative, but as a complement to your existing network.
No other major platform is doing this, and it has worked in TikTok’s favour BIG TIME, and this is one major reason for TikTok growing so fast.
Snapchat does allow you to save content to your camera roll, but to share directly to as many other apps in a seamless way, it comes nowhere near what TikTok has deployed.
#2 TikTok content is watermarked
This factor, coupled with the first point, is absolute genius on TikTok’s part.
So not only does TikTok allow you to share to other platforms, they include their branding on all videos that are downloaded or shared.
This ends up giving them more awareness because every time I download & share my TikTok videos with my 800+ followers on Instagram, I’m indirectly promoting TikTok as a brand
People who don’t know about TikTok see that video, see the TikTok watermark and then go on to check it out in the App Store.
Essentially, TikTok is letting users and influencers on other platforms do their marketing for them which then drives even more downloads and users.
These seem like really simple things, but it’s the combination of these things that I believe has been the game-changer for TikTok.
Even Snapchat that allows you to export content to your camera roll, doesn’t watermark the content that you create.
And you may think that’s a good thing. You may say “Why is TikTok forcing me to include their branding in my video”.
And well, you may have a point, but from the thousands of TikTok videos I’ve seen all over other platforms, most people really don’t seem bothered much by that.
Not only that, but it has also impacted on the app’s growth strategy, and hence is another major reason for TikTok growing so fast.
#3 Linking to Instagram & YouTube
This is at the heart of really enabling content creators to grow.
Again, TikTok isn’t trying to fight other platforms. Their approach suggests that they don’t want to replace other platforms.
So once you’ve created an account on TikTok, in your profile settings, they allow you to link to your Instagram Profile or YouTube Channel.
No one else is doing this. Everyone wants you to keep the party on their app. No external linking elsewhere.
But what they don’t know is, this enables & fuels the growth of other platforms which then creates an extra incentive to use TikTok.
So in my case, I had just under 600 followers on Instagram, before I got really active on TikTok.
My TikTok currently sits at almost 13K but it hasn’t grown in isolation. Since I started being more active on TikTok, my Instagram has also grown to over 800 as of the time of writing this.
And I DM a lot of my new followers on IG to say thanks for following, and almost every single one of them starts by saying …
- “So I saw your video on TikTok and checked out your IG” or
- “I found you on TikTok” or
- “Your TikTok videos are great so followed you here too”
Are you seeing my point? All of these new followers are people who already checked me out on TikTok where I’m currently crushing it.
And then because my Instagram is linked to from my TikTok, they are able to check my page out on IG and follow.
In the end, I (and several others like me) will continue to use the app more and more, and hence another factor for TikTok growing so fast.
#4 Native Video Editing Tools
This is something that the other platforms have to some extent.
Snapchat has awesome filters and text editing tools. Facebook has some tools for creating text-based content. Instagram has also rolled out a whole host of content creation tools. Twitter has nothing except the ability to search and post GIFs.
But the difference lies mostly in behaviour.
Consumers are creatures of habit. TikTok launched with these tools right from the start, so users started using these native video editing tools right from the beginning.
Whereas with most of the other platforms, this is something they introduced over time which is still great.
There are loads of people using these new features of other platforms, but most are limited when it comes to basic video editing like trimming video and adding music.
And that’s where TikTok truly excels. This factor again is a key element for TikTok growing so fast.
But like I mentioned earlier, the real punch that TikTok has isn’t because of any one of these individual points, rather, it’s advantage has come from the combination of all these little things.
Final thoughts on TikTok
My advice to any individual, any business of any size, any influencer is simple: you have to be on TikTok.
It has captured enough consumer attention globally such that if for nothing at all, you should be using it as a window into what people are talking about, creating and sharing.
And for all those saying its “for kids” or “for young people”, I want to remind you, that’s exactly what we all said about Facebook.
We said it's for college students, and yet here we are now. 😊
