The short-video streaming platform TikTok has taken the world by storm during the lockdown and recent years. It is now the most downloaded app of 2020 and was #2 in 2019 and 2018, totaling at 2 billion downloads and 900 million monthly active users. To showcase its users’ activity and platform’s trendiness, TikTok has created and shared its first UK TV ad that features its typical users and also celebrities, like Gordon Ramsey and Little Mix.
TikTok’s differentiating factors are the very creative and entertaining nature of the content, full of video and sound effects, and the length of videos at just 15 seconds.
The platform is most popular among generation z and millennials, however, you will see people of all ages there, the elderly, young mothers, and cats.
Some statistics about TikTok:
- 6th largest social network (surpassing LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest) that is available in 150 countries and 6th for consumer spending worldwide
- The average daily use is 46 minutes a day per user
- In the U.S. TikTok users knew the app as Musical.ly before it got acquired
- 30 million monthly active users are based in the United States, with 63.5% being under the age of 29
- Worldwide, close to 70% of TikTok users are under 25 years old
- 400 million of the daily active users are based in China
- 120 million or 33% of smartphone users in India have TikTok
- 8.12 million users in the U.K. (April 2020, Statista)
- There are over 40 users with over 10 million followers

TikTok ads and marketing facts:
- Brand takeover ads cost $50,000 per day and guarantee 5 million daily impressions and only one advertiser per day
- TikTok Ads start at $50 to $150,000
- Self-service ads starting at $50 at the ad group level
- Hashtag challenge: $150,000 for six days
- Branded lenses: $80,000 – 120,000
- Brand takeover: $50,000
- In-feed video: $25,000 minimum per campaign with $30,000 daily maximum
The Impact of TikTok Growth On Your Business
The platform’s exponential growth and trendiness are undeniable. TikTok has a young and growing highly engaged creative audience.
If your target audience is under 29 and your business has the creative capabilities for engaging content creation, it does present an excellent opportunity using TikTok as a marketing channel to engage organically.
In terms of TikTok ads, we have seen brands like Balenciaga (TopView Ad), Pretty Little Thing, Mercedes Benz, and Converse, among others, to make use of the TikTok advertising placements.
The self-service advertising on the platform currently comes at an average CPC of $10 or £7.50 and other formats start at $25,000. Such high average CPC does ask for higher budget bracket for actions to be taken, however, can be quite powerful in the upper funnel and in raising brand awareness if the target audience is a match.
Are you interested in advertising on TikTok? Contact us now or see our Media Buy Services page.