Posted on
27/1/2022

TikTok statistics you need to know in 2022

Of all social media, the one that has made the biggest impact in recent months is TikTok. The Chinese social network is the most downloaded application with over a billion users! More than a video platform, it is "THE PLACE TO BE" in 2022. As an essential element in the marketing strategy of companies, Kolsquare offers you a review of all the TikTok statistics to know in 2022.

TikTok account on a phone
TikTok account on a phone

How many users on TikTok?

First, let’s do some background on the birth of the giant TikTok. Created in September 2016 in China by the company ByteDance, then deployed internationally in 2017, TikTok was originally a short video sharing platform with a “fun” and creative spirit. It was through the acquisition of Musical.ly that the number of users (mainly American) began to grow considerably. The application then became very popular in 2019 and 2020 with a multigenerational craze.

TikTok is on an incredible rise and is constantly evolving and innovating. Most recently we have seen the launch of TikTok shopping, a goldmine for brands.

In the world

One billion people will be using TikTok worldwide by 2021!  That means that out of 4.8 billion internet users in the world… 2 out of 10 people use TikTok. Here are the numbers observed in monthly active users since its launch:

  • 2017: 65 million;
  • 2018: 133 million;
  • 2019: 381 million;
  • 2020: 700 million.

(source: businessofapps)

In Europe

In 2021, there will be more than 100 million European “tiktokers”, led by Great Britain with 17 million monthly active users.

The followings are:

  • France: 14.9 millions, i.e. 3 times more than in 2020!
  • Germany: 10.7 millions;
  • Italy: 9.8 millions;
  • Spain: 8.8 millions;
  • Norway: 1.2 million.

The number of downloads of the TikTok application

TikTok is on everyone’s lips! According to the annual Apptopia ranking, the app was downloaded 656 million times in 2021, including 94 million in the United States. This figure combines data from iOS and Google Play. This makes TikTok the most downloaded app in the world for the second year in a row. It is worth noting that TikTok downloads and usage were largely boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Important fact about the last quarter of 2021: Instagram has overtaken TikTok! This is indeed what the quarterly report of the company SensorTower (specialised in the economy of applications) reveals. This result is partly due to India (200 million users) which banned TikTok and increased the number of Instagram downloads.

The average engagement rate on TikTok

To quickly increase your brand awareness, you can trust TikTok. It is THE platform with the highest engagement rate. In 2021, posts generated an average engagement rate of 17.9%, while Instagram influencers boasted a 3.8%. YouTube, on the other hand, had an engagement rate of 1.63%.

This is by far a huge potential for companies that should not neglect this platform for their influencer marketing campaigns.

How is the engagement rate calculated on TikTok? Simply the sum of interactions (likes, comments, shares, etc.) divided by the number of views.

Building a strong and engaged community on TikTok is therefore easier and faster than on Instagram, especially if you have the reflex to use influencers.

The number of influencers on TikTok

The number of teenagers who dream of becoming influencers on TikTok is uncountable. The influencer marketing economy has accelerated so much in recent years that it has given rise to many vocations… But how many influencers are there really? According to AFFDE, the number of influencers on TikTok has grown from 35,528 in 2020 to 106,104 this year.

More precisely, the breakdown is as follows:

  • between 2,000 and 15,000 influencers for those with more than 1 million followers ;
  • between 3,000 and 30,000 influencers for those with over 100k followers;
  • between 5,000 and 50,000 influencers for those with over 1,000 followers.

Charli D’Amelio leads the way with over 134 million followers. She has become a young American celebrity with her dance demonstrations on TikTok. She is the first person to have surpassed the 100 million subscriber mark.

Among the most famous are Khaby.lane (130M subscribers) and Addison Rae (86M subscribers).

In France, the top-10 influencers includes :

Lealui with 16.8 million subscribers;

Benoit Chevalier who entertains his 8 million followers with his humour;

Rose.thr, a 17 year old tiktokeuse, who shares her choreography, humour and joie de vivre with her 4.5 million followers.

Average time spent per user on TikTok

The amount of time spent on social networks is constantly increasing. Just look at the trackers on our mobile phones that give us the time spent on our applications every week… Thus, TikTok users spend an average of 52 minutes per day watching videos: a figure that has doubled between 2020 and 2021! Or nine times a day opening the application for the most addicted. In general, the majority of users open the application at least once.

And if we look at these figures in detail, we can see that among young people aged 4 to 15, the time spent per day is more like 80 minutes!

TikTok audience profile

Worldwide, the average age is between 11 and 24, with almost as many women (49.6%) as men (50.4%). Generation Z is generally the most represented, but with a trend that tends to affect all generations. The Chinese platform is in a phase of change and adaptation to a wider audience.

American typology

Women (58%) use the application more than men (42%), which is interesting to adjust its marketing strategy.

The age distribution is as follows:

  • 47% are between 10 and 29 years old
  • 21.7% are between 30 and 39 years old
  • 31.3% are over 40

European typology

As a reminder, Great Britain has the most TikTok users and an older audience, with 82% of its audience over 18!

The profile is mainly female: 65% in Great Britain and 56% in Norway and Sweden.

French typology

The audience is also largely female: 56% of them use TikTok. Teenagers (13/17 years old) represent 38%, then young adults (18/24 years old) 37% and finally only 20% are between 25 and 34 years old.

Most popular type of content

The video format has made the application a success with increasingly engaging, creative and entertaining content. Young people were targeted and the gamble paid off! Today, TikTok has become an unavoidable playground for developing brand awareness, especially for companies.

The virality is such that it is essential for brands to position themselves on the platform. On TikTok, we follow the trends, we trust the influencers, but above all we have fun! The most popular content?

  • entertainment ;
  • dance;
  • pranks and humour;
  • fitness and sports
  • home: renovation, DIY; beauty and care
  • beauty and care
  • fashion
  • culinary themes;
  • tips and advice for everyday life;
  • pets.

So many subjects that appeal and unite, provided that the right hashtags are used for optimal visibility.

Brands that rule on TikTok

Some brands are only just starting to appear on the Chinese social network, while others have been there since the beginning. As a company, you can manage your presence on the platform and let your imagination run wild. Another way to effectively exploit the network is to collaborate with influencers to run targeted and effective campaigns.

Whatever the field of activity, the objective is always the same: to increase visibility, generate more traffic, demonstrate expertise and develop a unique branding.

Here are some examples of inspiring brands:

  • NBA: 12 million followers with entertaining content from players on the court;
  • The Washington Post: entertaining content for their 450,000 readers;
  • Carrefour: a recent arrival on TikTok but already 34,000 followers with entertaining videos, dancing…
  • Mac Cosmetics: behind the scenes of fashion shows, make-up inspirations… The brand has 80,000 followers;
  • Chipotle: a burrito channel that entertains and whets the appetite with its delicious recipes. 1.4 million subscribers and over 25 million likes!
  • BMW: the German car manufacturer has created #the1challenge which challenges influencers and users to dance with their BMW 1 Series;
  • CROCS: the shoe brand collaborated with the famous rapper PostMalone and launched #ThousandDollarCrocs with funny and original content.

All these statistics clearly encourage us to go and have a look at TikTok… So if your company is not yet present there, perhaps this is one of the 2022 resolutions to consider?

Kolsquare remains at your disposal to discuss this and our experts will suggest the best strategy to meet your objectives. They are at your disposal to answer all your questions.

About Kolsquare

Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, a data-driven solution that allows brands to scale their KOL Marketing strategies and implement authentic partnerships with KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders). Kolsquare’s technology enables marketing professionals to easily identify the best Content Creators profiles by filtering their content and audience, and to build and manage their campaigns from A to Z, including measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors. Kolsquare has built the largest community of influencer marketing experts in the world, and offers hundreds of customers (Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, El Corte Inglés, Lacoste, …) the latest Big Data, AI and Machine Learning technologies to drive inspiring partnerships, tapping into an exhaustive network covering 100% of  KOLs with more than 5,000 followers in 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. As a Benefit Company, Kolsquare has been pioneering Responsible Influence by championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations to inspire change.

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