Social media has evolved into a source of inspiration, entertainment, and current events. Remarkably, it has quickly become one of the most successful digital marketing platforms, with more businesses embracing the power of social than ever before. As the number of social network users continues to grow and consumer purchasing behavior is more influenced by platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, marketers are making use of these networks’ pulling power for marketing.
Social media ad spending was roughly 132 billion US dollars in 2020, with spending predicted to exceed 200 billion US dollars by 2024. While the United States continues to be the world’s largest social media ad market, marketers from other nations haven’t been shy about hopping on board.
TikTok
TikTok quickly became the most popular app in 2019 and 2020. It was downloaded 693 million times in 2019 and 850 million times in 2020. Despite the fact that it was only established in 2017, TikTok was the seventh-most downloaded app of the 2010s and appears to be a genuine threat to Facebook’s hold on social networking.
Anyone with a TikTok account has the ability to create content – that’s what makes it so great. Whether you’re using your favorite song, funny filters, or visual effects, everyone has the chance to go viral. The goal is to create videos that catch the interest of users within the first few seconds, preventing their attention from being diverted elsewhere. Nic Casey, Big Drop’s Creative Director, says:
“In today’s paradigm of short-form content and dwindling user attention spans, TikTok’s massive success can be attributed to the keen focus on user habits and meeting the demand for a consistent drip of engaging, short, easy-to-devour content.”
TikTok’s ‘For You Page’ is the most popular part and allows users to discover new people, accounts, and content with TikTok’s algorithm. TikTok’s platform, similar to Facebook and Instagram, is heavily influenced by what’s trending and uses hashtags to help users discover content.
With 1.56 billion users daily, Facebook is one of the largest social media networks. In perspective, that is almost 5x the population of the United States, and 20% of the world’s population.
A great deal has changed since Facebook first joined the marketing landscape, accomplishing things that few of us could have imagined decades ago. Thanks to Facebook, hosting VR and selling items via chatbots are both possible, not to mention its current status serving as a primary news source for two-thirds of the adult population.
Facebook’s features are designed for businesses that want to build genuine relationships with their customers. It enables marketers to generate and distribute high-quality content that is beneficial to users. It also enables sales and customer support representatives to communicate with people who are interested in a brand and its offerings.
Move Over Facebook
Since Facebook’s unexpectedly low revenue forecast and user growth last month, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook (now branded under Meta), has widely recognized the competition from the video-sharing platform, TikTok. Big Drop’s Senior Director, James Weiss, stated the following:
“What made Facebook thrive initially has been refined with TikTok. The differing sociological dynamics of both platforms are favoring the fun-natured, real-time, zeitgeist-aware authenticity of TikTok’s presence over the positive status-update culture of its older competitor, which hasn’t been lost on companies and individual users, alike. And, because TikTok’s growth can easily be attributed to its rapid adoption by Gen Z, there is something to be said for the potential longevity that TikTok will enjoy (did you hear that, brands?)”
If there’s a platform that can dethrone Facebook, it’s TikTok; the new kid on the block with 689 million monthly active users as of January 2021. TikTok is a fast-growing social media platform that marketers and advertising are watching carefully. If you still believe that TikTok is only for kids, you’re missing out on a valuable social media advertising opportunity for your brand.
An increasing number of businesses are turning to TikTok to increase brand awareness and capitalize on current trends. TikTok is one of the world’s fastest-growing social media platforms and because social media marketers are always looking for new ways to interact and communicate with their customers, an app with high download and engagement stats will surely do the trick.
If you’re wondering if your target audience is on TikTok, we are sure they are. About 64% of TikTok users are over the age of 20. Consumers are also spending a significant amount of time on the platform; users open the app around eight times each day on average and spend 52 minutes per day on the platform.