Big news #1: TikTok passed 1B monthly users five years after launching (2017).
Years after launch to reach 1B monthly users according to Axios:
1) Facebook Messenger (2011) – 4.9
2) TikTok (2017) – 5.1
3) WeChat (2011) – 7.1
4) Instagram (2011) – 7.7
5) YouTube (2005) – 8.1
6) WhatsApp (2009) – 8.5
7) Facebook (2004) – 8.7
Global monthly users according to LightShed Partners:
1) Facebook – 2.9B
2) YouTube – 2.0B
3) Instagram – 1.5B
4) TikTok – 1.0B
5) Snapchat – 500M
6) Pinterest – 454M
7) Reddit – 430M
8) Spotify – 365M
9) Discord – 150M
Big question: How did TikTok grow so fast?
Quick answer: Great product combined with a larger addressable market. For example, the share of the global population using the internet has grown 229% between the launch of Facebook (14%) and TikTok (46%).
Share of global population using the internet according to the World Bank:
1) 1990 – 0.05%
2) 1995 – 0.7%
3) 2000 – 7%
4) 2005 – 16%
5) 2010 – 29%
6) 2015 – 41%
7) 2019 – 57%
FYI: TikTok was the most downloaded app (non-game) in 2020 and appears headed in that direction again in 2021.
Flashback #1: Vibe Check: TikTok Is Still Dominating
Share of TikTok users by age:
1) 18-24 – 42%
2) 25-34 – 22%
3) 13-17 – 17%
4) 34-44 – 12%
5) 45+ – 7%
Big news #2: The Chinese government has placed a daily limit (40 minutes per day) on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok) for children.
Minutes per day with TikTok/Douyin:
1) Average U.S. user – 89
2) Children in China w/ limit – 40
Big news #3: Commerce is coming with partnerships with Shopify and Square.
Big news #4: TikTok has further melted our attention spans (if that is possible), forcing marketers to focus on the first two seconds of an ad.
Quote from Erin Weaver – Senior Director of Audience Development @ Group Nine:
“You get roughly two seconds to get people’s attention now. On Facebook, it used to be 10. On YouTube it was 30 seconds.”
Flashback #2: TikTok = $50B?
TikTok’s highest-paid stars (Jul-19 through Jun-20) according to Forbes:
1) Addison Rae – $5.0M
2) Charli D’Amelio – $4.0M
3) Dixie D’Amelio – $2.9M
4) Loren Gray – $2.6M
5) Josh Richards – $1.6M
6A) Michael Le – $1.2M
6B) Spencer X – $1.2M
Video: Investigation: How TikTok’s Algorithm Figures Out Your Deepest Desires
