One of the many things I learnt more about during lockdown was ‘TikTok’, the latest social media platform to capture online audiences.  In a short space of time, TikTok has gained popularity around the globe, allowing users to create short videos that are often accompanied by music.  Such a simple and incredibly engaging user experience, there is no surprise it has become one of the most downloaded apps in the world.

Within minutes I had created a profile and my first post… it has since had no likes or comments.  But I’m ok with that.  What is more rewarding is the insight to a completely different world, one which I can certainly understand why the follower demographic is largely 18-24, sadly I am far from this category these days!  At first, I thought I’m not cool enough, thankfully one of our designers told me the younger generation just aren’t cool… phew!

Interestingly though, TikTok has enjoyed an incredibly rapid growth rate. To put into context, in early March 2020, TikTok’s website had an Alexa ranking of 412 (i.e., Alexa estimates the site to be the 412th most viewed website in the world). This compares to an Alexa ranking of 3,225 in early-January 2019 and 4,778 in mid-November 2018. This change clearly demonstrates the increased popularity of TikTok in recent times.

What you need to know:

• TikTok has over 3.7m active users in the UK
• TikTok is downloaded over 100m times a month in the UK
• The average daily time spent on the app is 41 minutes
• The largest share of users (26%) in the UK is aged 18-24
• The biggest TikTok influencers in the UK have higher engagement rates on Instagram
• TikTok had its biggest month in March 2020 with 115m global downloads, with 745k from the UK
• TikTok is set to reach 10 million users in the UK by 2021

Will it transfer to the property world?

All things do, eventually.  Although I do see it being very much influencer / endorsement lead so it won’t be a quick sales win and will need a robust strategy to get the right results.  All in all, I’m looking forward to seeing how the platform develops and whether this time next year, we will all be TikTok enthusiasts…. Watch this space!