From Renegade to a Top Platform: The Importance of TikTok in 2021

For most, TikTok seemed like a mere fad of Gen-Z and Millennials, but months out of lockdown, it has claimed its position as a leading social media platform. Not sure how or why your brand should pay attention? Take a glance at why TikTok should not be dismissed or forgotten.

TikTok’s Logo

What once started as a remake of Vine, TikTok has positioned itself as a premier media platform, alongside Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. However, many organizations have yet to realize the value and importance of TikTok.

The platform has helped position itself in a variety of ways, but most importantly through its $200 million creator fund. This fund pays creators for content based on views and engagement, further encouraging creative new content and self-sustainability. Secondly, TikTok specifically curates users’ feeds by filtering content similar to the user’s previous activity, such as comments or likes. Users are able to alter the algorithm by liking different things, but more often than not, TikTok is showing users what they want to watch.


Based on all of the above, it comes as no surprise that TikTok has over 800 million users worldwide and over 2 billion downloads since its launch in 2016. While some of TikTok’s success can be attributed to its rise during the lockdown, there is no doubt TikTok’s continued success has more to do with its strategy, marketing, and new in-app features since the lockdown ended.

In addition to its promising user and download rates, TikTok also has great engagement rates, arguably the most important when determining or debating a brand partnership. Most users spend an average of 1 hour a day on the app and 90% of users use the app daily.

Additionally, Influencer Marketing Hub analyzed over 10,000 Influencer accounts across various platforms and found that TikTok had the highest social media engagement per post.

tiktok stats engagement rates
Graphic of the Average Engagement Rate of Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter in 2019.

If you are still questioning the importance of TikTok in the digital sphere, read more about its impact here and learn more about TikTok statistics here and here.