TikTok 101
Everyone has heard of TikTok. In 2023, it had 1.5 billion monthly active users, and by the end of 2024, it’s expected to reach two billion.
TikTok started life as Bytedance in 2017, a short form video sharing platform focused on dancing and lip-syncing videos. Fast forward to 2024, and TikTok is a social media app where users share (mostly) short-form video content (although we’re starting to see a shift towards longer-form content happening this year). Posts on the platforms are TikToks and they can be stitched together, or users can duet with each other’s TikToks.
Like Twitter, TikTok runs on hashtags. Most of the popular TikTok trends you’ve heard of started out as a lowly hashtag before becoming a part of pop culture history. For example, the I’m the Main Character trend emerged on TikTok in 2020 before becoming a part of accepted internet speak.
It’s not all video; the audio is just as important. Users can add songs or other audio clips to their videos. The TikTok Creative Centre makes choosing sounds (and hashtags) super easy, as you can see what’s currently trending on the platform for free.
TikTok uses an algorithm that generates user-specific recommendations on the #FYP (for you page). Top tip for you; getting on a user’s FYP is a surefire way to reach the widest and best audience.
In 2023, TikTok launched ‘TikTok Shop’ and became a bona fide social shopping site. Users can either sell their own products or become affiliates for brands. It’s estimated that TikTok shop generated $20B in revenue in 2023.
And, as if that wasn’t enough, TikTok is edging towards search engine territory. You may already be aware that Gen Z is using social media for search, but did you know that TikTok is already outperforming Google in key areas, including fashion? TikTok is putting search front and centre of the latest update. So on top of everything else, it’s now one of the most valuable platforms for SEO keyword identification too.
Why should you care about social listening on TikTok?
TikTok has been the fastest-growing social network for the last few years. It is the original home of short-form vertical video, which Meta was ‘inspired by’ when it created Reels for Instagram, and now even LinkedIn is looking to pivot towards.
TikTok runs on trends, and the average engagement rate is much higher than that of the other social networks. This means that TikTok is pretty much powering the social internet. Trends you see on TikTok will eventually filter through to other social media channels.
Understanding what’s happening on TikTok can not only help you and your business get involved in the latest relevant trending topics but also help you over time by identifying longer-term cultural shifts, allowing you to create future-facing content strategies.
How should you start social listening on TikTok?
In this section, I’ll explain what you need to know to start social listening on TikTok
As with all social listening projects, you first need to get clear about the audience you care about and what you want to learn about them.
Identify the audience you want to listen to on TikTok
Knowing who we want to listen to on TikTok is step one. Ideally, you want to consider these audiences based on their interests rather than demographic data. Communities on TikTok unite around hashtags that end in ‘tok’. There’s a Tok for everything, so the more specific you are, the better the results.
Say you’re launching a new software platform to connect smaller brands with bigger opportunities; you might be interested in better understanding Gen Z entrepreneurs.
A publishing company might want to understand the super-sized reading community on #booktok.
Once you know who you want to listen to, you can do some desk research on the things that this audience might be interested in on TikTok. We’ll talk more about this in the ‘what should you be listening to on TikTok’ section.
Set your goals
Before we get into the details of how you’ll use TikTok for social listening, we must figure out what you want from your TikTok listening.
Are you looking to identify trends relevant to your audience so you can create better opportunities? Or are you just looking to understand more about who your audience is and the type of content that engages them? Do you want to set up a TikTok shop, or do you want to identify influencers who will resonate with your target audience?
Each goal will shape how you set up your social listening on TikTok, as you’ll use them to guide which keywords or hashtags you want to focus on.
What to look for when choosing a TikTok social listening tool
Social listening on TikTok will be difficult without a social listening tool. A social listening tool is a platform that allows you to track and analyse TikTok data. Although all the big social listening tools offer a TikTok component, some newer tools have been built to listen only to TikTok. These tend to be a bit more advanced regarding the insights they provide.
When choosing a social listening tool, you should consider these three key things.
1. What are you going to use the tool for? You should have covered this earlier when you were thinking about business goals. Prioritising influencer identification over trending topics will guide your choice of social listening tool
2. Your budget. Social listening tools come in all shapes and sizes; some are aimed at small businesses, and some offer enterprise solutions. Understanding how much you want to spend will be a defining factor in the tools you choose
3. Will you be listening to TikTok in isolation, or will this be a part of a wider social listening project?
TikTok Social Listening Tools
In this section, we’ll share some of the social listening tools we’ve previously used for TikTok projects. To make things easier, they’re grouped by budget.
Mid Range:
Exolyt. Exolyt is explicitly designed for TikTok and is a great quality tool, with accounts starting at a very reasonable price. With Exolyt, you can track hashtags, compare SOV, understand sentiment, and much more. There are also options to understand trending hashtags, sounds, and influencers on the platform. It’s a great TikTok-specific solution.
YouScan. YouScan is also an enterprise platform but has an affordable small business option that is really impressive. YouScan is another social listening tool that allows you to monitor multiple platforms, including TikTok.
The TikTok insights are fantastic and feature some world-class visual/logo analysis alongside influencer analysis, audience interests, and the ability to create dashboards and tag posts so you can analyse your data more thoroughly.
Enterprise.
ViralMoment. ViralMoment is a TikTok-specific enterprise solution. It allows you to do super deep-level analysis of almost anything that you want on TikTok. You can track audio and visuals in TikTok, alongside learning what’s trending in your industry, benchmarking yourself against competitors and more.
What should you be listening to on TikTok?
Social listening on TikTok is a bit different from social listening on other platforms, and what you can do depends on the tool that you’re using. Here are some key areas you might want to consider.
- Hashtag tracking is entry-level TikTok listening. You’ll identify hashtags relevant to the audience you’ve decided on (way back in the “identify your audience” section) via desk research and then begin tracking them in your tool of choice. It’s helpful to look at the other hashtags your audience uses alongside what you’re tracking. This gives you a better understanding of your audience’s interests.
- On-screen captions—Certain TikTok listening tools allow you to track the on-screen captions that are added to TikTok.
- Main caption: Most listening tools will allow you to track what the post’s author has written; this is as useful as hashtag tracking for identifying key themes across time.
- Trending topics – While we don’t advocate for brands to jump on every trending topic that appears, there’s no denying that it can be a valuable way to get in front of a wider audience if it’s relevant to your brand.
- Trending sounds – Same as trending topics. Although you might not be using them yourself, understanding what your audience is seeing and hearing helps you understand their mindset and create better content to engage with them
- Comments—Not as many tools will pick up TikTok comments, but these can be a goldmine of useful information as people respond to the hashtags. They really help contextualise your search.
- Audience Insights—Understanding your audience’s demographic makeup and interests is really useful for a myriad of reasons!
- Influencer Identification—Getting to know the influencers in your interest area is key to deciding who to work with. Most tools include this.
Is TikTok Even Right For You?
A couple of years ago, TikTok was primarily used by Gen Z and Alpha, but these days, that’s changing. TikTok is notoriously cagey about sharing too much user data. Still, according to App Ape, the current TikTok user demographic split in the US shows us that almost 40% of TikTok users are over the age of 30. This means it’s more than likely that you will find an audience for your business on TikTok.
However, it’s still best to do some desk research and learn how many views your hashtags/keywords of interest are getting. It might not currently be the best way to get your content in front of the C-Suite, but TikTok is always widening its user base.
In Conclusion
TikTok is huge and continues to grow, and it’s no longer ‘just’ a place to connect with Gen Z. If you’re not listening there you’re probably missing out on something really good.
TikTok is also a huge revenue generator, with TikTok Shop levelling the playing field between brands, influencers, and consumers. This has opened up tonnes of opportunities and made it even more critical to track what’s happening on the channel.
Social listening on TikTok is pretty complex as there are so many different areas to analyse. You’ll need a TikTok listening tool if you want to do it properly. Hiring a pro is the easiest way to get the insights you require and strategic guidance on applying them, taking your social content to the next level.
Basically, TikTok is where internet trends begin. Listening can help you identify the best fit for your business, leading to more eyeballs on your content and all sorts of other benefits.
As always, get in touch if you want to find out more about how I can help you with anything TikTok related!