TikTok was one of the fastest-growing social media platforms of the last decade. Even though it was launched only in 2016, it managed to become one of the top social media platforms of the 2010s. It is the sixth most-used social media in the world and has the highest number of users after overtaking Instagram in 2021. 

Ever since its launch, TikTok has been experiencing meteoric growth, adding around 340 million new users every year from 2018 to 2022. The total number of users is expected to reach 2 billion by 2024 with eight new users joining the platform every second(Hootsuite). 

The platform is leading in terms of other metrics as well. It was one of the top ten downloaded apps of 2021(Forbes) and also became the first non-facebook app to hit 3 billion downloads(Sensortower). 

In this article, we explore the importance of TikTok as an influencer marketing platform and how marketers can leverage TikTok influencer databases to find top creators. 

Why is TikTok one of the best platforms for influencer marketing?

TikTok is one of the most engaging social media platforms. While users typically spend little time on other platforms in a single sitting, on TikTok, an average user session lasts 10.85 minutes(Statista). To put this into perspective, the second most engaging app, Pinterest, has users spending an average of 5.06 minutes in a session. On Instagram, the number is just 2.95 minutes. 

TikTok also has one of the highest reaches of all influencer platforms. Studies show that TikTok ads reach 17.9% of all internet users above the age of 18 (Hootsuite). TikTok users also tend to engage well with creator content; as of 2022, TikTok has the highest median engagement rate of 5.96% (Social Insider)

Another aspect of this is that TikTok users are not shy about spending money on the platform. In Q3 2022, consumer spending on TikTok was $914.4 million(Sensortower). While 57% of all social media users have purchased beauty products based on influencer recommendations, the number is 89%(Styleseat) if you take into account just TikTok users. 

TikTok users also make the most purchases on social media with around 9% of TikTokers buying something every month. 

These figures suggest TikTok is one of the best platforms for influencer marketing. 

That said, TikTok may not be the right platform for all brands. 

Is TikTok right for your brand?

Here are a couple of factors that determine if TikTok is the right fit for your brand: 

What are your audience demographics?

Around 38% of TikTok users are people of ages 18 to 24 (Statista), and another 32% are people of ages between 25 and 35. Older age groups make up smaller sections of TikTok's audience. 

The older generations are also less likely to trust TikTok. While around 33% of users between the ages of 18 to 34 had a favorable opinion about TikTok, just 10% of users between ages 45 and 64 had similar opinions (Statista). 

Another aspect is that TikTok users are largely female. While the difference is small globally, in the US, females account for 61% of TikTok users (Statista). 

So if your brand is trying to reach young and largely female audiences, TikTok may be a great platform. But you’ll have a tougher time trying to reach older generations through TikTok. 

Read Also: TikTok Influencer Analytics - How can brands find the right influencers?

What is your marketing model?

There are key differences in what users look for in TikTok versus what they want to do on platforms like Instagram or Facebook. Users on Instagram and Facebook largely use them to share photos, know about products, connect with friends and family, and even keep up to date with news and events (Oberlo). But for TikTok, the main purpose is to find funny or entertaining content (blog.gwi.com). 

There’s also the fact that compared to other social media channels, fewer people use the platform to research products (blog.gwi.com). Yes, a very large section of TikTok users make purchases because of TikTok, but very few use it to look up products. 

These figures suggest that purchases due to TikTok are largely impulse buys or because of FOMO. The platform has played a large role in the popularity of the ‘drop’ model where small limited quantities of a product are ‘dropped’ by brands. 

Companies with a D2C model may also find a lot of success on TikTok. In Q2 2022, D2C brands spend 231% (Insider Intelligence) more on TikTok ads than other businesses. 

What are you trying to promote?

While anything can happen with a good strategy, certain groups of products or services tend to have more success on TikTok than others. 

Most of the brands creating good results on TikTok are in fast food, beauty, fashion sports, or games, and entertainment. Brands like Chipotle, Dunkin Donuts, Taco Bell(nogood.io), Red Bull, NBA, Gymshark, and Fortnite have had massive success on TikTok. 

That doesn’t mean the rest should stay out of the game. Brands like Duolingo, Washington Post, and even Ryan Air have amazing followings on TikTok. 

We have also seen a massive surge of financial content on the platform(The Guardian). Many creators teach trading and personal finance on TikTok which you can find using TikTok influencer databases. 

So yes, some industries are more likely to succeed on TikTok than others, but anything is possible. 

What are the different types of TikTok influencers according to influencer databases?

TikTok influencers are mostly classified based on the number of followers they have. These include nano influencers with thousand to ten thousand followers and celebrity influencers with more than 5 million followers. 

Here are the different types of TikTok influencers:  

• Nano-influencers: 1,000 – 10,000 followers
• Micro-influencers: 10,000 – 50,000 followers
• Mid-tier influencers: 50,000 – 500,000 followers
• Macro influencers: 500,000 – 1 million followers
• Mega influencers: 1 million – 5 million followers
• Celebrity influencers: Over 5 million followers

Nano influencers may charge anywhere between $5 to $25 (or free products and swag or both) while celebrity influencers can cost marketers more than $25k for a single post. 

Ways to find TikTok influencers

Here are a couple of ways you can look for influencers on TikTok:

Search within your brand or network 

Before you look anywhere else, search your influencer databases. If your brand has worked with influencers before, odds are at least a few of them will have a presence on TikTok as well. 

These influencers (and even their audience) will be familiar with your brand and previous experience will make the process easier. Marketers can also explore a multichannel campaign with TikTok influencers who have a following on other platforms as well. 

You can also search among your acquaintances who may have executed successful campaigns. 

Manually searching for TikTok influencers

Just open TikTok and search for influencers. You can search for creators based on hashtags, topics, type of content, or even names. This approach can be resource intensive; you’ll have to go through a large number of influencers and analyze their content, how they’ve positioned themselves, and what their audience demographics are to find people best suited for your brand. 

It may also be tough to find all the data you need when you’re manually searching across TikTok. 

You can also search across Google to find TikTok influencers in different industries. While you can quickly find a lot of results, you may still struggle to get all the data to find the perfect fit. Google search results also tend to be filled with mega influencers or people who went viral recently. Odds are you’ll completely miss out on micro or nano influencers with this approach. 

Through influencer agencies

Influencer agencies often have large databases of TikTok influencers and can help you quickly find and connect with creators who are perfect for your brand. They can also assist you to create the perfect TikTok campaign for your brand. 

There are pros and cons to working with influencer agencies. Agencies can take care of the entire campaign and bring in the results. You won’t have to worry about managing the influencers, creating the contracts, or tracking the campaign. This approach may be suitable for brands that don’t want to invest in a large marketing team or may not have experience handling TikTok campaigns. 

The downside is that agencies will have a limited portfolio of influencers and they tend to work only with major creators with a large following. And in the long run, agencies can be expensive compared to an in-house team.  

Platforms to find Tiktok influencers

There are plenty of influencer discovery solutions with large Tiktok influencer databases. You can easily find creators perfectly aligned with your brand through these platforms. 

These platforms offer detailed insights into influencers’ content, audience, past campaigns, engagement, and other information that can help you make your decision. Influencer discovery platforms can help you find creators based on their industry or even the audience demographics. 

The best part is that these platforms are not limited to mega influencers alone. There are platforms that can help you find micro or nano influencers. For instance, Trend.io lets marketers get user-generated content for as little as $100. 

Many of these platforms are more than TikTok influencer databases; they help marketers manage all the aspects of a campaign from finding influencers to tracking campaign metrics. 

Read Also: TikTok API Integration: Complete Guide for Developers

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Ready to build the next big TikTok influencer database solution? Try Phyllo

Phyllo helps businesses build their influencer marketing platforms in a short time and with few resources. We offer public and authenticated creator data from all the major social media platforms through a single API helping startups launch their products quickly. 

Contact us to discuss how Phyllo can help you. 

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