But none of this is impacting how much brands and retailers spend on marketing on the platform — at least not yet. This is according to a survey of brand and retail professionals conducted by DIGIDAY+ RESEARCH in Q1 2024. In fact, the study found that brands and retailers' marketing spend on TikTok is actually increasing.
Digiday's research found that, overall, nearly three-quarters of brands and retailers use TikTok. 73% of brand and retail professionals say their company currently uses TikTok, and the platform ranks third behind meta brothers Instagram and Facebook compared to other social marketing channels. states that it is located. According to Digiday research, Meta's platform has a brand usage rate of over 90%.
Digiday's research also found that for brands and retailers, the primary measure of success on TikTok is overwhelmingly engagement. This is a different perspective than Facebook or Instagram, where brands measure success by sales. 41% of brand and retail professionals say engagement is the primary measure of the success of their marketing efforts on TikTok, making it the platform's No. 1 metric among brands.
Considering how social platforms work, it's not really surprising that Engagement has taken the top spot on TikTok. However, it's worth noting that commerce and sales took second place, according to Digiday's research. More than a quarter (27%) of brand and retail professionals say their primary measure of success on TikTok is commerce or sales.
This data point is worth noting because it is likely related to the launch of the TikTok Shop this fall. Already in the third quarter of last year, a Digiday study found that more brands were spending marketing dollars on TikTok. And heading into the holiday season, 59% of brand professionals say platforms will become even more important to their year-end marketing plans. It's worth noting that brands and retailers are focusing on his TikTok-driven commerce and sales, as it indicates they may be leveraging his TikTok Shop as part of their marketing strategy. To do.
Regardless of brand and retailer interest in TikTok Shop, Digiday's research found that this group is increasing its marketing spend on TikTok. More than three-quarters of brand and retail professionals say their companies spent at least a small portion of their marketing budget on platforms in the last year, up from just over half (54%) in Q1 2023. (The majority of that growth occurred through the third quarter of last year, when 78% of brand and retail professionals said their companies spent at least a little on TikTok marketing. (Now, let's get back to the topic of launching a TikTok shop.)
In particular, the percentage of brands and retailers spending significant amounts on TikTok marketing is on the rise. In Q3 2022, just 7% of brand and retail professionals told Digiday that they spent a large or very large portion of their company's marketing budget on TikTok. This percentage rose to 12% in the first quarter of 2023, again in the third quarter of 2023 to 17%, and in the first quarter of this year it reached 29%. .
Digging into the data a little deeper, the percentage of brands and retailers spending a large portion of their marketing budget on TikTok has steadily increased over the last year. In Q1 2024, 19% of brand and retail professionals said their companies spend a lot of money on TikTok marketing, compared to 13% in Q3 2023, and 19% in Q1 2023. This is an increase from 6%. The last six months have seen a significant increase in marketing budgets for TikTok. His 4% of brand and retail professionals said they were spending a very large portion of their company's marketing budget on platforms in Q3 2023, but in Q1 2024 he 10% responded similarly.
Interestingly, however, despite increasing spending by brands and retailers on TikTok, Digiday's research found that the platform doesn't rank very highly when it comes to driving conversions or branding. . Less than a quarter (22%) of brand and retail professionals told Digiday that TikTok is the best social channel to drive conversions, with TikTok ranking first in this category, with Instagram second and third. It ranks third after Facebook. For context, #1 Instagram had him at 41%.
Even fewer brand and retail experts say TikTok is the best social platform for branding. Only 16% of brands and retailers chose TikTok as their first choice for branding. While TikTok ranks second here, Instagram holds the top spot with 55% of brand and retailer professionals saying it's the best social platform for branding. It doesn't come close. Following TikTok were Facebook and YouTube, both at 12%.
