TikTok has quickly become one of the hottest spots online. The number of TikTok users worldwide is expected to exceed 800 million in 2023 and 900 million in 2024. Its popularity and reach mean it's an ideal place to market your business or product.
But as with any marketing channel, you're operating in the dark if you're not tracking the right metrics. In this piece, we'll take you through the essential TikTok metrics to track so that you can better understand how your content is performing and upgrade your TikTok strategy.
How to access TikTok analytics
Once you have switched to a TikTok Business account, you can access analytics from within the app. You can also use a third-party analytics tool to get a more detailed analysis and compare performance across social platforms. Some popular tools include:
TikTok metrics to track
Here are some important metrics you should be tracking to gain a deeper understanding of your TikTok performance.
Number of posts published
This one is arguably the simplest TikTok metric. Volume matters, so make sure you post engaging content regularly and consistently. TikTok itself recommends posting 1-4 times per day.
Follower growth rate
This metric shows how quickly your account is attracting new followers. A healthy follower growth rate means that you're delivering content that resonates with your target audience. To calculate your follower growth rate over a custom date range, simply subtract the number of followers at the beginning of the period from the follower count at the end. Then divide the answer by the beginning number of followers. To express the growth rate as a percentage, times the result by 100.
For instance:
You start the month with 200 followers
You end the month with 250 followers
250 - 200 = 50
50/200 = 0.25
Your growth rate that month is 25%
Engagement rate
This metric measures how much interaction your posts get in terms of the number of comments and likes. It's a good measure of how well your content resonates with your followers. Check out the number of engagements you get per video view and follower. For example, to calculate the engagement rate per view, divide the number of engagements per video by the number of viewers and times the result by a hundred. If a video with 200 views gets ten engagements, the engagement rate is 5%. Compare engagement rates across your videos to see which ones are performing best.
Total play time
This metric shows how much total time your followers spend watching your videos. The longer the play time, the more engaged people are with your content. This is a great indicator of how interesting and engaging your content is.
Watched full video
This metric shows how often people watch your entire video all the way through. It's important to look at this metric compared to the total video views, as it gives you a better understanding of how well your content is resonating with viewers. For example, a low retention rate could indicate that people quickly lose interest in your videos or that your videos are too long.
Views per follower
Your TikTok videos also show up on the feeds of people who aren't following you. To calculate videos per follower, divide the views each video gets by the number of followers you have. For example, if your video has 10,000 views and you have 1,000 followers, the videos per follower is ten. This metric is a good indicator of how far your content is reaching beyond just your followers.
Follower tab metrics
The Follower tab in TikTok analytics will give you more information about your audience. Understanding your audience is essential for any successful marketing strategy. By having a detailed understanding of your followers, you can tailor your posts to engage them better.
'Gender' and 'territory' give you some basic info about the gender makeup of your audience and where they're based. You can also find out other information about your audience based on their TikTok behavior.
Follower activity
This metric shows the times and days when your followers are most active. Knowing this information can help you to plan your posts for maximum exposure.
Videos followers watched
This metric shows which videos by different accounts your followers have watched. By tracking who is watching what, you get a better understanding of the type of content your followers are most interested in.
Sounds viewers listened to
Many different videos on TikTok use the same songs or sounds. Check which sounds your followers have listened to, then use those trending audio tracks in your own videos.
Best practices to grow your TikTok account
Once you have an understanding of your audience and their interests, it's time to start creating content. Here are some of the best practices for growing your TikTok account.
Create branded hashtag challenges. Branded hashtag challenges are a great way to get people talking about your brand, and it encourages user-generated content.
Collaborate with influencers. Reach out to influencers in your space who already have an engaged audience and ask them to collaborate with you.
Use promoted posts and TikTok Ads. Promoted posts and ads can help boost the reach of your content, getting it in front of a wider audience.
When you post on TikTok, let your brand personality shine! Showcase your unique point of view and be creative. Content doesn't always have to be perfectly polished—authenticity is key.
Create branded effects for TikTok users. Branded effects are a great way to get people to use your content in their own videos.
Up your social game
TikTok is just one of the many social media channels out there, and it's important to be present on multiple channels. But each platform has its own unique features and advantages. To help you make the most out of each channel, we're creating guides to the most popular platforms. Check out the Emotive guide to Instagram for ecommerce.