03 Jun TikTok Analytics Defined for Brands and Marketers

It’s no secret that TikTok has become a powerhouse social media network, but for brands and marketers using the app for their businesses it’s important to understand what TikTok analytics are accessible, and more importantly, what each metric means. How else can you properly measure success, especially on a network that’s consistently evolving to accommodate its growing audiences.

While the global COVID-19 pandemic may have attributed to the spikes in downloads and usage in 2020, the social network itself has done a good job of keeping users coming back for more. Even as more states ease restrictions and attempt to return to normalcy, recent data from eMarketer (chart below) shows more Gen Zers are using TikTok than Instagram in the U.S., and the app is trending towards 1B active users by the end of the year. (For context, Instagram’s current active users base is 1B and it’s been around twice as long as TikTok.)

Being successful on TikTok is a lot more work than trying to make trendy, viral videos or launch catchy hashtag challenges, it starts with a strategy that includes a meaningful measurement plan. It also includes having a Pro-Account (which is free) if you want to be able to access all of the analytics currently available.

Dive in below for a full list and definitions of available TikTok analytics.

TikTok Analytics Defined

Depending on if you’re measuring organic content performance or the performance of your ads, there are different metrics available. Again, you’ll need to make sure you also have a Pro-Account to access the following insights. Note, these are all available on both mobile and desktop when you navigate to the appropriate analytics tabs.

Profile Analytics: Insights into the account profile analytics, displayed via 7-day view or 28-day view, per day.

• View Views: Overall account video views.
• Profile Views: How many total users have visited your profile page.
• Follower Count: Total follower count.

Follower Analytics: Insights into the profile’s current audience demographics, displayed via 7-day view or 28-day view, per day.

• Gender: Distribution of your followers by gender.
• Location: Where your followers are from, ranked by country.
• Follower Activity: Times and days that your followers are most active on TikTok.
• Videos Your Followers Watched: Overview of content that is most popular with your followers.
• Sounds Your Followers Listened To: Top sounds your followers have listened to.

Content Analytics: Now we’re getting into the good stuff – insights about the content being published on the profile. There are different metrics available if you’re diving into organic content insights or ads, so we’ve broken out both below.

• Organic Content: When you first access this overview tab you’ll be presented with a top-line view of total content views from the past 7 days. Additionally, you also dive deeper into the following analytics per post:
  • Total Like Count: How many likes a post has received.
  • Total Number of Comments: How many comments a post has received.
  • Total Shares: The number of times the post has been shared.
  • Total Video Views: The number of times a post has been viewed. Note that a view is counted as soon as it starts playing and views counts are not unique but cumulative.
  • Total Playtime of Video: The all-time data for how many total hours, minutes, and seconds this piece of content was viewed.
  • Average Watch Time: Average of how many seconds your video was viewed for.
  • Traffic Sources: Where traffic for your post comes from. Traffic sources include the For You feed, your profile, Following feed, sounds, searches, and hashtags.
  • Audience Location/Territories

• Paid Content (Ads): More and more brands are getting into the TikTok ads space, so it’s important to be familiar with what’s available before your brand jumps in as well. Additionally, and more importantly, if you’re looking to drive website traffic from your TikTok strategy, running ads is the only real way to get clicks at this time (aside from the “link in profile” strategy that doesn’t have the best return).
  • Dashboard Analytics: The Ads Manager Dashboard provides you with a high-level aggregate overview of trends, placements, operating system, and dayparting data to help you evaluate the performance of your ads and audiences.
  • Campaign/Content Analytics:
    • Cost: The estimated total amount of money spent on your ad within the business manager.
    • Cost-per-Click (CPC): The average amount of money you’ve spent on a click.
    • Cost-per-Impression (CPM): The average amount of money you’ve spent per thousand impressions.
    • Impressions: The number of times your ads were on screen.
    • Clicks: The number of clicks on your ads.
    • Conversions: The number of times your ad achieved an outcome, based on the objective and settings you selected. Objectives that are currently available include Reach, Traffic, App Installs, Videos Views, Conversions, and the latest two added to the list, Catalog Sales (feature specific products) and Lead Generation (Gather customer contact information directly on TikTok via a form).
  • Cost-per-Acquisition (CPA): The average amount of money you’ve spent on a conversion.
  • Conversion Rate (CVR): The percentage of results you received out of all the clicks of your ads.
  • Reach: The number of unique users who saw your ads at least once. This metric is estimated.
  • Video Views: Unlike organic video views, within ads, you can compare video views at different intervals such as 2-Seconds, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%

If TikTok continues to perform as predicted, it’s likely that more metrics and insights will be available in due time. For now, make sure your social media teams understand the true definition of the TikTok analytics currently accessible and that you’re focusing on those that align with your overall business objectives. Additionally, your social teams may also benefit from a refresh on all current social media definitions for KPIs across the different networks.

If you’re looking to get started on TikTok or enhance your current strategy, contact our team of experts today to get started. Alternatively, keep yourself informed on the latest trends and news in the social media marketing space by subscribing to our newsletter, Social You Should Know, below.

Subscribe to Social You Should Know