TikTok is one of the most popular social media sites in recent years, and its popularity has only increased since the global pandemic. Many people have turned to this online short-form video platform to express themselves through their creativity and to connect with people all over the world. Through various video content such as dance, trend recaps, and challenges, it did not take long to build a large TikTok community, especially during difficult times such as this to overcome grief or hardships that many people have come to experience. As we all know, if there is a rapidly increasing group, there are those with influence inside that community, particularly when it comes to social media content makers.

TikTok and its progenitor, Musical.ly, do not publish many statistics. For example, finding the following lists on Twitter is far more difficult than on most other social networks. With such a complicated history, it is not difficult to find several TikTok statistics that others have separately compiled.

TikTok had 1 billion monthly active users as of January 2022. Before we get into TikTok statistics in Malaysia, let’s have a look at its global statistics and some other mind-boggling figures:

• TikTok active users: TikTok has a monthly active user base of 1 billion.

• Market penetration: There are 4.8 billion internet users, and ByteDance’s video sharing service is used by 20.83 percent of them.

• Number of downloads: TikTok has been downloaded 3 billion times and was the most downloaded non-game app in the first six months of 2021, with 383 million installations from January to June 2021.

• Surpassing competition: Even though it was only released in 2016, TikTok was the seventh most popular social media app in 2021. • Company valuation: TikTok’s parent company (Bytedance) reportedly attained a valuation of $280 billion in August 2021, surpassing Twitter, Telegram, Reddit, Pinterest, and Snapchat.

• User growth rate: TikTok’s global user base increased by 1157.76 per cent between January 2018 and July 2020, while the US had a 787.86 per cent gain within the same period. With 611 million downloads, India is the major contributor to TikTok installs.

• Engagement: TikTok is the most engaging social networking app, with an average session length of 10.85 minutes, more than double that of Pinterest, which ranks second with 50.6 minutes. TikTok’s users spent 68 billion hours on the app in 2019.

• Influencer earnings: TikTok creators can have up to 100 million followers and earn up to $5 million per year as influencers. Entertainment, dance, pranks, fitness/sports, and DIY are popular content genres.

• S. Market penetration: Monthly TikTok users in the United States have now surpassed 100 million, accounting for 37.36 percent of America’s 267.6 million mobile internet users, or an 800 percent rise in 20 months.

• S. Demographics: TikTok has the highest generation Z penetration in America. 47.4 per cent of their active users were between the ages of 10 and 29. However, the number of American adults using TikTok has increased 5.5 times in the last 18 months, with a female to the male gender ratio of 2:1.

• S. average time on the app: In March 2020, Americans aged 18 and up are expected to spend 1.43 billion hours on TikTok.

Malaysia is rapidly growing its internet and mobile connectivity, which is known for its beaches, diving, rainforest, and mix of Malay, Chinese, and Indian cultural influences. This insight piece focuses on the crucial statistics about social media penetration and usage in Malaysia that marketers must grasp when marketing to a Malaysian audience.

69 per cent of Malaysians use the internet regularly to read news, watch videos, and communicate with friends on social media. Malaysia, like the rest of the world, is a mobile-first country, with 88 per cent of Malaysians having a smartphone. A brand can only prosper if it has a thorough awareness of the market and its target consumers’ online consumption habits.

Malaysia, like many other countries throughout the world, has its fair share of innovative TikTok content creators (or TikTokers) emerging to entertain viewers with a wide range of topics and genres. TikTok has proved that video content can reach large audiences with the correct type of content and target audience, whether it’s dance, food, sports, wellbeing, or beauty. Malaysian TikTokers will be able to share a wide range of content and top content creators in 2020 by making their original content or cooperating with other creators. This is demonstrated via trending hashtags, which are those that are used and viewed by numerous people, such as;

1.      #StayAtHome (27.6B views)

2.      #ItStartsOnTikTok (7.5B views)

3.      #WipeItDown (10.4B views)

4.      #TikTokGuru (1.9B Views)

5.      #RamadanMubarak (1.4B Views)

6.      #HeadDanceChallenge (1B Views)

7.      #ThinkB4YouDo (602M Views)

8.      #Raya2020 (344.5M Views)

9.      #JingJitChallenge (184.7M Views)

10.   #KesanaKesini (160.2M Views)

The high amount of views is the result of numerous creators jumping on bandwagons to join in the fun. Today, TikTok has a massive 4 million users in Malaysia, with 41 per cent of the audiences and creators themselves being largely teenagers to young adults. So, it is safe to assume that the bulk of this app is popular among younger millennials and Gen Z, which is why the material primarily comprises fresher, more distinctive content, and yes, most TikToks involve a lot of dancing.

Though elder creators and audiences are undoubtedly present on TikTok, the primary audience here is the younger generation. Numerous creators have become influencers based on the number of likes on every video they release. The number of likes, comments, following, and interactions they receive from a single video, might lead to a brand agreement, sponsorship, or even a contract, depending on how that influencer chooses to move ahead with their content and identity, as well as which businesses or companies contact them.

Wahida Amalin Atan, often known as Ai Wahida, is a TikTok content producer who broadcasts her singing covers on the platform as a pastime. It only took her 15 seconds to sign with a Malaysian record company, Rusa Music, when she competed in and won the TikTok 1 Million Audition in the music category in September 2019.

TikTok is the story of two apps. In 2016, the Chinese startup Bytedance launched Douyin, a video-sharing social network app. In China, that app is still available independently. When they published the international version of their app in 2017, they dubbed it TikTok. Much of TikTok’s Western audience came from Musical.ly, which was acquired by Bytedance and combined with TikTok in 2018. Although TikTok and Douyin have comparable user interfaces and functionalities, they are not the same because they are tailored to their niches.

TikTok has grown in popularity in recent years, particularly among younger Millennials and Generation Z. However, it has not grown without controversy. For example, in 2016, then-President Donald Trump threatened to ban TikTok in the United States unless Bytedance allowed an American business, such as Microsoft, to purchase TikTok in that country. A federal judge, however, rejected a proposed prohibition. Furthermore, despite TikTok’s popularity among Indian youth, the country’s authorities banned the app in June 2020 due to a border dispute between India and China. In January 2021, the restriction became permanent.

Here are some critical data about TikTok in Malaysia that you should be aware of:

•As of 2021, TikTok is Malaysia’s most popular smartphone app in terms of total downloads.

•The bulk of Malaysia’s 4 million TikTok users are under 30, with 41 per cent aged 16 to 24.

•Females account for 54% of TikTok Malaysia users, while males account for 45.8%.

Top TikTok interest categories in Malaysia:

TikTok users in Malaysia in 2022

1. According to data revealed in ByteDance’s advertising materials, TikTok had 14.59 million users aged 18 and up in Malaysia in early 2022.

2. It should be noted that ByteDance’s advertising tools allow marketers to target TikTok ads to users aged 13 and up, but these tools only show audience data for users aged 18 and up.

3. ByteDance data show that TikTok commercials reached 61.2 per cent of all adults aged 18 and up in Malaysia at the start of 2022.

4. Meanwhile, TikTok’s ad reach in Malaysia at the start of the year was equivalent to 49.4 per cent of the local internet user base, regardless of age.

5. In early 2022, females made up 56.8 per cent of TikTok’s ad audience in Malaysia, while males made up 43.2 per cent.

6. Please keep in mind that ByteDance’s advertising resources only provide gender data for “female” and “male” users.

Conclusion

TikTok is a rapidly developing social media platform that provides a new perspective on internet content sharing. It allows users to create short videos with music and effects. This platform provides endless opportunities for creators to hone their creative skills. Furthermore, TikTok’s rapid development and appeal among young Malaysians, combined with the rise of video engagement in Malaysia, make TikTok a platform to strongly consider and incorporate as part of social media strategy, particularly for businesses looking to reach out to Malaysia’s younger audience.