• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, November 1, 2021

More than half of all TikTok users from ages 18 to 54 report they use the platform nearly every day, and 80% of adult TikTok users under 54 said they scroll through their video feeds every week.

Kevin Whitcher, vice president of product, enterprise applications at DISQO, never thought people his age (43) spent time on TikTok -- but it turns out they do, according to survey data published today.

Not only do they spend time on the platform, they love viewing the ads. In fact, 52% of the 39,452 adults surveyed said the ads are fun and engaging, compared with the 26% who say the ads are boring or annoying. Seven percent said the ads are trendsetting, while 5% report they are inspiring, and 3% say they are relevant.

“TikTok is changing the perception of ads,” Whitcher said. “Many today think ads have become an unfortunate consequence of brands needing to make money.”

DISQO, a consumer insights platform built on permission-based zero-party consumer data, fielded the survey between September 20 and September 21, 2021.

Survey data shows how DISQO measured the in-feed performance of TikTok ads — aided and unaided. Metrics include measuring brand awareness, search for a brand on an engine, visit a brand’s website, visit a product review site, and conduct an ecommerce event using a tool it built for the industry.

For example, people who saw the ad on TikTok are 2 points more likely to be aware of the brand of the ad they viewed in a controlled group versus an uncontrolled group.

The company is releasing the tool to brands as a way to measure and analyze the performance of their in-feed ads on TikTok.

Results are presented in an integrated dashboard and are based on the same consistent methodology as other in-app, desktop or offline elements of the media campaign. This gives DISQO’s clients an objective, single source of truth across the full breadth of their advertising footprint.

The brand-lift metrics are intended to help brands understand behavior and whether people gain a positive impression of the brand based on the ads they see. They allow analysts to see when brand metrics are positive, but also allow brands to see when the campaign moves from awareness to outcomes to behavior, as well as providing metrics on how likely the viewer is to visit the brand’s website and buy something or write a review.

When survey participants were asked what they did after watching a video on TikTok, 72% who had used the platform in the past month reported sharing videos with others or posting them to another social media site.

Some 32% researched a project or product, while 13% downloaded an app promoted in the video and 12% reported purchasing a product they saw in a TikTok video.

About half of the respondents surveyed reported having seen TikTok videos at some point in the past, with 43% of respondents reporting they had used TikTok during the past month.

Some 65% of TikTok users with a household income between $100,000 and $150,000 use the platform nearly every day, while 53% of those who make more than $150,000 are near-daily users.

When users were asked why they frequent TikTok, 63% called the content on the platform entertaining, 29% said it's to find cool projects and products, 24% said it helps them keep up with trends, and 19% said they gain information about things they would not otherwise find. And 18% connect with like-minded people.

DISQO uses metrics that help it understand, such as whether consumers who viewed TikTok ads go to competitor sites looking for information, and other things that give brands an understanding across the industry.