TikTok marketing can be ridiculously effective for your brand – but only if you’re able to track key performance metrics and implement smart optimisations.
That’s where TikTok Analytics comes in.
With the TikTok Analytics tool, you’ll be able to measure real time data around audience demographics, engagement rates, profile views, and more. When you’re equipped with these insights, it becomes infinitely easier to optimise your creative strategy and content.
However, if you want to make the most of the TikTok Analytics platform and avoid drowning in data, you’ll need to understand how to access, analyse, and utilise the right metrics.
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Luckily, that’s exactly what we’re about to explain. It’s time to deep-dive TikTok Analytics, and outline how you can leverage this tool to smash your marketing objectives.
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What is TikTok Analytics?
TikTok Analytics is a tool that enables you to monitor video performance on the TikTok social media platform.
The analytics dashboard contains a wide range of key marketing metrics, including:
- Likes, comments and shares
- Video views
- Unique viewers
- Average watch time
- New followers
These data points can be incredibly useful when you’re looking to understand which type of content is resonating with your target audience, generating engagement, and attracting new followers. The better you are at leveraging data from the analytics platform, the more effective your organic marketing will become.
(Source: tiktok.com)
The importance of analytics for marketers
Video analytics provide you with an invaluable perspective on what’s working for your brand in terms of marketing strategies, creative production, and product messaging.
Rather than trying to improve your TikTok marketing through guesswork, you can leverage analytics to make data-fuelled decisions and optimisations that vastly improve performance.
For example, you can utilise analytics data to identify your best-performing videos and pinpoint why certain content types, trends, and messages are resonating with viewers.
You can also use analytics to get a much clearer understanding of your audience – how are they engaging with your content? Which demographic categories do they fall into? And does this align with your previous perception of your customer base?
Over time, TikTok Analytics will play a vital role in helping you to maximise engagement and generate optimal returns from your marketing campaigns.
Accessing TikTok Analytics with a TikTok Business Account
Accessing TikTok Analytics can be a game-changer for your marketing efforts – and fortunately, it’s also very easy.
If you want to view the dashboard, all you’ll need is a TikTok Business account.
(Told you it was easy, didn’t we?)
Once you’ve logged in with a TikTok Business account, you’ll be able to unlock a goldmine of performance data through TikTok Analytics. Here’s how to do it:
- Open your profile page on TikTok
- Visit the ‘Settings & Privacy’ tab by tapping the three lines in the top right corner of the screen
- Click ‘Manage Account’ and then select the ‘Account Control’ menu
- Hit ‘Switch To Business Account’
- Choose a relevant category for your business/TikTok account (e.g. Fitness, Personal, etc)
- Add a valid business email and website URL to your profile
Once you’ve completed the above steps, you’ll be the proud owner of a brand new TikTok Business account – which means you’re one step closer to accessing those all-important analytics. Exciting, eh?
How to see TikTok Analytics
Now that you’ve set up a TikTok Business account, let’s examine how you can access TikTok Analytics and begin harvesting valuable marketing data.
Viewing TikTok Analytics on desktop
- Log into TikTok through your desktop browser
- Hover over your profile image in the top right corner of the screen
- Click ‘View Analytics’ to access the tool
Viewing TikTok Analytics on mobile
- Navigate to your TikTok profile page
- Click the ‘Settings & Privacy’ tab in the top right corner of the screen
- From the ‘Account’ menu, hit ‘Creator Tools’
- Select ‘Analytics’ to get started
It’s as simple as that. Now, while accessing TikTok Analytics may be a piece of cake, understanding and interpreting the data is a different story.
The ability to transform raw data and analytics into actionable optimisations is what will set you apart from the competition, so let’s take a closer look at the metrics that are available within the dashboard.
The categories and metrics available within TikTok Analytics
There are a vast number of performance metrics and data points available within the platform.
If you want to effectively track the right metrics for your brand (and more importantly, implement the right optimisations) then it’s crucial to understand the different types of analytics data that TikTok offers.
TikTok Account Overview Analytics
Unsurprisingly, the Overview tab provides you with an overview summary of recent marketing performance. This could be from the last week, month, or a custom data range that you choose.
The following metrics are available within the Overview page:
- Video Views – the total number of views your account/content has generated in a specific time period
- Profile Views – the number of times your profile was viewed in a specific time period
- Likes – the number of likes your videos have received within the custom date range
- Comments – the number of comments your videos have received within the chosen date range
- Shares – the number of shares your videos have received within the chosen date range
- Followers – the total number of TikTok followers you’ve accumulated, including how this number has changed within your chosen date range
- Content – the number of videos you’ve uploaded in a certain time period
- LIVE – the number of live videos you’ve hosted in a certain time period
If you want a quick snapshot of your TikTok marketing performance, the Overview tab is the place to go.
TikTok Content Analytics
The Content tab will help you to understand which of your videos has generated the most engagement and interest in a certain time period. You’ll be able to find information around views, likes, comments, and shares that can help you to refine your content strategy.
The following metrics are available within the Content page:
- Trending Videos – identify the videos that have achieved the fastest growth in viewership in the last 7 days
- Total Video Views – the total number of times a TikTok video has been viewed
- Total Likes – the total number of likes a video has received
- Total Comments – the total number of comments a video has received
- Total Shares – the total number of shares a video has generated
- Total Play Time – the total amount of time that TikTok users have spent watching a specific video
- Average Watch Time – the average amount of time that users have spent watching a specific video
- Watched Full Video – the total number of times a specific video has been watched to completion
- Reached Audience – the total number of users that have watched a specific video
- Video Views By Section – a summary of the different traffic sources (e.g. For You Page, your profile, hashtags, searches) that have driven viewers to your video
- Video Views By Region – a summary of the top locations of your viewers
Understanding which content types and creative messages are resonating with your audience is vital for improving performance in the long-term.
Follower Analytics
The Followers tab provides you with in-depth insights about your TikTok audience, which can be extremely helpful when you’re looking to expand your community and understand the users that you’re engaging.
As well as checking how many followers you have the following metrics are available within the Follower page:
- Gender – the distribution of your TikTok followers in terms of gender
- Top Territories – the top locations of your TikTok audience, ranked by country
- Follower Activity – the times and days that your TikTok audience is most active
- Videos Your Followers Watched – content and pages that are also popular among your follower base
- Sounds Your Followers Listened To – audio tracks and sounds that are also popular among your follower base
The more you know about your TikTok followers, the easier it will become to create impactful content that resonates with them. If you’re able to tailor your content strategy around the specific behaviours and interests of your TikTok audience, then you can deliver sky-high levels of engagement.
LIVE Analytics
The LIVE tab provides you with engagement insights for any live content you’ve hosted in the last month on TikTok.
The following metrics are available within the LIVE page:
- Total Views – the total number of views that your live content generated in a set time period
- Total Time – the amount of time you’ve spent hosting live videos in a specific time period
- New Followers – the number of followers you’ve gained while hosting live videos in your chosen date range
- Top Viewer Count – the most live viewers you’ve attracted during a specific time period
- Unique Viewers – the number of individual users that have viewed your live content at least once during your chosen date range
- Diamonds (LIVE gifts) – the number of virtual gifts (also known as ‘Diamonds’) that you’ve received while hosting live TikTok content
Live TikTok videos can help you to drive huge amounts of engagement and connect directly with your target audience. Tracking the performance of this content will enable you to understand how live videos are impacting your engagement rates and follower numbers.
Engagement Rates
Calculating your engagement rate is a brilliant way to understand the effectiveness of your TikTok videos.
Not only will your engagement rate highlight how users are responding to different pieces of content, but it will also provide you with benchmarks that you can reference to track performance over time. This is key for optimising your content strategy in the long run!
Below is one of the most popular ways to calculate your engagement rate on social media platforms:
((Number of likes + Number of comments) / Number of Followers) * 100
Although there are slight variations on this calculation, the most important thing is to find a method that you can regularly utilise to monitor your engagement rate on TikTok.
Average Engagement Estimate
So, we’ve covered how to calculate the engagement rate for individual videos on TikTok.
But what if you’re looking for the average engagement rate of your entire account?
Here’s a handy method you can use to calculate a rough average engagement estimate for your TikTok profile:
1. Open your profile, and click ‘Likes’ to view the full total for your account
2. Tally up the total number of videos you’ve posted
3. Divide the number of likes by the number of videos
4. Divide this number by the total number of followers on your account
5. Multiply the outcome by 100
While this calculation isn’t perfect (as it excludes comments for the sake of time-efficiency) it can still be a great way to understand the kind of engagement a TikTok account is generating.
Hashtag Views
Understanding the popularity of different TikTok hashtags can help you to capitalise on surging trends and refine your content strategy. While not every hashtag will be relevant for your brand, jumping on a viral topic or video trend can deliver insane levels of engagement.
To see how many video views a specific hashtag has received, just search for the hashtag in the TikTok Discover tab.
You’ll be presented with an overview of search results, and from here, you’ll be able to see the number of views a hashtag has generated. On top of this, you’ll be able to explore related hashtags, as well as examples of top videos that have used the same tag.
Total Likes
If you want a speedy snapshot of your total TikTok likes, you can access this number directly from your profile page.
While this number doesn’t offer any in-depth insights, it can be used to calculate your overall profile engagement, as well as provide you with a benchmark for performance over time.
How to get the most from TikTok Analytics
Now that we’ve run through the fundamentals, let’s examine a few best practices that will help you to make the most of this valuable tool.
1. Use analytics data to nurture an engaged community
Growing a solid follower base on TikTok can be hugely beneficial for your business, enabling you to reach a large number of potential customers with regular brand communications.
However, building a loyal and engaged digital community is a two-way street.
If you want audiences to interact with and share your content, you need to pay close attention to the videos that are most engaging to them. Look carefully at the types of videos that are generating views, attracting followers, and driving engagement, and use these insights to fuel your content strategy. Give the people what they want!
2. Be reactive and agile with your TikTok content
Rather than making assumptions about the types of TikTok videos you should be producing, allow TikTok Analytics data to guide you on your quest for better content.
Always be prepared to jump on rising trends, engage with popular hashtags, and respond to other accounts on the TikTok app.
Not only will a reactive content strategy enable you to stay visible on the TikTok platform, but it will also help you to maintain a trendy and up-to-date brand presence.
3. Monitor key metrics and set clear benchmarks
Analytics can provide you with fantastic insights to fuel your organic content – but only if you stay consistent with the tool.
Make sure that you’re regularly checking on your priority metrics to understand which videos and tactics are moving the needle in the right direction for your business.
You should also set internal benchmarks to understand how your content is evolving and performing over time. If you’re not able to measure how optimisations or adjustments are impacting performance, it will be difficult to understand if your content strategy is paying off.
Expert tips
There are many different ways to leverage TikTok Analytics for your brand, but one of the most important things to do is establish a regular routine for your reporting.
Try to ensure that you’re accessing the platform on a consistent basis, and gathering relevant data points that matter to your brand.
It can be easy to start drowning in data if you’re not 100% clear on what you’re focusing on, so before you launch a marketing campaign, establish the key metrics that will help you to achieve your business objectives.
It’s also critical to look at the bigger picture when you’re assessing the performance of your TikTok content and refining your marketing strategy. While individual data points and metrics can be hugely important, make sure that you’re still paying attention to rising content trends, follower behaviours, and competitor activity.
Useful analytics tools for the TikTok platform
Looking to maximise the insights you’re able to gather from the TikTok platform?
Utilising external analytics tools can be a great idea if you need support collecting, analysing, and interpreting various marketing metrics on TikTok.
Sprout Social, for example, enables you to track and analyse performance across multiple social media networks, allowing you to build a comprehensive picture of your marketing efforts.
The tool collates various TikTok metrics and displays them in clear visuals, which makes assessing performance and implementing optimisations much easier. You can also leverage Sprout Social for simplified content planning and scheduling, which is great for efficiency.
(Source: sproutsocial.com)
Pentos is another handy TikTok analytics tool that allows marketers to track hashtags, follower numbers, engagements, and trends from a single dashboard.
You can also access clear data visualisations through the Pentos platform, as well as conduct competitor analysis to stay ahead of rival brands. If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution to keep you on top of TikTok trends, Pentos is a solid option.
(Source: pentos.co)
Getting started
To get started, you’ll just need to set up a TikTok Business account.
This will allow you to access the TikTok Analytics dashboard, where you can instantly start to gather insights and monitor key metrics.
TikTok Analytics can be an extremely powerful tool in your marketing arsenal – as long as you’re able to remain diligent with your reporting and reactive with your creative approach.
If you can successfully integrate analytics data into your content strategy, you’ll be equipped with all the insights you need to crush your social media marketing objectives.
