Whatever content you’re looking for, TikTok has become the virtual space to discover it. It was the most downloaded app in 2021 with 656 million downloads, and its popularity continues to grow. Recent data suggests the app gains eight new users every second.
If you’re a brand that wants to market to a younger audience, TikTok isn’t optional. It’s a necessity. However, it can be hard to know how to track performance on such a new platform. Keep reading to learn the most important metrics to track for your TikTok advertising campaigns.
Engagement metrics on TikTok
Your TikTok engagement rate shows you how many people interacted with your post. The more interaction you receive, the more likely you’ll appear on TikTok’s For You page. The For You page is the app’s home screen, making it the first thing users see when opening the app. Since 94% of users take action on their For You page, it’s a great place to reach new customers and engage with your community.
By tracking your engagement over time, you can see what content resonates with your target audience and what’s not. When analyzing your engagement, there are a few key metrics you should focus on.
Comments
Comments are one of the best metrics to find out if your viewers enjoy your content. When tracking your comments, don’t just look at how many you have, but also pay attention to what people say. Are you receiving lots of positive feedback or just a few simple emojis? When people take the time to engage with your brand in the comments section, you know you’re creating quality content.
Find out overall comments using this equation:
(Likes + comments + shares / views)
Shares
If viewers find your content entertaining, they may share it with their network. Tracking these shares can help you learn what type of content your community enjoys most.
Calculate total shares using this equation:
(Likes + comments + shares / views)
Likes
Similar to shares and comments, TikTok likes indicate whether or not viewers are enjoying your videos. If you have thousands of likes every time you post something new, it’s fair to say you’re creating quality content.
Calculate the number of likes using this equation:
(Likes + comments + shares / views)
Views
Views let you know how many times a video was viewed over a specific period. If you notice that your videos aren’t getting as many views as usual, they may not be showing up on user feeds. Or, they’re simply not catching anyone’s attention. Either way, you’ll want to take another look at your content strategy.
Here’s a tip to improve your strategy: Video views are public-facing, so you can easily benchmark your views against your competitors.
How to calculate your total engagement rate
Calculating your brand’s total engagement rate lets you zoom out and see how your content is performing as a whole rather than focusing on one specific metric. Here’s an easy equation you can use to find out your total engagement rate:
(Total number of likes + comments + shares / total number of views) X 100 = TikTok engagement rate
Average playback time
A video’s total play time tells you how much time viewers spent watching your video. Average playback time indicates whether a video sustained users’ interest enough for them to watch the entire duration. The playback time for one video alone doesn’t give you much information about how your content is performing.
However, looking at the average playback time across all your account’s videos can help you discover whether your content is capturing viewers’ attention or not. If the average watch time is close to the entire video length, your videos are compelling enough to be watched all the way through. If the average watch time is only a few seconds, that likely means people are dropping off due to a lack of interest.
Traffic sources
Your traffic source type lets you know how users found your videos. This can help indicate whether or not your content has gone viral. Viewers can find your videos through the For You page, follow tab, personal profile, sound search, and hashtag. If you notice a significant amount of traffic from the For You page, your content is receiving strong engagement, and there’s a chance you’ve gone viral.
Views by region
Let’s say you’re an outdoor brand that wants market ski gear. You’ll likely want to focus your marketing efforts in mountainous areas like Colorado or Utah. To do this, set up your marketing campaign to target a specific region. Using the Views by Region section, you can track where your viewers are located.
Reached audience
Your reached audience refers to the total number of unique views you received on a video. This lets you know how much brand awareness your content is generating on the platform. Like total engagement, there’s a handy formula you can use to quickly find out your post reach percentage.
(Reached audience/total followers) X 100 = post reach percentage
Cost per view and cost per engagement
These metrics help you benchmark your average cost. Cost per view lets you benchmark how much you’re paying to reach your audience and cost per engagement lets you benchmark how much you’re paying for each comment, share, like, etc.
Why TikTok metrics matter
To succeed on TikTok you need to spend just as much time analyzing your campaigns as you are creating high-quality content. The time investment is worth it, though, because tracking these metrics will help you uncover new insights about your campaigns that will help you achieve your goals.
TikTok goals
TikTok is especially suited to helping advertisers persuade users to take action. You can use the platform to drive:
- Conversions
- You can choose to target a Custom Audience, a group that has previously taken an action on your business; for example, people who added items to their carts before abandoning.
- Traffic
- Achieve as many specific actions on your website, such as a purchase, whereas traffic aims to only bring as many people as possible to your chosen destination.
- App Installs
- TikTok’s app installs objective drives users to install your app. Once clicked, the ad will redirect TikTokers to the landing page to download. Unfortunately, you need a third-party tracking service to track app installs. TikTok specifically asks that you use one of its tracking partners, such as Appsflyer, Adbrix, or Branch.
Keep these goals in mind when you’re setting up your campaigns.
Start tracking these TikTok metrics
TikTok might feel like the Wild West sometimes. The good news: there’s enough gold for everybody if you know what to look for and where to look. Choose your goal and track these metrics to make sure your next campaign on TikTok is set up for success.
