TikTok has become a leading social media network where marketers compete for the attention of more than 1 billion monthly active users.

So how should brands utilize the power of their analytics tools to achieve their business goals?

Let’s dive into TikTok analytics and explore where marketers should start when analyzing their performance.

  • Why are TikTok analytics important
  • How to get started with TikTok analytics
  • Key TikTok metrics to measure
  • Three tips on how to successfully use TikTok analytics

Why are TikTok analytics important?

TikTok analytics is a set of insightful metrics that can enable marketers to achieve their goals on the social network. They serve as a compass to guide brands in the right business direction, help them assess their performance at any given moment, and adjust the course of action accordingly.

TikTok analytics enables marketers to:

  • Get to know their audience better
  • Set clear and measurable goals 
  • Audit and track existing content
  • Detect successful patterns when it comes to: content that works, best time to post, ways to engage, workflows to follow, etc
  • Generate new content ideas
  • Benchmark against competitors
  • Find and partner with the right influencers
  • Adjust overall marketing strategies

Ultimately, TikTok analytics can show you the big picture of your social media performance and help you dig into every single piece of content to find its meaning for the audience. 

From video performance to profile overview, TikTok analytics is crucial for making the right business decisions.

How to get started with TikTok analytics

Creator vs Business account on TikTok

The first step you should take as a marketer is to decide whether to use a Creator or Business account on TikTok. The insights you can get with the Creator account are more limited than the ones in the Business account, but they can still help you get a glimpse into your TikTok performance.

Consider your options, but if you want to improve your TikTok strategy, a Business account may come in handy. The latter will also enable you to use third-party social media management tools, further backing up your business decisions with more profound data.

You can learn more about the difference between Creator and Business account on TikTok here.

You can easily switch to a TikTok Business account following these steps:

  1. Go to your profile page
  2. Open the Settings and privacy tab (the three lines in the top right corner)
  3. Under the Account tab, choose Switch to Business Account

Where to find TikTok analytics

Native TikTok analytics

Here is how you can find your way to your TikTok analytics:

On mobile

  • Go to your profile
  • Open the menu with the three lines in the top right corner
  • From there, find your way to the Analytics tab

Or check individual video analytics available under every video.

On desktop

  • Log in to TikTok
  • Hover over your profile picture in the top right
  • Select View Analytics

Third-party TikTok analytics

With the help of third-party social media management solutions like Brandwatch, you can get access to a more extensive set of data. It will help you identify patterns, clearly understand your TikTok performance, and make informed decisions on your marketing strategies.

With Brandwatch, you can look at your TikTok video performance on special dashboards and access interesting insights, such as video sources. This feature will reveal where your video was seen: on the feed, via hashtag search, etc. The Brandwatch tools can also help you understand how your TikTok channel is performing against your other social media networks.

If you want to learn more about how Brandwatch can help you, speak to one of our experts.

Key TikTok metrics to measure

Many metrics can show you a fuller picture of your TikTok performance. Let’s look at some of the key ones to help you start with your TikTok analytics journey.

Overview

This set of metrics is the first one you see in your TikTok analytics account, revealing everything about your performance at a glance. You can view the analytics for a fixed period of 7, 28, and 60 days or customize it according to your needs for up to 60 days.

The main Overview metrics are:

  • Video Views
  • Profile Views
  • Likes
  • Comments
  • Shares
  • Content, Followers, and Live overview

Content

This section provides data on the videos published during the past seven days. It includes metrics like views, likes, comments, and shares.

You can also find your trending content here to better understand what interests your viewers. 

These are the nine most-watched videos during the past seven days. Among the key metrics in this tab are:

  • Total video views
  • Total like count on a post
  • Total number of comments
  • Total shares
  • Total time watched
  • Average time watched
  • Watched full video
  • Reached audience
  • Video traffic sources
  • Demographics (location)

Followers

This feature helps marketers get to know their audience better and understand their content needs and behavior. The metrics included are:

  • Follower growth rate
  • Gender split
  • Location - top territories
  • When your followers are most active
  • Videos your followers watched
  • Sounds your followers listened to

Live

Here you can find analytics about your TikTok livestreams. Your livestream performance data from the previous 7 or 28 days are available in this tab. 

  • Total views
  • Total time
  • New followers
  • Top viewer count
  • Unique viewers
  • Diamonds

Diamonds are special virtual gifts that viewers can send to creators. They are virtual TikTok currency, which can be exchanged for real money through the social network.

3 tips on how to successfully use TikTok analytics

Tailor TikTok analytics to your marketing goals

You can easily get lost in the endless TikTok analytics ocean of numbers. Make sure you monitor the right metrics tied to your marketing goals. 

If you are just starting your journey on TikTok, you might want to focus on growing your follower base and measuring the growth around it. You may want to get to know your audience's content better, and therefore, you will primarily tackle engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and shares. You need to know where you stand at any given moment and stay focused on your goals.

Go deeper into analyzing your content

Understanding and staying on top of the big picture is crucial, but don’t forget to spend time decoding what content pieces work and engage your audience. 

The TikTok analytics on a video level can reveal insights like preferred video length, content type, retention opportunities, etc. Those insights will help you improve your TikTok content strategy and give you ideas on what to invest your time and resources into.

Identify patterns and turn data into actionable insights

If you look closer at your content and audience on TikTok, you will detect specific patterns for success or failure. 

Is there a certain trend regarding the timing of your posts or the topics you tackle in your content? Do your followers engage with you or your competitors and why? Try to put yourself in their shoes and discover patterns that will turn TikTok data into actionable insights.

That’s a wrap!

Are you ready to explore your TikTok analytics and drive successful marketing results? You must create and follow an analytics framework that works for your business, but stay open to adjusting it regularly for success.

At Brandwatch, we can help you expand your understanding of TikTok analytics and beyond. You can try our all-in-one TikTok marketing tool for 14 days for free and see the impact on your marketing strategies.