New Social Media Data Indicates TikTok’s Engagement is Entering a Decreasing Phase

A new study looks at social media engagement trends and highlights insights that digital marketers could use to improve their social media strategies over 2023.

According to a recent study by Socialinsider, a social media competitive intelligence and analytics tool, TikTok’s engagement rate has dropped by 28% in the past year. This data is part of a performance comparison of the current engagement rates of all major platforms against historical records.

TikTok’s engagement rate has been continuously increasing until 2023, when it reached a dropping point, as highlighted by data. This marks the end of a period where TikTok had outranked any other social platform with ever-increasing engagement rates.

“Organic social, in general, has been trending downward in terms of traffic and engagement for years. TikTok is following this trend, becoming a pay-to-play platform,” said Adina Jipa, Socialinsider’s Founder & CMO. “However, with an engagement rate by (followers) of 4.25% and an engagement rate (by views) of 5.10%, TikTok is still a performing platform generating brand awareness and engagement.”

The study also revealed that there is a declining engagement trend impacting all social media networks. While this was expected, it is hard to understand why TikTok’s engagement drop is so significant. The current social-economic context is thought to be the best explanation.

For example, the pandemic may have caused people to spend more time on social media in general, but as restrictions ease and people return to their pre-pandemic routines, they may be spending less time on social media.

On top of that, the current discussions about having TikTok banned from the US may have impacted and continue to do so, the user’s trust and usage of the platform, being a potential engagement drop factor.

However, despite the overall engagement drop on TikTok, different businesses and industries leveraging TikTok marketing are still getting results within the platform, scoring a performance above the average. This is particularly true in the FMCG sectors such as food or beverages and airlines.
Instagram, TikTok’s main competitor, has registered the most pronounced engagement drop since TikTok entered the social media scene. Among the business lines that succeed in ranking higher rates with their Instagram marketing efforts, the airline industry is the most successful. Instagram has reached a new lowest average of 0.60% engagement rate.

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The study also included a Facebook and Twitter engagement analysis, which ultimately proved how flat the engagement rate remains for these two platforms.
Furthermore, the data has revealed that video content is the most effective medium for engagement across all social media platforms. With the growing preference for easily consumable and visually stimulating content, videos have become the most popular format type, consistently outperforming other content types.

While TikTok’s influence on social media preferences is significant, the engagement metrics for videos across all platforms are equally impressive. The data suggest that videos hold the highest engagement scores, making them a valuable tool for marketers and content creators alike.

Notably, on specific social platforms, the difference in engagement between videos and other content types is particularly noticeable. For instance, on Instagram, Reels generate double the engagement of other post types. Similarly, on Twitter, the average engagement rate for videos is 0.17%, compared to an average of 0.02% for most other content formats, except for images.

These findings confirm the importance of incorporating video content into any social media marketing strategy. By harnessing the power of video, businesses can boost their engagement rates and enhance their online visibility.

The study aims to help marketers gather competitive insights and benchmarks while in-depth analyzing their brands’ social campaigns and KPIs for social media strategy optimization.

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