If someone had asked you about TikTok 30 years ago, you might have said, “Isn’t that the weird robot from the movie Return to Oz?”

20 years ago, you’d have probably said, “It’s the noise a clock makes. What a weird thing to ask and duh.”

10 years ago, you’d have said, “It’s that song by Ke$ha that’s always on the radio.”

But if someone asked you today, what would you tell them? Would you say, “It’s an app I don’t really understand but I can’t crowbar my children off it.” Or would you say, “It’s my life and I can’t imagine having a phone without it.”

For the record, here’s what Google says:

“TikTok, known in China as Douyin, is a video-sharing social networking service […] used to make a variety of short-form videos, from genres like dance, comedy, and education, that have a duration from 3 seconds to 1 minute.”

Whatever you’d say about it personally (it is quite controversial), and whether you’re familiar with it or not, the TikTok app has become a global phenomenon. It has more than 800 million active users – which is more than Snapchat, LinkedIn, or even Twitter. Pretty impressive for a video app.

What makes TikTok so special?

Celebrities, for one thing. Britney’s on there, Schwarzenegger, Beckham. And, when it comes to getting music careers off the ground, TikTok has been instrumental. Songs used in the backgrounds of viral TikTok videos have helped boost the careers of artists like Lil Nas X.

Lastly, it’s the content. There’s virtually every kind of video you could imagine, from jokes about pop culture, to lip synching, to video tutorials. One-minute explainer videos are hugely popular on TikTok, and are an example of the efficacy of microlearning – something we know a little something about.

Besides catching up on the A-listers, hearing new music, and laughing to the latest memes, there’s another reason to pay attention to TikTok. It’s that people are paying attention to it. The average amount of time spent on TikTok by users each day is 52 minutes. More than a billion videos are watched daily. That’s a lot of eyeballs looking at something.

As any good marketer knows, eyeballs looking at something means an opportunity to get a message across. TikTok provides a unique way to inspire viral marketing. Brands like ASOS, Covergirl, and even the UK government have taken advantage of it.

If you’d like to know how you can understand, use and take advantage of this booming social media platform, we have a course for you.

Want to find out more about our other courses? How about a free trial?

Unfortunately, it won’t teach you the viral dance moves. You’ll have to figure those out for yourself.