For many South African TikTok influencers, the popular social media platform is not just a hobby but a potential source of income.
This is according to the State of TikTok in South Africa 2020 report compiled by marketing analytics company HypeAuditor.
TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance. It is used to create short dance, lip-sync, comedy and talent videos.
It became available in SA after merging with Musical.ly in 2018. The application allows users to create short music and lip-sync videos of three to 15 seconds and short looping videos of three to 60 seconds.
After merging with Musical.ly, downloads rose and TikTok became the most downloaded app, the first Chinese app to achieve this.
In 2019, HypeAuditor says, TikTok became the seventh-most downloaded mobile app of the decade, from 2010 to 2019.
The report, which comes as SA is witnessing “astonishing” growth in the uptake of the video-sharing app, also lists the country’s top 10 influencers on TikTok.
A report last month by local market analysis firm World Wide Worx notes the video-sharing app has taken South Africa by storm, as it was the biggest social media sensation of 2019, and is continuing its momentum in the youth market in 2020.
HypeAuditor is an AI-powered Instagram, TikTok and YouTube analytics tool that helps to get insights about the creator’s audience, increases advertisers’ ROI and safeguards authenticity in influencer marketing.
It conducted a brief research study to find out what the TikTok influencer ecosystem looks like in South Africa.
“For that research, we have analysed 3.1 million TikTok influencers (TikTok accounts that have over 1 000 followers) from around the world and 5 700 influencers from South Africa,” says Nick Baklanov, marketing specialist at HypeAuditor.
Among the key findings, HypeAuditor found that 3.43% of influencers in SA have over 100 000 followers, and they can collaborate with brands and get paid for advertising.
On average, it notes, TikTok influencers in SA have 215 videos uploaded into their feed while 11% of accounts have over 500 media entries.
Females between 13- and 24-years-old (43.37%) are the core TikTok audience in SA, says the report.
“On average, TikTok influencers in South Africa have over 215 videos uploaded into their feed. It is 17% less compared to the global average uploaded number of videos, which is 260,” Baklanov says.
“In South Africa, only 11% of influencers’ accounts have over 500 media entries. For example, in India, 39.4% of accounts had over 500 media entries,” he adds.
The report says there is a large number of users between 13- and 17-years-old (31.3%).
The average engagement rate (ER) worldwide is 15.86%, while in SA it stands at 15.47%, says HypeAuditor.
It explains that ER is likes plus comments plus shares divided by the views number.
“ER is a commonly used benchmark of success on TikTok as it can determine if an influencer is connecting with their audience,” says Baklanov.
“It is also worth noting that the average engagement of TikTok influencers in South Africa is 2.4% lower than the worldwide average.”
SA’s Top 10 TikTok Influencers:
1. @wianmagic
Number of followers: 9.5m
Number of likes: 179.1m
ER: 12.2%
2. @neffatibrothers
Number of followers: 4.1m
Number of likes: 42m
ER: NA
3. @karl_kugelmann
Number of followers: 3.3m
Number of likes: 37.9m
ER: 13.3%
4. @shandorlarenty
Number of followers: 3.1m
Number of likes: 30.6m
ER: 15.4%
5. @danielxv_
Number of followers: 2.7m
Number of likes: 56.4m
ER: 12.2%
6. @bryankazaka
Number of followers: 2.2m
Number of likes: 62m
ER: 22.9%
7. @liamstoffbergg
Number of followers: 1.9m
Number of likes: 46.7m
ER: 21.3%
8. @deankoonin
Number of followers: 1.7m
Number of likes: 23.4m
ER: 10.8%
9. @andystallion
Number of followers: 1.5m
Number of likes: 40.1m
ER: 29.5%
10. @k1ngbert0
Number of followers: 1.1m
Number of likes: 15.2m
ER: 12.5%