TikTok has surpassed YouTube as the preferred platform for video marketing among brands and retailers. 

According to Digiday+ Research, as of summer 2024, 67% of brand and retailer professionals reported posting content on TikTok within the past month, compared to 60% for YouTube. 

This marks a reversal from the previous year when YouTube led the pack among video-focused social platforms.

What Fueled TikTok’s Rise?

TikTok’s ascendancy comes amid a steady increase in usage and ad spending on the platform. 

In the summer of 2022, 42% of brands and retailers were active on TikTok. This figure rose to 63% in 2023 before reaching its current 67% in 2024. 

Concurrently, ad spending on TikTok has grown from 24% of brands purchasing ads in 2022 to 40% in 2024.

YouTube, in contrast, has experienced a decline in brand usage. 

The platform saw a drop from 74% of brands posting content in 2023 to 67% in 2024. Despite this decrease, YouTube’s ad revenue from brands has increased slightly, with 40% of brands purchasing ads in 2024 compared to 35% in 2023.

Snapchat lags behind its video-centric competitors, with only 13% of brands reporting content posting on the platform in the past month. This represents a decrease from 19% in the previous year. 

Ad spending on Snapchat remains low. In 2024, 13% of brands purchased ads, a minimal growth from 12% in the two preceding years.

TikTok’s Outlook

The research highlights a potential plateau in TikTok’s growth trajectory. 

While the platform saw significant usage and ad spending jumps between 2022 and 2023, the increases from 2023 to 2024 were more modest. 

This slowdown may be attributed to the potential U.S. ban law, which has created uncertainty around the platform’s future in the United States.

Despite these concerns, brands maintain their presence on TikTok as users continue to engage with the platform. 

However, Digiday suggests that marketers should be more cautious about significantly increasing their investments in TikTok, given the current regulatory environment.

Digiday+ Research’s report is available here.