TikTok for Marketers 2026: Stats That Prove Performance

Marketers love data points until they start rewriting the funnel. TikTok’s have. Across every vertical we track, discovery on TikTok doesn’t just influence conversion — it compresses it. The platform now drives 2× stronger efficiency than TV and delivers +96 % higher ROAS than all digital media measured.

TikTok isn’t a social-media side quest anymore. It’s a discovery engine where awareness, consideration, and conversion happen inside a single scroll. The average user sees an idea, compares five creators’ takes on it, and buys — often without leaving the app. That loop is why TikTok now accounts for 15 % of all product discoveries across media, email, and word-of-mouth.

For performance teams, that means TikTok belongs in the core media mix, not the “experimental” column.

TL;DR Section

TL;DR

Key Takeaways

Discovery has collapsed the funnel. TikTok now drives 2× stronger efficiency than TV and delivers +96 % higher ROAS than other digital channels. Awareness, consideration, and conversion happen in one scroll.

Creators define credibility. 31 % of users trust creator product recommendations. When brands work with a variety of creators, audiences describe them as more authentic (+39 %) and more relatable (+42 %).

Fresh beats flawless. Ads using trending sounds or repurposed edits are 1.2× more likely to feel modern and drive full-funnel impact. Every edit is a data point—momentum matters more than polish.

Discovery starts before intent. 56 % of users open TikTok to find “something new,” and 59 % have already made e-commerce moves inside the app. Visibility begins long before the search query.

Timing is a creative variable. 68 % of TikTok users start holiday shopping early and are 1.2× more likely to impulse-shop than users on other platforms. Show up before curiosity peaks—not after.

Demographics Audience & Behavior – Where Discovery Actually Happens

TikTok’s audience isn’t just Gen Z. It’s everyone who scrolls for ideas before they have intent.

91 % of Gen Z users have discovered something new on TikTok in the last 30 days.²
59 % of weekly users have engaged in e-commerce behaviors.²
43 % of Millennials go there for travel or activity inspiration.²
56 % of all users say they open the app specifically *to discover something new.*²

Discovery here is ambient. It starts before need is conscious. Users aren’t typing “best tinted moisturizer.” They’re watching a creator’s morning routine and saving links they’ll search later.

Takeaway: Discovery has drifted from query to exposure. If your content isn’t designed for scroll-speed discovery, it’s invisible.

Creator Trust & Cultural Relevance

Let’s talk TikTok influencer marketing. Creators are TikTok’s credibility layer. When they talk, audiences listen. And act.
Among users who notice or buy creator-recommended products:

31 % trust creators to recommend quality items.
31 % like supporting creators through their purchases.
39 % say working with a variety of creators makes brands feel more authentic.
42 % say that variety makes brands more relatable.
40 % simply find creator content more interesting than ads.³

For brands, working with TikTok creators means leaning into diversity. Variety isn’t a vanity metric. It’s a trust-builder. For brands, this means running a portfolio of creator voices – not one spokesperson — so different audiences can see themselves reflected in your product narrative.

Takeaway: Authenticity scales when representation does.

Creative That Performs – What Drives Lift on TikTok

Creative rules here are measurable, not mysterious.

Financial-services ads using trending-sound add-ons are 1.2× more likely to generate full-funnel impact than silent ones.³
Repurposed ads with even minor creative edits are 1.2× more likely to make a brand feel modern or on-trend.³

This platform rewards freshness of format more than polish. Every edit is a data point. The Shelf’s own optimization flywheel (via SpliceLab™) treats creative testing like a living organism — cut, restitch, re-launch, learn.

Takeaway: Don’t repurpose assets for TikTok. Repurpose through TikTok — let platform behavior shape your next creative iteration.

The Business Case – Efficiency and ROI

If attention is the new currency, TikTok’s exchange rate is unbeatable.
Campaigns that integrate TikTok deliver, on average, +96 % higher paid-media ROAS and 45 % higher average order value YoY for DTC brands.³ Pairing TikTok with streaming channels multiplies cultural relevance 4.6× among Millennials compared with streaming alone.³

The takeaway isn’t “spend more on TikTok.” It’s measure differently. Many brands still evaluate success with last-click attribution, missing TikTok’s upper-funnel lift. The smarter move is to model incrementality — awareness → favorability → purchase intent → conversion — and let TikTok’s efficiency surface in blended metrics.

Takeaway: TikTok is under-credited in most attribution models. Fix the math, and the ROI follows.

Seasonality and The Holiday Behavior Shift

TikTok doesn’t wait for Q4 budgets. Neither do its users.
68 % start their holiday shopping a few weeks early, and they’re 1.2× more likely to impulse-shop than users on traditional platforms.³

That means the consideration window moves up. The right creative in early November may outperform your December campaign entirely. Discovery sparks first; conversion follows later via retargeting or creator reinforcement.

Plan your TikTok calendar like retail radio once planned airtime — front-load visibility, sustain through micro-moments, close with urgency.

Takeaway: On TikTok, timing is a creative variable. Start when curiosity peaks, not when your promo launches.

What This Means for 2025 Planning

Half of all internet users (50 %) now prefer researching products through video and social rather than traditional search.⁴ That’s not a content trend — it’s a structural shift in how information flows.

TikTok sits at the center of that shift: part entertainment, part education, part recommendation engine. For marketers, the playbook is clear: