Most businesses that have adopted Instagram are left wondering if they should also be on TikTok. It’s a great question, and one that doesn’t have a single answer. In this article we’ll give you everything you need to know: the data, and the reasoning behind whether you need to add TikTok to your brand’s social media strategy.
Reasons why your business should adopt TikTok: the pros
Some of the reasons why it would be a good idea to create a TikTok account for your business include:
TikTok isn’t yet saturated with business users
It’s difficult to find conclusive data on how many business users there are on TikTok. The most reputable study we could find was conducted by Oxford Economics in 2023, which concluded that 54% of business owners asked in the U.S. had used TikTok to promote their business. The same study found that UK-based SMEs who posted on TikTok to advertise and grow their businesses added £1.6 billion to the UK’s gross domestic product in 2022 as a result of their TikTok activity.
In comparison to Instagram, where supposedly 71% of business owners have a profile.
This data shows what we can probably all feel on the platforms: TikTok is far less saturated with business users than Instagram. Which means there’s a big opportunity for businesses to harness the platform earlier on, and make the most of more exposure within a less competitive landscape.
TikTok reaches a different (younger) audience
It’s well documented that TikTok users err on the younger side of social media users. According to SEMRush 27% of users are aged 18-24 years, with 39.7% of users aged 25-34 years.
Therefore, if your business targets users within the age bracket of 18-34 it would definitely be worthwhile moving onto the platform.
TikTok has one of the largest advertising reaches
According to Datareportal’s July 2025 snapshot TikTok has the third largest ad reach, with Bytedance’s tools reporting total potential reach of 1.94 billion. This is only surpassed by YouTube and Facebook. That’s not to say that reach is always the most important metric when it comes to ads, but if you want to grow quickly this can add a new level to your social media ads strategy.
The sentiment is more relaxed
Many business owners I speak to are exhausted by Instagram’s requirements and the time needed to create perfect Reels. When I mention joining TikTok they simply can’t face another channel where they need to create video content. This is where I have good news for you: from my observation point I can see that the sentiment of TikTok is far more relaxed than Instagram.
The way many users post on TikTok feels more like the energy of an Instagram story than it does an Instagram reel.
Posts are often simpler and more casual, for example chatting to screen or sharing a quick unedited video clip. Of course many creators are sharing highly edited videos with perfectly synched transitions, but this doesn’t make up the majority of content.
Which is a great point to get started if you don’t want to be put off by the pressure.
TikTok’s ecommerce function is very established
For most businesses using Instagram, the goal is usually to promote the business so much that users click through a link out of Instagram in order to explore and buy. Whereas the infamous “TikTok Shop” is an established ecommerce function where you can browse and purchase products directly within the app. It even makes its easy for users to click-through directly on a feed post to buy what’s being shown – which is why the hashtag “TikTok made me buy it” rose to such fame.
If you sell physical products like clothes, homeware, hobby activities, accessories and so on, TikTok Shop can become a lucrative arm to your business.
Growth is easier on TikTok (but building a loyal customer base is harder)
Growth on Instagram relies heavily on your existing “followers”, despite the platforms attempts to create greater unconnected reach through Reels and Explore. This means that growth on Instagram is pretty difficult.
In comparison, TikTok is driven by its unparalleled “For You” algorithm, which surfaces content to new viewers regardless of who they follow. This levels the playing field, because any user can “go viral”. However, this also makes the nature of TikTok content fleeting. Viewers may engage with your single post, but getting them to follow you or repeatedly engage in content is much harder. From this perspective, it’s far harder to build an engaged brand following on TikTok.
Reasons why your business shouldn’t adopt TikTok: the cons
TikTok is a flight risk
The U.S. government has long raised concerns that TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, could pose national security risks by exposing Americans’ data to the Chinese government or being used for surveillance. In April 2024, Congress passed a law requiring TikTok to divest interest to U.S. owned companies or face a ban, a decision which was held up by the Supreme Court earlier this year. This supposed “ban” keeps being delayed, as Trump seemingly gives Bytedance more time to find a buyer.
However, while this battle is ongoing the risk remains that TikTok could disappear from the U.S. market if ByteDance refuses to sell, or the current administration runs out of patience.
This is one of the risks that always comes with building your audience on third-party platforms: you could invest time and money into creating an audience that later disappears.
The TikTok audience can be harsh
A bit like Marcus Aurelius’ audience, TikTok users expect to be entertained. Anything that falls short of this, where the creator doesn’t get to the point fast enough, where the content is too “salesy”, or even where TikTokers don’t believe the account is authentic enough, can leave users open to criticism. You only have to spend a minute on the FYP to know that storytelling and humour is key, and this can be a difficult jump for some business owners to make.
In conclusion
Ultimately, there are likely more benefits to being on TikTok than there are risks but the real question comes down to whether you’re ready, and able, to create a social media strategy for TikTok. Transferring content over from an existing Instagram profile will get you out of the gate but won’t be enough to build engagement, audience and, ultimately, sales. For most small businesses and single-person brands, the best approach may be to maintain Instagram as a foundational channel while testing TikTok as a complementary channel for growth.