TikTok surpasses YouTube as the third-most-popular influencer platform

eMarketer today stated that TikTok surpassed YouTube as the third-most-popular influencer marketing platform among US marketers. This is the conclusion of the latest influencer marketing forecast from Insider Intelligence. Facebook and Instagram remain the first two most popular influencer marketing platforms.

This year, eMarketer expects 45.7% of US marketers from companies with 100 or more employees to use TikTok for influencer marketing versus 42.5% for YouTube.

TikTok is the most popular domain in the web, just after Google, according to Cloudflare data.

“YouTube hasn’t kept up with the short video trend,” says Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence. “YouTube Shorts is no match for TikTok or even Instagram Reels, as it continues to struggle to attract both creators and viewers. At the same time, TikTok and Instagram are encroaching on YouTube’s territory as they lean into longer-form video.”

According to eMarketer, daily time spent on TikTok among US adult users of the platform hit 40 minutes in 2021 and will be 38 minutes this year, as the pandemic-fueled consumption of social media wanes slightly. Time spent among adult users of YouTube this year will jump about one minute to reach nearly 46 minutes per day, on average.

“TikTok is truly giving YouTube and other social platforms a run for their money, both literally and figuratively,” said Enberg. “Longer videos, along with new features like livestreaming and shoppable content, will continue to lock in more user engagement, and thus marketing dollars, on TikTok. YouTube isn’t going anywhere, but it will have to innovate to stay relevant.”