Combating the TikTok Ban: Paid Social Alternatives

1/15/2024

Photo by Eyestetix Studio on Unsplash

This has been a topic making a lot of headlines, and with the platform’s future in doubt, now's the time to be thinking about what a paid and organic social plan looks like, with and without TikTok. We’ll also dive into the "TikTokifcation” of social media and why its influence will continue on regardless of whether it survives.



As a starting point for how dominant the eight-year old platform has become, the below chart is eye-opening on how quickly TikTok has captured America’s attention. The most interesting thing about their growth is that it shows the attention economy is not a zero-sum game. For just TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, the total daily minutes in the US is up 30% since 2021. That doesn’t account for growth in Snap Inc., Pinterest, Reddit, Inc. or Google Shorts.

As for what’s at stake, TikTok has close to 120 million U.S. users and generated $15 billion in advertising spend. With or without TikTok, the video-first TikTok style will continue to dominate social media success. According to eMarketer, in 2025 US social users will spend 61% of their time on social networks watching videos, up from 33% in 2019.



If TikTok goes away, there isn’t any one platform where all their users will transition to. Instead, we think it makes sense to understand where specific age groups are spending time today, and build a plan based on where you expect them to move the 5.1 billion daily minutes they’re currently spending in TikTok.



Even though TikTok broke out with a younger demographic, as of 2025 every age group is on the platform. Below are some ideas for where best to engage each major age group and gender.



Younger Audience: Snapchat is the best way to engage a younger audience, with over 70% of users on the platform under 40. While Snapchat only has about half of Instagram's Daily Active Users (DAUs), Snap users are a more socially-engaged audience that FanIQ has seen outperform (based on cost per acquisition) platforms like TikTok where users are viewing content more than interacting with it.



Reddit is also a great platform to reach younger audiences, with 36% of their audience below the age of 29. Another benefit of Reddit is that CPMs are much lower than the other major platforms–although that’s likely to change it gains popularity with advertisers. In Q4 of 2024, FanIQ saw a $2.29 eCPM on Reddit compared to $11.73 on Meta, with click-through rates on Reddit in line with other platforms at around .5%. Here’s our full Reddit 101 Blog Post.



Older Audiences: To target the 30-49 age group, Facebook is the best platform, as only 26% of users under 29. One important thing in managing Meta campaigns overall is to make sure you’re managing Instagram and Facebook separately. In 2024, FanIQ saw 100% lift in ROAS for separately managed campaigns compared to running campaigns using Advantage.



LinkedIn is also a good option, as only 19% of their users are below 29. While LinkedIn can be effective, because CPMs are much higher than the other platforms, it’s often better served for campaigns focused on lead generation or premium suites.

Age Distribution, by Platform

Female Audience: If you're looking to engage women, 70% of Pinterest are female. Overall, the platform has almost exactly the same number of US users as Snapchat, with 86.8 million forecasted for 2025, as the below charts show. Additionally, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat have about a 50-50 male-female split, which makes gender targeting on those platforms simple.

According to the below chart from Meltwater, Pinterest ranks 5th in terms of time per session, in part because it's used more for research and planning than Snap, which serves as a messaging platform for most of it's users. None of them even come close to TikTok, though, which has average of almost 6 minutes per session, which trails only the longer-form content king YouTube. Overall, the below is a good view of where America's attention is being spent across the six biggest social media platforms, all of which are probably worth your attention as a marketer.

Whatever the age and demographic goal you have, for “TikTok-ified” social media, we find that targeting lifestyle audiences is a great way to introduce prospects to your brand through a lens they’re interested in. At FanIQ in 2024, our best-performing audiences on TikTok are listed below. For a full list of our curated audiences, click here.



  • Nightlife Enthusiasts (8.4x ROAS); Focus on communicating toward vibrancy of event and party culture
  • Campus Explorers (6.5x ROAS): Ways to get the best deals and attend events with a group.
  • Sneakerheads (6.2x ROAS): Thrived on unboxing clips, exclusive drops, and style tips, and even sneaker mock-ups for festivals.
  • Adventure Seekers (4.5x ROAS): Focus on travel inspiration and new experiences



For marketers looking to follow the latest trends and tips, check out the FanIQ blog for deep dives on each platform, as well as the latest on creative ideas and trends and other ways to make sure you're getting the most out of your paid social media in 2025!