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TikTok users in the United States experienced a rollercoaster of a weekend, with the platform shutting down late Saturday (January 18, 2025), a little earlier than when the ban was set to take effect on January 19. But by Sunday afternoon, a pop-up message thanking President Trump for his efforts to restore TikTok in the United States – a day before his inauguration – welcomed users back to the platform.
Trump has promised that the law which took effect on Sunday would have a 90-day extension if a viable sale of TikTok to American owners commenced. However, the extension for the ban would only be possible if the president certifies there are “legally binding documents” showing a divestiture is on the way.
TL;DR: It’s still really murky. And advertisers might be reasonably worried about investing in the platform that still has an uncertain future in the United States.
TikTok’s unique algorithm, massive user base, and viral potential have allowed many brands to grow their audience and drive revenue on the platform. In the United States, TikTok buyers have surged by 72.3%, with over 23.7 million users who actively make purchases through the app.
While TikTok has been successful for many brands, it is still just one platform. To prepare for this potential upheaval on TikTok, brands must tap into the data and watch performance across all platforms very closely.
In this article, we’ll discuss why brands should expand their ad spend across multiple platforms along with some TikTok alternatives, how brands can improve their marketing outside of TikTok, and what to do if the ban doesn’t survive the 90-day extension proposed by the Trump administration.
Our data shows that there has been a large drop in the number of Triple Whale brands advertising on TikTok through the beginning of the year. From the holiday peak in 2024 to mid-January 2025, there has been a 25% drop in the number of shops spending on TikTok daily.
It is likely that brands anticipated a ban and adjusted their budgets accordingly to take advantage of a “final” holiday season on the platform, then allocated their spend to platforms that aren’t experiencing any threats of being banned.
Though the number of shops advertising on TikTok has dropped, the brands who’ve held steady remained committed to advertising on TikTok in the period leading up to the ban deadline. Ad spend only dropped by about 3% week-over-week for the brands that stayed with the platform.
Ad performance metrics for TikTok remained steady during the period before the ban, January 13-17th, as indicated in the table below:
The temporary outage on January 18th definitely affected ad performance, as spend per shop decreased by more than 16% on January 18th and 19th (compared to the two days prior). However, after TikTok was restored, ad spend went right back to normal levels on January 20th.
TikTok ad performance over the weekend showed a large drop in conversion rate (-15.66%), likely due to advertisers running ads customers were unable to view when the outage occurred – before the expected date of January 19th.
Meta appears to have benefitted from the uncertainty of TikTok this past weekend, as ad spend on Facebook and Instagram was up +9.43% on January 18th and 19th, compared to the two days prior (January 16th-17th).
Relying heavily on one platform exposes a brand to significant risks, including algorithm changes, platform disruptions, or, in TikTok’s case, a straight-up ban. Diversification is critical to mitigating these risks and ensuring all marketing efforts remain resilient.
Here are some benefits to diversifying ad spend:
If TikTok is fully banned, some platforms can offer similar features and opportunities to reach customers. Here are a few options:
Instagram reels
YouTube Shorts
Snapchat
A looming ban for TikTok created a unique social experiment – without their beloved social network, where would users head next?
We polled our audience on LinkedIn to ask where they thought a TikTok ban might shift users, and 60% of respondents said an existing platform, whereas 33% thought TikTok users would shift to a new platform.
The TikTok ban was initially rooted in concerns about the Chinese government's use of the platform to obtain information on over 170 million American users. So, did users flock to existing American-owned apps like Facebook and Instagram where their data is presumably more secure? Of course not. Instead, they downloaded other Chinese-owned apps that likely have the same security risks as TikTok.
As of this writing, the top free app on both the Apple App Store and Android App Store in the United States is Rednote, a Chinese-owned app known for its short-form content.
Rednote gained nearly 3 million American users in one day last week, as many popular creators announced that was where followers could find them in the event of a TikTok ban. Which influencers were paid by Rednote to make this declaration remains to be seen, but it seems to have worked.
Americans have even been learning Mandarin in anticipation of making the full switch to Rednote, as reported by Duolingo.
Another app that gained several self-proclaimed “TikTok refugees” last week was Lemon8, an app that blends the features of Instagram and Pinterest. As a photo-first platform, it is better suited to lifestyle content like fashion, makeup, skincare, and travel.
Lemon8 had just over 1 million daily active users in the United States, and 12.5 million global monthly active users in December. However, since it is also a ByteDance-owned platform, it is affected by the same ban as TikTok. As of January 20th, it appears to have been removed from both the Apple App Store and Android App Store.
It is unclear why TikTok is safe to operate, but ByteDance-owned Lemon8 seems to have ceased operations in the United States, much to the chagrin of dedicated users.
While all of this social media drama has us reaching for the popcorn, if you’re a marketer you should be dialed-in to how to market your product outside of platforms which may or may not exist tomorrow.
To ensure long-term success, DTC brands should focus on strategies that enhance customer engagement across all channels. Here are a few actionable steps:
Even though TikTok is alive for now, brands should ensure they’re ready should the government happen to lay the hammer. Here are seven tactics to employ so you’re prepared for a possible TikTok-less future.
Ultimately, brands that have been successful on TikTok will follow creators wherever they go, along with their audiences. Beauty brand BK Beauty said approximately 25% of their 2024 revenue came from TikTok Shop, with other channels experiencing a halo effect boost from their TikTok influencer marketing.
Will BK Beauty be taking a wild ride on Rednote in the future? Only time will tell.
For now, Rednote lacks mature ad infrastructure, and it’s unlikely brands will invest a significant amount of their ad budget on the platform.
The confusion and chaos around TikTok’s ban serves as a reminder that things can change quickly, and brands should make sure they're prepared for anything that may happen. As new platforms emerge, brands can ensure they’re accurately monitoring their performance across all ad channels using tools like Triple Whale. Whether the TikTok ban will be enacted remains to be seen, but being prepared and agile as a brand means you’ll be one step ahead of the game.
TikTok users in the United States experienced a rollercoaster of a weekend, with the platform shutting down late Saturday (January 18, 2025), a little earlier than when the ban was set to take effect on January 19. But by Sunday afternoon, a pop-up message thanking President Trump for his efforts to restore TikTok in the United States – a day before his inauguration – welcomed users back to the platform.
Trump has promised that the law which took effect on Sunday would have a 90-day extension if a viable sale of TikTok to American owners commenced. However, the extension for the ban would only be possible if the president certifies there are “legally binding documents” showing a divestiture is on the way.
TL;DR: It’s still really murky. And advertisers might be reasonably worried about investing in the platform that still has an uncertain future in the United States.
TikTok’s unique algorithm, massive user base, and viral potential have allowed many brands to grow their audience and drive revenue on the platform. In the United States, TikTok buyers have surged by 72.3%, with over 23.7 million users who actively make purchases through the app.
While TikTok has been successful for many brands, it is still just one platform. To prepare for this potential upheaval on TikTok, brands must tap into the data and watch performance across all platforms very closely.
In this article, we’ll discuss why brands should expand their ad spend across multiple platforms along with some TikTok alternatives, how brands can improve their marketing outside of TikTok, and what to do if the ban doesn’t survive the 90-day extension proposed by the Trump administration.
Our data shows that there has been a large drop in the number of Triple Whale brands advertising on TikTok through the beginning of the year. From the holiday peak in 2024 to mid-January 2025, there has been a 25% drop in the number of shops spending on TikTok daily.
It is likely that brands anticipated a ban and adjusted their budgets accordingly to take advantage of a “final” holiday season on the platform, then allocated their spend to platforms that aren’t experiencing any threats of being banned.
Though the number of shops advertising on TikTok has dropped, the brands who’ve held steady remained committed to advertising on TikTok in the period leading up to the ban deadline. Ad spend only dropped by about 3% week-over-week for the brands that stayed with the platform.
Ad performance metrics for TikTok remained steady during the period before the ban, January 13-17th, as indicated in the table below:
The temporary outage on January 18th definitely affected ad performance, as spend per shop decreased by more than 16% on January 18th and 19th (compared to the two days prior). However, after TikTok was restored, ad spend went right back to normal levels on January 20th.
TikTok ad performance over the weekend showed a large drop in conversion rate (-15.66%), likely due to advertisers running ads customers were unable to view when the outage occurred – before the expected date of January 19th.
Meta appears to have benefitted from the uncertainty of TikTok this past weekend, as ad spend on Facebook and Instagram was up +9.43% on January 18th and 19th, compared to the two days prior (January 16th-17th).
Relying heavily on one platform exposes a brand to significant risks, including algorithm changes, platform disruptions, or, in TikTok’s case, a straight-up ban. Diversification is critical to mitigating these risks and ensuring all marketing efforts remain resilient.
Here are some benefits to diversifying ad spend:
If TikTok is fully banned, some platforms can offer similar features and opportunities to reach customers. Here are a few options:
Instagram reels
YouTube Shorts
Snapchat
A looming ban for TikTok created a unique social experiment – without their beloved social network, where would users head next?
We polled our audience on LinkedIn to ask where they thought a TikTok ban might shift users, and 60% of respondents said an existing platform, whereas 33% thought TikTok users would shift to a new platform.
The TikTok ban was initially rooted in concerns about the Chinese government's use of the platform to obtain information on over 170 million American users. So, did users flock to existing American-owned apps like Facebook and Instagram where their data is presumably more secure? Of course not. Instead, they downloaded other Chinese-owned apps that likely have the same security risks as TikTok.
As of this writing, the top free app on both the Apple App Store and Android App Store in the United States is Rednote, a Chinese-owned app known for its short-form content.
Rednote gained nearly 3 million American users in one day last week, as many popular creators announced that was where followers could find them in the event of a TikTok ban. Which influencers were paid by Rednote to make this declaration remains to be seen, but it seems to have worked.
Americans have even been learning Mandarin in anticipation of making the full switch to Rednote, as reported by Duolingo.
Another app that gained several self-proclaimed “TikTok refugees” last week was Lemon8, an app that blends the features of Instagram and Pinterest. As a photo-first platform, it is better suited to lifestyle content like fashion, makeup, skincare, and travel.
Lemon8 had just over 1 million daily active users in the United States, and 12.5 million global monthly active users in December. However, since it is also a ByteDance-owned platform, it is affected by the same ban as TikTok. As of January 20th, it appears to have been removed from both the Apple App Store and Android App Store.
It is unclear why TikTok is safe to operate, but ByteDance-owned Lemon8 seems to have ceased operations in the United States, much to the chagrin of dedicated users.
While all of this social media drama has us reaching for the popcorn, if you’re a marketer you should be dialed-in to how to market your product outside of platforms which may or may not exist tomorrow.
To ensure long-term success, DTC brands should focus on strategies that enhance customer engagement across all channels. Here are a few actionable steps:
Even though TikTok is alive for now, brands should ensure they’re ready should the government happen to lay the hammer. Here are seven tactics to employ so you’re prepared for a possible TikTok-less future.
Ultimately, brands that have been successful on TikTok will follow creators wherever they go, along with their audiences. Beauty brand BK Beauty said approximately 25% of their 2024 revenue came from TikTok Shop, with other channels experiencing a halo effect boost from their TikTok influencer marketing.
Will BK Beauty be taking a wild ride on Rednote in the future? Only time will tell.
For now, Rednote lacks mature ad infrastructure, and it’s unlikely brands will invest a significant amount of their ad budget on the platform.
The confusion and chaos around TikTok’s ban serves as a reminder that things can change quickly, and brands should make sure they're prepared for anything that may happen. As new platforms emerge, brands can ensure they’re accurately monitoring their performance across all ad channels using tools like Triple Whale. Whether the TikTok ban will be enacted remains to be seen, but being prepared and agile as a brand means you’ll be one step ahead of the game.
Body Copy: The following benchmarks compare advertising metrics from April 1-17 to the previous period. Considering President Trump first unveiled his tariffs on April 2, the timing corresponds with potential changes in advertising behavior among ecommerce brands (though it isn’t necessarily correlated).
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