2019 Tik Tok and Kuaishou User Research Report!

Kuaishou and Douyin, as the two representative platforms of the short video industry, have always been the focus of industry attention and discussion. In everyone's habitual thinking, there is such a difference between Kuaishou and Douyin: Kuaishou is down-to-earth, Douyin has a tone, Kuaishou is deeply rooted in the urban market, and Douyin is more popular in central cities...

Everyone has their own understanding of the differences between Douyin and Kuaishou, but what you see may not be true, and your understanding may not be comprehensive.

In this regard, we have conducted an in-depth and objective analysis of the differences between Douyin and Kuaishou from the perspectives of platform algorithms, social relationships, commercialization, and KOL marketing value, in order to help advertisers develop more targeted marketing strategies and help MCN organizations develop personalized content strategies.

1. Platform comparison

1. Comparison of the latest basic user data of Douyin and Kuaishou:

We analyzed the platform data as of February 28 this year and found that Douyin’s daily active users have exceeded 250 million, and Kuaishou’s daily active users have exceeded 160 million. The influx of billions of traffic every day maintains the platform's strong vitality.

From the perspective of user characteristics, Douyin has more female users, while the ratio of male to female users of Kuaishou is more balanced, reaching 54:46, which is more in line with the overall portrait of Chinese Internet users.

Douyin users are mainly from first- and second-tier cities, accounting for 52%, while Kuaishou users are more from third- and fourth-tier cities and below, accounting for 64%. In comparison, Kuaishou's user base is more down-to-earth.

In terms of the peak active time of users, the peak period of Douyin users is between 8pm and 11pm, while Kuaishou users start to be active at 6pm and continue until 9pm.

2. Comparison of platform traffic distribution logic:

When we are browsing Douyin and Kuaishou, the biggest difference we intuitively feel is that Douyin uses a rolling recommendation mode. We watch whatever it pushes and are deeply immersed in it; while Kuaishou uses a waterfall-style display mode, and we can choose the content we want to watch. So what are their specific differences in traffic distribution logic?

First, let’s talk about Tik Tok.

TikTok is a strong operating platform. The platform is like the hand of God, and it implements a centralized "planned economy" on the platform.

When a content creator publishes a video, Tik Tok will allocate initial traffic to the content creator based on the quality of the content, the creator’s number of fans, and user interests.

This initial traffic pool consists of two parts. One is to push the video to tagged users who may like the video through algorithm calculation; the other part will be distributed to fans who follow the content creator. It should be emphasized here that the platform will not distribute this video to all fans who follow this account. According to Kass data analysis, the probability that fans can see the newly released video is about 10%.

This shows that Tik Tok does not distribute content based on "fan attention" and the number of fans is not a guarantee of the number of views. This means that creating content on Douyin is very challenging. Only by continuously creating good content, continuously attracting the attention of users, and increasing the points of contact with users can one keep one's account active.

Overly controlled distribution logic will make it difficult for users and content creators to have deep connections, which is not conducive to the development of social attributes. But its advantages are very obvious, that is, it is easier to create popular products and the efficiency of acquiring fans will be high.

In the initial traffic pool, if users think your content is good, the interactive feedback is positive, and the video completion rate is relatively high, then your video may receive secondary traffic recommendations, thereby creating a hit and making your content the center of attention. Then the probability of gaining 100,000 or even one million fans using just one video will be very high.

Judging from the time period for a hit to become a hit, the period for your content to become a hit is between 24 hours and 7 days!

Let’s take a look at Kuaishou’s traffic distribution logic:

Completely different from Douyin, Kuaishou’s platform identity is relatively “invisible” in its operations, and its traffic distribution is like a decentralized “market economy”.

Kuaishou will try to weaken its control over the platform and regulate traffic distribution based on users' social attention and interests. The video content you post is more likely to be seen by users who follow you. According to statistics from Kas Data, the probability is about 30% to 40%, or even higher. This is because Kuaishou prioritizes regulating traffic distribution based on social relationships and user interests, and the main recommended content is also the content of the "Follow Page".

However, compared with the quality of the content, Kuaishou also pays attention to the timeliness of content release. Whether a video on Kuaishou can become a hit, the interactive feedback from users within 24 hours is extremely critical.

Kuaishou’s weak operational control determines the uneven quality of the platform’s content. The user immersive experience is weaker than that of Douyin. The waterfall-style content presentation increases the chances of users jumping out. Overall, it will also affect the efficiency of commercial monetization. However , its advantage is that content creators can repeatedly "connect" with their fans through live broadcasts or jokes, thereby deepening the stickiness between fans and the KOLs they follow. This is also the basis for the birth of the "old iron economy."

This also tells us that we need to be patient when creating content on Kuaishou. Compared to Douyin, it is much more difficult to increase followers through hot products. But you will also gain more loyal fans based on this algorithm.

In summary, Douyin is a centralized traffic distribution platform that is easy to create hits, has a higher fan acquisition efficiency than Kuaishou, and is more convenient for helping organizations and brands accumulate private traffic (ie: fans). Kuaishou recommends content based on social interaction and interest, first social interaction and then interest. Social trust traffic is greater than that of Douyin, and it is more conducive to helping organizations and brands communicate with private domain traffic. The deeper the communication, the stronger the trust, and the shorter the path to conversion. This is why Kuaishou's e-commerce live streaming is so popular, and the focus of commercial monetization is placed on e-commerce rather than the underlying foundation of advertising.

3. Comparison of platform commercialization:

In the commercialization process, Douyin and Kuaishou also have very obvious differences: Douyin has been actively planning its commercialization path, while Kuaishou seems to be more Buddhist in comparison, with many "small moves" but the overall progress is slow.

Specifically, last year, Douyin mainly made adjustments and arrangements on the road to commercialization around three products: Blue V, Star Map and Information Flow .

First of all, we launched marketing tools such as POI, pop-up stores, shopping carts, and mini programs around Blue V, and recently launched the "Merchant" function. These measures can help Douyin attract cooperation from small, medium and local merchants while serving large customers, providing Douyin with more room for brand cooperation.

As for Star Map, since it was officially launched on September 3, it has undergone adjustments such as reducing platform commissions, lowering the threshold for influencers to enter, and liberalizing shopping cart permissions. Its purpose is to enable all influencers to achieve their own revenue based on e-commerce while meeting the requirements of advertisers for product conversion.

In terms of information flow, the launch of products such as DTV and TopView aims to balance the dual experience of users and brands. After all, marketing that does not damage the user experience is more popular with users.

If Douyin's path to commercialization is to seek breakthroughs in a radical way, then Kuaishou's path is to seek perfection in a steady way.

Since Kuaishou launched its marketing platform in October last year, there have been many small marketing moves, but the overall commercialization process has been relatively slow.

Because Kuaishou has a very high level of commercial monetization in areas such as live streaming, e-commerce, and games that are closer to C-end users, Kuaishou has moved relatively slowly on the road to marketing commercialization, but this situation is changing recently.

In terms of information flow delivery, the delivery of Kuaishou's information flow is currently accelerating . There are generally two forms of this type of advertising, namely, the patch ads at the end of celebrity videos and the discovery page video ads. Most of the customers who place advertisements are performance-oriented customers, such as e-commerce, APP, and local life service advertisers.

1. Comparison of social relationship concentration:

KOLs on Douyin connect users through “content” rather than “people”.

Tik Tok’s main content recommendation page is where users watch whatever the platform recommends. It is difficult for users to escape from this immersive reading experience and choose to consume content from the KOLs they follow.

The relationship between Douyin users and KOLs is one of “look up and follow”, just like watching celebrities. Some top KOLs are treated like the moon surrounded by stars, but most of them are just “acquaintances” who pass by and have relatively “weak” social relationships.

The KOLs on Kuaishou connect users through both "content" and "people".

Kuaishou’s main content is the “Follow Page”, and the video content released by KOLs has a greater chance of being exposed to fans. Kuaishou also has a strong “live broadcast” atmosphere, which greatly stimulates users’ social desire.

The relationship between KOLs and users on Kuaishou is one of sharing and companionship. Many KOLs come from grassroots backgrounds, and users follow them based on the mentality of “we are the same kind of people”. They appreciate each other and thus create an “old iron economy”. Under the "old iron" economy, social granularity is finer, and relationships are more "iron" and deeper, which can well explain why Kuaishou influencers can obtain more reward income and e-commerce income.

2. Comparison of fans’ interactive behaviors:

Douyin recommends content that users are interested in based on an algorithm. As more and more users interact, the recommendations will become more and more accurate. Users can easily see content they like on Douyin, so fans on Douyin are more likely to send their little hearts, that is, likes.

Kuaishou’s content recommendations are selective. The content that Kuaishou users open is generally what they are interested in and like. Driven by inclusive values, it is easier to stimulate users’ deep participation. Therefore, Kuaishou users are not only willing to like their favorite KOLs, but also to comment, share and engage in a full range of interactions.

According to the data collected by Kas Data as of February 28, the likes:comment ratio of KOLs on Kuaishou is 14.9:1, that is, a Kuaishou KOL may get one comment after getting 14 likes, while the likes:comment ratio of Douyin KOLs is 40.1:1, that is, a KOL must get 40 likes to get one comment.

From this we can conclude that Douyin users prefer to like and read comments, while Kuaishou users prefer to like and post comments.

3. KOL content classification comparison:

Judging from the Douyin star map label, the KOL classification belongs to the segmentation of strong content style, with a total of 29 sub-content categories such as handsome men, beautiful women, entertainment, emotions, creativity, etc.

Judging from the classification labels of Kuaishou’s quick order-taking app, the classification of Kuaishou KOLs belongs to strong professional segmentation , with a total of 19 label categories including electrical appliances, digital, cosmetics, e-commerce, clothing, and craftsmen.

It can be seen that the content of Douyin KOL is more professionally segmented, while the career segmentation of Kuaishou KOL is even higher. This is mainly determined by the “origin” of the KOLs.

Most of Douyin’s KOLs are signed to or incubated by well-known MCN agencies, which can support advertisers in making refined content creation and recommendations around different marketing goals, and have a higher spirit of commercial contract.

Kuaishou has a rich user circle and finer user granularity, and most of Kuaishou's KOLs are of "grassroots" origin and have extremely strong professional attributes (social attributes). At the same time, the unique Laotie social network allows people with similar professions to gather behind KOLs of the same profession, which can better help brands complete their communication to people in professional circles.

4. KOL marketing value comparison:

In terms of marketing value, the KOLs of the two platforms also have distinct characteristics: Douyin KOLs are more suitable for seeding, while Kuaishou KOLs are easier to convert, which is related to the concentration of social relationships between KOLs and fans.

The KOL and his fans on Kuaishou have an "old iron" relationship, and their old irons are willing to buy whatever the KOL promotes. Because most Kuaishou users live in third- and fourth-tier cities and below, information barriers and consumption channels are relatively high, and swiping Kuaishou has become a simple and convenient way to make purchases.

However, Kas Data reminds brand owners that the price of products promoted by Kuaishou celebrities should be within 200 yuan. Such a price range makes it easy for customers to place orders without much thought, which results in faster actions and better conversion effects.

On Douyin, the relationship between fans and KOLs is a follower relationship. Fans are easily attracted by what the KOLs recommend, but they are not in a hurry to make the final purchase. This is because most Douyin users live in first- and second-tier cities, where information barriers and consumption channels are relatively low. After seeing a KOL recommend a product, they may first go to Xiaohongshu to read reviews and go to Taobao to compare prices. The path from planting grass to conversion is relatively long. However, based on Douyin’s centralized traffic distribution logic, high-quality content from KOLs is more likely to become a hit, helping “brands” create “Douyin hits” and build “Douyin hits” brands.

In short, remember this: if you want to go viral or create a hit, look for Douyin; if you want conversions or private domains, look for Kuaishou.

5. Analysis of the overlap between Douyin and Kuaishou KOLs:

According to Kas Data’s analysis, from July 2018 to March 2019, the number of KOLs with exactly the same nicknames on the two major platforms, Douyin and Kuaishou, increased by 5.93 times in 6 months. This shows that the development of KOLs from a single platform to a dual platform has become a trend.

After in-depth research on the data, it was found that the probability of top and shoulder accounts (KOLs with more than 5 million followers) with exactly the same nicknames on Douyin and Kuaishou is only 4‰, but the overlap of mid and tail accounts (with followers between 100,000 and 5 million) is as high as 95.5%. The data tells us that for a KOL to develop on both platforms, it is very difficult to break through the 5 million threshold.

The top and shoulder accounts that can squeeze into this 4‰, such as Chen Xiang Liu Dian Ban, started content operation in Douyin and Kuaishou very early, and the content quality is also very high, so they can get very high attention. Accounts like "Talking Liu Erdou" belong to the cute pet category, and this field that is loved by the public can also achieve relatively good fan growth.

This tells us:

For content organizations, they should not just be content porters. If they want to become the head and shoulder accounts of the two platforms, they need to make "adapt to local conditions" content production and operation plans based on the platform ecology and user tone.

For advertisers, the feasibility of using the same account for dual-platform marketing is increasing. The value of focusing on one platform and using another platform for content distribution is limited. Therefore, advertising should mainly be based on customized content creativity on the platform to achieve extreme marketing value.

6. Comparison of KOLs with the most orders:

Judging from the types of influencers who receive the most orders, whether it is Douyin or Kuaishou, funny and drama-themed accounts are the ones that receive the most orders.

But the difference is that among the top 10 influencers on Kuaishou who receive orders in the comedy category, 37.16% of the influencers on the platform receive orders, and those in the music category account for 25.68%. These two categories account for more than 60%, while the distribution of influencers in the top 10 influencers on Douyin who receive orders is relatively balanced.

This shows that the monetization of Douyin’s vertical influencers is better than that of Kuaishou . This is because most of the celebrities on Kuaishou are grassroots, their degree of commercialization is relatively low, and their content packaging capabilities are unable to meet the needs of advertisers.

In addition, advertisers on Kuaishou place more performance-oriented ads, and users’ requirements are not so sophisticated, and the commercial value of Kuaishou’s vertical influencers has not yet been stimulated. But this does not mean that there will be no increase in the future. The value of vertical celebrities on Douyin and Kuaishou is increasing, but Douyin has gone further in comparison.

Judging from the number of fans of the influencers who receive the most orders, both platforms have the most influencers at the mid-level, followed by the tail-level. Among them, mid-level accounts on Douyin accounted for 40.04% of the total number of influencers receiving orders, and this figure was even higher on Kuaishou, reaching 45.97%.

The reason is that mid-level influencers are large in size and can take the most orders. Moreover, the quotes for these influencers are relatively low, so advertisers are more willing to try new things and have more freedom.

It is worth mentioning that the high total number of orders received by mid- and low-end influencers does not mean that a single influencer receives a large number of orders, nor does it mean that the advertising income of mid- and low-end influencers is high. Because according to the data, it is the top and shoulders celebrities who can repeatedly receive orders from advertisers, and the transaction unit price is relatively high.

7. Comparison of the top 10 industries for KOL investment:

Among the TOP10 industries where KOLs have invested, whether it is Douyin or Kuaishou, the personal care and cosmetics industry ranks first.

And what about Kuaishou? Personal care and cosmetics brands have the most KOLs and the best conversion rates . However, personal care and cosmetics brands are mostly local.

Related reading:

1. Douyin operation: Enterprises, you must not do Douyin!

2.2019 Kuaishou and Douyin user research report!

3. Tik Tok promotion: 40 popular Tik Tok title templates, it’s hard not to be popular!

4. 2019 Douyin short video marketing promotion plan!

5.2019 Kuaishou and Douyin user research report!

6. Kuaishou APP product analysis report!

Author: Kas Data

Author: Kas Data