TikTok’s distribution model is different from Instagram’s. On Instagram, most posts are shown first to a creator’s followers, so follower count is a good baseline for potential reach.

On TikTok, however, the majority of exposure happens on the For You page, where content is discovered algorithmically. Followers usually make up only a small fraction of total viewers. Because of this, follower count does not reliably reflect how many people a TikTok actually reaches.

That’s why we use video views as the measure of Reach on TikTok. Views show the number of unique people who could have been reached, making it the most accurate way to evaluate TikTok content.

We still capture follower counts at the contributor level. This allows you to compare a creator’s follower base with the reach of their content by using View Rate (views ÷ followers × 100). This can help you identify creators who consistently over-deliver on reach relative to their audience size.