TikTok Growth Strategy: Find the Biggest Lever for Expanding Its User Base

You are a product manager asked to grow TikTok's user base. Explain where you would look for growth, which group of people you would focus on, what you would build or change for them, and how you would know it worked. ```hint Break the user count into flows The number of users changes through people who join, people who try the app and leave, and people who come back after lapsing. Size each flow before choosing whom to build for. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "users" mean sign-ups, monthly active users or daily active users, and does keeping current users count toward the goal? - Is the target global, or are particular regions or age groups where TikTok is less widely used the priority? - Are both viewers and creators in scope, or only people who watch? - Are any markets or audiences off limits, for example because of regulation or policies for younger users? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A precise definition of the user count being grown and a breakdown of how it changes over time - Segments compared on opportunity size and TikTok's ability to serve them, with one chosen and the reason - The barriers that keep the chosen group from joining or staying, grounded in how TikTok actually works for them - Ideas prioritized on explicit criteria, including their effect on existing viewers and creators - A primary success metric with guardrails, plus the main risks and how to handle them ### Follow-up Questions - Your top idea lifts sign-ups, but fewer of those new users are still active a month later. What do you do? - How would you test an idea whose value depends on friends joining together, where a user-level experiment may understate or blur the effect? - How would your plan change for a market where TikTok faces strong local competitors or regulatory risk?