Is TikTok a waste of time for a B2B founder?
Not always, but it is rarely the right first platform. TikTok skews young, with roughly half of 18 to 29 year olds using it daily versus 5% of adults over 65, and only 29% of video marketers call it effective. For most B2B founders it works best as a secondary channel fed by videos already made for LinkedIn or Instagram.
TikTok isn’t a waste of time for every B2B founder, but it’s rarely the right first platform. It skews young and entertainment-first, and marketers rate it below most other video channels. If your buyers are under 35, or your product is easy to show on screen, it can work. For most B2B founders it’s best as a secondary channel, fed by videos you’re already making.
Who is actually on TikTok
Pew Research Center’s 2025 survey found that 37% of US adults use TikTok, and 24% use it every day. The age split is sharp: roughly half of adults aged 18 to 29 go on TikTok daily, compared with 5% of those 65 and older.
So if you sell to young startups, marketing teams or creators, your buyers may well be there. If you sell to CFOs at manufacturing companies, far fewer of them will be.
What marketers report
In Wyzowl’s 2026 survey, 40% of video marketers said they used TikTok and 29% said it was effective. That puts it well below YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn in the same survey. Part of the reason is fit: many businesses on TikTok are selling to people who aren’t there in a buying mindset.
When TikTok can work for B2B
| Works better when | Works worse when |
|---|---|
| Your buyers are under 35 | Buyers are senior executives in traditional industries |
| The product is easy to show on screen | The sale is long, complex and committee-driven |
| The founder enjoys a casual, fast style | The brand needs a formal tone |
| You’re hiring young talent | You only want qualified leads, quickly |
Hiring is an underrated reason. Even when buyers aren’t on TikTok, future employees often are.
How to test it cheaply
- Repost what you already make. Upload clean versions of your LinkedIn or Instagram videos natively, with no watermarks. See whether to post the same video on every platform.
- Rewrite the first line. TikTok openings need to be faster and more casual.
- Write captions in your buyers’ words. Describe the problem the way a buyer would type it, so the video can be found by search as well as the feed.
- Give it 90 days. Judge it on profile visits, DMs and website visits, not views.
If the test shows little traction, put that time into the platforms your buyers do use. For most B2B founders that’s LinkedIn first, then YouTube: see whether LinkedIn video is worth it for founders.
Adding a platform without adding work
TikTok only makes sense for most founders if it costs almost nothing extra. The DIY version is to export a clean master of every video and upload it to TikTok with a rewritten caption.
Dopameme runs multi-platform short-form for founders from one recording session, adapting each video’s opening and caption for TikTok, Reels, Shorts and LinkedIn. Whichever way you do it, test TikTok as an add-on before you make it a priority.
Bottom line
TikTok can work for B2B founders whose buyers are young or whose product is easy to show, but it’s rarely the right place to start. It skews younger, with about half of 18 to 29 year olds using it daily, and only 29% of video marketers call it effective. Test it by reposting your existing videos natively for 90 days and judge it by conversations, not views.
Sources: Pew Research Center: Americans’ Social Media Use 2025; Wyzowl: Video Marketing Statistics 2026.
Credits & sources
Figures in this article come from the sources above and are quoted as published. Anything labelled as an example is illustrative, not a benchmark.
Written by
Salaar co-founded Dopameme and leads organic growth and founder-led marketing. He spent over a decade building audiences on Instagram before starting the agency.
Published by Dopameme. Read how we choose questions and use sources in our editorial policy.
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