December 6, 2021
As you may have noticed, all the social media channels are in constant competition to become the platform with the most active users. Or to be the first to launch some new functionality on the market that, if successful, will be copied by other companies.
In September 2021, TikTok reported 1 billion monthly active users worldwide and it seems that this app wants to continue consolidating its strong presence in the digital landscape, always offering new functionalities. This social media channel has seen tremendous growth in the last few years and it’s constantly working on new updates to offer a 360 experience to its users. So, what’s been going on, on TikTok?
5 MINUTE VIDEOS
What made TikTok special is that you could only upload short 15-second videos. However, as this social channel grew, the duration of the videos increased first to 60 seconds and then to 3 minutes. And then, TikTok started testing 5-minute videos this summer.
But what does this increase in time mean for the platform? Well, TikTok could start competing with other platforms such as YouTube. Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok with more than 600 million active users, already allows uploading videos of up to 15 minutes. And everything indicates that the western version will include this feature soon. For now, it will be necessary to test the reception of the 5-minute videos among the public before they decide.
TIKTOK AND SHOPIFY PARTNERSHIP
The e-commerce boom has not gone unnoticed by TikTok. Hence its partnership with Shopify, which will allow brands to create a section within their profile dedicated exclusively to the sale of their products through a new shopping tab.
PLAYLISTS ⛓
TikTok Playlists is a feature that allows users to group their own videos into thematic collections or categories and display them on their profile page. The objective of this is to increase engagement making it easier for audiences to consume their content.
PROMOTE
Promote is very similar to Facebook Boost functionality. This tool allows creators or businesses to push organic posts. The objective? Gain visibility, grow your community, and make your content appear on the ‘For You’ page. This can be a great advantage for creators, especially for small and medium businesses or those who do not have the time or adequate staff to run large-scale advertising campaigns on TikTok. Promote is very easy to use and quite intuitive, although it is necessary to bear in mind that not all the videos that you upload to your social network will be able to be pushed with Promote. Those that carry music subject to copyright will be automatically rejected.
CANVA AND VIMEO
Canva and Vimeo have partnered with TikTok to make ad content creation easier for small businesses. Vimeo Create will help you produce and post videos on TikTok Ad Manager in just a few minutes. With optimised templates for TikTok, this is perfect for small companies that do not have the specialised staff to carry out this type of job. Also, Canva has over 50 templates available to help creators and businesses create more engaging ads, making it easier to small businesses on TikTok Ad Manager to push sales.
AGE RESTRICTIONS
TikTok is a social channel widely used among minors. That is why this platform has decided to tackle this problem and implement a series of restrictions for young minors:
- For 16–17-year-old user accounts, only approved followers will be able to comment on uploaded videos. You can also prevent anyone from downloading videos from these types of accounts.
- 13–15-year-old user accounts will not be suggested to other users of this app. Also, they won’t be the possibility of downloading videos created by children under 16 years of age.
If you want to know how to effectively use these TikTok features and stay ahead of trends, then get in touch today!