Did you know that TikTok has one billion global users as of 2022? Over the past few years, TikTok has taken over video content, social media, and advertising. With its short-form videos able to go viral overnight, TikTok is a marketing beast.
However, is TikTok better than YouTube when it comes to video advertising? YouTube has dominated the video-sharing space since its launch in 2005. No other video-sharing site has been able to maintain its growth as YouTube has. In fact, there are 2.20 billion active users on YouTube monthly.
So, TikTok vs. YouTube? Which is better for video marketing? Keep reading to find out which platform works best for your advertising needs.
About TikTok
TikTok has had incredible growth since its launch in 2016. Does this mean TikTok is going to overtake YouTube? Not necessarily.
TikTok provides a different purpose than YouTube. In other words, people use both platforms differently, and understanding this can help you know which platform is right for you to advertise on.
TikTok content is focused on short-form, trendy videos. Content can range from 15 seconds to 3 minutes. A plethora of different categories of content makes TikTok just as diverse as YouTube. TikTok is home to dancing tutorials, funny sketches, how-to craft videos, product reviews, cooking, and so much more.
The way TikTok combines the features of a social media app and the creative outlet of YouTube makes it extremely popular among younger demographics, especially people aged 16 to 24.
TikTok Marketing
Many brands use TikTok for brand awareness or to sponsor specific creators, much like YouTube. There are many similar ways to advertise on both platforms, but TikTok allows an advertiser’s post to be inserted into a user’s feed.
This means that while a user scrolls through their feed of curated videos, they will see ads sprinkled throughout. This may be a more effective way to catch your viewer’s eye. It’s important to create marketing ads that stand out, especially on TikTok.
TikTok also allows for brands to film videos within the app, which is a feature YouTube does not possess. Therefore, you could easily film an advertisement on TikTok for a much smaller budget than the production value that is required on YouTube.
Another thing to think about with TikTok is that the brands that find success on the platform are mainly business-to-consumer companies. If you are a business-to-business company, YouTube may be the better option for your marketing efforts.
Furthermore, TikTok does have an advantage over YouTube in the way TikTok allows virality more so than YouTube. Of course, videos go viral on YouTube, but with the looping video format on TikTok, you can expect more views and engagement.
Before we can decide if TikTok is right for your brand, let’s take a look at what YouTube has to offer.
About YouTube
YouTube has been the dominant space for video content on the internet for years. It’s a familiar place with loads of creators and can be a great place for your marketing efforts. The content on YouTube is extremely widespread; from tutorials, DIY how-to’s, product reviews, gamers, vloggers, influencers, and so much more.
YouTube reaches quite wide demographics. TikTok is much more popular among teens, but a staggering 95% of adults aged 18 to 29 use YouTube.
The biggest difference between YouTube and TikTok is the preference for longer videos on YouTube. TikTok ads always have to be short and sweet, but with YouTube, your brand has a lot more options.
YouTube can be a place for 30-second ads before each video, or even longer ads. If you have a product you want to demonstrate, YouTube can be perfect for that as it allows for that longer video advertisement.
Additionally, YouTube has a lot more credibility than TikTok as it has been around a lot longer. TikTok may have tremendous growth, but YouTube has proven longevity.
YouTube Marketing
YouTube has had steady growth and presence on the internet for over a decade. It has also housed advertisers and brands for many years. YouTube for Business brings amazing opportunities to brands.
YouTube for Business makes creating ad campaigns easy and widespread. With the broad reach that YouTube has, you can be guaranteed to meet your target audience with your marketing campaign.
YouTube marketing is also a great place for business-to-business company advertising, as the YouTube viewer demographics are more widespread, compared to TikTok.
Unlike TikTok, YouTube has a precise algorithm regarding analytics specific to every different channel. If a user consumes beauty content from beauty influencers, then a beauty company’s ads will be shown to them. This can be very important to your brand’s visibility.
How Video Marketing Works on YouTube vs. TikTok
Now that we’ve briefly discussed some of the differences between marketing on TikTok vs. Youtube, let’s dig a little deeper.
Before deciding which platform is best for your marketing efforts, take a look at the ads on TikTok and the ads on YouTube. Spend some time on both platforms and notice the differences.
YouTube tends to show its ads before or in the middle of a video a user has clicked on. TikTok’s way of showing ads is by inserting them into the users’ feed much like Instagram. However, with YouTube, a user is not going to completely click out of the ad because they want to get to the video they clicked on.
One disadvantage TikTok has with advertising is that the ads can simply be swiped away as soon as the user realizes it is an ad.
YouTube has a “skip” feature on ads, but only after about ten seconds. That is ten seconds where the viewer is watching your ad and unable to just swipe away. If you catch their interest, they will continue to watch the advertisement.
We also mentioned that YouTube seems to have a much more intuitive way of showing viewers ads that are relevant to them. This can be tremendously important to your ad viewership and CPM.
Ad Campaigns on TikTok vs. YouTube
YouTube for Business can be perfect if you have the time and resources to create a strong, widespread ad campaign. You can create an entire channel dedicated to different kinds of advertising and brand awareness. There are tons of directions you can go in with your creative freedom.
With YouTube, you can use your platform to create tutorials and how-to videos to help your viewer understand the product or service you are selling. You can also create behind-the-scenes looks at your company culture to draw in customers.
On the other side, if you want a more laid-back approach to advertising, TikTok can facilitate that. The entire vibe on TikTok lends its hand to funny, laid-back, trendy ad campaigns. You can follow different challenges or trends and blend your brand into the content found on TikTok.
Additionally, TikTok has made branded hashtags an option to boost your brand’s visibility and easily create trends. TikTok also can provide a higher engagement rate for video ads because you can comment on them and share them instantly.
TikTok vs. YouTube: Pros and Cons
TikTok and YouTube are very similar in a lot of ways. However, they each have their separate pros and cons. Let’s go over some of them.
The pros of YouTube marketing include:
- Longer videos allow you to present your products and your company’s story
- A clear business advertising model
- Wide demographic among all ages
- Can lend itself to serious ad campaigns as well as fun and casual campaigns
- Over 2 billion monthly users
The pros of TikTok marketing include:
- Short-form videos allow for more views and virality
- Favors fun, casual, trendy content
- Allows you to shoot your ad straight from the app
- Large teen and young adult demographic
- About 1 billion monthly users
Both platforms have great advantages to them, but what about the disadvantages? How can you know which one is right (or wrong) for your marketing campaign?
The cons of YouTube marketing include:
- Requires a higher production value
- Very saturated market, difficult to grow with so many big competitors
- Working with influencers can be costly and challenging
- YouTube’s algorithm prefers longer videos
The cons of TikTok marketing:
- No proven lifespan
- The long-term appeal is still unknown
- Caters to business-to-customer companies
- Limits your outreach to Gen-Z and young millennials
- No clear advertising business model (yet)
There are so many moving parts to creating an advertising campaign that is effective for your brand, and we hope this has informed you about the differences between TikTok vs. YouTube.
Which Platform Is Right for Your Business?
There’s a lot to tackle when it comes to TikTok vs. YouTube, but there’s a clear difference between the two video-sharing spaces. We hope this guide helped narrow down which platform is the right one for your marketing efforts.
Now, how do you know which one is definitely right for your company?
Whether it’s on TikTok or YouTube, you’ll need an expert to help you decide which is right for your business. Contact us today to get started with your marketing efforts.
