YouTube Vs TikTok For Your Business’s Content Marketing

Video, as a medium for business content marketing has exploded onto the scene. It is hard to imagine a world now without the likes of video sharing platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Video creators and influencers have amassed impressive followings to grow their personal brands or businesses through the generation of video content. On these platforms, users can view video content within almost any niche including categories such as music, beauty, comedy, gaming, food, sports, etc. It seems as if users can search for virtually anything on one of these platforms and immediately find an abundance of videos to satisfy their query as well as hordes of influencers already capitalizing off of creating videos within that category.

What does this mean for your business or brand? Video platforms present an incredible opportunity to enhance the growth and performance of your business, enabling you to promote your products and offerings, as well as display your expertise in your industry to a huge reach of your audience. But which platform should you focus your marketing efforts on? The answer to this depends on a variety of factors including your business’s specific marketing goals, the type of business you have and the audience you are catering to. 

In today’s post we’ll be taking a closer look at TikTok and YouTube and comparing the two platforms to help you understand how each of them would serve your business as a medium for marketing. 

YouTube

When you think about video sharing platforms, up until recently, YouTube would probably be the first platform to immediately spring to the forefront of your mind. Why is that? YouTube has been the quintessential video sharing platform, a veteran of the social platform scene for well over a decade. Originated in 2005, the purpose of YouTube has been focused on sharing long form video content. YouTube is the second largest search engine, boasting a massive audience of users that make up 95% of the world’s population. Users can upload videos to the platform, view videos on other channels and interact with other users through liking and commenting on other videos. Users can also subscribe to channels to stay up to date with a creator’s newest videos, as well as easily monetize their videos once they have reached enough viewers and enough views on their content.

As a platform, YouTube is a fantastic tool to use for your company’s marketing efforts, and is incredibly versatile with applications for both B2B and B2C companies. This means that YouTube can potentially serve your company well whether you offer a consumer product like cosmetics or bath products, are a media news outlet or even if you are a B2B company that offers SaaS technology solutions. 

What are some of the advantages of using YouTube for marketing? 

1. You have the ability to record longer videos on YouTube enabling you a great deal of freedom to tell your story and present your products and offerings any way you’d like. 
2. Rather than scrolling through an endless feed of videos, users typically search for what kind of video they are looking for on YouTube. This means that you can reach a more targeted audience on YouTube more easily of users who are genuinely seeking that kind of specific content, and therefore, may be more likely to convert to customers.
3. With a more targeted audience on YouTube, views on your videos will also count more, putting your content in front of viewers who will matter more, ultimately bringing more value to your company, and potentially more to your bottom line. 
4. There is a tremendous variety of types of videos on the platform.
5. YouTube’s platform appeals and caters to practically every demographic segment and any age range. 

What are disadvantages of using YouTube for marketing?

1. While TikTok enables you to create your own videos using its platform, YouTube does not enable you to shoot videos from the platform itself. 
2. It typically requires higher production values to create a quality video on Youtube. Also, with the content being long-form, businesses tend to put a lot more marketing dollars into video content for YouTube.
3. It’s a hugely saturated market, so it can be difficult to get a following, get your videos seen or build clout when you are just starting out. 
4. While working with influencers can be a savvy move for your marketing efforts, working with Youtube influencers can be very costly and challenging. 
5. YouTube’s algorithm has a preference towards longer videos, and it is vital that you stay consistent with uploading videos on a regular schedule as well as updating your content.

TikTok

As compared to Youtube, TikTok is a young up-and-comer, having recently burst onto the scene. Though it was only recently founded in 2018, it has since risen in popularity quickly to become one of the most highly downloaded apps, reaching even larger numbers than other social media mainstays like Instagram! The platform has been centered around the creation of 15 second long videos (a new capability has since launched allowing users to make videos up to 3 minutes) and users typically scroll through their feed on their FYP (For You Page) to watch curated video content tailored to their interests, generated through the AI algorithm. Creators on TikTok can use the platform to create, edit and incorporate music, filters and a wide variety of effects into their content. TikTok is especially popular amongst a younger demographic, with 41% of Generation Z users between the ages of 16 and 24 flocking to the platform in hordes.

Depending on your type of business and your audience, TikTok can be a powerful marketing tool for your company. With most of its audience wavering on the younger side, TikTok is a brilliant platform for companies whose own audience fits into more of the Generation Z or millennial demographic. As the platform is focused around 15 second videos, TikTok would best serve B2C companies, with products or offerings they can easily feature through short-form content rather than B2C products that are typically more complex and would require longer viewing times and deeper explanations to properly convey to a more discriminating, executive audience. 

What are some of the advantages of using TikTok for marketing?

1. Up until recently, with TikTok’s platform focused on the creation and sharing of 15 second videos, it is significantly easier to create videos on TikTok than it is on YouTube and video production on this platform typically requires a lower budget.
2. It is an ideal choice if your target audience is younger and concentrated amongst mostly Gen Z and millennials, as the platform is hugely popular amongst this demographic. 
3. It can be easier to generate a lot of views quickly on the platform, and build large followings than on a platform like YouTube, especially when you participate in TikTok challenges and incorporate trends into your content.
4. The playing field amongst business and brands is not too saturated just yet, so it can be easier to gain views and engagement with your audience on TikTok than on YouTube. 
5. As long as you can condense your content to a short-form format, you have great creative freedom to produce your videos any way you’d like. The vibe is laidback and driven by a spirit that encourages creative expression and the platform comes pre-loaded with tons of features, filters and effects to customize and edit your videos as per wherever your vision takes you.

What are some of the disadvantages of using TikTok for marketing? 

1. While YouTube has clearly proven its long term appeal, having been an immensely popular platform for over a decade and a half, TikTok has yet to prove it’s potential lifespan and it’s long term appeal is still up in the air. 
2. TikTok’s platform caters best to B2C companies whose audiences waver on the younger side, limited to mostly Gen Z and millennials. If your target audience does not fit this age range, and/or you’re a B2B company, you will most likely find that TikTok is not the ideal platform for you to focus your advertising dollars on.
3. It’s more difficult for creators to get their videos monetized on TikTok than on YouTube due to the fact that there is no clear advertising business model to follow just yet. 
4. There’s a very specific feel to videos on the platform, and creators may feel pressured to conform to fit the TikTok vibe and style to be competitive on the platform through incorporating filters, effects and music that may not necessarily feel organic to their brand. 

Whether you choose to focus your marketing efforts on YouTube or TikTok, it is clear that video sharing platforms are not going anywhere, and will most likely continue to be hugely popular for years and years to come. Video content marketing, when executed effectively can be transformative for companies, helping them escalate growth and performance quickly. One takeaway you should keep in mind for whichever platform  you use is that video content marketing enables you to build and define your brand, and increase brand awareness which are integral to cultivating trust and deeper engagement with your audience. Either TikTok or YouTube could potentially serve your company very well, and which platform you decide to concentrate on will depend on the type of company you have, your unique marketing objectives and audience. 

Whether in written form or multimedia, your business’s content is integral to your company and can be the key to deeper engagement with your audience. Have further questions about how to amp up your content marketing strategy or maybe you are looking to take your social media marketing to new heights? Partner with us at Firon Marketing, and reach out for a complimentary audit today.