Whereas TikTok’s progress is unprecedented, and its advert enterprise is rising in-step, the place TikTok’s nonetheless struggling to ascertain agency footing is in creator monetization, and guaranteeing that its high stars are capable of maximize their recognition via direct revenue from their TikTok clips.

Which is a significant concern. Vine, for instance, which many take into account to be the predecessor to TikTok, was ultimately compelled to close down as a result of it wasn’t capable of set up a creator monetization pathway that was on par with opponents.

In some unspecified time in the future, the most important stars will focus their vitality on wherever they’re going to take advantage of cash, and proper now, for many, that isn’t TikTok, which has already seen plenty of its greatest names switching over to YouTube and Instagram as an alternative.

So what can TikTok do?

Apparently, guiding creators in direction of longer-form content material is TikTok’s subsequent step on this push.

As reported by The Info:

“In late October, TikTok invited dozens of creators to its New York workplace for a non-public occasion aimed toward mobilizing them to create extra movies no less than a minute lengthy. TikTok executives instructed the creators that by embracing longer movies, they will make more cash and have extra time to get their messages out.”

That might deal with YouTube’s greatest benefit over TikTok on this respect, with YouTube creators capable of earn income from advert share based mostly on pre and mid-roll adverts. Which, with primarily 30-second clips, TikTok can not do, so it’s now seemingly making an attempt to re-shape person behaviors so as to additional align customers, and creators, round longer kind content material, with a view to constructing out its advert choices in additional methods.

Whether or not that’s truly what customers need from TikTok stays to be seen, however conceptually, it might get TikTok onto extra comparative footing, in a monetization sense.

And already, TikTok does appear to be prompting a gradual utilization shift:

“TikTok instructed creators that customers are actually spending half their time on the app watching content material that’s longer than a minute. And over the previous six months, creators who put up movies longer than a minute have 5 occasions the expansion fee in followers of those that put up solely quick movies.”

Possibly, TikTok’s final future is to turn out to be a long-form content material vacation spot, which might additionally higher align with its personal definition as “an leisure app” versus a social community.  

Actually, TikTok has already sparked a paradigm shift on this respect, when it comes to making leisure the important thing focus of social apps, progressively eradicating an increasing number of of the “social” aspect.

Meta has since adopted the identical, with widespread Reels now taking on your feed, versus posts from folks and Pages designed to immediate extra engagement.

TikTok has led the best way in algorithmically-defined feeds, so as to maximize engagement. Now it simply must develop that to longer clips.

It’ll take a while, and adjustment, for TikTok so as to add in additional direct advert choices based mostly on this, however that seems to be the main focus transferring ahead, because it guides creators in direction of longer kind traits.

And whereas TikTok’s additionally nonetheless pushing its in-stream commerce initiatives, which have been its key earner in its Chinese language homeland, Western audiences stay lukewarm on in-app procuring choices, prompting this new shift.

As such, this may very well be a significant enlargement, whereas the truth that extra customers are actually watching longer content material within the app would recommend that that is already occurring to some extent.

One other consideration on your 2024 planning.