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Luke McCarthy
May 2, 2024
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Welcome to the era of videos. If we were all in love with our selfies and latte snaps a decade ago, today video content rules the social media world. Nowhere is that more obvious than in how quickly TikTok, the short-form-video platform, has risen through the ranks in the past five years.
TikTok currently boasts over 1 billion monthly active users and the social media giant shows no signs of stopping. In fact, in 2022 TikTok was the most downloaded mobile app in the world, far exceeding Instagram, Whatsapp, and any other platform on the market.
If you’re a creator or brand, TikTok is the place to be. With its global reach, TikTok can give you easy access to a diverse audience and maybe even help you set a new worldwide trend. In order to do that, however, you need to familiarise yourself with the plethora of features this platform offers. Here, we share the most popular ones to get you started.
TikTok features include:
Let’s take a close look at each one.
Video recording
TikTok was made with video in mind, so the app makes it very easy to record and edit a video on the spot. Initially limited to 15-second snippets, users can now record videos of up to 10 minutes in length, giving you more options for diverse and in-depth content. If you’ve already recorded your video, you can upload it directly.
Video editing
Filters and effects help make this app so popular. From flawless makeup filters to changing your eye colour, and adding cool stickers to your content, TikTok allows users to let your creativity run wild. Not only can you edit the videos you’ve recorded, you can also use stock photos and videos from elsewhere, add captions, and really make your content stand out.
TikTok sounds
One of the reasons TikTok has become such a sensation is its sounds. Instead of putting the onus on users to both record a video and come up with interesting audio, the app allows you to select from a myriad of tunes to attach to your video. As well as making it easier to actually create videos, TikTok sounds makes content more fun to watch.
One word of caution, there are limitations as to what sounds you can use as either a personal or a business TikTok account. For instance, personal accounts can use both ‘sounds’ and ‘commercial sounds’, while business accounts can only use commercial sounds.
Voiceover and voice filters
The sky’s the limit when it comes to editing the audio of your videos. Once you’ve recorded your content, you can immediately change the audio to make it as deep or as soft as you like, add spooky or robotic effects to it, and even record over it to add multiple layers of sound.
TikTok LIVE
Another cool feature of the platform is its live streaming option. Here, you don’t have any time limit on how long the stream is. You just need to be 18 years or older and provide engaging and fun content. You can still use your favourite filters and effects, and even earn money in the form of LIVE Gifts and Diamonds.
TikTok Pulse
TikTok Pulse was launched recently to help brands cut through the noise and get featured alongside the top 4% most popular videos on the platform. This feature helps brands place their ads at the top of the For You feed, scoring your content far more views than it may otherwise get.
TikTok Now
If you thought there couldn’t be yet another way of posting content and interacting with others, you’d be surprised. TikTok has added the Now option for users who want to post real-time images or 10-second videos of what they’re doing right this moment.
The idea is to engage with your friends and followers in a more authentic manner, and give them a real glimpse into your everyday life. Once you get the Now notification, you have three minutes to post what you’re doing. You can still post content after that, but it’ll be marked as late for most users.
TikTok Creator Marketplace
As a creator, you might depend on brand sponsorships to make a living. Oftentimes, this means creating content for months or years on end until a brand recognises you and finally offers you a deal. Well, the Creator Marketplace allows you to take matters into your own hands and apply to contribute to upcoming campaigns. The app makes it easy to filter between different types of campaigns so that you always have clear visibility of your options. An even easier way to get noticed is to join our creator community.
Expanded translation
You’re no longer limited by the reach of the language you use. TikTok is bringing in expanded translation options for text stickers as well as auto-generated captions for your audio. To make use of this feature, you’ll need to go to the Settings menu, then Language setting, Translation language, and finally enable Always show translation.
Direct messaging
TikTok isn’t just a video platform. In fact, you can use the app to send and receive direct messages to suggested friends (synced Facebook friends and phone contacts), mutual followers, people you’ve messaged and other contacts. This is yet another great way to engage with others and foster strong relationships with people you know, as well as those you don’t know but share similar interests with.
TikTok has evolved significantly in the past few years and so has its content types. While the platform specialises in video, there are many different video types you can record and share. Here are the most popular ones as well as other features to use alongside them.
Duet and reactions
We’ve all seen those videos made of two different recordings running simultaneously side by side. Whether that’s to record your reaction to an original video, or to build on that video, and add your take on it, duets are a great way to interact with other creators and give your twist to an existing piece of content.
TikTok allows users to choose if and who can interact with their videos in this way in their Privacy and Safety settings.
Stitching
Stitching is another way to put two videos together into one; only this time the videos will play asynchronously i.e. one after the other. Perhaps you want to show the result of following someone’s instructions, answer questions, add commentary, or simply compare two things. Stitched videos are a great way to do this as they can be super entertaining and engaging.
TikTok Stories
Like Stories on other platforms, these are short videos which disappear within a 24-hour period. In the case of TikTok, these videos can be up to 15 seconds long, and are supposed to foster deeper and more authentic engagement with the audience by allowing you to be playful and not overthink your content strategy as an influencer.
Video replies
Like any social media platform, the TikTok algorithm thrives on engagement. And one of the best ways to engage with others is via the comments section. TikTok now allows creators to reply to comments with a video. When you click on a comment, you have the option to record a video. The comment will be attached to the video as a sticker and your video will feature both in the comments section as well as on your video page.
Hashtags
Finally, let’s not forget the all-round-popular hashtags. Like with any other social media platform, users are encouraged to use hashtags to describe their videos and group them with other similar content. Hashtags can start trends and create whole new categories of content. For instance, #BookTok has recently become one of the most popular hashtags with almost 150 billion views, so much so that authors are reporting massive spikes in their sales after their book has been promoted using the hashtag.
TikTok may have started as a lip-synching platform for Gen Z music aficionados, but it’s since grown into a global phenomenon, where creators and brands of all sizes can truly thrive.
The app is intuitive and easy to use, and it offers enough flexibility to post content even if you’re camera shy. However, getting seen in the sea of millions of other creators can be a challenge. That’s why following trends, understanding all existing and upcoming features, and posting consistently on the platform is key. Do this and the results will speak for themselves.
You don’t have to go it alone, however. Vamp is an official TikTok Creative Marketing Partner so helps creators and brands of all sizes boost their social media reach. If you want to find out more, head to our getting started page and you’ll soon be well on your way to TikTok stardom.
