YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok: Three Tips To Win

Short-form videos are the number one marketing strategy today, but which platform is the best for growing your business?

The answer... is complicated.

When looking for the answer online, you'll find that social experts are split on this topic.

On Gary Vee's YouTube channel, he said, "The underpriced nature of TikTok right now is like the seventh FU^$(&^ time this has happened." He said it happened with Search, Email, Facebook, and Instagram, and it is now happening with TikTok. He went on to say, "it will work for you on TikTok, it will. If you put out four pieces of organic content a day... it will work in a way you can't imagine."

That is a valid claim, but is TikTok really the next holy grail of digital marketing, or is there a better option?

On Full Send Podcast, MrBeast was asked what he thought of TikTok. He said, "Google has Google Adwords. They have been in the ad business for over a decade... and the YouTube Partner program has been around for a decade. They just have a ton of experience with [paying creators], and I think TikTok is going to have trouble catching up. Once you see the Partner Program kick in on Shorts, I think you're going to see a lot of TikTokers coming over here."

So, who's right? Is one platform really better than the other? Before we jump to conclusions, let's look at the facts.

First of all, TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users. Billion, with a B. TikTok is expected to grow by nearly 4% in 2023. That's roughly another 40 million users.

However, YouTube has over 2.6 billion monthly active users. That's more people than were on earth when you're grandparents were kids. YouTube is expected to grow by 5% in 2023. That's roughly another 130 million.

So, MrBeast is right? Yes, and no.

Creators need compensation to continue creating content, and YouTube makes that very easy with their revenue split, BUT TikTok has some tricks up its sleeve.

"TikTok users are 1.5x more likely than other platform users to immediately buy something they discovered on the platform*, 1 in 3 have bought a product because they saw it on TikTok in the past year*, and TikTok users spend 14% more when TikTok is a part of the purchase journey*." 

(*TikTok Marketing Science Global Retail Path to Purchase Study conducted by Material, August 2021)

TLDR; TikTok dominates in the shopping arena.

So, even if TikTok doesn't pay creators the same way YouTube does, TikTok still provides creators with a huge opportunity to make money by selling clothing, mugs, courses, or anything else.

So, which platform should you choose? I say, is it too much to ask for both?

If you're serious about trying to grow your brand, creating content for BOTH platforms is THE best plan.

BUT creating content for even one of these platforms is time-consuming. So, I've come up with 3 Tips to help you win on both.

Three Tips for Winning on YouTube Shorts AND TikTok

1. Timing Is Everything

If you are going to post content to both platforms, that content needs to meet the requirements of the most strict platform. In the case of timing, YouTube's max length of 60 seconds is shorter than TikTok's. So, save yourself time and guesswork and make all of your videos less than 60 seconds. But don't stop there. Videos shorter than 15 seconds have a higher chance of going viral. This is because watch time is a significant factor for both platforms in deciding which videos to share with a wider audience. If someone watches your video more than once, it's recorded as above 100% watch time. And that's why --- timing is everything. 

2. Batch, Batch Baby!

If you own a business, have family or friends, or enjoy sleeping, this tip is for you. Planning, filming, and editing videos in advance is a great way to stay ahead on content. If this sounds overwhelming, start by writing down all your ideas. 

Don't worry about big ideas. These are shorts, after all. Write down as many as you can. Bonus points if you can reach 100 ideas. Armed with a long list of ideas, spend one day or a weekend filming and editing. Now you're ready to schedule your Shorts and TikToks. Both platforms allow you to schedule content from your desktop, making it easy to tackle this project. 

We use this method with clients to make sure their calendars never go empty.

3. Music Makes You Lose Monetization

Lastly, when you're creating content for TikTok and YouTube Shorts, you may need to export your videos twice. Music licensing on each platform is different, and we've seen content get demonetized quickly on YouTube when using audio from TikTok. So, we recommend editing videos for YouTube with music from Artlist.io. Then export the video without music for TikTok, and use trending audio clips instead to get more views.

Let us know what questions you have about TikTok and YouTube Shorts or how to grow your business online.