Did you know YouTube is the second most popular social media platform following TikTok in the fifth place? Yes, users prefer YouTube and TikTok for gathering information, solving problems, sharing skills, and entertainment purposes. However, both platforms are popular for different reasons and have different ways of reaching and capturing the audience’s attention.
This is what we are going to explain today whether YouTube or TikTok is a better option for your business. In this article, you will learn the differences and benefits of TikTok vs YouTube, which one is the best option for promoting your business, and what to keep in mind while creating videos for these platforms. Continue reading!
About TikTok
TikTok started its journey from China in 2016 and became globally popular by 2018. The reason it became so popular so fast is that it is super easy to use and shows 15-second shorts, new, fun, and engaging content that users enjoy. Also, creating content on TikTok is easier than on YouTube. You can just capture a moment and post it on TikTok and you will get thousands of views.
The platform has gone through major updates and has been growing ever since to provide a better user experience. Now, you can upload videos up to 30 minutes long using different new trends and effects.
According to statistics, monthly 1.04 billion people actively use TikTok and continuously growing in number every day. From an entertainment-purpose social media platform, it has become a large community where you can showcase your special skills, promote your brand, and earn money.
About YouTube
YouTube started its journey in 2005. At that time YouTubers could not make videos more than 100MB. However, YouTube social media platform has grown massively over time and now around 2.9 billion users use YouTube, and expected to grow to 3.1 billion users within 2025. Also, you can upload videos of unlimited length such as 2 hours, and even go live. Another reason YouTube’s becoming super popular is because it is a free platform where you can watch unlimited videos of your liking.
Also, if you want to be a YouTuber, you can create your own channel for free, and make and edit any kind of YouTube videos you like, for example, personal vlogs, fishing videos, branding, your hobbies, music videos, animation, instructional videos, informational videos, and more. Since there is no time limit, you can showcase your skills and communicate with your audience for as long as you want. You just need to ensure your videos are copyrighted, and then they will remain on your channel for years.
You can also make lots of money from YouTube with sponsorship, ads, and views, making it an amazing place for increasing business deals and sales. For example, there are many YouTubers who started their channel for creating fun and roasting videos, now due to their popularity they go on to shows and perform live. So, YouTube has become a platform where you can showcase your talent and get popular.
TikTok vs YouTube: Differences and Benefits
You have probably already understood how YouTube and TikTok have grown over the years. Now, let’s see the major differences between YouTube and TikTok, and the advantages and disadvantages so that you can use them for your business wisely.
TikTok and YouTube: Differences
Both YouTube and TikTok are video-watching and sharing platforms however, both platform’s audience approaching, engagement, TikTok and YouTube video editing services processes are different. Let’s see the 6 key differences between YouTube and TikTok.
Key Differences | TikTok | YouTube |
Target Audience | Gen Z. Age group around 16-24. However, due to its massive popularity over the years, older people (age: 25-44) are also taking the initiative to engage in the platform activities. | Young to old people of multi-generational users. Due to being familiar with the YouTube algorithm, constant use, and recommendations, YouTube has become the second most popular social media platform users feel comfortable using. |
Content Format, Duration, and Type | Bite-sized content around 15 seconds to 1 minute up to 30 minutes. Creative TikTokers mostly use TikTok for creating fun short videos like lip-syncing to famous dialogues and songs, new trends, and more and showcasing their creative skills like singing, dancing, archery, and more. | Both long and short format content up to 12 hours. YouTube content type consists of educational. informational, and entertaining with in-depth storytelling that users enjoy. Also, you can sell products, and services, and promote your brand through creative and informational videos. |
Content Reach | Locally. TikTok takes your location information and recommends content based on your surrounding area. Thus, if you are in Bangladesh, you will get popular video recommendations around Bangladesh, India, and more. | Globally. As long as your search meets the query, you can get search results worldwide. For example, if you are in Bangladesh and search on YouTube about what SEO is, search results will show relevant results worldwide like India, the USA, Bangladesh, and more. |
Video Recommendations | TikTok algorithm understands your liking by keeping track of your actions, swiping, reactions, and sharing, and sends you relevant recommendations. | YouTube Algorithm keeps track of your regular viewing history and watch time and recommends relevant content that allows you to watch videos one after another. For example, if you are learning how to retouch images from YouTube, YouTube will provide you with more similar recommendations to help with your learning. |
Editing Difficulty Level | Editing in TikTok is super easy which even a beginner can do. You can use effects, music, and filters from the app and take your videos to the next level. | YouTube offers an in-built video editing tool for basic video editing from where you can cut, trim, add music, and subscription. However, for advanced level editing editors often have to use external good software. |
User Interaction and Collaboration | The TikTok platform allows Tiktokers to showcase their skills and create fun and engaging videos by doing collaborations and duets. Also, Users can actively participate in their liked videos by liking, commenting, and sharing. | YouTube does not offer user collaboration. However, YouTubers can actively engage with users in one-on-one interaction through their videos, and encourage them to leave their views on the comment section. Also, users can interact by liking, subscribing, and leaving relevant links in the pinned comment and description. |
TikTok and YouTube: Benefits
Here are the benefits you will get if you use YouTube vs TikTok social media platforms.
9 TikTok Video-Sharing Platform Advantages
These are the advantages you will get if you create videos on TikTok
Showcasing Creativity: TikTok is a platform where you can show your talent and creativity your way and gain popularity. It can be anything like archery, dancing, singing, gardening, or even how to make a cake.
Best Place to Follow Trends and Share: TikTok has a large library of music and effects that allows you to create amazing videos following various ongoing trends and share them on other social media platforms, ensuring you gain more viewers and popularity.
Live Streaming: When you have 1000 fans or more, you can go on live streaming to engage with your viewers one-on-one and attract a new audience.
Audience Interaction and Engagement: Live streaming or uploaded video, TikTok allows you to connect with your viewers in real-time through comments, likes, and collaboration.
Super Easy Editing: You can edit videos in the TikTok app. It has super easy instructions with amazing effects and trends and editing is less time-consuming than YouTube video editing.
Cut Videos into TikTok Shorts: If your TikTok video is long and there’s a part you want to highlight, you can cut clips and upload them as shorts in TikTok and multiple other social media platforms, gaining more views and audience.
Local Area Audience Enhancement: You can choose your desired location in TikTok to view videos and create and share your own. Your videos will be found by the people surrounding the location you have chosen. TikTok platform is a great place to showcase your skills and promote your brand in your local area.
Instant Feedback: ViaTikTok videos, you can get instant feedback from your viewers with views, likes, and comments. If you see negative feedback or less approach in a video, you can take it down and make more videos that your target audience likes.
Earning Money: TikTok video creators can make money through viewer virtual gifts, and brand partnerships.
10 YouTube Video-Sharing Platform Advantages
These are the advantages you will get if you create videos on YouTube.
Worldwide Audience Enrichment: If your video is high-quality, relevant, and useful, it will appear on the top YouTube search results and reach the audience worldwide. Small Note: If you make videos in different languages, consider adding English subtitles to your videos for better audience understanding.
Analytics for Better Performance: YouTube analytics keep track of audience views, likes, and watch time, helping you to make better content for growing your channel.
One-on-one Interaction and Engagement: YouTube videos are made for a wide range of audiences, however, when you watch them, it makes you feel like the content is solely made for you, providing a real-time interaction and learning experience. At the same time, the comment section makes the interaction two times better because you get to know others’ thoughts and share your own.
Live Stream Opportunity: The Live stream feature was introduced in 2011 and now many users use it for showcasing their talents and interacting with the audience in real-time. The live-streaming time is not limited either however, to keep it relevant and fun, do live-streaming till you need it. Also, save it for audiences to later watch.
Scheduling: You can schedule your videos on YouTube, take a rest, and go on vacation without worrying about your channel growth. Another benefit of scheduling is if your target audience’s time zone does not match your area’s time zone, you can schedule the time and sleep peacefully and your video will be uploaded at the allocated time.
Multiple Device Accessibility: YouTube can be accessed from multiple devices like Smart TV, Phone, iPhone, Tablet, and PC making the videos easily accessible for users from anywhere.
Re-edit the Video: After uploading the video, if you notice any error or mistake, you can immediately edit the video from the YouTube video editor and upload it directly. It may take one or two days for the edited version to appear, however, the video will be flawless.
Guaranteed Channel Growth: Continous high-quality video streaming on YouTube ensures your channel’s speedy growth, steady engagement with the audience, follower enhancement, and building a community, popularizing your brand in the long run.
Earn Money from Video Streaming: With high-quality videos not only can you popularize your YouTube channel but also earn lots of money through YouTube channel membership, sponsorship, Ads, audience support, and super chats.
Get Recognition from YouTube: Views, subscribers, and likes to help you get recognized as an authoritative channel on YouTube. When you have 100,000 subscribers you get a silver button, when you have 1,000,000 subscribers you get a Gold button, and when your channel gets more popular and increases in subscribers, YouTube provides a Diamond and Red Diamond button to recognize your channel as an authoritative and useful one.
TikTok vs YouTube: Which One to Use or Both?
After reading about the benefits and differences between YouTube and TikTok, you may think about which platform would be best for promoting my brand. I suggest using “Both” TikTok and YouTube. Here’s why and how.
If your purpose is promoting your product or services, invest in YouTube videos. Viewers watch YouTube videos for informational and learning purposes. Thus, according to your niche, make informative long videos and interact with your audience. For example, if you are a retouching company, make tutorials about how to use Photoshop tools and edit the images. It will showcase your expertise in retouching as well as help you connect with your audience. They can even contact you for a retouching project if they like the way you work.
Meanwhile, use TikTok for fun and entertainment purposes. You can make fun short videos with your employees following various trending themes and share them on different social media platforms. People are still using TikTok for mostly entertainment purposes so if you upload long instructional videos on TikTok, there’s a high possibility, that viewers will skip the video. So, make trending fun and short videos that viewers enjoy and see what your brand is about.
In short, for long and instructional videos – use YouTube. Also, if you want to highlight a part from the video, you can make a short and upload it. It is estimated, that viewers spend more time watching YouTube shorts than long videos. So, from YouTube shorts, they can find the full video link or visit your channel and see the longer version for a better understanding. On the other hand, for short and fun videos – use TikTok. Follow trends according to your niche and stand out.
Things to Keep in Mind While Creating YouTube or TikTok Videos
There are 5 points you need to keep in mind to create stunning videos and let them live for a long time on TikTok and YouTube social media platforms. Let’s See!
- Avoid Inappropriate Content Creation: Do not make inappropriate content to grow your TikTok and YouTube channels fast. It will be taken down by platforms, resulting in harming your channel’s popularity as well as being reported by viewers. Thus, make fun content, ensuring appropriacy and viewer comfort.
- Misinformation/Fake News: Do not spread false news for the sake of creative and fun content. It may harm your image as well as your loyalty and trust with your viewers. For any content you make, cross-check the information and make it your unique way. Your content should not harm anyone mentally or physically.
- Copyright Videos: you need to ensure your every video has a copyright. Take ideas from other creators, however, do not copy. If your video gets copyrighted thrice, your channel can be banned and none of your videos will be found and ranked. Thus, check the copyright before uploading a video.
- Content Quality: High-quality content ensures your video gets views and rank. Thus, ensure your videos are full of information viewers love, check copyright, upload, and keep track of how viewers are liking the videos.
- Stay Patient and Think About Your Health: All while creating videos and growing your TikTok and YouTube channel is important, you need to keep your health in mind. Here’s what I do. I make 4-5 extra videos beforehand so that I can take a break while continuously uploading the videos on time. Consistency is your best friend if you want to popularize your channel. Also, while taking a break do not go anywhere near creating and editing videos, just focus on replenishing your energy. It will help you make better videos later.
Final Verdict
TikTok vs YouTube is a video-sharing platform but both have different target audiences, video formats, and more. Viewers have different plans in mind when they visit YouTube and TikTok. Understand the difference and you will be able to use both platforms for your benefit correctly.
Lastly, take our professional graphic design and video editing services if you are busy making Youtube and TikTok videos and do not have time to edit them. We will perfectly portray your message with eye-catching thumbnails and video editing and deliver it within the deadline so that you can upload videos on time and get millions of views. Get a free consultation and check the samples. if you like our work, let’s make a deal!
TikToks main target audience was GenZ whose attention span is around 8 seconds. So, they created videos that were 15 seconds long, making it ideal for the target audience to keep their attention and keep watching short videos for a long time.
YouTube vs TikTok are both good choices for making videos but you need to keep the audience and purpose in mind. If you are aiming for short and trendy videos where you can perform various challenges, lip-sync, and make fun videos with effects, go for Tikok. However, if you are aiming for longer videos like informational, how-to content, or tutorials, go for YouTube.
Yes, with the multistreaming software Castr, you can stream both YouTube and TikTok at the same time.
Yes, constantly making videos may result in burnout. So, take a rest and go on vacation from time to time to relax without thinking about content, followers, and revenue. Make 4 to 5 videos beforehand, schedule them, and go on a nice long vacation to enjoy the money you earned.
