TikTok made trending, lo-fi video clips a normal part of the social media experience. But as the creator economy focuses more on premium, longer-form content, TikTok has to figure out how to compete.
That doesn’t mean the app is pivoting to longer-form video.
Even though TikTok has expanded time limits for videos to as long as an hour and inked content deals with streaming service Tubi, the company says “premium” on TikTok doesn’t necessarily mean longer videos or pouring money into production.
“On TikTok, it’s not about overly-produced content. It doesn’t require extremely fancy production equipment,” said Marisa Hammonds, TikTok’s global head of creator marketing and community, at the Scalable Summit on May 6. But, “there’s a story arc, a clear beginning, middle and end. There's editing.”
This strategy has been on full display lately with TikTok’s push into microdramas, serialized shows made up of short episodes. Earlier this year, TikTok quietly launched a separate microdrama app called PineDrama in the US and Brazil.
Hammonds discussed what’s next for the microdrama format and if a new TV app is on the horizon.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Scalable: TikTok has played a huge role in the growth of the creator economy. Obviously, short videos aren’t going anywhere. But as we're seeing the industry start to focus more on long-form and premium content, where does TikTok fit in?
Hammonds: For us, it's really less about long versus short form and really about high-quality storytelling. And when I say high-quality storytelling, what I mean is it's content that's original. There's some sort of expertise or unique perspective shared, and it's really intentional.
That’s really what we're seeing break through the noise. Creators who are creating high-quality storytelling are seeing 23 times the views on their content, and they're seeing over 70 times faster follower growth compared to other creators.
What's an example of high-quality storytelling?
One of my favorites is a creator from our BookTok community. Her name is Jen Miller and Meet Me in the Media Center is her handle. She is a middle school librarian, and she really spends time crafting stories around her love for books. She has an original series that's called her Book Return Game. And she really promotes reading not just to middle schoolers, but to people all over the world. And she's really tapped into the BookTok community and has ignited and renewed love and interest in books and libraries.
What about production value? Is that something that you think about when you think about high-quality content on the platform?
On TikTok, it's not about overly-produced content. It doesn't require extremely fancy production equipment. But when I say high-quality storytelling, there is some thought to the storytelling. There's a story arc, a clear beginning, middle and end. There's editing. Captions often help, especially for creators who want to reach a global audience.
And so, I think production value does matter, but it's not over-indexing to the extreme.
When I think of a TikTok, I generally think of lo-fi, often quirky video clips. So how do you sort of position this to creators who still associate TikTok with that?
A lot of it is the programs and the feedback that we hear from creators. We're really investing in this high-quality storytelling and it's resulting in greater monetization opportunities, growth on the platform, and even more search relevance.
We're seeing on our platform that two in three discoveries on TikTok are intentional. That's showing that users are coming to our platform intentionally looking for a given topic or community. So creators who really understand how they can weave their own creativity into what is being talked about amongst these communities and what's being searched for are really the ones who are having success.
There was a time when it felt like TikTok was really minting new stars daily. Those days seem to have kind of faded. I mean, I think Alix Earle was the last real mainstream breakout success, and that was back in like 2022. So how do creators stand out when it now can feel like the algorithm isn't really working in their favor anymore? Does it mean that you just have to go really niche?
Niche is a great word. Yes, I think that ties back to demonstrating a unique perspective that no one else has or sharing your subject matter expertise. That is a way to break through. And I think it's a good thing because it's giving rise to new voices emerging. We're seeing new creators break through.
What genres and niches besides BookTok are working well?
Sports is a really big one with the World Cup this year. Obviously the Olympics, and some major sporting moments, are really activating our global audience, and we're seeing athletes and global sports creators really tap into that and propel the cultural conversation forward.
Also, TV, film, lifestyle and learning categories, including creators who are educators or teachers. One of my favorite educational creators is Charlie Engelman. He talks about odd animal specimens and the etymology of different insects and critters. But really niche, and he's really built a really engaged community around his love of insects.
Are there any undertapped genres or communities?
Automobile is one that we've seen great demand from consumers. They want to consume more car review content. To me, that is very niche. And so we've seen some strong creator voices who can really tap into that audience and really know how to deliver that type of content in really engaging ways.
The algorithm that has been the edge that TikTok has had for so long, but Instagram Reels is so much better now. What are you doing to remain competitive?
Our commitment to creators remains unchanged. We are building an ecosystem for creators through product innovation, through creation tools, and through real monetization opportunities so that creators can build long-standing businesses on our platform.
Just this past Friday, we launched an all-new program for creators called the Creator Growth Challenge. It was based on feedback that we heard firsthand from creators. These are creators now who are established and looking to grow and succeed on TikTok. They may be newer to TikTok.
And so this is a 45-day program for creators to get tons of content insights, performance feedback, live Q&A, and custom education. It’s intended to enable them to reach certain growth milestones in a very consolidated amount of time, and they can earn up to $30,000 for hitting certain growth milestones.
That feels like a bonus program in a sort of way. They have a little bit of a complicated history. So what are the best ways, actually, for creators to make money on TikTok? Is it still brand partnerships?
Our approach to monetization for creators is not a one-size-fits-all solution. We want to have monetization opportunities that reward all forms of creativity.
So, for example, if you're a livestreaming creator, there are ways for you to earn through live. We have TikTok Shop, and there are creators who are really breaking through, whether it be launching their own brands or promoting other brands and products. There's other things like creator rewards programs that really incentivize certain content that we're looking to supply on our app.
We want to continue investing in different ways for creators to monetize on our platform, no matter where they are at in their journey too. So I'd say brand deals, yes. But that's just one of many solutions for how creators can make money.
You brought up live shopping. It does really feel like live shopping is having a moment now, too. If you think about TikTok Shop, there was so much skepticism. I think there is still some skepticism toward it, but it does feel like it's at a turning point.
I think it's still in the early days. Live shopping hasn't been around that much. The most recent example I can think of is QVC, but we're seeing the creators who are experimenting with TikTok Shop trying out live shopping, trying out different production and storytelling techniques. The test-and-learn approach is really the way to go here. There’s no sort of, this is exactly how to succeed with live shopping, but it is a real way [to earn money.]
I think a great example is one of our creators, Brooke Monk. Brooke is a lifestyle creator. And earlier this year, she actually launched her very first beauty brand, called Doting Beauty. It's a lash brand because she's known for her Get Ready with Me’s and her beautiful lashes. And so instead of just launching the brand, she really leaned into what the beauty community on TikTok was doing.
She timed the launch to an exclusive one-and-a-half-hour live shopping event, where she was very actively involved. She announced the brand and on launch day she scaled at 2000%, the livestream had over 4 million impressions, and she also now does exclusive drops on TikTok Shop. And I think that's just a really great example of how creators really pay attention to the conversation, what the BeautyTok community is saying and doing to really lean in and drive that conversion to sales.
You've been leaning into micro-dramas recently. You recently launched an exclusive show with Issa Rae’s production company. What's next? Could we see TikTok strike more deals with creators around micro-dramas?
Mini dramas is a very exciting space for us. We are seeing creators who are very interested in leaning into this new content format. And this format is really driving engagement. We're seeing it with audiences around the world.
And so whether it be sort of behind the cameras and creators playing roles in sort of the ideation, the scripting, editing, et cetera, or in front of the camera roles, I think there's a lot of great opportunities for creators to lean into micro series.
As you're leaning more into microdramas and premium content overall, could you bring back a TV app? Instagram just launched one. You also launched PineDrama.
I don't think that's on the roadmap right now, but never say never. But for now, we're really leaned into our own app and specifically on educating creators on all the different entertaining formats. These are new formats, and so it's really important for us to support creators in understanding how to succeed.
TikTok has had a wild start to the year. I would argue it's been a pretty wild ride since about 2020, at least here in the US. You are now under new US ownership. You've also had several high-profile departures recently. What has changed tactically for brands and creators on the platform?
I'll speak specifically for creators, but our commitment to creators remains unchanged. And in fact, we're seeing new creators join the platform every single day.
Regarding our US venture, we hear from US creators, it was very important for them to continue engaging and connecting with a global audience that remains true and vice versa. Global creators really wanted to ensure that they could reach and engage US creators. And so that remains unchanged on our app, and we're continuing to see creators grow and build real, lasting businesses with TikTok.
Let's end with a fun one. What's the last video you saw on your For You feed?
I'm seeing a lot of Justin Bieber, Hallelujah. Hallelujah, to everything. Hallelujah, Scalable Summit. Hallelujah, TikTok. Hallelujah, everyone here. So if you're not familiar with the trend, go check it out on TikTok.
