Table of contents
Youtube Shorts and TikTok have many similarities. They are both short-form content delivery (and consumption) platforms, are quite popular and are backed by centi billion dollar corporations. But their most relevant similarity is that they can be used for marketing.
YouTube shorts vs. TikTok is a battle that takes place in the mind of every marketer when he thinks about which platform to use for his short-form content campaign.
This article helps you see how both platforms perform on metrics like reach, cost, and demographics. You will also discover unique features of each platform that the other doesn't offer so you can decide which one is right for your business.
Pro-Tip: Use ContentFries to create hundreds of TikToks and YouTube Shorts from existing content. Learn how by clicking here.
Reach
The first metric to compare any two social media platforms is the reach they provide. After all, what use is a social media app that won't connect you with enough prospective consumers? In terms of reach, reports regarding TikTok and Youtube Shorts vary depending on whom you ask. That's because these platforms' reach is contingent on the type of content one uploads.
TikTok gives greater reach to dance and music content while YouTube Shorts offer greater reach for spoken word clips. It is easy to assume that TikTok or YouTube as platforms are deciding to promote one or the other kind of content. But the truth is, these platforms are simply giving their respective users what they want.
Take TikTok, for instance. It acquired Musica.ly, which was primarily populated by lipsyncing teens. As it became more popular, it started having various types of content, including stand-up comedy, pranks, and self-help videos.
But ultimately, it still attracts the type of people who made the app popular. There's a reason why TikTok dance challenges are more culturally relevant than YouTube dance challenges, which you've probably never heard of (because they don't exist).
YouTube's audience is much less interested in lipsyncing and dancing. The platform blew up because of vlogs and podcasts, which is why its audience consists of those who like interviews and slice-of-life content.
So generally, we can assume that YouTube Shorts offer greater reach for podcasters and slice-of-life content creators while TikTok lets dancers and musicians reach a wider audience.
More specifically, both platforms give you excellent organic reach as long as your content serves their demographics. But before getting into demographics, let's cover three types of reach.
Post reach - TikTok often offers greater post reach than YouTube Shorts.
Following potential - It is easier to build an audience on TikTok than on YouTube.
Reach consistency - YouTube Shorts offer greater reach across multiple posts, while TikTok reach can be a hit or miss.
Demographics
As covered earlier, your content's reach on both TikTok and YT Shorts depends on how much your videos appeal to the platforms’ demographics. You can glean demographic interests from audience age, but only to an extent. It is much easier to understand what appeals to a majority of any platform’s users by seeing what gets the greatest visibility.
The majority of TikTok users are between 16 and 25 years old. On YouTube, most users are in the 25 to 34 years range, though it is unclear what percentage of them consume YouTube Shorts.
But if we look at the most followed YouTuber (MrBeast) and most followed (Khaby Lame), we can see what type of content most users on each platform prefer.
It seems like YouTube Shorts are ideal for real-life adventure content alongside talking-head videos, while TikTok is great for unapologetic fun. As a content creator, you have to choose which platform suits the kind of content you naturally want to make. And as a marketer, you have to see which platform fits your brand's message.
This will help you come up with your content (or ad creative). We cover creative costs in the next section. But first, let's look at YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok's demographics.
Average user age - The average TikTok user is younger than the average YouTube shorts consumer.
Age-related implications - YouTube shorts users can appreciate depth and productivity, while TikTok users can be unapologetic about wanting fun and engaging content.
User interests - TikTok users engage with dance, fashion, music, and prank content. YouTube Shorts viewers engage with podcast clips, stand-up comedy, vlogs, and music videos.
Creative Costs
The term creative refers to the content of an ad. For organic marketers, creative and content are interchangeable. The medium you use to push your creative largely determines the type of creative you produce. Obviously, this also affects the cost of producing the creative.
Superbowl ad spots have different production quality compared to podcast ads. Again, the medium dictates the creative. First, let’s see how the TikTok medium affects your creative.
On TikTok, your creative is likely going to be music-driven, catchy, and geared towards trendiness. You'll need to hire Gez-Z presenters or actors and pay for song and dance. Of course, you could just throw up a Canva graphic for an ad, but when you're competing with TikTok content for attention, your content needs to be TikTokesque.
On YouTube shorts, your creative can be repurposed from a long video. By using programs like ContentFries (click here for your free trial), you can create shorts from longer videos. This works if you are marketing self-help content or raising your own profile as a content creator.
For standard products and services, a regular talking head video can work. The most expensive ads on YouTube are sponsorships, and in almost all instances, the YouTuber simply talks about the product or the business sponsoring him. While the collaboration costs a pretty penny, the content itself is pretty cheap to shoot.
On TikTok, you can get cheaper collaborations, but the ad itself requires a higher budget. Even well-established TikTokers can't hold their audience's attention while just talking about sponsored products. They need to feature those products in their content.
In contrast, YouTube ads are cheaper to make but relatively more expensive to push. This applies to standard ad CPM as well as influencer collaboration costs, which we will discuss next.
Let's round up creative costs before moving on to influencers.
YT Short cost - You can shoot (or repurpose) a YouTube short for $10 on average.
TikTok cost - A good TikTok creative costs $50 to $100
Return on creative cost - the overall cost of creative for both platforms is pretty low, so you can make your money back if you have a good product, offer, and ad.
Influencer Costs
With ads flooding social media platforms, users are getting desensitized. Skip rates are rising, and many people choose not to engage with any content that interrupts them. That's why sponsorships are on the rise. People trust the influencers and creators they follow and actually engage with their message.
But this better engaging product comes with a price tag. And that price tag depends on the platform.
YouTube sponsorships are a well-established tradition, and content integrations can last up to 10 minutes. In contrast, TikTok integrations are relatively new, with a 15-second average duration.
That's why YouTube influencer deals are more expensive than TikTok deals.
TikTok collab cost - You can expect to pay $100 to $500 for a content collab.
YT collab cost - You can expect to pay $1000 to $2500 for a YouTube Shorts collab. Standard YouTube integrations can cost 10X that.
ROI - Given how expensive content collabs can be on YouTube, there's always a chance you won't make your money back. And given how fragmented user attention is on TikTok, there's a chance you won't even make $50 back.
Influencer collabs can be tricky because the audience's interests must align with your business and the content creator must be as enthusiastic about pushing your message as he is about his own content.
That's why many marketers choose to go with the paid media route. Skip rates might be higher, but at least they can target their ads better.
Paid Media Costs
Paid media refers to ads you push by paying the platform. For TikTok ads, you can use TikTok for Business. And for Shorts, you can use Google Ads. Which one is better, though? Let's see.
There's very little room for nuance here, as Google is a far superior ad platform. It has more user data, segmentation and targeting options, and analytics. Compared to that, TikTok offers cheaper reach but leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to targeting.
Marketers know that an ad is as good as the people it reaches. So, most paid media marketers would be better off prioritizing shorts over TikTok.
The only exception is music marketing. For that, TikTok works like a charm. You can push songs with paid media or collab with trendsetters to launch a TikTok dance challenge for your track. It is one of the exclusive features of TikTok, which will be discussed after the round-up below.
Advertising cost on TikTok - It costs $0.5 to $2.0 to reach a thousand people on TikTok.
Advertising cost on YT shorts - It costs $4.0 to reach a thousand people on YT Shorts.
Which is better - Generally, advertising on YouTube is better, but for music marketing, TikTok takes the lead.
Unique Features Of Tiktok For Business
So far, we have discussed how TikTok and YouTube shorts perform on general metrics. Now, we can get into the specifics of each platform, starting with TikTok.
TikTok’s unique features that are absent from YouTube Shorts are
Top View - Your ad pops up as the first thing users see when they open the app. YouTube isn't nearly as gutsy with its ad push.
Branded Hashtag Challenge - Create your own viral dance sensation or a content challenge. Get community participation and user-generated content with giveaways.
Branded Mission - push user-generated content and influencer collab videos as ads.
These features can help marketers reach a younger demographic. However, if your audience isn't a vague group of "youngsters," then you'd be better off with YouTube Shorts' targeting capabilities.
Unique Features Of YouTube Shorts For Business
Targeting is the one point of difference with which Youtube Shorts dominate the paid media battle. But what else can you expect from Shorts that you cannot from TikTok? Let’s see.
Ad Sequence - You can push multiple shorts in your preferred order to the same people. So, your third ad is pushed to people who have already seen your first and second ad.
Repeated targeting - Since shortform content is easily forgotten, it helps that you can repeatedly show your Youtube Short to the same people multiple times. But be careful. This can get annoying.
Tight geotargeting - Geotargeting refers to pushing your ads to people in a specific location. YouTube offers better, more precise Geotargeting than TikTok.
From the above features, it is evident that YouTube Shorts are ideal for most advertisers. Even those using TikTok for business can benefit from launching their ads on YouTube as well.
The sequence feature, in particular, is a strong one because it allows you to show up in front of the same people over and over but with different ads.
Using Tiktok For Video Marketing: A Crash Course
By now, you have all the information you need to decide which way you lean as a marketer. So, it only makes sense to dive deeper into the platform you want to use to promote your business. This section covers TikTok marketing best practices, while the next one goes over ways to leverage YouTube Shorts.
With TikTok, you want to lean into the platform’s strengths and its audience's interests. But you don't want to assume either of those. There was a time when TikTok gave viral reach at random. That is no longer the case.
There was a time when TikTok was exclusively a song and dance app. That, too, is no longer true. So, the best practice for every marketer to start with is to become a consumer.
Start Scrolling TikTok
You will understand how ads on the platform work. You will also know what viewers enjoy and how to engage them. Without this understanding, you'll end up coming up with jarring creative that doesn't fit in.
Test Multiple Ads
This is a good practice regardless of the platform. But it is particularly relevant to TikTok, where a bad ad can easily eat up your whole budget. Start small and experiment with multiple ads. Only when an ad shows promise should you push it to a larger audience.
Observe Existing Ads/Collabs
As you scroll through your TikTok feed, you’ll come across different ads and sponsored content. Look at what other marketers are doing on the platform. You’ll see the green and the red flags.
Help Them Have Fun
When creating your ads for TikTok, remember that you have to help your audience have fun. That’s what everyone is there for. Don’t get in the way. Facilitate it instead.
Using YouTube Shorts for video marketing: a crash course
With TikTok marketing practices covered, it is time to address how to level up your YouTube Shorts ads. Again, it all starts with the platform and what most people use it for. Youtube, unlike TikTok, is long-form adjacent. This gives you more options as a marketer.
Use Shorts As A Part Of A Larger Campaign
One option you have is to combine YouTube Shorts and long-form videos in a hybrid campaign. Since Shorts viewers also watch long-form content, you can reach them in multiple contexts and strengthen your presence.
Build A Following With Strategic Collabs
YouTube Shorts creators aren't paid as much as long-form content creators. So, you can get inexpensive shoutouts for your channel. If you have valuable content on your channel and pay
Shorts creators to tag you in their video titles, you can get plenty of eyeballs and build a following. Given that YouTube offers consistent reach, it is a platform worth building a following on.
Take Them On A Journey
People go to YouTube to be entertained in a meaningful way. They appreciate a good story. And while it might be hard to tell one in a Short, you have no choice but to tell one. Master shortform storytelling to build up your brand and raise your profile. And then use your storytelling chops to dominate YouTube.
But how do you tell a good story with Shorts only? Don't worry. Just follow these tips. They work for Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.
Storytelling For Shortform Content Marketers
If you're a marketer using TikTok or YouTube Shorts, you have to start thinking big on a microscopic level. It might sound paradoxical, but it is truly possible with the following principles.
Embrace essentialism - Tell only the relevant parts of the story.
Use skits - Skits help bring stories to life.
Hit the ground running - Start in the middle of the story to keep it short and interesting.
Leverage multiple parts - You can tell your story in multiple videos as long as you label the parts correctly.
Final Thoughts
TikTok and YouTube Shorts are both short-form content platforms that marketers can use to push different products and services. While you can use both apps, you'll notice that one of them aligns with your brand far more than the other.
If you market fashion, music, or impulse purchases, then you should use TikTok. And if you market anything else, you'll get better results on YouTube. Either way, the information in this post will help you achieve your desired marketing results.