Acquisition Channel Opportunities: TikTok Ads, YouTube Shorts, Twitter Spaces
Want to get more paying users? I've read over 150 tech-related news articles over the past week and identified the top 3 opportunities that can directly increase your chances of doing this:
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TikTok released an ad spy tool, "Tiktok Business Creaive Center", similar to the Facebook Ad Library;
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YouTube Shorts launched in the US. Find out why this is important;
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Twitter is working on a dedicated page/tag for Twitter Spaces, making it easier for people to discover live audio chats. Learn why group audio chats are the hot new thing.
1. You Can Now Spy on TikTok Ads, Directly from TikTok
TikTok released their TikTok Business Creative Center, a place for creators to "learn about best practices for ads on TikTok", and it allows you to see the top active ads by industry and country. You can also click on an ad and see more details, for example:
What this means for you: This tool is still limited compared to the Facebook Ad Library in terms of examples, but it very likely to improve significantly in the future. If you're looking for creative inspiration for your video ads, TikTok's Business Creative Center may be a good place to start.
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2. YouTube Shorts Just Launched in the US and People are Reporting Crazy Results
Youtube launched YouTube Shorts, (their version of TikTok) for the US, and people on Twitter and Clubhouse are already reporting viral results with it.
The reason: In my Zero to Users research, I focus on acquisition channels that consistently work for founders. The problem with all channels, though, is that they follow the law of shitty clickthroughts.
The law of what? Simply put, every acquisition channel gets saturated eventually. This makes it much harder for new entrants to get initial results. So timing matters.
The solution: Monitor new channels and new features inside existing channels. YouTube adding YouTube shorts to its platform is one example of the latter.
The opportunity: Once a popular distribution channel (like YouTube) adds a new feature, they tend to give extra exposure to the early adopters for a period of time. This makes sense if you're YouTube - the best way to get people to use something is to give positive feedback. For creators, that's more views and clicks.
What this means for you: Getting started with YouTube Shorts is a good idea for people who are interested in releasing YouTube content but have been discouraged by the lack of organic discoverability by the Youtube algo for ordinary videos.
But act fast - while YouTube shorts may now net you great organic reach, soon it will (probably) get satured and earn the same amount of attention as regular YouTube videos (which is very little).
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3. Twitter is Working to Make Live Audio Chats More Discoverable. Live Group Audio is Coming Everywhere
Jane Machung Wong, a blogger that reverse engineers apps for hidden features, has reported that Twitter is working on adding a dedicated page/tab for Twitter Spaces:
Also, Telegram has just launched Voice Chats 2.0, which provides unlimited audio group chats for Telegram groups.
What this means for you: Group audio chats are the new stories. Facebook is also working on a Clubhouse clone for Facebook and Instagram.
By the end of 2021, each major platform is likely to have its own version of Clubhouse. You'll be able to start live audio chats in your Facebook Groups, Telegram Groups, Instagram profiles/pages and so on. And like with any new format, these platforms will reward early adopters with extra organic exposure. Better plan for now than later.
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To be honest, I am actually quite liking YouTube shorts.
There’s YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube TV, and now YouTube Shorts! It’s amazing what they are doing right now.
If just getting started with self-branding on YouTube, is YouTube shorts the way to do it?
Not sure, it is definitely not as popular as TikTok... so it might not be the go-to way just yet...
Instagram has been experimenting with reels recently also, they are also good for targetting B2C clients.
Many people focus on new channels, but forget 'channels within a channel', like YouTube Shorts. When a popular channel launches a new channel within it, it has the power to give it an initial boost, like YouTube does with Shorts.
This made me think. Yeah, TikTok on itself is considered a channel, so if YouTube launches their own version of TikTok within YouTube, is that a feature within a channel or a channel within a channel? The term 'channel' is a bit vague, so your point kinda makes sense. Interesting.
Most TikTok ads seem to be B2C though.
I've heard TikTok is working on improving their targeting, so it would be interesting to see new features where you can target "TikTok publishers", for example.
Just like with Instagram, nothing surprising.
Debates are much more interesting/more people are willing to participate using group audio chats, hope it becomes a feature on every platform.
Totally agree with this.
I think where Twitter/FB will fail is with the "audio chat with friends" angle. Much more people love the serendipity aspects of audio chats and CH provides just that.