Between TikTok and YouTube, which platform wins in the battle of promoting e-commerce? Read the comparison of the two video-sharing juggernauts.

While the cradle of e-commerce is widely accepted to be the ’70s, it was not until the ’90s that the industry actually started gaining traction, thanks to websites like Amazon. Decades later, the e-commerce scene is booming so much that we can’t imagine a world without the convenience of handling business over the internet. For instance, gamblers currently enjoy online games via iGaming sites such as the casino 7Slots platform, while video gamers don’t have to meet in person for multi-player action. Similarly, the likes of Dollar Shave Club supply personal grooming products globally for monthly subscription fees on their website.

 

Of course, any thriving business requires plenty of advertising, and so, with e-commerce came digital marketing. Initially, when digital marketing began, it was all about creating websites that users could visit and find content on products or services they were interested in. At the time, most of the content produced by e-marketers was in picture form. However, today 80% of all online content is in video format, and anyone looking to have their products presented to potential buyers must realize this hard truth. 

 

Therefore, in e-commerce businesses, having products on a personalized or an e-commerce website is not enough to get recognition. While fantastic imagery did the trick for years, consumers have reported that videos are much more convincing regarding advertising. That’s because people tend to retain more information when presented as a video rather than reading through some text or simply seeing an image. To that effect, one of the debates brewing since video marketing became a favorite for businesses is which platform is more effective, between TikTok and YouTube.

 

Which Video Platform Is a Better Tool for E-Commerce?

The key to determining the winner of this trending debate is to consider multiple metrics to help you make more informed decisions. So, ultimately, the most important of these determinants are:

1) Demographics

There is a difference between the type of consumers you will attract depending on the platform you choose. For starters, YouTube has an older demographic despite being relatively multigenerational, with 53% of the users being men and about 47% being women. On the other hand, TikTok is a favorite among Gen Z and Millennial audiences, with the majority of the users being women. This means that evaluating the product and the target market will influence what platform is best suited for your business.

 

2) Popularity

While both platforms enjoy an enviable number of users, YouTube has a significant lead over TikTok, with approximately 2.5 billion active users. TikTok has a lower reach at 1.4 billion monthly users. This points to YouTube as a preferred platform and a fact that has to be considered when selecting the appropriate media channel. This doesn’t mean that TikTok should be dismissed based on popularity at the moment, as the platform is still set to grow in the coming year. For instance, there are plans to introduce live-stream shopping on the platform, which will appeal to younger shoppers.

 

3) Content Length

Depending on the target demographic, the video length matters. TikTok is known for its short-form videos, although YouTube Shorts are now the company’s focus, appearing prominently alongside other content types. The main difference is that TikTok features content not exceeding 3 minutes long, while YouTube video length varies from seconds to hours.

 

4) Ad Format and Cost

Being the bigger brother of the two platforms, YouTube has invested in a wide range of ad options for advertisers. They include: 

• homepage ads;
• sidebar ads;
• banner-style ads below the video;
• skippable ads;
• non-skippable ads (usually about 5 seconds long).

Meanwhile, TikTok ads are simpler and less varied and usually appear within or at the top of the user’s feed with branded hashtags.

 

Additionally, when it comes to the cost, the sophisticated Google Ad system enables marketers to target specific audiences by channel, keywords, and site visitors with cost-per-mile (CPM) pricing. TikTok is also more straightforward in this regard, as marketers have to set a daily or lifetime budget with some form of CPM pricing, which is still being improved.

 

Final Thoughts

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but as time passes, videos have become the go-to way to market to customers. So, as video content continues to gain traction among potential consumers, the best plan would be to tailor your marketing strategy to your desired audience and execute it accordingly. 

 

Seeing as the reach may be relatively equal, especially seeing as TikTok is catching up fast on the number of users. On the flip side, it’s worth keeping in mind that there is more to a marketing strategy than just numbers. For a fruitful venture when seeking user engagement, note the various factors that move consumers to interact with a product. The bottom line is that the choice of the ‘best platform’ comes down to who the business is targeted at.