It seems that TikTok came out of nowhere and quickly established itself as a bonafide social network. To do that in a surprisingly amount of time in what happens to be a very competitive market is certainly deserving of praise.
TikTok has a major advantage that incumbents like Facebook don’t: a primarily younger demographic. In the US, Gen-Z is the dominant audience on TikTok, whereas Facebook is finding it difficult to retain young users on its platform.
For most marketers, though, TikTok still remains a mystery. While TikTok has built out its ad suite to compete with the incumbents, there isn’t as much widespread acceptability when you compare it to Facebook Ads or Google Ads. That’s not to say that the value isn’t there. On the contrary, TikTok can be a great source of highly targeted traffic, provided that it’s done right.
The platform continues to improve its offerings to provide features that can be utilized to increase views and engagement. Playlists on TikTok are one such feature. They’ve been around since last year and are a great way to instantly boost views on videos, thereby leading to an increase in engagement.
How playlists work and who can make them on TikTok
Tiktok announced the launch of its playlists feature in 2021. As the name suggests, it enables users to categorize their videos in an easily playable format, so that viewers can seamlessly see some of their best work without having to dig through their profile. TikTok puts playlists on the user’s profile above their pinned and recently posted videos.
Sounds like a feature that should be available to every TikTok user, right? Sadly, that isn’t the case at this point in time. The TikTok playlists feature is only available for select content creators at this point in time. How do you know if you can create a playlist on TikTok? You’ll see an option to create one in the Video tab of your profile.
It’s not known for sure what requirements there are for a user to meet before this feature is enabled for them. Perhaps TikTok is doing a phased roll out of this feature, so eventually it should be possible for all TikTok users to create playlists.
The benefits of creating playlists on TikTok
If you’re among the lucky users who have been given access to this feature, it’s time that you considered the benefits of creating TikTok playlists.
Prime placement for your best content
TikTok’s For You page is built with the idea helping users discover new creators. The app actively sends people your way who may never have seen your content before. You’d definitely want them to see your best work first so that they stick around and become an engaged follower.
When someone comes across your video and opens your profile, the playlists will be front and center. It presents you the perfect opportunity to make the best first impression with your content. A playlist with some of your best work will ensure that these new visitors appreciate your work and become part of your audience.
Significant increase in watch time
Watch time is one of the most important metrics for video content creators. It tells them precisely how long their content is able to keep the viewer’s attention. Higher watch times mean that the viewers are appreciating the content and are happy to stick around for more.
Playlists on TikTok provide users with the ability to increase their watch time. By offering curated selections of their content, they can keep viewers engaged and entertained for longer, thereby increasing watch time and also establishing a stronger connection with the audience which would translate into more engagement with all of their content.
Help viewers find what they’re looking for
If you create episodic content on TikTok, viewers would want to have all of the related videos available for seamless viewing. For example, if you create videos about cooking and knitting, someone who is only interested in your recipes may not want to watch any content about knitting.
By creating separate playlists for the topics that you create content on, you can help viewers find what they’re looking for with relative ease. This creates a good first impression and the fact that you made the process easier for them will encourage them to continue engaging with your content in the long run.
Best practices for TikTok playlists
The playlists that you create on TikTok should have a structure that helps viewers understand what they’re watching and what they can expect from the videos coming up ahead. This is of particular importance for brand accounts as not all viewers will likely be interested in all of your products or services.
It’s important to remember that great playlists tell a story. They aren’t just a random collection of videos thrown together. They’re meant to weave a complex fabric made up of your best content that captures the viewer’s attention and keeps them coming back for more.
A great way to start your playlists is by adding an intro video. It serves as an introduction to the content that the viewer is about to experience. The intro should be catchy and engaging so that they’re naturally intrigued to follow along and check out the rest of your content.
Social media users have a notoriously low attention span. If your videos are excessively long or appear to be in the rambling territory, chances are your viewers won’t view more than a couple of videos and probably won’t return. It’s vital to keep content length in check so that the message you want to convey is sent across in a concise manner that also retains the viewer’s attention.
Lastly, audience engagement is always the most important part of any social media activity. People who watch your playlists will leave comments on the videos, some with suggestions and some likely with criticism. Take time to engage with all of them as viewers appreciate when creators make an effort to connect with their audiences.
Playlists are crucial to success on TikTok in the long term
It’s evident that playlists on TikTok have a big role in ensuring success on the platform and also increasing views. Once people enjoy the content that your playlists provide them, they are more likely to go through your profile and follow you.
Think of playlists as another funnel to bring traffic to your main profile. If they find content that they’re interested in, they’ll want to follow you so that they can keep seeing your content. This will lead to an increase in video views across the board, providing you with continued success on one of the largest social media networks in the world right now.
