Educational Entertainment is Big On TikTok, And We Are Here For It

Since its inception in 2016, TikTok was already a thing among Gen-Zers but it was only in the early stages of the pandemic that the platform rose in popularity across the board. It offered some sort of escape from the lockdowns and anxiety caused by COVID-19, through its unique mix of social entertainment in the form of dance routines and lip syncing viral sounds. 

One and a half years later, the numbers prove that the world is finding it increasingly hard to resist TikTok’s charm. From 680 million monthly active users in November 2018, the platform is on track to hit 1.2 billion in 2021, and it was the most popular social media app in 2020 with 850 million downloads. 

It wasn’t only in numbers that TikTok evolved; the content created and consumed in the platform has seen a big shift, too. At its core TikTok is still a social entertainment app, but the content users find entertaining there has broadened out, bringing to light one of the most praised content themes of today’s TikTok: educational entertainment.

These informational bite-sized clips are not only limited to how-to’s and tutorials, ranging from career advice and psychology to languages, philosophy and art. TikTok enables viewers to jump at various areas of knowledge in a matter of seconds, all while bumping up the fun element in learning.

Based on the number of video views and engagements they get, educational content can be a great way to add value to your content while increasing the chances of getting your videos in front of millions of eyeballs. 

Learning Has Never Been More Fun

It’s refreshing to see the cultural shift happening on social media. After a cycle of heavy focus on perfect pictures and overly curated feeds, there’s now an increasing demand for knowledge—empowering accounts such as @nasdaily, which shares interesting people-focused insights, to keep up their exceptional efforts to educate audiences.

Acknowledging the role it plays in shaping culture, especially for younger generations, TikTok is taking active steps towards offering more educational content on its platform. Through creators including Bill Nye, the #LearnOnTikTok initiative “highlights the most surprising, exciting and unexpected things we have learnt” on the platform and “celebrates this community of learning that is growing and developing.” Through Nye’s content  (fun videos covering all things science), it’s easy to see how these types of videos distill topics into digestible, small chunks, making them enjoyable to watch and supporting long-term retention by up to 80%.

Short-form educational entertainment also caters to young generations’ short attention spans, and can actively help debunk fake news and fake facts. But perhaps more importantly, it makes up for a more balanced social media consumption while sparking everyone’s curiosity and interest in learning.

We Encourage You To Try It Out—Here Are Some Tips

The good news is that you don’t need to dance in front of your camera to be relevant on TikTok—not anymore. This newly-found appreciation for informative content on social media represents a great opportunity for brands, especially the ones who thought they didn’t fit in TikTok’s goofy culture. 

On the other hand, it is extremely important that the content you create is backed by reliable information. Consider that audiences are increasingly moving to educate themselves in all areas of knowledge, so you need to do your research and ensure you know what you are talking about, or you might see some backlash.  

In the process of creating high-quality educational content, it’s always a good idea to prepare a script before filming it—keep in mind you’re creating a short video, so the information you include must be relevant and catch your audience’s attention in just a few seconds. To help you with that, consider adding text to your videos, as it will elevate the experience for your viewers by catching their attention more easily. It’s also a great way to include additional information, should you need to. 

Last but not least, be yourself. You don’t need to be funny to be entertaining; it’s just a matter of putting your creativity to good use and letting your authenticity shine through. The key is to provide true information and real value, and audiences will reward you for it.

In the end, this trend is not only an opportunity for brands to test out different types of content, and help in their audiences’ development. It’s also proof that there’s a place for everyone on TikTok. 

Are you ready to start your TikTok campaign?