If you’re looking for a little inspiration, look no further than TikTok. The app is only two years old but has taken the world by storm – especially with its booming short form video content.
The platform merged organic popularity and an innovative way to create content that inspired people around the world to get creative with it. It also helped that it was easy to create video content that could easily be shared and viewed by others.
In this article, we’ll take a look at how you can create your own app like TikTok.
Background of TikTok
The platform started off in 2016 as Douyin, an app that allowed users to create 15-second looping videos. In 2017, it became the global version – TikTok.
This was a huge success with over 500 million downloads and 200 million monthly active users (MAU).
In 2018, it merged its international brand with musical.ly. It paid over $1 billion to buy musically and create the app.
The combination of both apps gave users an easy way to create content, like, share and view.
What Does This Mean for Your App?
If you create quality content that appeals to a diverse audience, your users will love it and create their own – which in turn helps the app grow.
A successful TikTok user is likely to create or share videos with friends, family and others they know. This helps spread awareness of the app as well as create a sense of engagement and community.
What makes TikTok unique is how they create their original content and how this appears to others.
The platform has become known for creating the ‘next big thing’ in the world of music, allowing users to create playlists based on songs they like as well as finding new ones from all over the world.
On a broader level, they create original videos with the goal of inspiring their users to create.
Here are some basic ideas you can follow when creating your short form video app:
- Creativity is at the heart of your app and it should be reflected in what content it creates as well as how that content is shared.
- Be open to how your users create, share and engage with the content.
- Ensure you create a diverse range of content that can be shared across different communities and demographics.
This will create engagement as well as support the organic growth of your app, creating a community that is invested in its success.
What are Short Form Video Apps?
Short form video apps create content that is under 15-seconds in length, allowing users to create and share their own videos easily.
It’s a highly innovative way to create original video content with a short shelf life – if it isn’t already ‘viral’ by the time you remove it from your app!
This allows you to drive engagement from your users as they create and share content with each other, allowing the app to build a community that supports its success.
It’s easy to create short form videos nowadays with technological advancements, meaning you don’t need to have a professional camera nor editing skills.
Short form video apps create content that may be comedic, inspiring, or just downright weird but one thing is for sure – it’s guaranteed to create engagement amongst your users.
Cost to Develop an App Like TikTok
There are a number of free apps out there that create short form content – from Snapchat to Instagram.
However, they haven’t reached the level of success that TikTok has because of how original TikTok’s content is and how it appeals to different communities.
Creating a community around your app means you need to invest into it in order for it become a success.
An investment in marketing can be essential when creating an app like TikTok – this includes adverts as well as promotion on other social networking platforms.
The cost to create an app like TikTok can vary depending on the developer you choose, as well as specific features that are required for your app. However, the average cost to develop an app such as TikTok is anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000.
Future of Short-Form Video Apps
The success of TikTok means that short form video is here to stay and there are a number of ways you can create your own app like TikTok. However, the most important thing when creating an app like TikTok is having the right content.
Creating a community that supports your app is also key, as well as creating content that appeals to certain demographics or communities.
In terms of what the future holds, it’s likely we will see more short form video apps emerge with the popularity and demand of such apps.
Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.
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