Top TikTok Features and What They Entail for Brands

With sooo many users under its belt, TikTok has already taken the social media market by not just storm but tornado. It has placed itself as an excellent competitor to the likes of Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter.

ByteDance's creation is available to the global audience, providing a suitable space for businesses and creators to take advantage of its massive user base. In 2020, the year of its shine, both Warner Music Group and Sony Music signed licensing deals with TikTok.

The massive lure of TikTok is the capacity to post almost anything at all and still gain a ton of traction. From movie remakes, travel, fitness, DIY and makeup tutorials to games, travel, music, hobbies, photography, dance, and humor.

Every one of these categories has its audiences on the platform and is receiving tremendous attention. Each area offers exposure for users that can adjust and modify their content to the short-form video model.

Although entertainment comes across as the main attraction on the platform, there's a rise in educational, motivational, inspirational, and business-oriented content as well.

People come on TikTok looking for entertainment and a little distraction for the day. So, the platform can be an addiction or a source of income.

Features of famous social media app TikTok

TikTok is riffled with business-friendly features and keeps dishing them out with almost every update.

If you're new and want to navigate your way through the app, this article will show you the essentials and what they entail to make operations easier and more efficient for you.

• For You Page

This tab is the first you see when you open TikTok, showing curated feeds of creators you might or might not follow.

The TikTok algorithm shows you videos it thinks you might be most interested in, based on your past interactions, the accounts you follow, used hashtags, liked sounds, and your stated interests during account setup.

The For You page is similar to Instagram's Explore page in the endless way they suck the user's time with more and more contents.

• Follower's Page

This one is similar to the For You page but only shows contents from creators that you follow. When you open an account and start following other users on the platform, their pages are automatically made available to you. On this page, you see videos from only followed users.

• Discover Page

Like Instagram, TikTok offers a discovery page that shows you content they think you may like. When you open the app, you'll see the Discover button close to the Home button.

Once you click on it, the platform shows you top videos they think you might be interested in. Unlike the For You tab, though, the topic narrows the videos and puts them under a topic. You just pick one and start scrolling.

This feature is all about hashtags, but creators can also lookup keywords, other users, videos, sounds, and effects. Users can also add friends by searching their username or scanning their unique TikTok identifier.

• Create Button

This is the '+' button at the bottom of the screen on TikTok's landing page. This button enables users to upload content either from their device library or to use TikTok's camera app.

When you click on this button, it leads to an upload page that's filled with sounds, filters, effects, etc.

• Inbox Page

Like all other social networks, TikTok features an inbox page—where users go to have private conversations with one another. This is also where you'll find TikTok notifications.

• Profile Page

The Profile page is where creators go to view, access and edit their personal information.

When you open the app, you'll see the Profile icon at the bottom right of the Navigation Bar.

Here, you can access your profile information and update settings anytime you want.

• React Feature

With this feature, you can record your reactions to a comment or a specific video. The comment or video is set in a little window that is movable around the screen.

• Duet Feature

This one was originally available on Musical.ly and after the merger, it was incorporated into TikTok. The feature allows you to create a video alongside another user on-screen in a square frame.

The add-on allows creators to create alongside their favorite influencers, brands, or celebrities.

• Music and Sounds

This particular feature is majorly what TikTok is known for. The platform integrated an extensive collection of music and sounds that users can use in their content.

TikTokers can add music from their personal library, save, remix and discover songs from the platform's collection of music.

TikTok actually collaborated with Apple Music; hence, the extensive collection of songs. This edge has given the platform a fighting chance against all others despite its newness in the market. 

• Virtual Coins/Small Gesture

This is the newest feature on TikTok and it was done to imitate the great Chinese practice of social gifting.

Users can now gift coins to one another as virtual gifts. Buying these coins, you can convert them into diamonds or emojis.

Key takeaways

Other features you can leverage include filters, effects, hashtags, family safety mode, dark/light mode, and so much more. These TikTok bits are there to make your user experience smooth and easier.

The platform is great for connecting with other individuals, discovering effective products/services, or creating awareness on a particular topic, cause or movement.