Instagram, Youtube and especially Xiaohongshu have become the new promised land for brands

Faced with the prospect of TikTok disappearing from the US market, brands and content creators have begun to look for new potential platforms. In particular, the duo of Instagram, Youtube and “rookie” Xiaohongshu are the most anticipated names.

The TikTok ban in the US and its significant impact on brands

Since the bill to shut down TikTok was signed by President Joe Biden in April 2024, the media and brands have been “standing still.”

Over the past half year, TikTok has made numerous legal efforts to overturn the ban. However, the Court’s conclusion still held that this law did not violate the First Amendment. Even when new President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban to give him more time to work, the US Department of Justice still called on the Supreme Court to deny Mr. Trump’s request. Therefore, at the present time, there will be almost nothing to prevent the bill banning TikTok from taking place in the US. If this bill is followed, the TikTok application will officially stop operating on January 19 in the US market.

The disappearance of TikTok from the US market creates huge concerns for brands and content creators, because this is one of the leading channels in the US with a number of users of up to 170 million, bringing The ability to reach customers has been extremely impressive in recent times. On the other hand, there are many content creators who have succeeded thanks to building channels on TikTok. Therefore, eliminating this social network not only causes the loss of a communication platform but also affects many aspects such as Sales, influencer marketing, Affiliate marketing,…

Brands and Content Creators strive to find alternative platforms to TikTok

To fill TikTok’s gap and meet new consumer needs, brands and content creators are starting to search for new territories:

#1. The available platforms YouTube Short & Instagram Reels are chosen as the fastest alternatives

Since the bill banning TikTok was issued, many experts have predicted that other platforms such as Google, YouTube, Meta and Snapchat will be the biggest beneficiaries. Because brands will gradually shift to these platforms when TikTok disappears from the US market. In particular, the spending allocation of brands across media channels is predicted to be reshaped, with about 30–40% of spending on Google, Youtube, Meta, 10–20% on Snapchat and other platforms. another rock.

Currently, not only TikTok, some social networks such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube have also launched short Video features. Instagram introduced its vertical video feature, Reels, in 2020 and quickly became one of TikTok’s strongest competitors in this video space. Or YouTube Shorts was also announced in the same year, allowing the posting of short video formats under 1 minute, helping YouTube consolidate its position as the largest video platform on the planet. Therefore, this duo is considered the two tools most likely to replace TikTok.

However, the disadvantage of these platforms is that the user experience and algorithm are not really optimized like TikTok. TikTok’s unique feature is its video push algorithm, causing small trends to continuously explode in recent times and creating an interesting experience for users. On the other hand, TikTok now also has the TikTok Shop feature, helping consumers easily meet the trend of shopping combined with entertainment (shoppertainment).

#2. Look for opportunities from completely new platforms, with similar features to TikTok

Besides considering old platforms, brands should also look for new opportunities from new platforms, because American consumers are currently looking for similar applications to replace TikTok. At the same time, content creators emerging from TikTok are also starting to look for new “homes” similar to this application, especially applications also from China.

Among them, two typical names must be mentioned: Xiaohongshu (Little Red Note or RedNote) and Lemon8.

Xiaohongshu or RedNote

Tieu Hong Thu is being considered one of the most potential alternatives that can fill the void of TikTok. In the US, Tieu Hong Thu is known as RedNote and has been noticed by many famous brands. Typically Duolingo and Dr. Squatch has begun to take advantage of this platform.

This is a social network created in 2013 and quickly spread throughout China with 300 million monthly active users, along with the participation of 140,000 collaborating brands. In recent years, Tieu Hong Thu’s growth rate has been astonishing, with revenue expected to exceed 1 billion USD by 2024. In particular, this platform is considered to be at the top of social networks in terms of the ability to carry out effective influencer marketing campaigns. This is also one of TikTok’s most outstanding strengths. Therefore, Tieu Hong Thu is one of the platforms most considered by brands.

Lemon8

In addition, users also pay attention to another application, Lemon8. However, the biggest obstacle of this application is that it is also owned by ByteDance. If a new law is enacted to ban TikTok, any ByteDance subsidiary will not be allowed to operate in the US. Thus, compared to Tieu Hong Thu, Lemon8 is a somewhat more risky and dangerous solution.

Other potential platforms

In addition to Tieu Hong Thu and Lemon8, some other potential applications targeting TikTok’s gap include:

1. Flip: Social commerce platform combining TikTok and LTK.
2. Clapper: Aimed at adults, mimics some TikTok features and claims to be ad-free.
3. ReelShort: Mobile entertainment application with short-form film and TV content, appealing to fans of the drama genre.
4. Triller: An application that emerged in 2020 when TikTok faced the risk of being banned, is currently promoting strongly to attract TikTok users.
5. Neptune: While still in beta, this app promises to bring custom algorithms and monetization opportunities for creators.

Conclusion:

There is currently only one last day left before the bill banning TikTok is implemented and on January 19, this platform will completely disappear from the US market. And if that really happens, the hole TikTok leaves in this country’s media and Advertising market is huge. This requires brands to quickly listen to consumers, to explore new platforms to replace TikTok. Currently, RedNote and available platforms such as Instagram Reels and Youtube Short are becoming the top choices of brands in this market.