TikTok helps brands join in by integrating third-party apps

Brief:

TikTok has introduced software tools to integrate its popular social video platform with other apps. Share to TikTok is the first feature in the TikTok for Developers program, a software development kit (SDK) that lets app designers, including those working for brands and ad agencies, to add an "export to TikTok" feature to their apps, per a press release on the platform's site.
Plotaverse is among the first seven apps to integrate with TikTok, a list that also includes Adobe Premiere Rush, Fuse.it, Medal, Momento GIF Maker and PicsArt. The deeper integrations with third-party apps gives them greater access to TikTok's 800 million users worldwide. That number includes 500 million people who use Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, per information Plotaverse shared with Mobile Marketer.
TikTok's integration with third-party apps will give brands, influencers, celebrities and creatives a way to share their content on the social video platform. Third-party developers can also expand the reach of their own platforms by leveraging partner hashtags. The greater access to China stands in stark contrast to platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest that are banned in the country, per Plotaverse.

Insight:

By offering an SDK to integrate its platform with other apps, TikTok is taking aim at rival tech companies that also have sought to build a developer community around their respective platforms. The SDK is the first offering in TikTok's program for developers, which will likely continue to expand. This first SDK means content authoring apps like Plotaverse can give users the ability to share their creative work on TikTok in addition to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and Twitter, among others.

While TikTok already offers robust editing tools that let users make 15-second videos with soundtracks and digital effects, a deeper integration with third-party apps provides more flexibility in creating user-generated content (UGC).

Even without an SDK, brands haven't been deterred from running campaigns on TikTok, which in September was the most downloaded social media app worldwide with 60 million installs, per an estimate by researcher Sensor Tower. American Eagle Outfitters, Chipotle Mexican Grille, Kind Snacks, Mucinex, the NFL and Walmart are among the first major companies to create campaigns for the social video platform.

However, it's not clear how much access Western brands will have to China through TikTok and its Chinese-language sister app, Douyin. In China, Douyin is subject to censorship by the Chinese government, and TikTok isn't available inside the country. The apps are both owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, which acquired social video app Musical.ly in 2017 and last year rebranded it as TikTok. Heightened security concerns about TikTok, which has 30 million users in the U.S., has led the U.S. government to retroactively review its $1 billion purchase of Musical.ly, Reuters reported last week.

TikTok last week tried to quell concerns by U.S. lawmakers that TikTok may represent a national security risk. In a blog post, TikTok said all U.S. user data is housed in the U.S., and is backed up in Singapore, making it off-limits to the Chinese government. The company also said it doesn't remove user posts unless they violate its policies against harmful content. Last month, TikTok removed about two dozen accounts that showed Islamic State propaganda.