With TikTok\u2019s fate in the U.S. dangling between the Supreme Court and President-elect Donald Trump, competitors are moving in to try and claim its ad dollars.<\/p>\n
Snapchat, for example, isn\u2019t holding back. In recent pitches to marketers, the app\u2019s ad sales team has highlighted the notable audience overlap between Snapchat and TikTok in the U.S., both on a daily and monthly basis, according to two slides shared with Digiday.<\/p>\n
The first slide shows Snapchat\u2019s claim that 60% of U.S. users over the age of 18 also use TikTok daily, while the second slide highlights that 77% of Snapchat\u2019s U.S. users aged 18 or over use TikTok monthly. Both slides strongly indicate that anyone seeking a possible replacement could at least find a majority of their TikTok users over on Snapchat.<\/p>\n
The parallels between Snapchat\u2019s and TikTok\u2019s <\/strong>platforms are well known, and audience crossover at this scale is almost expected. As Colleen Fielder, vp of social and partner of marketing solutions at Basis Technologies, explained after reviewing the slides shared with Digiday: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t surprise me if it explicitly calls out that data point in sales pitches.\u201d<\/p>\n By the numbers<\/p>\n Platform users (per earnings and\/or internal figures):<\/p>\n What\u2019s more notable is Snapchat\u2019s timing. That Snapchat is actively counting TikTok\u2019s advertisers underscores just how much the short-form video app has disrupted its rival. TikTok hasn\u2019t just competed with Snapchat for ad dollars in recent years \u2014 it leveraged Snapchat to grow its own user base. In fact,\u00a0TikTok was Snapchat\u2019s largest advertiser in 2020, a twist that adds another layer to the growing tension between the two platforms.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just Snapchat getting aggressive.<\/p>\n According to two ad execs, YouTube has been offering sweeteners in recent weeks to encourage advertisers to spend more of their ad dollars with them. Think \u201cspend X amount and the platform will give you X amount in ad credits.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYouTube is generous if you negotiate correctly, generous in how you can apply the credits,\u201d said one of those U.S. ad execs, who shared details with Digiday in exchange for anonymity.<\/p>\n For YouTube, TikTok\u2019s meteoric rise was more than a financial threat \u2014 it redefined the online video landscape by shifting the battle for attention to short-form content driven by viral trends, fleeting moments, and the quirky, ephemeral magic of a well-timed dance. If TikTok were to vanish, it would leave a significant gap in media plans, one YouTube is eager \u2014\u00a0and uniquely positioned \u2014\u00a0to fill. <\/p>\n Not to be outdone, Pinterest is also making a move.<\/p>\n It offered a percentage match for advertisers increasing their investment by a certain minimum amount, starting on or before Jan. 22, Fielder said, following her correspondence with the platform. <\/p>\n On those plans, Pinterest\u2019s vp of global agency sales, Soniya Monga told Digiday: \u201cWe have existing bonus media incentives tied to incremental paid spend. With the changes happening across the industry, now is a great time for our partners to take advantage. As a place where people find inspiration, advertisers can benefit from Pinterest\u2019s positive environment, and research shows that positivity pays off at every stage of the purchase funnel.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Pinterest, Meta has also offered a percentage match for incremental spend against Reels ads or for incremental budget \u2014 with no specific product or measurement solution required \u2014 during the month of January 2025, Fielder continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another U.S. ad exec, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also confirmed to have seen Meta offer advertisers in January a 3:1 or 5:1 match for incremental investment.<\/p>\n Reddit, too, is in the mix, reminding advertisers of its 70 million daily users in the U.S., and matching $1,000 in ad spend, with credits, since the start of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve definitely seen ad credit opportunities across channels \u2014 Pinterest, in particular, has been pushing our team quite hard on these offers lately,\u201d said Tucker Matheson, co-founder and co-CEO of Markacy.<\/p>\n Though he did also note that it\u2019s not uncommon for ad credits to be more readily available at the start of the year when advertisers are finalizing their yearly budgets.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere might be some synergy with the timing [around the TikTok ban],\u201d Matheson added.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s too soon to crown a winner, YouTube appears to have the upper hand in a straight head-to-head with Meta. The challenge for Meta lies in performance \u2014\u00a0Reels doesn\u2019t measure up to YouTube or TikTok, according to ad execs interviewed for this article.<\/p>\n \u201cThe TikTokification of social media will outlast the potential TikTok ban,\u201d said Jasmine Enberg, vp and principal analyst, social and creator economy at eMarketer. \u201cTikTok popularized short videos, and now nearly every social platform, including LinkedIn, is a short video app. That\u2019s a testament to TikTok\u2019s lasting effect on the social landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n These platforms aren\u2019t just vying for ad dollars, they\u2019re after TikTok creators \u2014 a flywheel of content, engagement and revenue. They know creators bring users, who bring more creators, turning one-time visitors into daily scrollers.<\/p>\n WeAre8 is one platform that has been explicitly hoping to poach TikTok creators.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been active this week targeting creators and bringing more over to WeAre8 as the uncertainty around TikTok mounts in the USA,\u201d a spokesperson for WeAre8 told Digiday. As a result of ongoing outreach, more than 2000 creators have joined WeAre8, they added.<\/p>\n The marketing team has been distributing a piece of comms titled, \u201cWhy WeAre8 is the TikTok replacement you\u2019ve been waiting for,\u201d as well as what they describe as a \u201ctactical creative\u201d \u2014 a vertical video (below) akin to TikTok\u2019s short-form format, which suggests that WeAre8 should be part of a creator\u2019s \u201cTikTok ban survival kit\u201d. Both the comms and video have been circulated organically across all WeAre8 owned and operated channels in social media, plus via direct engagement with creators, while additional ATL (advertising strategy) plans are in discussion, they added.<\/p>\n\n
YouTube\u2019s sweeteners<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Reddit\u2019s gambit<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The tussle for creator talent<\/strong><\/h2>\n