The TikTok-ification of Customer Education (and why it’s a good thing, actually)

You’re probably sick of articles bemoaning the “TikTok-ification of (insert anything here)”. It’s kind of like how just 10 years ago every headline was “Millennials have ruined (insert literally everything here)”. 

But this is bigger than avocado toast (which, by the way, is still delicious and affordable. It’s eggs we have to worry about now).

As more and more humans get their information and entertainment from short-form videos, the more their brains get wired to prefer that medium.

Platforms like TikTok have completely changed how we consume information, blending entertainment with education. So if short and snappy videos are all the rage? Our Customer Education and Customer Success content efforts have to step up and meet our customers where they are.

That doesn’t mean convert all your training into dance videos. Unless your audience is into that.

But what would an "edutainment" approach look like for Customer Education? 

Understanding the TikTok phenomenon why you should care

TikTok’s format is simple but powerful: short, engaging, and easily digestible content. And it obviously works.

TikTok’s user base grew by 98% between 2020 - 2024 (Statista).

That’s…actually insane.

And it points to a significant demand for– or rather, an expectation of– short form video content.

Traditional educational content can be boring and fail to keep viewers engaged. 

As Dave Derington, Co-founder of CELab: The Customer Education Laboratory, says, 

“Simply put, TikTok and YouTube are taking over the world. These formats are so addictive, but they're also so informative that I find myself increasingly relying on video, short-form video, and more for my education. Now it's up against conventional learning formats. Education is everywhere. Education has to be entertaining because it's gotta catch the dopamine. I have to get dopamine off this. I've gotta be excited. It's gotta catch my attention”.

Making educational content entertaining is the key to keeping your audience engaged. When your content is fun and interesting, viewers are more likely to stay and learn. This approach can significantly improve customer education and success.

Applying TikTok Strategies to Customer Education

Short, focused content

Keep videos short and to the point. Use no more than 10 seconds to introduce the video topic, or just dive right in immediately. Don’t clutter up the script with a bunch of extra, unnecessary info. 

Bold, clear visual elements

Stuff like animations, graphics like arrows, highlights, callouts, CTAs, etc. all work to capture eyeballs and maintain viewer interest.

Keep topics relevant

Don’t focus on what you want people to learn– focus on what your customers actually need or want to learn. Commonly asked questions are a great place to start. Aim to reduce frustration and increase the value they’re getting. Consider using actual support tickets (or a visual representation of them) as the “intro” to your short videos. Submitted comments/questions to quick off a video are a format TikTok users are really familiar with.

Leveraging AI for video content creation

By applying TikTok principles to your customer education videos, you can create engaging and effective content that keeps your audience hooked. There’s a reason the platform is massive.

Short, fun, and informative videos are the way to go. 

But creating these videos at scale are impossible with manual video editing solutions.

Only an AI-powered platform like Videate can help streamline the video creation process, making it faster and more efficient by automating updates and text to speech voiceover in multiple languages. 

Get a demo today and see how Videate can TikTok-ify your Customer Education efforts!