Thanks to an influencer marketing boom that affected TikTok during the pandemic, there’s more money to be made on the short-form video platform than any before. Hordes of wannabe influencers are eager to grab some of those dollars from themselves, but first, they need to educate themselves on TikTok’s best practices.
That’s where instructors like Taylor Loren come in. Loren is one of the TikTok tutors who was profiled in a recent New York Times feature. Loren, who teaches up-and-comers how to command attention on one of the world’s busiest apps, leads a virtual class of about 8,300 students.
Loren is part of a wave of professionals who are establishing careers by teaching others how to make appealing TikTok content — rather than making it themselves. “People are realizing that this is the future of social media and they need to learn now how to create video content,” Loren told The New York Times. “I just saw a really big opportunity.”
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The idea of a “TikTok 101” class is not exactly new. In fact, the platform itself teaches brands and small businesses how to create vertical videos that stand out among the noise. That initiative, titled TikTok Academy, kicked off in October.
The Academy is a nice tool for commercial TikTok users, but for everyday creators, independent teachers offer a wider variety of courses. Loren’s class is informed by her background as a social media strategist. Other educators, such as Skyler Chase, approach the TikTok curriculum from a creator’s point of view.
Chase also offers classes about Instagram and YouTube, but his TikTok course is taking off. It reaches about 22,000 students on platforms like Skillshare and Udemy. The former service has seen a 66% year-over-year increase on TikTok-related courses, even as the number of Instagram courses declines. On Udemy, the growth of TikTok courses is three times higher than the equivalent numbers for Instagram and YouTube.
YouTube courses may not be as buzzy as TikTok 101, but that doesn’t mean the Google-owned platform is bereft of attention from educators. YouTube star MrBeast recently partnered with East Carolina University to establish a program that will train editors, artists, camerapeople, and other essential members of the creator economy.
