TikTok vs Triller: Who’s winning in Nigeria?

TikTok is a video-sharing app owned by ByteDance, the most valuable start-up in the world. It also owns Resso, a streaming app that’s available in India and Indonesia.

As at now, both are still in early days with less that a million users across the country - per findings they still have less than a million users in Nigeria, but they are rising fast.

It was the most downloaded app of 2019 and now has two billion downloads, on its way to becoming the most downloaded app of 2020. It was created when ByteDance bought musical.ly in 2017.

Triller was released in 2015 as an AI-powered video app where users can create and share professional-looking videos in seconds with ready-made assistance via tools and ease of editing. It is also addictively fun. It’s all about loving music and connecting with like-minded people.

Since lockdown measures were instituted due to the novel coronavirus, Triller and its rival, TikTok have seen a major rise in popularity among Nigerian youth and celebrities.

TikTok has seen two billion app downloads. Triller had about 26 million users in December 2019. Speculation is that it has since grown to about 50 million users due to the lockdown.

You can watch the latest episode of Facts Only hosted by Motolani Alake below. The matter is explained in minutes;

Who’s winning?

Triller looked to be winning around first-half 2019, but TikTok has since taken over everywhere with more aggressive marketing, AI and the evolution of its UI, tools and features. In March 2020, it reported a 12% increase in its user base - about 28.5 million people.

Triller is kind of limited, but that’s because it reportedly has its sights set on impacting the music industry directly and that’s why streams count from Triller directly to Apple Music.

Triller is cool, but the presence of TikTok and the western validation it has, Triller doesn’t have it. That western validation is as a result of a rumoured $1 billion marketing budget that it has. Triller is just trying to grow organically and it’s easier to use because its AI is so smooth.

As at now, both are still in early days with less that a million users across the country - per findings they still have less than a million users in Nigeria, but they are rising fast.

How impactful have they been?

Trends. TikTok pioneers trends in Nigerian entertainment and continues to amplify Nigerian creatives with #Hashtags. Recently, Pulse Nigeria released a list of the most popular songs online TikTok and the numbers were astounding.

Triller has great numbers too, but there is a difference. One advantage is that it has a payment plan directly for artists and creatives. TikTok is only about amplification for now, but there are ways to monetize if someone manages you.

How can they better appeal to the scape in Nigeria? TikTok just needs to continue doing what it’s doing - it has the popularity and the financial muscle. It will also pay creatives - when it gets popular in Nigeria, it should also look to paying creatives

Triller isn’t as big, but TikTok is facing problems stemming from tensions across the world. India has banned it, Apple has threatened it and the US is threatening the same. Triller is already No. 1 in video-sharing app in India as a result, so interesting things might happen.

Triller just needs to find a unique way to affect the Nigerian entertainment scape better with unique offerings. I suggest by helping creatives shoot more tangible viral videos without spending much - maybe from paid tools. That could really propel the app.

To be honest, the battle is still wide open because it’s still early days, but TikTok is winning and it knows it. But with Triller’s numbers, it shows that they could really pull things off. What TikTok just has is popularity that has really permeated social media. But recently, Burna Boy opened a Triller account - a strategic move.

It will be interesting.