Inside TikTok’s invite-only creator summit, where it pushed long-form video and ignored the looming ban threat

TikTok hosted an invite-only creator summit but left out conversations on its looming US ban.

In a packed Hollywood auditorium last week, TikTok gave its pitch to creators — and didn’t address the fact that it could soon be kicked out of the country.

The company’s creator summit in Los Angeles focused on horizontal long-form video, platform monetization, and the power of fandoms. Notably left out of the half-day conference was any mention from keynote speakers about the divest-or-ban bill that could see TikTok removed from US app stores as early as January 19.

“I’m definitely leaving that to our phenomenal legal team,” Kim Farrell, TikTok’s global head of creators, told B-17 when asked directly about the ban. “But I think if you look at an event like today, there’s so much momentum, there’s so much positivity. We just really want to send a message to creators that we are here for them and full steam ahead.”

TikTok regularly hosts invite-only events around the globe for its creators. This latest event highlighted the company’s aim to compete further with YouTube in long-form content, and executives like Farrell and Melissa Tecson, the head of established creator management in North America, as well as creator manager Norissa Samuels, shared best practices.

The buzzword of the day was “high-quality content.” In TikTok’s view, this means well-crafted, engaging content that drives growth and showcases an in-depth understanding and expertise on a specific topic or theme.

Tecson said that, in TikTok’s research, creators who made “high-quality” content earned 15 times as much per month, on average, as other creators did directly from the platform.

She also talked up subscriber communities, which let creators build paywalled feeds that viewers can access for a monthly price. Tecson said TikTok recommends having a subscriber community as a way creators can build predictable monthly revenue.

Some creators, especially micro and nano influencers, have struggled to build predictable revenue streams with recent market shifts. A survey from the influencer-marketing firm Linqia found a drop in marketers looking to hire creators with fewer than 500,000 fans and a shift toward mega influencers with millions of fans.

TikTok’s LA Creativity Summit was full of tips for creators. 

Tips TikTok shared with creators

In a keynote presentation, Samuels said TikTok was looking for creators who could master storytelling.

Samuels shared 10 tips for creating better content on TikTok, which could lead to stronger engagement and higher earnings:

1. Have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
2. Like an elevator pitch, keep an audience engaged throughout the video.
3. Engage, then explain. Grab the viewer’s attention in the first five seconds with a strong hook.
4. How to craft a strong hook: Answer a question, tease the end result, or create a funny moment.
5. Move locations, use trendy sounds or music, voice-over, or lean into effects and text.
6. Go in-depth and make people learn or feel something new.
7. Solve a problem, bust a myth, share a hack, elevate the everyday, share an inventive idea, or teach step-by-step.
8. Prioritize production value with high-quality visuals, edit with quick cuts and captivating shots, and use transitions and fast-paced storytelling.
9. Think like a director: Prep costumes, lighting, sound, and framing beforehand.
10. Be intentional with your aesthetic. Stick to one that will reflect your brand.

Higher-quality content also performs better on TikTok’s horizontal video tool, TikTok said at the event.

TikTok launched longer-form videos in 2022, and between November 2023 and April 2024, the watch time of content over one minute was five times that of short videos, the company said.