YouTube has launched a TikTok Duets competitor with ‘Collab’, a new feature for Shorts and long-form videos that lets creators remix and respond to videos via a split-screen.

YouTube

“Shorts creators: Collab is fully launched on Android and iOS!! Now, in addition to remixing with Green Screen and Cut, you can use Collab to record a Short in a side-by-side / split-screen format with eligible long-form videos and Shorts 📹”

Thanks to Collab, creators can record their video alongside another one on YouTube, as long as it’s up to 60 seconds long. Collabs lets creators use a variety of layouts, including side-by-side, picture-in-picture and green screen. The different options will let marketers respond creativity to existing content, or open up interesting ways to collaborate in partnership with influencers.

To produce a Collab video, follow these steps.

1. Go to the video you want to remix.
2. Click on the ‘Remix’ button and select ‘Collab’.
3. Pick a segment from the video. It can be up to 60 seconds long.
4. Pick the layout that best suits your style.
5. Record your Short alongside it.

What are the potential benefits to brands in using Collabs? 

The new feature provides an exciting way for marketers to leverage the power of user-generated content by incorporating your audience into marketing campaigns. Collab videos can also boost engagement, encouraging interaction between the community and a brand and help reinforce the messages you want to get across.

YouTube also has a massive library for brands to pick from, and using it could help them jump on meme culture bandwagons easier than ever before. Collabs will also make it easier for marketers to respond to trending moments, sounds and content.

How YouTube shorts have grown

YouTube Shorts now earns over 50 billion daily views, and with YouTube pushing the format hard, its reach will only increase. Part of that strategy is to include Shorts on smart TVs, and people watching at home can now access the short-form format.

1.5 billion logged-in users watch Shorts every month, and while that number is less than TikTok and Instagram, the pace at which Shorts is catching up with its main competitors means it has to be taken seriously.

Although it does feel like Shorts is playing catch up a little bit. It should be said that Shorts is a little late on the ‘Collabs’ trend with TikTok and Reels already offering it to creators. TikTok were the pioneers of the format with Duets, before Meta jumped on the bandwagon through its Reels Remix feature.

TikTok Duets 

TikTok Duets is the original version of this format. Like Collabs, it lets users post videos in a split screen with another, which play at the same time. In TikTok, you can choose three options to decide who can Duet with your videos: everyone, followers who follow you back and only me.

Follow these steps from TikTok to Duet someone else’s video:

1. In the TikTok app, tap the Share button on the side of the video you’d like to Duet.
2. Tap Duet at the bottom.
3. Choose from the filming options on the side panel.
4. Tap the Record button to start and stop your recording, then tap the check mark.
5. Edit your video, then tap Next.
6. Adjust your settings, write a caption, and tap Post.

Instagram and Facebook Remix

Instagram and Facebook’s version of this format is called Remix, and lets anyone create a Reel using someone else’s photo or video. It’s interesting that brands can Remix other user’s photos on Instagram, and that potentially provides another way to boost the amount of user generated content accessible to marketers.

However, it’s important to note that only videos shared after Remix became available are eligible for this format.  In terms of audio, you can either use your own, add a voicer or mix your audio with the new Reel.

To Remix a reel, tap the three dot button at the bottom of the reel, then tap Remix and tap the camera icon. You can then select the Layout icon to the left to select a different layout.

The process is super similar on Facebook.