Do you know how popular short dramas are abroad?
Let’s take a look at a picture to get a direct feel for it!
Surprisingly, the short dramas that are “everywhere” when you open a video app in China have actually become a new “wealth code” in regions such as Europe, America, Thailand, and Malaysia!
Digging into the reasons behind the popularity of short dramas, you’ll find that they meet the shared expectations of content creators, platforms, and users.
Short dramas feature compact and tight plots with a strong sense of rhythm, offering multiple plot twists and exciting moments every minute, which really hit the audience’s sweet spot. At the same time, short drama content is considered high-quality PGC content for algorithm-driven platforms, increasing user retention time, so platforms are naturally more willing to provide traffic support.
Therefore, it’s not hard to understand why short dramas have exploded overseas and become a new trending phenomenon.
△ReelShort Short Dramas Go Viral Overseas
Among the many short drama overseas apps, ReelShort is the most outstanding one.
The ReelShort short drama app is developed by Crazy Maple Studio, a subsidiary of Chinese digital publishing company COL (Chinese Online), mainly targeting the US market, continuously exporting works focused on themes like werewolves, vampires, and wealthy family love-hate stories, which are highly popular among overseas users.
ReelShort was launched in August 2022. As of now, its highest global monthly downloads reached 2,848,736, and its highest global monthly revenue was $4,852,885, which is about 34.7 million RMB.
According to foreign media Techcrunch, on November 11 alone, after deducting app store fees, ReelShort’s net income reached $459,000, about 3.28 million RMB, showing impressive money-making power!
△TikTok - The First Choice for Short Drama Overseas Expansion
Short drama overseas expansion is a hot topic now. Many short drama companies or film production companies want a share of the market. In terms of strategy, we at Tuke believe that TikTok, as a phenomenal short video platform, is undoubtedly the first choice.
TikTok itself is focused on fragmented entertainment, which highly matches the characteristics and target audience of short dramas. Therefore, leveraging TikTok’s fast-paced information flow format can more effectively capture users’ attention.
By searching the hashtag #shortplay, we can clearly see that related videos have reached 770 million views!
△TikTok Short Drama Strategies
1. App Promotion
Through a comprehensive solution, apps can be promoted on the TikTok Ads Manager platform, attracting users to the relevant app download pages on Google Play or Apple App Store.
Companies can choose system-optimized ad placements based on their business goals.
2. Web-to-App
Web-to-app describes a direct process where users go from the advertiser’s website to the targeted app. By embedding APKs within the webpage, users can download the app, which helps bypass Google Play listing restrictions.
△Strategy Selection: Link Path
When choosing between webpage or app, it mainly depends on which delivery goal suits the company’s product.
For webpage type, it’s mainly used for focused promotion of a specific drama. By adding deep links to the webpage, users can convert to the app via the web. Once users enter the app, they can directly jump to the content of that drama, allowing them to quickly find the short drama they want to watch.
△Spark Ads
Besides the strategies mentioned above, you can also use TikTok Spark Ads.
Spark Ads are a native ad format that allows companies to use TikTok’s organic posts and features for advertising, by pulling posts already published by advertisers (business accounts/influencer accounts) as ad creatives.
Each ad is linked to a TikTok account, so when users swipe left, click the nickname, or click the avatar, they will be redirected to the linked TikTok account homepage, increasing paid conversion rates and user retention.
On the TikTok Ads Manager platform, Spark Ads support both “auction” and “reach & frequency” buying types.
Now is the peak time for short dramas going overseas. If any company wants to use TikTok to expand short dramas internationally, it’s definitely worth a try!
Information Source: BlueOcean Interactive, Internet Compilation
Short answer for decision makers
This TikTok business signal should be used as a planning prompt, not a standalone trend. The practical question is whether your brand has the market readiness, creator supply, Shop conversion path, paid-media structure, and reporting cadence to act on it now.
Key facts
- Market signal: TikTok Marketing Information and Solutions
- Published: December 28, 2023
- Source transparency: the original source linked in this article
Tuke recommendation
Choose one market, one product group, one creator cohort, and one KPI for the next operating cycle. Then align creative testing, TikTok Shop optimization, live commerce readiness, and weekly reporting around that single decision.
What should brands do with this TikTok signal?
Brands should translate the signal into a focused operating test across creative, creators, TikTok Shop readiness, paid media, and reporting before increasing budget.
How does Tuke Marketing evaluate this kind of news?
Tuke Marketing reviews platform news through market timing, category demand, creator supply, commerce readiness, and measurable growth actions.
When should a team contact Tuke about this topic?
A team should contact Tuke when it needs to turn a TikTok market signal into a practical launch, creator, advertising, live commerce, or reporting plan.
Source transparency: Tuke cites the original source linked in this article and adds its own operating analysis for brands evaluating TikTok growth decisions.