Can a crowd of small creators beat one huge creator? In this video, 999 TikTok creators on Sound.me each post one video with the same song for a chance to win $1,000. What they don’t know is that they are also up against a creator with tens of millions of followers. Over 14 days the hosts narrow the field down until one winner is left.

The setup

The challenge used one song, a track about a breakup. The big creator agreed to make a trend for it on her page, while the hosts opened a Sound.me campaign for the same song and small creators from around the world joined in.

What happened

  • By the next morning the campaign had about 480 videos and close to 900,000 views, from creators in countries including South Africa, Canada, Zimbabwe, the Philippines and Brazil.
  • Every few days the hosts watched the entries and eliminated around 200 of them, until five were left.
  • The hosts tried to make their own entry too. After days without an idea, they studied the best-performing entries and recreated one of them: a slow-motion run through a garden hose spray. It did not win.
  • In the end, the big creator’s video beat every individual entry. She and the best small creator each got $1,000.

Takeaways

  • Many creators move fast. Hundreds of videos with the song went up in one night, from many countries.
  • One big account can still win a single-video contest. A huge following gives one post a head start.
  • Proven formats are a good starting point. When ideas ran out, copying what was already working in the campaign was the fastest way to a video.
  • Coming up with the idea is the hard part. Clear directions help creators get to a video quickly.

Want hundreds of creators using your song? TikTok music promotion on Sound.me puts it in front of 3M+ creators. Creators can join the Sound.me app and get paid for each approved video.

Keep reading: Music promotion with micro-influencers  ·  Real campaign results  ·  TikTok music promotion with 3M+ creators