This content was created by Brendan Gahan. This content was uploaded by Brendan Gahan. This is a YouTube commentary video titled "What is Lemon8 and should YOU use it?!" (created 2023-04-12T16:00:29+00:00). A single narrator discusses ByteDance's new app Lemon8 (aka Lemonade), comparing it to Pinterest/Instagram and China's Little Red Book, explains ownership links to Heliofilia/ByteDance, describes early creator recruitment and marketing strategy, and evaluates whether Lemon8 could become the next TikTok—concluding it's unlikely without massive marketing spend. The content is an analytical/opinion piece about social apps, creator/consumer dynamics, and social commerce.
Chapters
ByteDance quietly launched a brand new app, Lemonade. Is it the next TikTok? I'm gonna break down what the app is, how ByteDance is promoting it, and why you should or should not jump all over. Lemonade has been described as the best of Pinterest and Instagram, but it's arguably more reminiscent of the Chinese app called Little Red Book. This makes sense. China's the new leader in social commerce. Why wouldn't they export what is already successful in China and test it in the US? That's already what they did with the Chinese version of TikTok, Touyin, and that worked out pretty well for them. But Lemon8 is not listed as a ByteDance app. It's actually owned by a Singapore-based company, Heliofilia Limited, but it was recently revealed that ByteDance is actually the parent company. Now to promote the app, they've slowly been recruiting creators to populate it and fill it with content, as well as drive some low-level awareness. But ByteDance invested billions in marketing TikTok, something they have not done for Lemon8 yet. So what's going on? My guess is that they're testing to see if the app is sticky and has potential before scaling. So should you join? Social apps are markets. There are creators and consumers. To create a flywheel effect, it's essential to strike a balance between the two. Creators want audiences, while audiences desire content. A large audience with few creators leaves users bored, and a small audience causes creators to figure the app isn't worth their time. Apps need to get that balance right, something we've seen so many fail to do in the past. Clubhouse, BeReal, Paparazzi— they couldn't cut through the clutter. In fact, the only successful social app to launch in the last 5 years was TikTok, and they spent billions to get where they are today. So, will Lemon8 the next TikTok? I think it's far too early to tell, but unless it gets a massive marketing budget, my guess is no. What do you think?
