TikTok World 2025: The Key Takeaways You Should Know

At the latest TikTok World Summit, one thing became crystal clear: TikTok is no longer just a video platform—it’s a full-funnel engine for discovery, engagement, and commerce. The platform’s evolution is reshaping how brands utilize social, emphasizing relevance, creativity, and seamless paths to purchase.  These shifts create powerful new ways for advertisers and tech partners like Innovid to help influence performance across the entire funnel.

Here’s a closer look at the biggest takeaways from TikTok World 2025:

TikTok isn’t just content—it's culture

TikTok is leaning heavily into its cultural relevance. The platform isn’t just where people watch—it’s where they engage, participate, learn, and discover. This means brands can no longer treat TikTok as a repurposing hub for traditional content. They need to act like creators, not just advertisers. Through utilizing TikTok-friendly strategies such as influencer-generated content, brands can tap into their creator” mindset , and ensure they stay culturally relevant at scale, while delivering content that feels native, authentic, and immersive.

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Search is huge

TikTok shared that search volume is up 40% year-over-year, reflecting a major shift: users are coming to TikTok with intent—to learn, to explore, to buy. TikTok is positioning itself as a discovery engine, something that brands can leverage to their advantage. There is a huge opportunity to capture mid- and lower-funnel audiences with content that answers questions and drives action. By utilizing data-driven creative strategies tailored to answer consumers’ questions across searches, brands can reach the right person at the right time with the right message to drive conversions.  

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Commerce is continuing to scale—and fast

Over 60% of users have purchased directly from TikTok ads, and with 15 million TikTok Shop sellers globally, the platform is creating a frictionless path from discovery to purchase. Social commerce is no longer a "nice to have"—it’s a core driver of growth and brand impact.  TikTok is proving that authentic content combined with integrated commerce leads to more conversions. And when coupled with advanced analytics and cross-channel measurement, brands can understand how TikTok commerce influences the broader marketing funnel and optimize across all touchpoints in real-time.

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AI & automation are front and center

TikTok introduced TikTok Symphony, its new generative AI tool for creative production, as well as TikTok Smart +, which provides real-time ad optimization, making it clear that AI is at the heart of its platform evolution.

As ad technology continues to evolve, integrating AI-driven tools across your tech stack has become increasingly important. Leveraging platforms like TikTok in combination with solutions such as Innovid’s Social Automation can help marketers streamline campaigns and adapt more effectively to the fast-changing digital landscape.

Creative is still king

TikTok emphasized that platform-native creative is the single biggest driver of performance. New tools like TikTok One, Content Suite, and Insight Spotlight make it easier for brands to stay on trend and iterate quickly, providing deeper creative agility in-platform. Through a combination of advanced omnichannel personalization tools and in-platform iteration, brands can reach consumers with content better personalized to both the platform and the individual than ever before.  

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The future of what social can be

TikTok is rethinking what a social platform can be: a cultural engine, a search platform, a commerce driver, and an AI-enhanced creative studio. For advertisers, the takeaway is clear—it’s time to go beyond impressions and start driving real business outcomes on social.

As TikTok and other platforms continue to evolve, Innovid’s flexible, omnichannel approach and advanced social solutions helps brands meet audiences where they are—with creative that performs and measurement that matters, all while working in sync with native tools.

Ready to make your social strategy future-proof? Learn more about our solutions here.

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