ByteDance’s video editor CapCut targets businesses with AI ad scripts and AI-generated presenters

CapCut, the ByteDance-owned video editing app that’s the company’s second to hit $100 million in consumer spending after TikTok, is now expanding into business tools. Known today for its easy-to-use templates, tight integration with TikTok, and rapid adoption of AI effects and filters, CapCut has been a top consumer video editing app that now regularly ranks in the top 10 or 20 Overall apps in the iOS App Store. Now the company will bring its set of tools to advertisers and creators with the introduction of CapCut for Business.

This business-focused extension of the CapCut platform prioritizes tools that help marketers, brands, small businesses, and creators generate ads and branded content. These tools will be made available across the CapCut app for desktop, mobile, and tablets, the company says.

Included in the offering is an AI-powered script generation tool that helps advertisers come up with script ideas based on their product or business description, as well as thousands of commercially licensed business templates, a smart tool for converting URLs of product or landing pages into videos, and more.

AI plays a heavy role in the new service as well, beyond ad script generation.

CapCut for Business also allows marketers to access AI-generated presenters who can show off a company’s products through demos and explainer videos. And a virtual try-on feature uses AI models to allow customers to virtually try on products and generate photos that showcase the product. This latter option is aimed at e-commerce businesses and clothing merchants.

Unlike the consumer app, CapCut for Business is designed for use across teams. Collaboration features let users work on their ads with other team members, agencies, and creators, where anyone can be given permission to edit, access, review, or add notes and suggestions.

While the tools could help businesses craft videos to advertise their products across TikTok and other short-form video platforms, they can also be used for organic content — like videos posted to the brand’s TikTok account, for example.

Originally launched in China in 2019 as JianYing, its sister app for non-China markets, CapCut, expanded globally across the following years and grew in popularity thanks to its ties to TikTok. As of August 2023, the app was used by 490 million iOS and Android users worldwide, reports market intelligence provider data.ai — that equates to roughly 25% of TikTok’s user base. Top markets outside China include the U.S., U.K., Germany, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Brazil, which have seen sizable increases in downloads over the first half of this year. In total, CapCut reaches 170 countries outside China.

CapCut also surpassed Splice to become the most profitable video editing app globally during the first half of 2023, pulling in a record high of $50 million, making it ByteDance’s second app to top $100 million globally. Data.ai attributes the increased adoption and revenue gains to the more recent introductions of AI features, like templates, effects, and filters. After adding generative AI templates and effects this April, for instance, CapCut saw a download spike followed by continuous revenue increases, the firm said. ByteDance also offers a CapCut plugin for ChatGPT users.

Now the company is positioning its editing app as a way for consumers to make compelling videos for social media, including TikTok, and for marketers to easily do so as well, without having to spend heavily on advanced video editing software. In selected case studies, CapCut reports business users were able to increase their video output, views, and engagement, sometimes by triple-digit percentages, and were able to reduce the average CPM in other cases and drive online sales. Broader real-world results will not be available until the software gets into the hands of more marketers, of course.

The new CapCut for Business software is available to brands, marketers, and creators starting today at no cost.