The Difference Between TikTok Stitch vs. Duet and Which Is Right for Your Brand

If you’ve spent time on TikTok, Stitches and Duets have likely appeared on your feed. At first glance, these mediums might seem similar, but they actually serve entirely different purposes. 

While Duets and Stitches aren’t new to TikTok, they are not commonplace in many brand’s content mix. Used correctly, both Duets and Stitches are potent ways to increase engagement and help build a community on TikTok. 

In this blog, you’ll learn: 

• What is a Stitch on TikTok?
• What is a Duet on TikTok?
• What’s the difference between a Stitch and a Duet on TikTok? 
• How to Stitch a video on TikTok.
• How to Duet a video on TikTok.
• How brands use Stitches and Duets.
• Should you use Stitches or Duets? 

What Is a Stitch on TikTok?

A Stitch on TikTok is when users add a response to an existing video — you can Stitch videos from other users and even your own account. When you Stitch a video, a snippet from the original TikTok will play, and then your Stitch will begin. Sometimes, users add text at the beginning of their video to indicate it’s a Stitch since users might be inclined to scroll past if they’ve seen the video before or aren’t interested. This encourages viewers to watch your video.

Users can turn Stitches on or off on their videos, which means not all videos are free to Stitch. Often, users will use text or verbally ask or encourage others to Stitch their video. This might be done with text overlay that reads ‘Stitch This’, or with the creator specifically asking for others to answer their question or share their experience relative to the video’s topic. 

What Is a Duet on TikTok?

A Duet on TikTok is when you post a video beside an existing TikTok video. Duets play split-screen style, with both videos playing simultaneously — this means your filmed video must be the same length as the original. Often, users will respond physically with gestures to videos with a lot of audio, verbally to videos with minimal speaking or music, or with responses to specific questions or phrases mentioned in the video. 

Users can also determine if their video can be Duetted in settings, which means not all videos are free to Duet. 

What Is the Difference Between a Stitch and a Duet on TikTok?

The most significant difference between a Stitch and Duet is their format. A Stitch plays in sequence, beginning with the original video before going into the Stitched content, while Duets simultaneously feature a side-by-side view of both videos. Stitches are often used to add to a video’s original point, answer a prompt mentioned in the original video or start a discussion about the original video’s subject matter. 

Duets, however, are used to showcase two videos at once and often feature complementary content to the original video they Duet. Dance videos, reactions, and trends incorporating the original sound are often Duetted.

How To Stitch a Video on TikTok

Stitching is the perfect way to continue a conversation on TikTok, and thankfully, a user-friendly process. 

To Stitch a TikTok video:

• First, click the 'Share' arrow to see if you can Stitch a Duet.
• From there, select ‘Stitch’. If the video has Stitches disabled, this option will not be available. 
• Next, a snippet of the original video will appear. Select the length and section of the video you wish to Stitch. Once chosen, select ‘Next’. 
• Now, record your video that will appear as a Stitch to the original video. Your video will have a blue outline on the recording button, while the original will be red. You can’t change the TikTok song here, but you can access effects and features from the right-hand toolbar. 
• Click the red arrow. Add text, stickers, effects, face or voice filters, and more. When complete, click ‘Next’. 
• Optimize your video with a caption, hashtags, location and whatever else you choose. Clicking ‘More Options’ lets you choose whether you want to allow Stitches, Duets or comments for this content. 

Sometimes, videos have a red button that says ‘Stitch This’ below the caption. Click this to start the Stitching process immediately. 

How To Duet a Video on TikTok

Duetting a TikTok offers a few more formatting options than a Stitch, but the process to get there is very similar. 

To Duet a TikTok video:

• Select the video you wish to Duet. 
• Click the ‘Share’ in the bottom right corner. 
• The editing screen will appear. From there, select the view you wish to film your Duet in. There are four options — ‘green screen’ style with your face floating in front of the original video, side-by-side, full screen with the original video minimized in the left-hand corner and on top of each other. 
• After selecting your view, film your Duet. You cannot change the sound or add a voiceover here, but you can access editing features in the right-hand toolbar. Click the red checkmark once you’ve finished filming. 
• From here, you can add a voiceover, effects, filters and other features from the right-hand toolbar. Once complete, click ‘Next’. 
• From there, optimize your video with a caption, location, tags and any other feature you wish to include. 
• Click ‘Post’ — your Duet is now complete and shared. 

How Brands Are Creatively Using Stitches and Duets on TikTok

While creators often use Duets and Stitches on the app, some brands are tapping into this potential way to engage their community and garner engagement. Here are some examples of creative Stitches and Duets: 

Trend Testing: @glamzilla 

Beauty creator and makeup artist Glamzilla uses TikTok Stitches to share her experience trying beauty trends — in this instance, they film a TikTok trying out a blush application technique shared by Rare Beauty and share their experience with the method.  

Adding to the Conversation: @dermologica 

Dermologica uses Stitches to educate its audience and the original Stitcher. In this example, Dermologica Stitches a user discussing face wash for acne with their own video that adds knowledge about ingredients consumers should look for in their face cleanser when addressing acne. 

Educational Stitches: @javonford16

In this Stitch, cosmetic chemist Javon Ford Stitches a user recommending baking soda as an exfoliant — he immediately begins by describing how harmful baking soda can be to your skin, gripping the audience’s attention and quickly giving some science-backed insights to explain why he doesn’t recommend this method. 

Duets That Spark a Trend: @queenzziel0cthevoice

TikTok’s roots are in music — creator @officialemmawhite calls back to this era with her content where she plays piano, sings and color codes song lyrics to create Duettable content where others can sing along — TikTok karaoke, if you will. User @queenzziel0cthevoice sang along to a video of ‘What Was I Made For?’ by Billie Eilish in a unique tune, starting a trend where others Duetted this video using her version of the song. Moreover, Billie Eilish shouted out this trend during the Leeds Festival, showing how far a Duet trend can go. 

Brand Humor: @glowrecipe

Glow Recipe uses Duets to infuse a little humor into their social feed. In this example, they Duet user @andipdx, a boy who finds their ‘Watermelon Glow Ultra-Fine Face Mist’ in the bathroom, as he humorously remarks how cool a product is that makes you glow in the dark. He continues to see if the product works as he thinks it does, while Glow Recipe uses the ‘Green Screen Eyes and Mouth’ to add physical comedy to the video with expressions and a funny punchline. 

Reaction Video: @makeupandmeg 

Beauty creator @makeupandmeg uses Duets to simply react to a video by @thelipsticklesbians, who are known for sharing their thoughts on makeup formulas and packaging from their own experience working in product development. In this example, they discuss Haus Lab’s foundation and Duetter @makeupbymeg uses facial expressions to indicate her interest in their content and the related product. Duets like these are also a great way to share helpful information with your audience without simply reposting another user's content. 

TikTok Stitch vs. Duet: Which Should You Use?

Should your brand use Stitches or Duets? The answer largely depends on your social media goals and objectives. 

If you want to build community, Duets are fantastic to offer a positive reaction to community members raving about your products. If your goal is to increase reach or your following, Stitching trending videos (relevant to your industry) is likely more effective to achieve your goals. 

Duets are perfect if you plan to demonstrate or add new context to a previous video — also a creative way to repurpose content. For brands, this can mean Duetting a video of a blush with a tutorial featuring the product, or Duetting a previous TikTok announcing an event with updates on any event highlights. Another great way to use Duets is for reaction-style videos (think guessing if an item is real or cake) or adding humor to an existing TikTok. 

On the other hand, Stitches are best used to add context to a user’s original point. For example, expanding on a topic you’re knowledgeable about, like an automotive company explaining how cruise control works, or answering a question. Like we discuss above, users often make videos with built-in prompts, asking others to Stitch their videos and share their experiences, which can be great opportunities for your brand to join a conversation depending on the topic. 

Conversely, your brand can experiment with creating content that encourages your and others on TikTok to Stitch your video, a great way to foster conversation with your followers. For example, a makeup brand might ask their followers to share their first makeup memory, or another fun, fairly neutral prompt. However, be cautious that you cannot control who Stitches your video — your community management strategy should be well underway, with a thorough understanding of how your community shares information and wants to be spoken to. 

Track Your Success on TikTok with Dash Hudson

Dash Hudson’s TikTok Insights not only provide an at-a-glance look at your account’s success, but let you group videos into segments that makes sense to your team. This is perfect to hone in on KPIs for your Duets and Stitches and measure their overall performance. 

Marketers can also tap into general TikTok metrics to track their views, total and net new followers, likes, comments and more, or segment videos to see the impact on specific collections. Here, you can customize insights to include the metrics that matter most, from sentiment analysis to engagement rate and total number of posts. 

TikTok is also often used in cross-channel campaigns — the Campaign feature lets you segment your campaign content and measure the effect your TikTok content has on your overall efforts — including Duets and Stitches. Brands can also save valuable time looking for the best TikTok sounds with the TikTok Trending Sounds feature, which curates the most popular trending sounds on TikTok weekly. 

FAQs

How do you see Stitches and Duets on TikTok?

Users can view Stitches and Duets on TikTok while scrolling through their FYP — the TikTok algorithm prioritizes them similarly as they do new content. To find Duets or Stitches for a given sound, click the audio link at the bottom of the video to see all Duets and Stitches. Another way to find Duets is by user or general topic — in the search bar, type the username or topic you’re looking for, followed by ‘#duet’ to see all Duets for a user or trend. 

How do I know if someone Duetted my TikTok?

If someone Duets your content, you’ll receive a TikTok notification. You can also see Duets for your video by clicking the audio of your original video, either under your caption or from the icon in the bottom right corner.  

How long are Stitches on TikTok?

In total, you can Stitch a TikTok video for 15 seconds. This includes the duration of the video you Stitched — remember, you can trim this if necessary to give yourself more time to film.