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If you are turning around meme videos for clients, bouncing between an editing app, your camera roll and TikTok for every clip adds up fast. There is a way to keep the editing and the scheduling in the same place.
If you're on TikTok, you've absolutely seen the meme videos of Bill Hader’s sassy dance, Tobey Maguire asking you “How’d that get in there?” or your classic Confused Dog. . Jumping in on memes is a fun, fresh and super engaging way to create TikTok content, super engaging on social media but how can you get in on these trends? Well with TikTok and CapCut, it's incredibly easy!
The process is slightly different if you're jumping on an already existing meme trend or if you're creating your own. Let's walk through both!
What is CapCut?
Before we get to the tutorial, we need to get our tools in order. CapCut is a free video editing app (available for iPhone and Android or desktop) that is extremely user-friendly. With a whole gallery of templates dedicated to specific platforms, built-in effects and filters, and more advanced features than the TikTok in-app editing options, CapCut is a great way to level up your video editing.
By the way, TikTok and CapCut are both owned by Byte Dance so it's in their best interest to make this editing process as easy and seamless as possible.
How to use CapCut template to make TikTok memes
Step 1: Find the CapCut template
If you already know which meme you're looking for, you can simply open CapCut, navigate to the Template tab, and search the keywords that describe the meme. It will likely pop up right away.
If you don't know what you're looking for yet, or you stumble upon a new meme on TikTok, look for the CapCut label on the video. Save the sound to your TikTok while you're at it!
Step 2: Edit the CapCut template
Once you find the template in CapCut, click the green Use Template button. Select the videos or images you want to appear in the background of the meme and click Preview.
The real adaptation part of this is adding your own text. You can do that within CapCut by clicking Text or you can add the text right when you're uploading in TikTok.
When you're ready, click Export in the top right corner. Make sure the resolution is 1080p then click Save and Share to TikTok. This will save the video to your device WITHOUT the CapCut watermark which makes it super easy to repost on other apps (selecting Save to device will include the watermark).
Then CapCut will prompt you to open TikTok.
Step 3: Post the CapCut video to TikTok (and other apps)
Click Open or Share to TikTok and you'll be taken right to the editing page. Add in the music that either goes with the meme trend or one that fits your adaptation (this is where saving the audio while scrolling comes in handy). There might be sound already attached to the CapCut template but I recommend using the ones from the TikTok sound library so your video will appear on the popular audio pages.
Click Add Sound. For this one, I don't have the audio saved so I type in, "Pedro Pascal eating a sandwich," and immediately find the one I'm looking for. Click the red check next to the sound to add it to the video.
If you didn't add your text in CapCut, now is the time to add it in. Click the Aa symbol to type out your text and make any other edits you want. Then click Next.
Add in your caption, hashtags and mentions, select your cover then click Post. And that's it! Now you're on the TikTok meme train!
How to use CapCut to create your own memes
Let's say you saw a hilarious celebrity GIF or video recently and you want to put the character on a different background to turn it into a meme. Let's walk through how you can do that with CapCut.
Step 1: Save the videos and images to your device
You'll want to have two things saved and ready to go:
- The background that you want to use - this can be a video or an image
- The video you want to turn into a meme (one you found or one you made)
- We're going to be removing the background of this file and CapCut can only do that for videos not GIFs so make sure the file is an MP4 or MOV
- Be sure to always check the permissions if you're using other people's videos
Step 2: Add your background video and overlay the meme video
Open CapCut and click New Project. First select the video or image that you want as the background and click Add.
Then from the bottom tool bar, click Overlay then Add Overlay and select the meme video from your camera roll and click Add.
Step 3: Remove the background of the overlayed video
Click on the video that you just overlayed so it's highlighted white then scroll through the tools at the bottom to find Cutout. Click Remove background and wait a few seconds for CapCut to do all the work. Then click the checkmark in the bottom right.
You can resize the overlayed video by using your fingers to pinch and drag around the screen.
Step 4: Export and post
Once you're happy with your clip, choose your export settings (1080p is recommended for TikTok and Reels) then click the export button in the top right. Now the video will be saved to your camera roll and you can post on any platform.
Note that the video will have a CapCut outro on the end of the video so you'll want to trim that off before posting. You can do that right in your camera roll or during the editing process in TikTok or Instagram.
Simple as that!
Now that you know how to find and use CapCut templates or create your own memes for TikTok, you've got all the tools to jump on this engaging style of content.
Want to streamline your process even more? Schedule and automate your short-form video content across all major social media channels with Sked Social. Start your 14-day free trial today! And if you need any meme inspiration, be sure to follow @getskedsocial on Instagram and TikTok.
Related reading
Our content is always evolving, just like the world of social media. This post was recently updated to ensure it aligns with today's social media landscape.
Editing and scheduling meme videos in one place
Sked has its own timeline editor built in, so you can trim, cut and combine clips, add text overlays and stickers, and drop in an audio track without leaving the app. When the edit is ready it saves to your media library and you schedule it straight to TikTok, Reels or feed video, with no export and reupload. For a team running several accounts, that is the whole workflow in one tab.
Producing content for several brands? See how agencies work in Sked.
