How to go viral on TikTok
We’ve spoken a lot about the value of TikTok on the Social Blog. If you have landed on this blog, you might recognise its potential and deem the platform a good fit for your business. What’s left then is creating your account and populating it with content.
TikTok is a unique platform with all of the eyes at the moment. Therefore, content on TikTok is very competitive. This means you cannot just post anything on the app; it needs to stand out.
Below we’ll share tips for going viral on TikTok, using insights from some of our recent client wins on the app.
How does content perform on TikTok?
Before we jump into the steps you can take to create and publish viral content on TikTok, it’s a good idea to understand how content goes viral and performs on the platform. Similar to most social media platforms, TikTok curates content for its users depending on what they have previously interacted with. This includes the content they have watched for a certain amount of time and videos they have liked, commented on, and shared.
For example, if you watch, like, comment, and share many fitness videos on TikTok, the platform will realise that fitness, training, physical activity, and health are your interests. As a result, you will probably find your feed is suddenly curated with lots of this kind of content. This is why the main feed on TikTok is called a For You Page (FYP) because it is made specifically for you, capturing content that matches your interests. Think the YouTube recommended section but even more so catered to your likes.
Another critical thing to note about TikTok and its algorithm is that it does not just push content from users with high follower counts or engagement numbers. Therefore, you could see a fitness video from a person with 20K followers and one from a user with two followers. The For You Page does not take followers or post performance when curating users' feeds. This means every single video on the platform has the opportunity to go viral on the For You Page. Naturally, not every video will go viral, but the chance is there, and this is what makes TikTok very unique, especially for brands and businesses.
Our tips for going viral on TikTok
Now that you have a better understanding of the TikTok algorithm and how it works, let’s get into how you can get your content to go viral on the platform.
Learn
TikTok's tone and delivery
Before you start to create content for TikTok, it’s vital to get a sense of the tone of the platform. What we mean by that is not all content will do well here. The platform is a place for fun and humour, motivation, inspiration, and educational content. Therefore, catering your content to match these pillars is essential if you want to go viral.
For example, fitness transformations, comedy, tips and tricks, and inspirational content all do well on the app. This kind of content keeps people engaged, making them more likely to watch the full video. It is also essential to match the platform's delivery, which is short and snappy.
Don’t forget to use hashtags
One of the ways TikTok pushes content into users' FYPs is through hashtags. Including hashtags in your description makes it so much easier for the app to push the content in front of the right people.
If you are hoping on a trend, do the relevant hashtags. Posting an educational workout video? Whether you are showing how to do a pull-up, a squat, or a specific CrossFit move, hashtag it. On a similar note, try to avoid using more generic hashtags.
Find trends and jump on them
TikTok is also a platform full of trends which means even more opportunities to go viral if you strike while the iron is hot. The next big thing can take place for a few days or a few weeks. The algorithm naturally pushes videos with trending soundbites and music into more user feeds.
If you want to go viral, keep an eye on the app for potential trends you can hop on. Remember, not all trends will be relevant to your business, and it is best to sit it out if it isn’t. The more you keep up to date with these content trends, the easier it will be for you to create timely and relevant content that helps you achieve your goals.
Encourage interaction with your content
Another vital thing to remember with TikTok is that the platform is not just about posting videos but also interacting with others. The Stitch and Duet features allow other users to interact with your content, and this further pushes your content in front of the right people.
With that in mind, be sure to encourage this community interaction and ask users to get involved or share their thoughts in the comments. Similarly, it is essential to create content that can be reacted to.
Know your audience
It is also essential to know your audience on TikTok so you can post content that is valuable to them. This means knowing what age they are but also what their interests are too. Then, you can cater the content you make, so it resonates more with them.
This can result in more views, and TikTok may be more likely to push it onto the For You Page. Knowing your audience will also help you determine the best times to post content on the app.
Below are some of our client’s viral moments on TikTok. They went viral because they incorporated the above tips!
Pods4U shows a recent project
In this short and snappy TikTok video, Shane, Co-Founder of Pods4U, talked through a recent project the team completed. He spoke about its features and what makes it different from other pods they have done. The content was educational and inspirational, encouraging users to consider a pod.
We used specific hashtags like #constructiontok, #tinyhome, #pod, and #tinyhouse. The background music we used also was trending, and we knew this content piece would do well because we had a good understanding of the brand’s audience on TikTok. This video got 2178 likes, 71 comments, 221 saves, 367 reshares, and 99.1K views.
The NFC welcomes new students to its ATPL programme
In this TikTok; we used footage of an aeroplane landing with a song that was trending that week. Our caption included specific hashtags like #aviation, #pilot and #avgeek. We knew the brand’s audience very well and that they enjoy seeing updates and celebrating other students.
Therefore, we knew that this piece of content would perform well on the platform. The tone of the content is right, plus its delivery is short and snappy, which is ideal for the app. We also received a lot of comments and interaction on this post which further helped push it onto the FYP. This video got 4685 likes, 37 comments, 446 saves, 18 reshares, and 36.9K views.
Summary
Making your content go viral on TikTok is more achievable than you may have previously realised. This is not to say that every video that incorporates these tips will help you go viral. However, they are some good practices to help you better your chances. If you have any questions about TikTok or would like some help managing your account, get in touch with us at Social Directions Agency. We’d be delighted to help you make your brand industry-leading on social media!