It took a little longer, surprisingly, to get a good grasp on the algorithm, since it’s deceptively simple, but I’ve figured out how to get TikTok Views, get TikTok Likes, and go viral on TikTok. And I’m sharing with you! Why? Well, I’d rather my clients know I’m going to stay on the cutting edge of shifts in attention and technology, and also – getting a ton of views is easy. Monetizing them is the tricky bit, and you’ll have to hire the Midwest’s best Social Media agency for that.
What I’ve learned from 90 days on TikTok
It’s Less Complicated Than What We’re Used To
TikTok’s algorithm comes across as a little chaotic, and there’s a few reasons. One, you can just get lucky, and two, you can just get unlucky. Jumping into it: There’s a very obvious release path TikTok takes to promote content on the “For You” page. First it shows your video to 10-20 people, It then evaluates your performance with that group, and if it’s doing well, shows it to 100-500 people, then 1,000-5,000, so on so forth. If you were marketing on Facebook 7 or 8 years ago, you’ll be familiar with this method. You’ll see this happening because your video will jump to 500 views, chill for a few hours, jump to 1000, etc. You can watch this in action if you post good content.
It’s about views, and repeat views
Likes do almost nothing. Comments, Views, and REPEAT VIEWS seem to be what get the job done. At this juncture, I don’t even think comments matter (I could be wrong) but I think the fact that the video replays in the background WHILE the user is writing the comment, is what makes a video take off. And that’s it. You need actually engaging content. Note I did not say funny, or high quality, I said engaging. As in the person can not scroll by. They have to watch it, all the way, and then want to watch it again.
So, like I said, it’s surprisingly simple, and leads to some odd videos taking off.
What’s that mean?
Luck is factor again
Which is honestly kind of cool. It reminds me of the old days of social media where you didn’t have to spend 3 years building a following with 10 posts a day for a video to get a ton of organic virility. It’s also difficult, especially in the current times of boring social media managers, content calendars, and the “automating” of the content creation processes. This will test your relisience and creativity. So, as we discussed: a small group of people are shown your video, and if they watch and rewatch it, (IE You’ve engaged them) it will keep going. So if you just hit 10 complete dorks at first, your video is dead. And I’m not joking, I mean dead. Surfing / Hashtags get you like, maybe 30 views a month, even on previously viral videos. Breaking through that 1k mark usually gives you a good idea if there was a problem with your content or if you just might have had some crap luck.
Repost!
If you’re confident it’s a good piece of content, or want to give it another go – Wait 7-14 days and then repost it. Keep trying, it might take a few, but don’t do it the same day, wait a while and post some other videos. If you do this 3-4 times with no luck, your content might just not be engaging
Add Elements that encourage watches and rewatches
Things you add like countdowns and text can help people stop scrolling for a moment, and could help you gain the all-important rewatch. So if you’re doing a recipe for example, flash the ingredients on the screen and say “Pause the video if you need the ingredient list”! That ensures the person has a reason to rewatch. All in all, just brainstorm ways to keep people watching to the end, and encouraging them to rewatch. That’s all that matters. This “Blink and you’ll miss it” is why our simple video of a cucumber being sliced got 2.4 Million Views.
Hope this helps you out with some info on the algorithm. Get in there and start creating, or give your favorite local social media heroes a call. Oh and follow us on TikTok! @valamarketing. Don’t ask why our profile picture is a LEGO Star Wars character. 😉
