How To Go Viral On TikTok (9 Simple Steps)

TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms right now. The video-sharing app is the best way to get yourself (or brand) known to millions of people across the globe within a short period.

From Khaby Lame to Bela Poarch, TikTok’s viral videos have birthed hundreds of online celebrities. 

Also, small businesses aren’t left out as they are leveraging the use of short-videos to create awareness and drive sales to their products. Score.org reported that over 21% of small businesses on TikTok considered it effective – particularly businesses targeting GenZ.

But, how do you go viral on TikTok? How do you get your video to be watched by over 100 million TikTok users?

This article walks you through the process of creating engaging content on TikTok and how to make your video go viral.

 

9 Steps To Go Viral On TikTok

Grab Viewers Attention

On a video-sharing platform like TikTok, where users quickly scroll past hundreds of videos at a go, you only have three seconds to grab your viewer’s attention.

Grabbing the first hundred viewers’ attention before they swipe past is very important for your video to go viral. If you can engage the first hundreds of viewers, the TikTok algorithm will consider your video engaging and share it with more people, who will share the video with others until it goes viral.

You can grab the viewer’s attention by starting your video with;

•         An intriguing story.
•         A rare fact.
•         Breaking news.
•         An opinion contrary to the public.
•         Promising the viewers incentives if they watch the video till the end.

For those thinking of starting a TikTok video by promising incentives, make sure you fulfill your promise to avoid losing credibility and your audience.

The goal is to capture the viewer’s interest, not to make false promises for views.

 

Keep Your Videos Short

TikTok is a platform for short-form videos where users expect videos that are straight to the point.

Therefore, the TikTok algorithm is programmed to push, mostly, short-form videos to more audiences since it is what people prefer to watch.

If you have a longer video, divide it into parts and encourage your followers to follow you so they can get notified when you drop the second part of the video.

 

Use Trending Music

TikTok songs are as effective as hashtags. They can increase your video visibility by showing it to whoever searches for the song.

You can also start a TikTok challenge with the music by tagging your followers, who get to share the video with their followers too. An increasing engagement on your video will influence the TikTok algorithm to favor you – pushing your video to a wider audience until it goes viral.

To see what is trending, you’ll need to look through the “For You” Tab.

When exploring videos on the “For You” Tab, pay attention to the videos that pop up often and the sounds used.

Finding trendy sounds on TikTok through the For You tab has many advantages. As you scroll, you probably won’t even need to pay attention to what you hear because the popular music or sounds will occur more often. With that, you will be able to tell what’s trending after a while.

To know the title of the song used, check the bottom-left corner of the video and you’ll see the song title and singer’s name.

Other ways to discover trending sounds include; going through the sounds section in the “Discover” menu, using the Search bar, or checking the TikTok creative center.

 

Use Relevant Hashtags

One of the ranking signals used by the TikTok algorithm is Hashtags. Adding hashtags in your video description makes it simple for the algorithm to present your video to viewers who will find it interesting. Also, you stand a chance to reach a wider audience if millions of people search for keywords used in your hashtag.

Finding popular hashtags on TikTok is very simple. The only thing you need to do is visit the Discover section.

TikTok Discover menu lets users search for content, including trending videos, hashtags, soundtracks, creators, and more. The Discover button is placed at the bottom of the screen, but on some devices, users won’t see the “Discover” option; instead, they’ll see “Friends.”

If you don’t get the discover option on your device, you should use the search bar at the top of your screen to search for trending hashtags or sounds.

 

Share Your Videos On Other Social Platforms

If you have a large following on other social media platforms, you should Inform your followers whenever you add a new video to your TikTok page. A teaser video and a link to the TikTok video are all you need to drive them to your TikTok page.

To make it easier, you can use social media scheduling apps like Crowdfire or SocialPilot.

 

Post At The Right Time

The term “posting at the right time on TikTok” simply means getting your post to appear in the “For You” tab of TikTok. This tab has become the ultimate goal for influencers, brands, and creators who use the app because it lets you get discovered by millions without spending a dime on ads or promotions.

To get featured in the “For You” section, you need to post at the right time. Posting at the right time would make your video get many engagements within the first few hours, and this will trigger TikTok’s algorithm to show your video to more audiences – pushing it to the “For You” section.

How would you know the best time to post?

To know the right time to post, you need to confirm the country where most of your followers are from. If you live in Bosnia with 80% of your audience from the United States, you shouldn’t post using Bosnia’s time because it might be when your followers are offline.

For example, if you post around 12:00PM in Bosnia’s time, your followers won’t engage with the post because the time in the United States will be around 6AM – which is when people are preparing to go to work while some might be in bed.

As a result, your post won’t get enough engagement within the first few hours, and TikTok’s algorithm won’t be triggered to share your post with more users.

Also, TikTok recommends that creators should post one to four times per day. This will help the algorithm to gather enough data on what your niche is about and learn about the type of people interested in your videos.

For those with audiences scattered across the world, SproutSocial recommends that you post between 6AM – 7AM and 7PM – 8PM.

 

Jump On Trends

Jumping on the latest trends in your niche is another way to go viral on TikTok. Having an in-depth understanding of your niche would help you make videos that are up to date and compelling to people who are interested in that niche. Also, being the first to share something in your niche will position you as a pioneer in your industry, increasing your visibility and getting your videos watched by millions of users.

The most popular TikTok trends are Sound, dance, transitions, and hashtags. To get the latest trend, you need to browse across the Discover tab, where you get to see thousands of videos with trending sounds, transitions, and hashtags.

Moreover, trends can change based on the niche you are in. For instance, what’s popular on one TikTok niche (for example, Dance niche) might not be popular on another (Life Hack niche). But that’s completely OK because it helps users who will like that trend find your videos on their For You sections.

 

Interact With Your Viewers

Interaction is what sets a video platform apart from a social network. TikTok is more than just a platform for posting videos. It is a platform for interacting with people using your videos.

Make sure your content attracts engagement from your audience because TikTok’s algorithm rewards all types of it. Ask your audience to comment on your post and give them a chance to interact with you. This won’t only increase your credibility but also act as a social signal for the algorithm to promote your videos.

 

Be Consistent

Going viral on any social media network requires consistency. You shouldn’t expect the video you posted toay to have a million views the next day. People only follow creators who post videos frequently because it gives your followers something to anticipate and instills commitment in them.

However, it doesn’t mean that you have to post every hour. Instead, try to post once or twice daily and maintain that momentum.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Is TikTok Algorithm?

The TikTok Algorithm is a mathematical set of rules programmed to determine the videos that will appear on your For You page based on certain factors like; interests, engagements, and previously watched content.

According to TikTok, the Algorithm is a recommendation system that delivers content to each user that is likely to be of interest to that particular user. TikTok further explained that the recommendation system brings a stream of videos curated to your interests, making it easy to find content and creators you love.

 

How Does The TikTok Algorithm Work?

The TikTok algorithm shows users the videos they will most likely watch and get hooked with. However, this is a Herculean task, given that thousands of video content are uploaded every hour.

But, out of the thousands of videos uploaded every hour, how does the TikTok algorithm pick the videos you’ll be interested in?

This is where the ranking signals come to play. The TikTok ranking signal uses specific metrics to determine the videos you will likely get hooked up with.

The common metrics used are:

User interactions

One of the ranking signals used by the TikTok algorithm is the user’s interactions with the app’s content. The Algorithm studies the type of videos you watch and how you engage with the video.

This include:

• The creators you follow.
• The creators you’ve blocked.
• The videos you’ve liked.
• The videos you’ve shared.
• The videos you’ve added to favorites.
• The videos you’ve selected as “Not Interested.”
• The videos you watch and replay.
• The ads you’ve liked or clicked on.

Popular Searches

Search signals are based on the content you frequently look for in the Discover section. If you actively search for dance videos, the Algorithm would recommend more dance videos for you and filter a list of popular dance creators you could follow to get more dance videos.

 

Wrapping Up

This article covered how you can create engaging videos that would go viral on TikTok. Also, we explained the benefits of slitting long videos into shorter forms and how it can improve your engagement ratings.

One last thing to note…..

It takes a lot of patience, time, and creativity to go viral on Tik Tok. But, If you put everything we’ve discussed into practice, you are on your way to becoming the next TikTok star.