How To Go Viral on TikTok & Other Hacks
TikTok is often seen as social media's "growth darling", here's what you need to know.
Hello! hi! me again!
I’m currently working on my “State of Social Media” for 2023 but my TikTok section got too big so I decided to share some expertise on that separately here……………….
I have been growing pages on TikTok over the past year. Some of my pages have grown up to 100,000 followers per month, month over month. I have worked with 100+ creators on behalf of brands ranging from fitness, tech, creator economy, real estate and more. TikTok makes it very easy for creators, brands and advertisers to grow large followings on its platform. There’s a cost–more on that in a bit. This piece highlights answers to the most frequent questions I get asked. None of the below can make you intentionally go viral overnight but it will help you think about the simple tools that help.
Before we begin, it’s important to remember that the internet runs on novelty. You’re either seeking the new (as a viewer) or you’re creating the new (as a maker). One of the amazing things about social media in its earliest days was the opportunity that came with discovering new people and new worlds. No amount of technology can replace our human nature to crave novelty and connection. No technology released by a big social media platform so far replaces the feeling we get when we discover something new. Once a platform has been established, the people and our connection to each other are what matter. Remember this the next time you think about shifting your entire content strategy for a social media trend or platform. Now I’m going to add a layer to this–we also like things that are a little bit familiar. Why do people follow trends? Why are there so many Batmans? It’s because when we see what we like, we want more. More, but a little different. The combination of new and familiar is a huge draw.
TikTok, social media’s growth darling?
TikTok is often featured as the growth darling of social media. Even offering ⅓ cheaper CPMs than other large platforms. And the money is following. TikTok is successfully moving advertiser dollars from Instagram and has been doing so for the past year. As more brands, celebrities and creators flock to the platform, my prediction is that TikTok will get more expensive, faster than any other social media platform in history.
TikTok Regulation Threats Have a Chilling Effect for Creators
Lately the press has been carrying stories about steps taken to regulate TikTok. As this graphic shows, these efforts are getting noticed.
There are follow-on impacts. The possibility of regulation has a chilling effect on creators' enthusiasm to invest their time and creativity on the platform. It’s not rational to be on TikTok at the threat of the entire platform being banned more broadly, because it actually might get banned. Do I think TikTok will be banned in the United States? Not for more than a week. (The data TikTok collects, and whether there is Chinese government interference is for another post. The one thing I will say is this: U.S. lawmakers need to enact privacy legislation across the board that protects each of us against the overreach of all tech platforms.) But the narrative of having TikTok banned will have much longer lasting effects on TikTok’s growth. Swap out TikTok for Shopify in the news and ask yourself if it would be enough to make you look for alternative commerce solutions for your business.
One more point here for creators: TikTok represents one of the last dying breads of social media platforms. Where audiences are built, content is incentivized by algorithms. TikTok, like Instagram, does not allow the ability to link out in captions. For this reason, creators are not able to convert contact information or transfer their audiences to other platforms. However, just because you upload a video on TikTok does not mean TikTok owns your video. You own the copyright for the videos posted to social media platforms (this does not include any overlaid music or clips you don’t create yourself). Whether TikTok shuts down tomorrow or not, I always recommend you keep a backup of your raw asset files. You own your content and you never know when and how you’ll want to use it.
Building Trust Through Trending Sounds, Shorter Videos & Less Loyal Audiences
According to a Goldman Sachs report, TikTok is the leading app in terms of popularity, with 5.6 hours per week spent on the platform on average. Music plays an important role on TikTok, where on average, music is central to 3.9 hours of the 5.6 hours per week of videos watched on the platform, according to the IFPI Music Consumer Study 2021.
