One of the biggest dreams of every TikTok creator is to make a video that will go viral. It has the power to catapult a creator to fame. A viral video can bring in millions of views, likes, and shares, which becomes popularity and revenue. It can mean an influx of new followers, brand collaborations, and sponsorship opportunities. However, making a viral video is not an easy feat. It takes a combination of effort, creativity, and luck.
A video should gain more than 250,000 views to be considered viral on TikTok. Does it sound scary? Then here is all you need to create your first viral TikTok video. 💁♀️
Understand TikTok Algorithm
As any other social media network, TikTok has its own algorithm. It also can be called a recommendation system.
TikTok’s algorithm analyzes users behavior: what kind of videos they like, share, and comment on, or skip. This system also determines what content to show on the For You page. Say, you love funny cat videos – that’s what you’re going to see on the For You page. Your friend, who likes to cook, is definitely going to see recipes or cooking life hacks.
The algorithm is both a blessing and a curse for a creator. On the one hand, it gives creators a chance to have their content discovered by a wider and more engaged audience. On the other hand, the success of a video is heavily dependent on how well it resonates with the algorithm.
The algorithm is both a blessing and a curse for a creator. On the one hand, it gives creators a chance to have their content discovered by a wider and more engaged audience. On the other hand, the success of a video is heavily dependent on how well it resonates with the algorithm.
The cornerstones of TikTok algorithm are:
- Average Watch Time (how long users have watched your video)
- User engagement (the actions users perform with your video on the app, such as liking, commenting, and sharing, or pushing the “follow” button)
- Video Completion Rate (the percentage of the video watched by users)
- Video quality (videos with good lighting, clear audio, and visually appealing graphics are considered to be more engaging for users)
Average Watch Time and Video Completion Rate are crucial for the success of your video in 2023! The higher your average watch time and completion rate, the better chance your video has to go viral on TikTok!
If your video is 10 seconds long but people only watch it for 3 seconds, the algorithm will decide that your video is boring and show it to a few people. If users stay on for 8 seconds, your video will be shown to more people.
Video Completion Rate also depends on how long people stick around your video. If your video lasts 10 seconds and a user scrolls down after 8 seconds, your completion rate will be 80%.
Think about it: you’re more likely to have people watch 8 seconds of a 10-second video than 48 seconds of a minute-long one. It’s safer to start with videos up to 15 seconds to boost your account. Once you figure out how to keep people interested and gain your first followers, you can easily make videos longer – and still keep good Average Watch Time and Video Completion Rate.
It’s also of crucial importance to choose and stick to one genre of videos. Only those who make recognizable and memorable videos can become popular on TikTok. A single video genre is the X factor that will make people subscribe to your profile and wait for more content.
The algorithm also sorts TikTok users into groups based on their interests. If you make videos that are appealing to a certain group, your videos will appear organically in their For You pages and you’ll find your highly-engaged audience.
If you can't find your niche right away, don't worry. Experiment with different video formats. But once you find what works for you and what you are comfortable doing, do not change the concept anymore!
Now you’ve got an idea of how the TikTok algorithm works. It's time to create a perfect video that will go viral! 🔥
Keep an eye on trends
Trends are a crucial part of TikTok's culture. If you want to create popular and engaging videos, you have to keep up with the latest trends.
There are various types of trends on TikTok. A trend can be a dance, a certain filter, sharing opinions on one particular topic, sounds and music.
What is more, trends can be the solution when you run out of content ideas. Each creator can adapt the trend for themselves and attract many new viewers. Read more about this in our article "How to Find Inspiration for New Content?".
If you use trends, you have big chances to reach more people, gain appreciation, find new fans and become popular on the platform.
How to find trends?
There’s nothing easier! Open the Discover page on the app, and watch videos: you’ll certainly find that they all have something in common – a particular song or sound, transition, filter or hashtag. All these are going to be your trend!
There’s nothing easier! Open the Discover page on the app, and watch videos: you’ll certainly find that they all have something in common – a particular song or sound, transition, filter or hashtag. All these are going to be your trend!
Do not ignore TikTok challenges! They are created in two ways: by brands wanting to make their product or service more recognizable, and by popular TikTok creators and influencers. You can participate in any challenges that are appealing to you!
TikTok trends usually live around 5-7 days. The earlier you join a trend, the more likely you are to get views! Moreover, you can create several videos using one trend: TikTok’s algorithm analyzes video by video and not how many times you have used the same trend.
Another win-win strategy is to re-upload a trend video if it shows promise. Choose your video that does better than average and re-upload it after sometime. Thus you’ll be able to reach a wider audience and attract new followers.
The most successful creators are often those who can put their unique spin on a popular trend, which helps them stand out from the crowd and increase their chances of going viral. If it sounds like rocket science to you, start with using trends as they are! Once you learn how to quickly spot trends, shoot and edit videos, you'll have more time to experiment and bring your own personality to your videos.
Staying up-to-date with trends is vital for creators looking to gain popularity and grow their following. This is one of the keys to succeed on TikTok.
Know Your Audience
To shoot a popular video, you need to know not only what is in trend now, but also who uses TikTok and for what purpose. It’ll help you to make a video that will be appealing to the majority of viewers.
Studies show that TikTok users come to the platform to “lift their spirits”. They also like to discover and learn new things while using the app.
You should also keep in mind that almost 40% of TikTok users are between the ages of 18 to 24. The second-largest group of TikTok users is those aged 25 to 34 (around 32%). The third-largest age group of TikTok users is those aged 35 to 44 (15.6%).
The biggest TikTok audience usually fall into 3 particular types of content:
- Funny/entertaining (humor and fun are great powers and who doesn’t like to share memes with friends?)
- Inspirational (show people how to make their health/looks/life better, motivate them to make over, study or have fun)
- Educational (share interesting and little-known facts, life hacks or tips, these kind of videos are highly saveable and shareable)
If you wish to create a viral video, it’s better to choose one of these categories. Thus, your video will be appealing to the majority of TikTok users and will have big chances to become popular!
Make the right video structure
To increase your Average Watch Time on TikTok, you need to have a video structure that captures people's attention and keeps them engaged. Ask yourself why your audience would stay till the end or watch your video before shooting it.
Here’re 3 basic things to create the right video structure (that works in most cases!):
Have a Strong Hook
You have to grab the viewer's attention immediately. A strong hook is the best way to do this!
The attention span of TikTok users varies between 1-4 seconds. That’s how much time you have to capture the attention of the viewer.
The classical hook that will never go out of fashion, is to present a problem and then offer a solution. The main secret is to choose a painful problem that almost everyone faces. People will continue to watch your video if you can demonstrate your point effectively within the first five seconds.
The more common problem you choose, the more people will be engaged! And the better the solution you offer, the more chances that people will start to trust you and subscribe to you!
Another strong hook is sharing facts, tips or life hacks. It’s similar to the previous one but here you’ll hold your audience’s attention by appealing to their natural curiosity and motivation to learn.
The more interesting the fact or the more useful life hack you share, the more likely that people won’t only watch your video to the end, but also share it with friends!
If you have chosen a vast topic, do not make a long video – it’s less likely to be watched to the end! Instead, you can create a series of videos concerning one topic. TikTok offers the opportunity to create playlists and clubbing your videos together.
If you have tutorials, part-two’s or explainers, the best strategy is to create themed collections and in any new video mention that users who are interested can explore your playlists. It will motivate people to go from the video to your profile and watch your other videos (which will also increase their Average Watch Time and views in general).
The attention span of TikTok users varies between 1-4 seconds. That’s how much time you have to capture the attention of the viewer.
The classical hook that will never go out of fashion, is to present a problem and then offer a solution. The main secret is to choose a painful problem that almost everyone faces. People will continue to watch your video if you can demonstrate your point effectively within the first five seconds.
The more common problem you choose, the more people will be engaged! And the better the solution you offer, the more chances that people will start to trust you and subscribe to you!
Another strong hook is sharing facts, tips or life hacks. It’s similar to the previous one but here you’ll hold your audience’s attention by appealing to their natural curiosity and motivation to learn.
The more interesting the fact or the more useful life hack you share, the more likely that people won’t only watch your video to the end, but also share it with friends!
If you have chosen a vast topic, do not make a long video – it’s less likely to be watched to the end! Instead, you can create a series of videos concerning one topic. TikTok offers the opportunity to create playlists and clubbing your videos together.
If you have tutorials, part-two’s or explainers, the best strategy is to create themed collections and in any new video mention that users who are interested can explore your playlists. It will motivate people to go from the video to your profile and watch your other videos (which will also increase their Average Watch Time and views in general).
Use Strong Call to Action
Ending your video with a strong call to action is just as important as starting with a strong hook. You can create the best video on the entire platform but what’s the point if viewers don't know what to do with it? Do you want people to just go and watch other videos in their feed? This is where call to action comes into play.
Yes, if people liked your video or found it helpful, they are more likely to push the like button, save the video, or even leave a comment. But it will not be superfluous to push them to the right actions!
Ask people to do it and it will increase their engagement. It’s also awesome for TikTok's algorithms.
Just a few ideas of what you can say at the end of the video:
- Hit the plus button for more content like this
- Comment on what I should show in my next video
- Follow me to learn more interesting facts
- Share this video with your friends
There are also more genuine ways to make a call to action. You can leave some questions unanswered in your video and thus motivate people to leave comments. You also can leave in random strange details or hiccups – users are fond of finding weird things in videos and they’ll definitely write about them.
Adding a strong call to action can turn 0 comments to thousands and 1 new follower to hundreds.
Use text
Yes, TikTok is about watching videos and sounds and music. But if you make a video and add at least a text heading it can increase time users spend to watch your video: they have to stop at your video in their feed just at least to read the heading! It also lets viewers know what to expect.
The best strategy is to make a hook in a form of text: it can be an opening sentence, a question or a direct call out to your viewers.
It’s also great to present a call to action at the end of a video in the text form. Use phrases like “follow for more”, “like to see part 2”, or “hit + to see more content like this”.
Mind your timing: let your call to action last at least a few seconds so that people have time to follow you or hit the like button before TikTok automatically starts playing the next video.
Choose the right hashtags
Hashtags are an essential part of TikTok. The majority of users use hashtags to find what they’re interested in. What’s more, hashtags actually let the algorithm understand what your video is about. This means that hashtags used in your video description makes it easy for the algorithm to put the video in the feed of people who will be interested in it more than the others.
If you use hashtags that are too broad or unrelated to your content, your video may get lost among the millions of other videos on the app.
It can be challenging to find best hashtags at the beginning but here’s advice for you:
It can be challenging to find best hashtags at the beginning but here’s advice for you:
- Hop to your Discover tab and see what hashtags are trending.
- Choose 5-10 hashtags that are popular right now or just beginning to trend, so that you can ride the wave as they become more popular.
- Now narrow your choice to 3-5 hashtags that are the most relevant to your audience.
By using hashtags effectively, you can reach a wider audience and increase engagement on your TikTok account. Additionally, if your video performs well with a certain hashtag, it may even be featured on the hashtag's official page, further boosting its visibility.
Gaining more followers, increasing engagement, getting collaborations with other creators, earning money – there are so many reasons to create a viral TikTok video.
Although we’ve outlined some basic things that can help you, it doesn’t always work out the first time around. Keep your head up! Give yourself time and you’ll definitely get what you want. 💜
Although we’ve outlined some basic things that can help you, it doesn’t always work out the first time around. Keep your head up! Give yourself time and you’ll definitely get what you want. 💜
We’re always ready to help you get the maximum profit from your viral videos (check our website to learn more about it!).
We’ve designed the entire platform called One2fan to help TikTok creators to monetize their creativity. To learn more about it check our article: What is One2fan?
If you want to start on One2fan, this article can help you: How to start on One2fan?
If you want to start on One2fan, this article can help you: How to start on One2fan?
