If you want to reach as wide and diverse an audience as possible – which even includes users not found on Meta — brands need to know how to go viral on TikTok, the world’s fastest-growing social media app.
However, because TikTok boasts a unique algorithm and native content format, it can be difficult to stop the scroll and stand out. Here, we share 18 tips to help you get a million views for your branded content.
There’s an endless sea of content going viral on TikTok, especially compared to other social media platforms. That’s because TikTok relies on virality – meaning the platform is driven by viral video content, increasing engagement, and driving users to share content.
While its algorithm is known to be complex, there are a few best practices to implement when trying to create viral videos of your own.
When it comes to going viral on TikTok, by far, the most important thing a brand can do is try to understand and outsmart the algorithm based on user activity. TikTok’s algorithm is similar to that of other social media platforms, but it’s also very unique in that it’s more of a recommendation system.
Specifically, TikTok’s algorithm looks at different behavioral signals and user interactions to provide tailored, personalized content. TikTok’s algorithm considers these main data signals:
The TikTok recommendation system and algorithm centers around the “For You” page, which is TikTok’s carefully curated feed of videos uniquely tailored to each user’s interests.
Therefore, you should keep these data signals in mind when producing content for your target audience. The more engaging and “shareable” your videos are, the more likely they are to go viral on TikTok.
It’s a good idea to view TikTok’s trending page each day. Why? By keeping an eye on trending content, you:
Say that TikTok explodes with a meme video of users doing a trending dance move to a popular song. If you run an advertisement for your brand that features that dance and song, your video will be much more likely to go viral.
Given how fast trends explode on TikTok, brands have to keep a proverbial finger on the pulse of trending content perhaps more so than on any other social media platform in order to ensure their content stops the scroll and goes viral.
The “Discover” page on TikTok is intended to connect new content creators with fresh viewers. It’s where a lot of up-and-coming memes or social trends get their start before going viral.
Here are two reasons why you should watch TikTok videos on the Discover page:
By watching TikTok on the Discover page, you get an up-to-the-minute masterclass in how to make videos go viral not just on TikTok, but across the Internet.
If you want to go viral on TikTok, you should also follow the creators you enjoy or creators that compete in the same market niche. This is beneficial because, again, you can take the strategies and techniques that those creators use and leverage them for your own videos, including both organic and paid content.
Following creators on TikTok that you enjoy also boosts your own profile and helps to connect you to a network of users and brand-aligned shoppers.
Following is more than just signing up for video alerts. It connects you to a network of users, many of whom might convert into customers if your content resonates well enough with them.
As touched upon earlier, it’s important to keep up with TikTok trends. Rather than try to become a trendsetter (which is next to impossible to do intentionally and consistently), you should:
Because of the sheer volume of TikTok content, trends come and go on the platform very quickly. You have only a short window of time to capitalize on TikTok trends, so jump on every opportunity to make your content stand out from the crowd.
The later you jump on a TikTok trend, the less of a benefit you’ll gain. In the worst-case scenarios, you could even ruin some of your brand images by making it look too much like you are chasing those trends. Also, choose your trends wisely, as they should always align with your brand.
After all, Authenticity is actually very important — not just being trendy.
Users frequently turn to Google to search for specific TikTok videos, trending mentions on TikTok, and more.
As such, Google Analytics is a great tool to find and keep track of trending content so that you remain well-versed in current TikTok trends.
TikTok challenges are pretty similar to the Twitter hashtag challenges of yesteryear. While the latter is still somewhat valuable for modern marketers, TikTok challenges are much more instrumental in helping content go viral.
By participating in TikTok hashtag challenges, you directly take advantage of the trends mentioned earlier. Furthermore, you can use hashtags (see more below), calls to action, and other techniques to draw other users to your challenges, participate in them, and help them go viral.
When your brand participates in a TikTok challenge, anyone else who participated in the same challenge has a higher chance of seeing yours, which can pay off since TikTok is a community-based platform overall.
Though TikTok isn’t Twitter, the platform still uses hashtags to capitalize on trending keywords, challenges, social trends, and more. Whenever you run a piece of content, you should use hashtags strategically to:
However, take care not to overuse hashtags. If you use too many, you’ll diminish the value of your video and make it less unique and, therefore, less likely to go viral.
One of the best ways to combine the above few tips is to use hashtags to make your own TikTok challenges. If you already have a budding audience, you can challenge them to perform a specific task, share your video a certain number of times, or whatever creative challenge you think up.
Using hashtags to create TikTok challenges is one of the top ways to make your content go viral on the platform. The more people share your video to complete the challenge, the greater chance it has of reaching that critical momentum where it’s suddenly shared not just across TikTok, but across the web itself.
From time to time, TikTok trends will spur “viral” songs and sounds. Many creators may use a trending song in the background of their videos, regardless of the context or subject.
If possible, try to take advantage of these trending sounds and songs. This allows you to jump on certain trends depending on the type of content you make. But be careful to only use songs and sounds that align with your brand.
If a song or sound doesn’t fit with what your content needs to say or what your target audience appreciates, chasing viral songs and sounds could do more harm than good.
Here’s a general rule of thumb when it comes to going viral on TikTok: Keep your content short, sweet, and to the point. In fact, when it comes to TikTok, shorter is almost always better.
While the maximum video length on TikTok is 10 minutes, the majority of videos are anywhere from between 10 to 30 seconds in total. Why?
Attention spans are shorter than ever, and high-paced short form content keeps users engaged.
The best performing ads are becoming those that don’t immediately feel like an ad, but rather an organic post.
Therefore, the majority or all of your video content whether they are organic or paid, should be less than a minute at most. There is so much content to consume on TikTok in any given minute, so the more engaging your video is, the better.
In order to produce a steady stream of high-performing content on a saturated channel like TikTok, brands should work with a leading digital marketing agency like MuteSix–known for its award-winning content backed by real-time data–to ensure your content is always fresh, relevant, and captivating. Your content, while it should capitalize on current trends, must always be original and authentic in order to stand out.
It does your brand no good to simply copy the content made by other creators. You need to carve out your own space within TikTok if you hope to leverage trends that align with your brand, and most importantly make viral content of your own .
Similarly, you want to make sure that your brand’s content stops users in their scrolling tracks and differs from that of competitor brands with overlapping audiences. To do this:
Some of the best TikTok content interacts directly with its viewers. For instance, you might talk directly to the camera for a promotional video about your brand. You can also use text to ask questions or polls to encourage interactivity.
By interacting with your audience and encouraging their participation, you form an emotional connection with your brand via your TikTok content. That, in turn, makes it more likely that they will share it and kick start its journey to virality.
Humor is at the heart of a lot of quality TikTok content. But you have to be careful not to be tasteless; otherwise, your brand could suffer.
Tasteful humor typically means:
However, what exactly constitutes “tasteful” depends on your exact audience makeup. With that in mind…
To go viral on TikTok, brands really need to understand their audience and connect with them accordingly. The more you understand the shoppers you want to draw into the funnel and how your product will excite them and address their pain points, the more they will value your brand.
So, look at performance data to determine which content connects with them on a more personal level and convert them into loyal customers.
Of note, don’t just showcase product features–celebrate the attributes that address known pain points. Testimonial-like videos perform well because not only do they boost your social proof, but they allow actors to tell a story that resonates with viewers on an emotional level.
In order to create content that speaks to your target audience, use data to understand your customers, including:
Content creators are the lifeline of TikTok, so brands should consider partnering with them to maximize success. The right TikTok content creators can kickstart the virality of a video by serving it to their audiences who are likely to trust the tastes of the creators they follow.
That said, be sure to partner only with content creators who align with your brand in terms of their personality, aesthetic, and values.
For instance, if you have a family friendly brand and typically advertise to working parents, you should avoid edgier, more adult content creators who may off put your audience.
Lastly, if you want to go viral on TikTok, you need to monitor your competition in order to:
Because of the sheer volume of content exploding on TikTok, stopping the scroll is critical.
Therefore, you should monitor your competition as closely as possible to ensure you are not only keeping up with the trends, but creating new ones so as to stand out.
In essence, “going viral” on TikTok means creating a piece of content that gets picked up by a few people, and then gets spread around the social media platform of its origin (or beyond).
It’s always beneficial to have your social content go viral because you don’t have to spend more time and energy pushing that content elsewhere. Instead, your user base does it for you.
That’s a massive benefit for your brand. When content, like a testimonial or video ad, goes viral, the brand that made it:
TikTok is crucial for digital advertising for many reasons, with the main one being: it is highly popular–not just amongst Gen Z audiences, but shoppers of all ages, many of whom are not found on other platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Additionally, TikTok is more than an entertainment platform–it’s a search engine, with approximately 40% of Gen Z shoppers turning to it when searching for recommendations for their next purchase.
By creating viral-worthy short-form video content on TikTok, you’ll:
Ultimately, brands should understand how to go viral on TikTok so as to maximize their social media marketing success. If you can reach and dominate your niche on TikTok, you’ll be in a strong position to take advantage of this burgeoning platform, so it’s a relatively cost-efficient and low-hanging fruit opportunity.
Fortunately, digital marketing experts like MuteSix can help in more ways than one. With our social media marketing expertise, award-winning content creation, and advanced measurement solutions, we can churn out a steady stream of thumb stopping short-form native content that can be repurposed across all channels, also boosting your chances of going viral.
To get started, reach out to the MuteSix team of paid media, measurement, and creative experts today to learn how we can help you go viral on TikTok.
Sources:
TikTok expands max video length to 10 minutes, up from 3 minutes | TechCrunch
TikTok Surpasses Google, Facebook As World’s Most Popular Web Domain | Forbes