How to Go Viral on TikTok [The Secret Sauce]

Wren Photography is reader-supported. When you buy through a link on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional costs to you. Learn More

If you’re one of the millions of people who use TikTok, it’s important to know how to go viral on this app. The app is used for different purposes and some people only want to make a few videos to share with their friends. This guide will give you all the information you need on how to go viral on TikTok.

How to go viral on TikTok: How do I get more followers and likes?

TikTok is a great app for making music videos, but it’s also an excellent platform to share your work with the world

The best way of going viral and getting attention from other users is by sharing content that they will like or find interesting. This can be achieved in many ways including commenting on popular posts, liking their video back, or uploading your videos that are already liked by others.

The key here is trying not to make too much noise; only upload things you’re 100% sure of. With that said, you can start getting more followers and likes by making quality content. Tik Tok virality is all about making videos that are fun, interactive, and involve interaction.

Here are a few things that will make sure that your content is top-notch and good enough to go viral on tik tok:

Understand Trends

Understand Trends

If you look at Tik Tok’s growth history you will find that the platform started to take off because of attracting a younger audience. So, just like any other social media platform, it also uses an algorithm to keep users on their feed (or For You Page).

The platform’s recommendation system is powered by artificial intelligence, which looks at a user’s past behavior on the platform to make recommendations. The recommendation system on the platform glances at the videos users have watched, liked, shared, and commented on, and breaks down attributes such as video content, text used in the video, and background music. It then comes on to serve them similar content from users they may not already follow on TikTok.

Users will add their own spin to a piece of trending audio, a dance, and a text-based format. Months can pass before trends leave, but more often they are gone within a few days. When they’re popular, they’re an effective way to expose your content to more people.

So, that’s why understanding trends goes a long way on going viral on tik tok. The media is aggressively trend-driven, lifting memes, popular songs, and video formats to the spotlight. Every meme or audio gets its moment, and the next big thing may be over just a few days later. Thus, use the key is to drive the latest trends and create content that most users are already liking.

When you upload a video on TikTok, it has to be interesting. If your content isn’t good enough, people will not like or comment on it and they’ll just leave the app without sharing their views. You must understand what is popular at the moment so that you can make videos with similar themes as well as ideas for new ones.

Niche Down

Niche Down

In the increasingly digital world, one of the most important things to remember is that you have to understand your target audience. This can be achieved by looking at their interests and demographics.

Most creators that you know have gone viral have a type of audience they make content for.

For example, Charli D’Amelio posts several kinds of self-choreographed dances and personal vlogs. Thus, you can achieve success by first getting to know your audience and then actually creating those specific types of content for them.

As an example, if someone searches for ‘how do I make money on YouTube’ or ‘How To Make Money On Tik Tok’, they are going after a specific type of content – which makes them a perfect candidate for content that gives them value on how they can actually make money from those social media platforms.

Diversifying your content too much can backfire. Find a niche or an idea that works well for you. Think about a scenario where you post a variety of content across multiple niches, one of them gets viral and you get tons of followers. 

You should keep in mind that those followers only came because of one video. If you do not follow up with similar content, you will see a decrease in engagement. This is because you are not posting content that got you those followers in the first place. 

Experimentation is a must, but do not stray too far from your niche when you do so.

The First 3 Seconds of Curiosity: Be relatable, ambitious, or hateable

Attention is the Key! If there’s no great reason for the users to stay on your video, you won’t likely end up on the FYP.

If you look at Tik Tok’s interface, you will find how easy it is to swipe across anyone’s TikTok. Thus, one wrong move and you will be swiped off to watch other content. That’s where the first 3 seconds have the major role to play. Make sure to use this time to the best of your advantage by:

1. Starting with a catchy headline or subject line that grabs people’s attention.

2. Using strong visuals to make the video stand out and grab people’s attention.

3. Making sure that your video is well-edited and has some sort of viral music/sound so that it looks professional yet humorous.

Make an impact, capture your audience’s attention, and keep your pace. Make your content more intriguing by revealing a conclusion at the end or by serializing your videos. Ask a few questions in your video so they will be prompted to comment to find out more. Interaction builds trust with TikTok, because it shows you have engaging content, and people want more.  

Hashtags are a Must

Hashtags are a Must

Hashtags are the lifeblood of any social media platform like Tik Tok, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. They keep users engaged, and they make your content searchable.

There’s no better way to get people to engage with your content than by giving them a reason to do so.

To get the most out of your hashtags, you need to make sure that they are relevant. The more people who use them and engage with them, the better for you as a business owner or creator.

Don’t use generic hashtags like #FYP. In this way, you won’t be competing with millions of other videos using the same hashtag. Instead, look for hashtags with lower competition yet a decent audience size in your niche.

You can also go beyond just using one hashtag per video; try adding three to five different ones throughout your videos so that users have multiple ways to find it when searching for content related to what’s being discussed in each of those videos. The algorithm may not be able to identify your target audience if you use too many.

Create an Engaging Community

Create an Engaging Community

TikTok is more than just a video posting app. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity for engaging with a community.

You should make sure your TikTok content encourages community interaction since TikTok’s algorithm rewards communities for participating in all types of social activities. Comments are there for a reason. Inviting users to leave comments is therefore highly recommended.

Providing people with a prompt from which they can create a video response is a good idea. Make videos that people want to share on platforms like Instagram. All of this makes your videos look more favorable to the algorithm.

Moreover, the best part, with Duet and Stitch, you can collaborate on videos with influencers in your niche living on the other side of the world.

You can use the power of social media marketing to build a community around you and your business. This is crucial if you want people to engage with what you’re creating, as they will be more likely to do so when there’s an existing relationship between them and the content creator.

The best way of building that community is by posting on platforms like Facebook or Instagram where users have already shown interest in similar topics or events in their lives, such as weddings (if it’s something relevant) or birthdays (if it’s someone related) and promoting your TikTok videos there.

You could also create a unique username for yourself or your business and use it for all of your social media profiles. The more people who engage with you, the better chance they have at becoming a fan or following (or even buying) what you’re creating. After all, Interactivity is what separates video platforms and social networks.

This tip does not make a viral video directly but it does ensure that your content reaches a lot more people by making sure that you have active users as your followers.

Understand your audience & Their Most Active Times

To make your videos go viral, you must understand the audience that is already following and interacting with them.

Try to find times of day when your audience is the most active for posting your best content.

The more you know about your audience, the easier it will be to create content that they are interested in and engage with.

Viral videos on TikTok are ultimately a numbers game. Your chances of having a video go viral increase as you post more often and at the best times. As long as you strive to consistently post quality videos, you’ll not only see your videos get better, but you’ll also have a greater chance of having one of them go viral on TikTok.

TikTok measures watch time and completion rate, which are two of the most important metrics for its algo. If your audience only sees a few seconds of your 30-second video before scrolling to another one, the algorithm will view your video as either boring or irrelevant, which is not ideal and may reduce your reach overall.

Use Platform’s In-Built Editing Tools

TikTok has built-in video editing tools that are not only meant for the cam. You can use it to make your videos look their best. By using the in-built features, you can create a professional-looking video with minimal effort.

Music and audio clips from popular artists can be found on the app. Additionally, you can benefit from trending sounds and filters since the algorithm favors that.

There are also many fun video effects available. Making great videos with this app doesn’t require a film degree. You’ll have all the tools you need at your fingertips you probably need on TikTok itself. If your videos are already engaging with those original sounds and filters, the algorithm is more likely to display them to users.

Controversy might be the Key

Engaging users on any platform is great, right? People will feel compelled (or irritated, or amused) to respond if you say something that will make them feel involved.

My point isn’t to say that you have to cross a line. You can stir controversy simply by saying you do not like Billie’s latest album or the latest critically acclaimed movie.

Social media is largely driven by hot takes today, and TikTok is no different. Even if the engagement gets heated, they are capable of generating substantial engagement for your TikTok account.

@chipotle

The world needed a part 3 (@a.i.nsley @harley.420 @emmymagers @dcook.04 @nataliegrillo @ginajablonski) #chipotle #boomers #funny #viral

♬ original sound – Chipotle

As mentioned previously, comments drive virality, so if you can have anything controversial, this will be helpful. Everyone loves to chime in on the Internet. There’s nothing wrong with doing nothing wrong. After all, your TIKTOK haters make you go viral, so embrace them and love them.

Super Quick Tips that Help you 100% of the time:

1) Make users rewatch parts of your videos:

You can make certain parts tough to get or understand by making them too fast or slow. This will make them rewatch the video and in doing so they may spend more time on your video which makes the algo show it to a lot more people.

2) No Full Answers:

This technique is just trying to trigger people to add more comments. Do not explain the obvious question that people may have. Doing so will make people comment on your short videos and make your analytics hack off the charts by increasing your average watch time.

3) Get to know the FYP

Spend at least 25-30 mins of your day to understand what kind of videos are performing well on tiktok. While you may be tempted only to post your videos, it is necessary to know what’s going on as well.

4) You can start RANDOM

Even if you have decided on a niche, you can start randomly by not sticking to one type of video format. For instance, you can try to do a dance video while trying to host a humorous gig. You should get the point.

5) Much Content. More WOW.

Like I said earlier, the chances of going viral will increase only if you focus on putting in a lot of content (but quality matters).

6) Trending Music

Even if you don’t like to voiceover or use your own audio in your own videos, you should almost always include trending music in your videos.

7) Break into Parts. Tell a story.

Try not to answer everything in a single video. Make users come back to your profile. The Easiest way to do so is by telling a compelling story and breaking it into parts so that users have to visit your profile to check the remaining parts in the next video.

8) SEO

Learn about Keywords, CTA to get traction in your niche. These certainly help to increase visibility.

9) Short Videos= Viral Content

Keep your videos to about 30 Seconds. Video length helps a great deal in viral success.

10) Learn about Different Types of Content

Find content with larger audiences and find what is most liked by a new user on the platform. For example, reaction videos may work well in a certain niche but might not have a larger audience. The Kind of Content you create will have an impact on your audience size.

11) Be Comfortable

While all this can be quite overwhelming don’t try to overstress on all of it. Be comfortable and express your true self. Using the right hashtags, making the best video may help you to perform better in short term, it might not motivate you enough to keep going in the long run. Find what’s comfortable for you.

Wrap up…

At the end of the day, a great way to allow users to discover trends also find new ways to engage with each other and share great content, including a way to collaborate together.

Trending topics are shared by like-minded people on a daily basis across platforms and tik tok gives creators motivation as it promotes their videos during these trends which then gets seen by tens or even hundreds of thousands around the world

Leave a Comment

Please Note: We are reader supported. If you buy anything from our links, we may earn a small commission from the same at no additional cost to you.