I will never forget the night I almost deleted my Tiktok account. I had been absent from Tiktok for a year, my Tiktok growth had stalled at only 1600 followers, I was annoyed that my hard work wasn’t paying off, and I even deactivated it for about a day before I came back, posted a video one night for fun, and well, the rest is social media history.
With over 78,300 Tiktok friends and counting, you wouldn’t believe how many of them ask me for help. That’s literally why I’m creating this blog, so we can achieve our social media goals together and absolutely crush Tiktok, because let me tell you, I’m still learning, too.
And one thing I’ve learned about Tiktok, specifically in 2023, is that it’s never been easier to go viral and build a following. Allow me to explain.
What is Tiktok?
Before we go into my tips on how to explode your Tiktok growth using the new Tiktok algorithm, let’s talk about just what this increasingly popular app that has taken the hearts of internet users around the globe.
Started in 2016 by parent company Bytedance as the sister app to their Chinese version of Tiktok, Douyin, Tiktok crushed rival app Musical.ly, and eventually took over as the number one sweet spot, leading to the death of the Musical.ly era.
Tiktok is a sensational social media app that allows users to create short form videos (and now long form videos) and create a target audience centered around your unique content.
Creators can use effects, dance challenges, and trending sounds to boost engagement and gain more followers. Not only that, but Tiktok is a great platform to make money on through brand endorsements and the Creator Program. And with Tiktok being the most downloaded app in the entire world, boasting over 150 billion Tiktok users worldwide, there’s a ton of potential to change lives.
But how to crack into that viral status and start making a name for yourself, and some money, is where the trick is. Fortunately, for you, Tiktok wants you to go viral. Yeah, it’s true. Tiktok encourages users to build a following, and does this by providing the most insane raw engagement of any other social media apps, with social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram scrambling to keep up.
So how do average Tiktok users like myself, and you, tap into this apparent potential? Lucky for you, the answers are pretty simple.
Listen to what Tiktok is telling you
If you were to have me go look at your Tiktok account right now, I’m 90% sure I can tell you what’s wrong with your account. You are not listening to what Tiktok is telling you about your content.
Tiktok is very much like the sorting hat from Harry Potter. If you decide to go without a niche, it pretty much chooses what you your account will be about. And while you don’t have to only post that content that does well, making it a frequent visitor on your account will only help you in the end. I have tried to fight against the Tiktok current for a while now, and the moment I gave in, boom, 30k followers in the past two weeks. Not even kidding.
Here’s a Tiktok tip:
Monitor your account every few days and see which Tiktok videos do above average for your account. A general rule of thumb with the new 2023 algorithm I’ve noticed, however, is that if it reaches 1-2k views in an hour, it’s going to be popping’.
Now, this could all go out the window, but I’ve had two 1 million view videos in the past week and consistent strong views on others, so this method works.
Analyze your content, repeat what does above average.
Let go of your Tiktok expectations
There is nothing more frustrating than working extremely hard on a Tiktok to find that it was a dud. Let me tell you what, even at almost 80,000 followers, it happens to me weekly.
You can go look at my Tiktok account right now and see two videos in the past week that underperformed, and they had the most effort. I literally painted myself green and sang Defying Gravity live in a character voice.
Yesterday I spent all day filming one Tiktok and recording two separate harmonizing voice overs, and it underperformed as well.
Was I disappointed a little because it took forever? Absolutely. Am I keeping it moving and continuing to film the highest quality Tiktok videos I can? Absolutely.
Why?
You really cannot tell what video of yours is going to do well on Tiktok. You can have an idea and tell within the first hour or so with the new 2023 algorithm. You can use trending sounds and do dance challenges to boost views and your chances of virality.
But honestly, you will only drive yourself mad looking back and trying to figure out why more Tiktok users didn’t see your hard work. Trust me, I get it. I also understand you will only burn yourself out by fretting.
Because you know what? In the same time span I, again, had not one but two videos reach over a million active users.
So what should you do when a Tiktok under performs?
Easy. Focus instead on what worked. And of course, keep creating.
Be aggressive about staying trendy on Tiktok
I have been helping my friend Hans recently grow on Tiktok, and I have to tell you, it was difficult at first until he got the memo and started seeing Tiktok growth. For whatever reason, he could not grasp the idea that it is essential, especially with the new 2023 Tiktok algorithm, to stay trendy on Tiktok.”But why can’t we make our own sounds?” He’d ask.Of course, you can. Anything can go viral. You don’t need to follow a trend to go viral on Tiktok. You also don’t need to use a recent trend on Tiktok, as demonstrated by one of my viral Tiktoks here that used a trend from back in 2020 and is still getting hits today.
Okay, but why?
You are not doing yourself any favors not following what’s trending on Tiktok. Everyone wants to be the next viral sound sensation. In fact, one of my own sounds just went viral for the first time, but only after people asked for it, and it was based off a recent trend.You can still be unique and use Tiktok trends. That’s exactly how to go viral. Do a trend, and twist it. Keep focusing on your unique content as well, but play the Tiktok game and you’ll be rewarded.
Develop a winning hashtag strategy
Many people think that hashtags on Tiktok really don’t matter, and honestly, you couldn’t be dead wrong. Often times they’ll pull up the account of a user with over millions of followers. At that point in your tiktok game, no hashtags don’t matter. Also, sometimes it is important to use no hashtags in order to reset the algorithm. And, with the new 2023 algorithm, the search feature is even more powerful and doesn’t really need tags to categorize you.BUT. This is why hashtags are still the way to go in order to explode your account.
The formula for a viral tiktok
When you publish a Tiktok, from what I can tell after hours of staring at each of the numbers ticking up and speculation amongst users, is that it goes through number of stages to determine if it should go viral or not.
The beautiful part of Tiktok is that every video has a chance of going viral. Clean slate each time you hit post. I’ve seen (and personally experienced) accounts exploding and being driven into the ground all from user behavior and what content you create.
When you post a Tiktok, it’s shown to a pool of people, I’d say about 99% followers. If it passes the watch time test, it’ll continue to be pushed out to more people. I’ve noticed that the pool of people increases the most with each and every like you receive from someone off of your FYP. To me, this is truly the only way to get your tiktok ranked high enough to go viral.
The more users you get viewing your tiktok content, the bigger the pool it gets pushed into, and it spirals from there.
But how do you get new creators to see your tiktok content?
We’re circling back to the hashtag strategy again. By introducing hashtags into your When using a hashtag, it introduces your content to a certain pool of users on the app. Using a mix of hashtags that you’ve once used will continue to keep your followers engaged, but most importantly, continuously bring new people to your page.
Honestly, your followers should have to come find you. When you look at who liked your Tiktok, you should be flooded with pink.
My Tiktok Hashtag Strategy: One niche hashtag that you already ranked in and one niche tag specific to the trend or content for that particular video. I also reset and post with no hashtags but not often.
Find out which strategy works for you and stick with it. To find out what’s working, reference your own Tiktok videos. You can do it!
Have fun! No, seriously, have fun!
Listen, I know the advice to “have fun!” on Tiktok is enough to make your eyes roll, but it’s a cliche because it’s true, right? Quite simply, the most important part of going viral on Tiktok and appealing to other users is to simply create content that makes people want to watch. And the only way to do that is to create and analyze what people want, because I guarantee it’ll surprise you.
Let go and be what Tiktok wants you to be: a creator. Express yourself, monitor your videos, and keep going.
See you on the FYP!