10 Tips to Go Viral on TikTok

Everyone is joining TikTok these days, and with good reason. TikTok provides a social platform for more than 1 billion active users to share their content. It is also one of the most powerful marketing tools for businesses to reach target audiences and increase conversion rates.

In 2023, TikTok users and brands all want a shot at going viral on the short-video content platform. The more eyes on their content, the better their engagement rate and follower count. And the higher the chance that people will continue to share their videos.

Going viral on TikTok is often described as a magical combination of timing, creativity, and good old-fashioned luck. This belief comes from the fact that it is not easy to keep TikTok audiences engaged enough to keep them from skipping over your content. You only have about two seconds to grab someone’s attention and increase your chances of going viral.

We’ve rounded up the following 10 tips to help you maximize those two seconds on TikTok.

Be Your Own Kind of Creative

Creativity is a prerequisite for viral content, and many content creators rely on trends to help get their creative juices flowing. While jumping on trends is a good idea, you should never duplicate someone else’s content to the T. Instead, add some flair and a good dose of your personality to your content. If you do a new dance or include a catchy song in your videos, you should add an unusual perspective to the trend to draw attention.

You can check out TikTok’s Discover page for the trending videos of the day.

Keep It Short

There’s a reason TikTok videos are short – they cater to short attention spans. If your video drags on, users will lose interest and move on to another video. Keep your content concise and visually appealing, and always try to capture your audience’s attention within the first two seconds. You can hook your viewers with compelling captions and visually stimulating elements. These elements should include viral sounds and music to boost your visibility on the platform.

TikTok has an extensive library where you can choose songs and sound effects for your videos. Choosing the right sound and aligning it with your video content allows you to make a noticeable impact on TikTok. It will also make your videos more shareable. Sounds often go viral on their own, which is why they are so influential in videos.

Embrace the Concept of Storytelling

Telling a story increases engagement if you do it right. Share your unique narrative using attractive visuals, text, and audio to make it relatable to your audience. Each story you tell should take your followers on a journey. Stories are experiences that can only be shared if those sharing them understand and enjoy them.

Videos that tell stories stand out in the sea of content on TikTok. This is especially true if you build your videos around a niche product or service.

One of the easiest ways to hook your audience with a story is to start your video highlighting a common problem or issue that people struggle with. Delve into problems by showing what can happen if they are not solved. Then, present your unique solution and the outcome of using it to solve the problem.

You can present your stories using duets, stitches, and the TikTok story feature to increase the chances of people noticing your videos.

Stick to High-Quality Productions

No matter how good your story is, people won’t share it if it comes with blurry visuals like out-of-focus videos and low-quality photos. Improve the appeal of your videos by using only crisp images and clear audio. You can achieve this goal by investing in excellent lighting, sound, and editing equipment.

Collaborate With Others

Double your chances of going viral on TikTok by collaborating with like-minded content creators. When you find someone to collaborate with, you expand your reach and your audience. By featuring in each other’s videos and creating cross-promotional content, you and your collab partner will find it easier to create viral content.

Post all content on other social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Encourage your TikTok followers to find your content on these platforms to increase your following.

Use Closed Captions

When creating content, you need to be mindful of the different situations people may be in while scrolling TikTok. Some may be at a noisy bus stop, while others may be in a library waiting for friends. Either way, they will not listen to videos with the sound at full blast. If the videos people want to watch with the sound off don’t have closed captions, they will scroll past and forget about them.

Don’t let this happen to your content. Ensure that you always use closed captions in your videos. And, while you’re at it, remember to add your video’s main caption and use keywords to make it more discoverable.

Utilize Hashtags

Hashtags are an easy way to increase your videos’ visibility. Perform a daily search for the most relevant and popular hashtags on TikTok and incorporate them in your video descriptions. You should constantly research trending hashtags related to your content and place them strategically throughout your content.

Use CTAs

When your captions and hashtags are in place, round off your video with a memorable call to action. Tell your audience what you want them to do after they watch your content. Strategic CTAs will compel viewers to return for more videos and encourage them to share them with their own followers. CTAs play a vital role in the “going viral” mission and can be as simple as “follow me for daily memes” or “click here for more mind-blowing videos.”

Build Your Community

Users will be more likely to share your videos if you reciprocate by following their accounts and commenting on their content. This process will expose your content to a larger audience and allow you to connect with potential collaborators and influencers. You can use automation tools to grow your initial following, but you can only establish a true community on TikTok if you interact with your audience.

Post Consistently

Upload new content regularly to ensure you maintain the connection to your community. If your screen time is limited because of other commitments, consider using a content calendar and posting schedule. Once you’ve built a good reputation on TikTok, new content will entice people to return to your profile. A scheduling tool will make the process of posting fresh content a lot easier.

Conclusion

TikTok is the perfect platform to build brand awareness. Going viral is an added benefit when you consistently create valuable content that stirs your audience into action. While going viral is not guaranteed, you can increase your chances of a video going viral by staying active on the platform, experimenting with the tips mentioned above, and engaging with your followers. Going viral is an exciting experience you can enjoy more than once if you keep building your brand on TikTok.