I. Tiktok algorithm
1. User interactions
Much like the Instagram algorithm, the TikTok algorithm bases recommendations on a user’s interactions with content on the app. What kind of interactions? Anything that offers clues about the kind of content the user likes, or doesn’t like.
The For You page recommends content based on several factors, including:
- Which accounts you follow
- Creators you’ve hidden
- Comments you’ve posted
- Videos you’ve liked or shared on the app
- Videos you’ve added to your favorites
- Videos you’ve marked as “Not Interested”
- Videos you’ve reported as inappropriate
- Longer videos you watch all the way to the end (aka video completion rate)
- Content you create on your own account
- Interests you’ve expressed by interacting with organic content and ads
=> create content relevant to your products; try to redirect popular trends to your products; have a great hook
After analyzing the data and trying to figure out an explanation I came to this conclusion:
Tiktok's algorithm became stricter on which videos go viral and which don't, and it all comes down to viewer retention. If you make a video that is able to retain the user for a longer time, it is very probable that it will go viral at some point. It is not an easy task, but that's the hard truth.
The two videos I made that went viral had 45% of completion rate. That means that 45% of people that watched the video finished it until the end. While the ones that barely got to 5k views had a completion rate of 25-30%.
The duration of the video also plays a crucial part ( it's easier to maintain retention in a shorter video, but if you make a long video that retains the audience very well, it will go viral without any doubt). I found a comfort zone that works well for me, making videos that are 30-45s long. Again, this conclusions are a result of a lot of trial and error, making content and analyzing the data. It is different for everyone so I encourage you to do it with your own content.
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Retention rate only matters if your video is long like 40-50 seconds long and you manage to get more than 25% of people watching the entire video. Then that’s good and retention rate matters.
But if you make a 1 second video and then say “well guys look i have a 99% retention rate” because everyone watch for one second and then it ended immediately. Why am i not viral?”
The answer is simple because retention rate is videos that short isn’t a good metric to judge whether the video is actually any good.
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The most important metric of engagement is “shares”, followed by “total play time, and then “watched full video” and then “favourites” which is also low, and how many new followers you got.
Your only good metric here, is the watched full video of 59%, the number of likes is average and a little close to below average,
And i would imagine the total play time is also quite low, when they show it to you.
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MY ADVICE ON HOW TO GROW:
Some of this is specific to my style of account, but there should be good info for lots of different kinds of creators. Here’s my comprehensive advice:
GOOD HOOK: Focus on a good hook in literally the first 3 seconds. This is probably the single most important factor in video performance. Put an interesting or suspenseful spin on what you're going to talk about to get people invested. I have DEFINITELY noticed much higher views and engagement on my videos where I felt I had a really great hook. Ex: my two 1 million+ view video hooks were: "You wanna know the meaning of life according to an Auschwitz survivor?" (That’s the one that took my account viral) and "This is the craziest real-life coincidence I've ever heard of."
USE VIRAL SOUNDS: Tiktok factors this in for the algorithm. I always just pull something from the viral playlist and turn the volume down super low (or even to 0) so you can still hear me speaking clearly over it.
THUMBNAILS: Make thumbnails informative and easy to read! This helps people browse your content after finding your page and increases views/engagement on old videos.
GOOD LIGHTING AND CAMERA STABILIZATION: You don’t need any fancy equipment (I film with my iPhone 8’s front camera) but good lighting and camera stabilization are important. I had some comments on my first few videos that they were too shaky to focus on what I was saying. That’s when I was just holding my phone up — so now I always prop it against something.
ENGAGE WITH SIMILAR ACCOUNTS AND TARGET AUDIENCE: Use hashtags to find accounts covering similar content to yours, and observe what they're doing, make friends with them/ within their community, leave lots of comments on their posts. The more comments you leave around Tiktok, the more avenues people have to find your profile/videos - and if you're commenting on lots of posts from similar creators, you're likely to attract an interested audience for your own!
VIRAL COMMENTING: another commenting tip — try to comment on a lot on videos on your FYP, but ESPECIALLY if you go to the comments and see some with +100s or +1,000s of likes within the last hour. That video's currently viral, and if you have something funny or interesting to say, your comment could easily go viral too. And that's a lot of potential conversions to your account! I've had this happen a few times.
FOLLOW COMMENTING TRENDS: Last commenting tip, i honestly think emojis perform well since they are eye-grabbing so try to incorporate a few! I like this combo lol ✋😭 and stars are still popular for ✨emphasis!✨Just like video trends, there are commenting trends, so pay attention to the tone and style that's popular.
FUNNY / SUSPENSEFUL VIDEO CAPTIONS: I try to pick a short caption that either provides extra info on the video, or creates humor or even suspense. Suspense is everything! Ex: At the end of my video about the Dyatlov Pass mystery, I explain the theory about infrasound causing it, and my caption was "the very definition of your brain playing tricks on you." When people read that, it makes them curious what I mean, so they keep watching for the explanation, which doesn't come until the second half of the video. Another example: I captioned my second most viral video with "oops a huge scientific discovery." That in combo with the good hook (“This is the craziest real-life coincidence I’ve ever heard of.”) kept people watching all the way through!
HASHTAGS: After my short caption, I stuff the rest of the space with popular hashtags (usually at least >100m videos). I'm trying to hashtag #booktok and/or #learnontiktok on EVERY video, since that's my niche, so it will help tiktok label my whole account and push videos across the board to people interested in those niches. The rest of the hashtags are more video-specific (ex: #linguistics, #philosophy).
MY ADVICE ON PART 2S: I've only done one 2-parter (Because I couldn't fit all the interesting info into 60s) and it performed REALLY well. I posted part 2 right away so people could instantly go to my profile and watch, and I think this engagement (people clicking onto my profile) got the algorithm to just keep pushing it out. The content itself was strong too (just a really interesting story) but I have a theory that the engagement-algorithm-bump was a huge part of its success. HOWEVER, part 2s are a double edged sword because a LOT of people find them annoying. I got a decent amount of comments like "never follow a part 2er" and "sorry, I don't do part 2s." People are jaded because creators use it in a manipulative way ("like and follow for part 2!", cash in on the engagement algorithm bump, and then wait hours to actually post it). Honestly, my advice / what I'm trying to do on my account = only do 2-parters occasionally, always post part 2 right away, and make it as easy as possible for people to find the part 2 video. Well-labeled thumbnails are huge for that. Another idea is to comment "here's part 2!" on part 1 and then reply to that comment with the part 2 video. But beware, Tiktok is set up in an annoying way where you have to film/create/edit comment reply videos within the comment reply itself (like when you go to reply to a comment and see the little video icon on the left of the comment box); you can't pre-film a video and then set it as a comment reply. So there will be a tiny delay between posting part 1 and 2 while you put together the part 2 vid in the comments. OR, you actually CAN pre-film part 2 and then save the video to your phone, and then upload it to the in-comment video editor with all the edits/CC already done. You'll just have an @ watermark on that vid, and you'll have to add the music again for those algorithm points. But that way it's done fast and available almost instantly in the comments of part 1. Sorry if this is confusing, I was super annoyed by the system when I started making comment reply videos.
CLOSED CAPTIONING: Always CC the speech in your videos. Good for accessibility and considerate to the audience. I've gotten a lot of thank-you-so-much-for-CC comments. Manually adding them takes a while, but increases the production value of the video and improves viewer experience. Dunno if algorithm factors this in, they already have auditory processing on the speech in your video to get more info about the content, but it sure can't hurt!
HOW TO CLOSE A VIDEO: If possible / appropriate for your content, close your videos with something like "if you are interested in more, i cover ___, ____, and ___ on my page!" or "follow for more ___!" so people know this isn't just a one-off video on the topic. I try to do "follow for more stuff i learned in books" at the end of every video, and I think it's really helped bc people know what to expect from the rest of my content and they're reminded to follow if they're interested!
JUMP ON TRENDS: I haven't really done this because I want to preserve the consistent format of my videos (at least so far / for now) but all the growth advice says that hopping on trends is a HUGE way to grow. You can find creative ways to jump on viral trends while still providing informative/entertainment value w your content. Just pay attention to what keeps popping up on your FYP and viral ways people are using sounds. Trends happen fast, over and done in like a week, so promptness is important!
REPLICATE SUCCESS: Obviously, if a video takes off or performs well, try to replicate that success. Cover the topic in more depth, create video replies to questions/comments, or even turn it into a series. Also, re-use the same music from high-performing videos! Lil tiktok hack.
ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE: Be responsive to comments, make video replies, and always take audience feedback into account.
GOING LIVE: I haven't done this yet because it terrifies me, but it's supposed to be great for growth. The algorithm likes creators who keep people engaged on the platform, and livestreams typically keep people watching for a while. It’s a great way to connect with your audience and get a sense of what questions they have for / about you, what they want to see more of, etc. You can go live doing anything - drawing, packaging orders for a business, a Q+A, or themed discussions. You can start livestreaming with even a small following and it will most likely boost your growth!
POSTING FREQUENCY/TIMES: The more the better, tbh, and at least once a day to stay really algorithm-friendly. That's what I've been aiming for, since my videos take a lot of prep and I can only read so fast lol. But multiple times a day is best. (Edit: a college buddy who’s spent the last few years working in content creation for a popular brand told me that 3-5x per week is the algorithm-friendly minimum that the Tiktok team provided him.) And I’ve read that the best posting times are 9:30-11:30AM and 8-11PM (your time zone). Anecdotally this seems to make sense, but I've also had videos do well in the afternoon.
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