Dive Deep Into The Tik Tok Algorithm: How to Boost Your Views
Dive Deep Into The Tik Tok Algorithm
How to Boost Your Views
By: Kierra Shreffler & Gabriella Harris
Intro to Tik Tok:
TikTok is a video based app with over 1 billion users that is available in over 150 countries. On TikTok, users can create and share creative videos up to a minute long. It has over 200 million downloads from the United States alone, with a target audience of anyone between 13 to 45 years old. In 2020, TikTok became the second most popular app in the world, behind ZOOM.
Not only is TikTok popular for sharing popular videos, but a large amount of it’s audience participates in making their own videos as well, in order to try and get on it’s ‘For You Page.’
About a total of 83% of TikTok’s users have created a video. This young app is responsible for countless new trends and has become one of the most popular new sources of entertainment for younger audiences throughout COVID-19.
The FYP:
TikTok has a complicated algorithm that allows any of its users a chance to become popular and seen by a large audience. The app’s ‘For You Page,’ or ‘FYP,’ considers a range of different features before it presents a certain video to different users.
The app takes into consideration the music choice, chosen hashtags, as well as how many likes and comments the video has already received. The app monitors all of these features in order to determine what kind of content and key themes you like to see on your feed, therefore generating the ‘FYP’.
By creating a page that caters to the user’s specific interests, TikTok is better able to maintain the interest of its audience and keep them on the app for a longer amount of time. When a video contains a popular song and hashtag, it has a higher chance of being placed on the For You Page.
If a video also has more shares, or is already popular, it has a higher chance of being on the For You Page and being shared again. Even if a small creator includes these features, they have a high chance of becoming popular and receiving lots of views on their videos.
Captivating Caption:
When posting your content, be aware of what is put into your caption. You want your caption to be precise and clever which will then catch your audience's attention.
Tik Tok cuts off the caption after 100 characters, so it is vital that your caption provides information in a simple manner. The caption should relate to the content, and somehow involve the audience (ask a question!). After creating a caption, use the rest of the space to provide hashtags.
CAPTION EXAMPLE: “New Dance! Tag a friend to try it :) #fyp #foryou #dance #trend #newdance….”
The use of hashtags increases your probability of being reached and seen by other creators on the platform. On any post, it is best to use a hashtag that relates to that video so that it reaches other audiences that have liked, shared, or used that sound.
TIP: A great way to boost views is for someone to comment on your video. Get them to comment by tagging their friends!
#LETSGOVIRAL
Hashtags to Use In Your Caption:
Content:
When posting on Tik Tok, it is a good idea to upload a trending video or challenge at that time. In order to grab the span of your audience's attention, the recommended length of a Tik Tok video is around 9 to 20 seconds, even though you can shoot up to a minute.
The reason for this being is that other creators are either going to swipe, or like your video. You want to get as much creative content in your video in the shortest amount of time possible. People like to access entertainment in a short period of time.
Another great idea to boost your videos chance of going viral would be posting to a trending challenge or sound.
Some great trendy content ideas:
Social media challenges
Videos based on trending hashtags
Videos based on trending sounds
Dance challenges
Lip sync
Making art or doing creative makeup
TIP: If you post a video with an original sound of your own, it is always a good idea to add a trending sound to the background of your Tik Tok! You can also turn down the “added sound” so that you can hear yourself clearly.
The Algorithm:
Given that Tik Tok allows small creators to be featured on the FYP, your videos undergo requirements to be pushed out to a certain level of audiences.
Tik Tok goes through an evaluation process for videos in 4 tiers:
Tier 1: hundreds of views or less per video
Tier 2: 1,000-3,000 views per video
Tier 3: 10,000+ views per video
Tier 4: YOU'RE VIRAL WITH 1M+ VIEWS
For small creators, once your video hits a certain amount of views in a certain amount of time Tik Tok evaluates your video and decides if it's to be pushed out to more creators within the app.
The push to more creators starts when your video has more than 100 views in a short amount of time. Once your video undergoes Tik Tok’s review, they will push it out to the “next wave” of viewers on the FYP. If that wave gets you more than around 3,000 views, Tik Tok then re-evaluates your video to be pushed out again. This is the magic behind “going viral” on Tik Tok.
TIP TO GO VIRAL: It is recommended that you post at least 5 times a day everyday for best results. Some videos that are posted will be successful and others will not be. This is why it is a good idea to post a lot; Tik Tok will give the opportunity for your content to go viral.
Links Used:
https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/how-tiktok-recommends-videos-for-you/
https://later.com/blog/tiktok-algorithm/
https://blog.hootsuite.com/tiktok-algorithm/
https://jungletopp.com/tiktok-algorithm/
https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-statistics/