So you’ve got your TikTok account. Your friends and family followed you, you might have gotten a bit of traction from something that randomly went viral… but how do you see consistent growth? How do you get people who aren’t following you to pay attention? How do you get on everyone’s FYP? Quality content. You have to make your videos as compelling as possible to compete with all the creators out there in your niche. 

And if you’re an influencer, tiktok can be a huge asset because you can land larger and larger brand deals. You can capitalize on cross platform promotions and sponsorships to get bigger brand budgets! If you’re a business, tiktok can bring in a huge amount of sales. Try to tell me you haven’t heard of “the tiktok leggings” because I won’t believe you!

Compelling videos keep people around longer. That makes your content get more views and that gives your content the potential to go viral. And that’s what we all want! So let’s break down what makes a compelling tiktok video and how you can use these elements to go viral! 

 

1. Grab attention in the first five seconds for Tiktok to work for you.

Why should the viewer keep watching your video instead of swiping up and moving on to the next? Let them know this reason immediately. If your message is confusing or unclear, viewers won’t want to stick around. Start with a bold statement, such as a hard-to-believe statistic. Get specific. Tell your audience exactly what you have to offer for them and how this information will affect their lives. Make it imperative that they keep watching.

 

Instead of:

“Hi guys! Today I’m going to share something with you and it’s going to be so helpful.” 

Try:

“Did you know that over half of parents wish they had more information about being a better parent? Keep watching and I’ll fill you in on what helped me!”

 

2. Label your video with an interesting phrase to make people click.

If you have a very interesting first tag line, it can make people who are viewing your entire profile more likely to click. If you have the tag line only visible for 1-2 seconds, it’s likely that your viewer won’t have been able to read it on the FYP and, believe it or not, that’s actually a good thing! Do you ever watch a video 2 or even 3 times because you weren’t able to read some piece of text? Yeah, me too! We want to be that person. Every single view, even if it’s by the same person counts as a view and it shows the tiktok algorithm that your content is compelling because it was watched twice. Therefore tiktok will push your content out to more people! 

 

3. Recreate trends.

Tik Tok is alllll about trends. It feels like there’s a new one every week, but in reality, there are literally new little trends every single day. And I’d you don’t hop on it fairly quickly, some trends fizzle out as quickly as they came! 

Not only are trends extremely popular, but Tik Tok actually groups content by trending hashtags and sounds. Have you ever noticed those trending hashtags on content that has nothing to do with that hashtag? That’s how some creators ride the popularity of a specific trend. When you are going to create content, go take a look at the trending hashtags and sounds to get the most bang for your buck. You’ll even notice that trending songs are those songs used by creators with a large following. So when you’re choosing your song, first go check out what some of the biggest creators have used. 

Trends often have to do with some sort of dance challenge as well, which can show off your skills as a great dancer or make you more relatable to everyone out there trying to master these dances right there with you! That being said, you don’t have to be a good dancer to try these trends. If you’re silly, bring your audience in on the humor of seeing you try to master the trend. Have fun with it! That’s what tiktok is all about! 

 

Instead of:

Spending hours planning and perfecting your own choreography

Try:

Learning an easy dance that’s trending and putting your own spin on it

 

4. Utilize exciting transitions.

What better way to add excitement into your clips than by adding in transitions? Even an amateur creator can make eye-catching content by taking advantage of Tik Tok’s obsession with transitions. A quick search in the app will take you to some extremely easy-to-follow tutorials. Even if you don’t consider yourself a video editor, with some practice you’re sure to nail a fun and striking transition. Once you’ve got one down, add some more to your arsenal! 

 

Instead of:

Playing snippets of clips of a day in your life one after another

Try:

Plan in advance to film transitions that look like you’re passing the phone to yourself in different locations/times throughout the day

 

5. Provide value.

Last but definitely not least, make sure you’re saying something of substance. You’re still allowed to be silly, and don’t take it too seriously – it’s just Tik Tok. But when reviewing a video idea, ask yourself if it includes any takeaways for the viewer. Even memes can teach us something!

 

Instead of:

Copying a dance trend with no new or unique perspective on it

Try:

Adding in helpful tips and pointing to them as you do the dance trend

 

There’s no secret for going viral, but there are ways you can consistently produce quality content that both reaches new audiences and keeps your followers wanting more.

Tiktok is such an interesting algorithm because some of the most random things will gain traction quickly and some of your “best” content will get left in the dust. I know this is true because I had a completely random silly dancing video get over 190k views for honestly no reason at all. I was following a trend and using trending music, nothing else! 

Now it’s your turn! Do you feel like you’re ready to go take the tiktok world by storm? Honestly, even if you’re not, that’s when some of the best videos can be made! Go for it! You’ve got this!

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