Real Strategies to Go Viral on TikTok in 2023
Aug 21, 2023
There are countless types of content marketing, but one of the best modern platforms for sharing your content is TikTok.
In 2023, TikTok is the place for effective brand marketing and content creation. To run a successful TikTok account, you need to understand the importance of creating far–reaching video content, and how to do it successfully.
In this article, we’ll cover both the “why” and the “how” of viral TikTok content.
Why Virality Matters on TikTok
As a business marketer, content creator, or TikTok influencer, your top priority is getting viewers on your page. By increasing your audience, you become a familiar presence in your target market’s social media experience. The next time they need something related to your business or message, they’ll think of you first.
The best way to increase your reach is to create viral videos. With so many people viewing and sharing a single video, your chances of getting in front of valuable customers increase. However, going viral isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially in 2023.
Challenges with Going Viral on TikTok in 2023
With so many people constantly joining the platform (1 billion active global users is no joke), the past tried-and-true methods of going viral are no longer effective. Back in the 2019 and 2020, it was much easier to viral simply for posting. The app was newer and pushing out creators to make it more appealing. But now there are many more TikTok users creating more videos, which means that you have limited time and opportunity to catch a viewer’s attention.
These limited opportunities in TikTok’s algorithm mean that video performance is often unpredictable. Two similar videos can get drastically different audience engagement. There are a lot of myths floating around about how to find the best times to post and app vs original sounds, but the reality is that it’s more about your content and a dash of luck.
Still, there are effective strategies for going viral on TikTok in 2023, and we’ll go over our top 7.
Tips for Creating a Viral TikTok Video
Create Controversy
Posting a new take on a subject you’re an authority on or analyzing a common opinion in a new way is a great way to get people’s attention. The reality is that most viral videos are controversial, filled with people arguing in the comments.
Your audience can tell if you’re making controversy for the sake of controversy, but a genuine “hot take” or new perspective on a trending hashtag will attract interested viewers who are ready to engage with your ideas. Of course, be sure you create quality content that’s appropriate for your target audience.
Trending Sounds
Trending sounds let you communicate with your audience on their level. Every generation develops its slang and shorthand (“gnarly”, “dibs”, “YOLO”), and TikTok’s trending audios are the modern form of slang today.
Using a trending sound in your content will help your viewers feel like you speak their language, and take advantage of the reach of the sound. However, you’ll want to be picky about which popular audio clips you use. Some rise and fall overnight, while others have lasting power. Make sure the TikTok trends you use are here to stay before you record a video: you don’t want to do the modern equivalent of asking a 2020 teen about their ‘gnarly’ bike.
Extra tip: Re-make videos with new sounds. If the concept of the video isn’t tied to the sound and it’s evergreen (a day in the life video, for example) you can always repost the video with a new sound later on.
Respond to All Comments (with More Controversy)
Your TikTok video isn’t finished with a post at the right time; it requires follow-up. Keeping an eye on your comments and responding to them is where you can engage with your community on a personal level. If you’ve posted a controversial take, be ready to elaborate in the comments and engage with viewers who both agree and disagree with you.
Comment sections are also a great place to answer viewer questions and direct people to further videos. Engagement leads to engagement, so more comments on a video means that more people are likely to watch it and engage themselves.
Engage with Your Community
Everyone loves a crossover event, so be sure to seek out opportunities to make your own. Reach out to content creators with a similar type of content to collaborate and expand your audience reach.
Community collaboration can have several different formats: you could physically meet up with another creator to record a video, but that’s not always an option. However, TikTok features several virtual collaboration options: you can play two videos side-by-side or put clips of one video into another. These formats allow for a digital back-and-forth between creators, which always gets viewers’ attention.
Tell Visual Stories
TikTok is a platform designed for videos, which means that your viewers will be expecting content with active visual elements. If your video would work just as well as a podcast or a blog post, then it might be better to make it a podcast or blog post, and come up with another video idea.
Having clear action in your videos, whether it’s walking through a room or someone dancing in front of the camera, will grab people’s attention far more than a slideshow of static images or a single person calmly speaking to the camera. Video editors can help bring your videos to life, but they work best when the original video is already visually appealing.
Include Captions
Videos can only go viral if they’re accessible to all audiences, which means that subtitles and captions are necessary. You could use TikTok’s auto-generated captions, but those feature a limited number of languages and accuracy. Or you could use Maestra.
Maestra provides video transcription and captions in a matter of minutes using automatic transcription AI technology. With 80+ language options at your fingertips, you’ll be able to reach that global TikTok audience with ease. Maestra works with any video format, so you won’t be limited to just captioning TikTok videos. You can repost your video on any social media platforms with the same quality subtitles from Maestra.
Add a Clear Call to Action
Everyone who wants to go viral has a reason, whether it’s to raise awareness about an issue, advertise their brand, gain followers, or more. Keep that reason in mind for every video you post on TikTok, and end each video with a call to action. What action do you want them to take after enjoying your viral video? You can ask them to follow you, check out your website, or to take another action in line with your goals. A viral video can be a powerful platform for information-sharing, so lay out your call to action in clear steps for your audience’s benefit.
Create Winning Video Content with Maestra
Ultimately, going viral on TikTok is a result of your unique content creation and community engagement. You can make the TikTok algorithm work for you by engaging with trending topics, but to engage the widest possible audience, you need Maestra.
Maestra can help your video go truly viral by providing quality subtitles and captions in over 80 languages to bring your viral content to the world. Start generating subtitles today with Maestra; it’s as simple as uploading a video and getting results in minutes.
Aug 21, 2023
