How do you make a TikTok video go viral?

What TikTok says it weighs

• User interactions: videos people like or share, accounts they follow, comments they post and content they create.
• Video information: details such as captions, sounds and hashtags.
• Device and account settings: language, country and device type. These carry lower weight.

TikTok says a strong signal, such as a viewer watching a longer video to the end, counts for more than a weak one. Neither follower count nor past hit videos are direct factors, although bigger accounts tend to get more views.

What that means for a video

• Earn the first seconds so people keep watching.
• Make every second count, because finishing a video is a strong signal.
• Use accurate captions, sounds and hashtags so the system knows who it is for.

In practice

For an app or game advertiser, do not plan growth on virality. Post often, find organic videos that perform, then put paid budget behind them with Spark Ads, which run organic posts as ads.

See how we run TikTok for apps and games on our TikTok ads agency page.