A Complete Artist’s Guide to Growth on Tik Tok
Creating Content, Incentivizing Engagement, Understanding the Algorithm, Building a Community, & Creating and Sustaining Growth as an Artist
Written by Josiah Soren Garrett
Artists & Creatives should find a special home in Tik Tok. We can build massive communities and reach millions of potential new fans organically. This article is going to show you a proven growth strategy for the platform that will lead to consistent and sustained growth in your influence, engagement, community, and opportunity as an artist and creative person. We will dissect the Tik Tok Algorithm and assemble a list of do’s and do not’s for the platform based on research from some of the platform’s top creators and influencers. Tik Tok has altered and solidified the careers of so many artists and creatives already, so why not you?
The Algorithm is your new Best Friend
How The Algorithm Works
The Tik Tok algorithm is a powerful piece of machine learning that evaluates the quality of every video uploaded on the platform. Similar to the algorithms of other platforms, the specific behavior of the algorithm is not publically available, but traits of the algorithm can be distilled from user research and trial and error.
The Tik Tok Algorithm acquires and assembles data from each video and awards or subtracts points from the creator based on the performance of the video. Creators are placed into a platform-wide ranking system based on the performing metrics and user habits surrounding their videos. This ranking system is called “Account Authority”. When a video is uploaded to the platform, it first undergoes a processing check to make sure the video does not contain content that goes against the community guidelines. A few hours after the video is uploaded, it begins to enter the feed, usually in between popular videos so the user has confirmed high-performing content on either side so they don’t get bored and leave the platform.
The algorithm collects a variety of metrics and measurements, such as likes, comments, shares, and downloads. Attaining momentum in the feed is dependant on the ratio of engagement, and it seems that a ratio of 1 likes to 10 views is needed to gain the approval of the algorithm to earn more space in the feed. Often, a video will be shown to groups of individuals in waves. So if your video receives 20% more likes on Tuesday, then on Wednesday the video will be shown to 20% more people, allowing popular videos to reach new users on an exponential scale.
At all times, the algorithm is searching for the most relevant video for any given user in order to keep them on the platform and hold their attention. In essence, the Algorithm internally prioritizes content that performs well and penalizes content that doesn’t. Additionally, the algorithm favors content that is clearly made for the platform: vertical format, edited on the Tik Tok editor, and content original to the platform.
3 Important Concepts to Understand about the Algorithm:
The Necessity of Engagement:
As you gradually build an audience, the engagement ratio between your followers and your videos needs to increase. If you were to gain 5,000 followers from a viral video, the number of comments likes and shares needs to increase at a similar ratio. This is Tik Tok’s primary way of protecting and preventing against users who purchase followers or use bots to inflate their account. This lack of engagement can also happen to creators on a viral video that is unrelated to the rest of their content.
Consistency & Quality:
Accounts that post consistently are looked at favorably by the algorithm, and the frequency of posting is a measure of an account’s health. Accounts that post regularly can be expected to be given more favorable positions in the feed, especially if their content is high-quality and original.
Watch-time vs Total Seconds
It is in Tik Tok’s best interest (now especially since they have launched their ad platform) to keep eyeballs on the app at all times. The algorithm wants to prioritize content that is watched longer, which can be different than the number of times a video is watched. For example, a 7-second video must be watched at least 1 or 1 and a half times to have the same weight in the algorithm as a 50-second video that is watched halfway (25-seconds). This is a recent change to the Tik Tok algorithm (January 2021) that results in the Algorithm beginning to favor long-form content so that Tik Tok can sell more ad space and make more money.
What is Account Authority?
Account Authority is a ranking system used by the Tik Tok algorithm to determine the Feed Priority of your videos. You can imagine Feed priority similar to that of your Facebook or Instagram feed, where the posts most likely to be of interest to you and grab your attention are at the top, and those not likely to pique your interest are absent altogether. Account Authority is based on a number of important factors:
Views
Comments
Reactions
Likes
Engagement Ratios
Account Health
Time Watched
Deleting videos
Community Violations
Duplicating Content
In the beginning, your Tik Tok account will be given a neutral Authority of 0. If your content performs well over time, you will earn points (up to 100). If your account performs poorly, you will lose points. (down to -100) If your content is consistently successful, it will be pushed to more people and growth will become exponentially easier. Account Authority is the secret sauce that allows creators to increase their following and engagement at a rate faster than any other social platform. This is because Tik Tok inherently promotes and supports high-quality content. However, account authority can work against you if you are not careful, and there are many instances where account authority will land your account in hot water. This includes having a video outside of your niche go viral, consistently uploading poor-performing content, uploading duplicate content, uploading content that goes against community standards, and deleting content off of your page.
What happens when you delete a Tik Tok video?
There several reasons why you might want to delete a Tik Tok video:
The video has broken the community guidelines
The video is embarrassing or no longer reflecting your niche
the video was uploaded incorrectly
The video has had poor performance
A few things happen when you delete a video. First of all, the metrics associated with that video are removed from Tik Tok and from your profile. And from Tik Tok’s perspective, this can be indicative of shady behavior. If you imagine an account’s authority as a large puzzle, then by deleting videos from your channel, especially big videos, you are removing pieces of the puzzle from the algorithm. Secondly, when content is deleted consistently from an account, that is usually a tell-tale sign that the account is not in good health. If you engage in a pattern of deleting videos for whatever reason, Tik Tok’s algorithm will certainly lower your account authority. There is a clear relationship between content removal and account health.
If you are deleting content because of poor performance, this is a really bad habit. Tik Tok is not Instagram and there really is no “gold standard” that you have to hit on each of your posts to retain your social authority or even any kind of channel-wide aesthetic. The Tik Tok journey is all about the “forward momentum of new ideas” (Joseph Todd). There is very little reason to be anxious or embarrassed about low-performing videos on Tik Tok and every creator has had videos that have not performed well at all.
If you are deleting videos due to an incorrect upload, video processing error, or for an embarrassing/privacy reason, an alternative to deleting the video is simply to make it private. This is highly beneficial because the video will still maintain all the metrics and data associated with the video, it will not affect your account health, and it keeps those embarrassing moments or potentially private information from being accessed by the public.
The only situation that you should ever delete a video if it is flagged by Tik Tok for going against the community guidelines, in which case you should most certainly remove that video from your page. Community Violations are very frustrating for creators and can be as innocuous as a skateboard trick perceived as “dangerous activity”, or audio in the background triggering a copyright claim. In all of these scenarios, you should remove the original video from your page.
Accounts Rankings
There are 4 tiers.
God Tier (4): 50 Million
Top Tier (3): 100k - 5 Million
New Creator Test (2): Tiers are broken up into:
S (top)
A
B
C
D (bottom)
Standard Account (1): New Accounts
New Creator Test: Once you hit a certain amount of views and followers, Tik Tok flags your account requiring a “New Creator Test”, which is sort of an “internal status check”. It is at this point that creators will start to get emails from the “Creator Fund”
Manual Push: When a Tik Tok hits the New Creator Test, they are assigned a personal mentor within Tik Tok staff. That person will take control and “manage” the Tik Tok content, and that includes a manual push from the inside.
What should a New Creator Do?
The first 3 Tik Tok videos published will 100% of the time be pushed to a large audience. This is because the algorithm needs data about your fresh account. Those first user interactions are so critical to your account and It may even be worth it to wait until you have created a back-catalog of videos to even begin posting so that you can choose really high-quality content to share first. It is important to remember that the algorithm supports and rewards Consistent-Greatness, so if you can capitalize on this early in your page, the algorithm will work in your favor. If your early videos are ones that you spent no effort on and that do not perform well, then the algorithm will shut you down in the feed and it will become exponentially more difficult to grow. In these circumstances, it may even be worth it to begin a new account from zero.
As a new Creator, you should focus on building a community of people who interact and engage with your content, not just to get followers for follower’s sake. In fact, attracting too many followers that are not interested in your development, in the long run, can be really detrimental to your career in the long run because you do not have a sense of continuity or community. Lastly, it is super important to have dedicated accounts for your niche and to NOT be a “jack-of-all-trades” account. The algorithm will reward niche channels with that niche audience - people want to see what they want, ya know? So if you are a beatmaker, you gotta understand that the audience of people that watch beat-making videos is small relative to the people watching basketball highlights. So of course your views and followers will be lower. But if you put up a basketball video that goes viral and attracts 15,000 new followers, they are unlikely to interact with your beat-making content and that will hurt your long-term growth inside of your niche.
How to make Content for Tik Tok:
Optimize for Attention
It is important that your content be optimized for the platform and for the user’s attention span. You must quickly get to the point of your video and introduce something that “hooks” the attention of a user. You should introduce mystery and anticipation and immediately identify a subject or object in question or as the subject of the action. Additionally, you must maintain a clear subject and setting.
The algorithm rewards Watch Time, which means that the more a video is watched and re-watched, the more Tik Tok will push it to new users on the For You page. It is this powerful protocol that makes Tik Tok such a powerful tool for organic exposure and growth, and also why it is critically important to introduce anticipation in your videos. Keep in mind that Tik Tok will automatically loop your video and that a video with a high-re-watch count will result in a MUCH larger organic exposure.
Do not bank on users giving you the benefit of the doubt when it comes to interacting or watching your content. Users are constantly making gut-decisions on the platform and will abandon your video if it does not immediately satisfy a desire, aesthetic, introduce a problem, or create anticipation. I will talk more about how to capture a user’s attention in your video later in the article when we discuss Viral Hooks and Video Structure.
Incentivize Engagement
Engagement is a crucial tool for sustained growth. You can incentivize engagement within your videos and encourage watchers to comment and share. You can do this by asking questions during the video and leading a discussion in the comments section that users would want to participate in. Especially if you take a “Directors” approach, asking questions like: “Did you like this character?” or “What would you have this character do next?” If make your community feel involved in your creative process they will keep coming back over and over again to participate in your videos, expand your community, and drive your growth.
Also, When people type a comment on Tik Tok, the video keeps playing, looping, in the background, which increases total watch time. If it takes someone 10 seconds to write a comment, that’s an additional 10-seconds added to your total!
The strongest Engagement option in the eyes of the Algorithm is the “share”, naturally because the algorithm wants to reward videos that draw in new users to the platform. A unique way to take advantage of this trait of the algorithm is to use a Send Solution, which is when a creator offers solutions to a problem and then encourages the user to send the video to someone facing a similar problem.
Quality over Quantity
The most important thing is to have perfected the creative process. Put 100% of your effort into 1 video, instead of 10% of your effort into 10 videos! Take your time and put out quality content! Consider yourself a filmmaker! To go viral, your content needs to satisfy at least one of The Three “R’s” of virality:
Relatable
Feature something in the video that EVERY person can relate to. Something that is universally “human” (putting on socks, having a pet, driving your car, Doing the Dishes, etc
Recreation
Breathing life into old familiar content “Damn Daniel”
Capitalizing on trends (dance trends)
Interpretation through the lens of the creator
A copycat culture that is built into the platform: Duets, Trends, Challenges
Reaction
Feature a real-life reaction in the video (pranks, playing obscene music for your mom, literally Eric Andre’s entire career)
Capturing the moment of emotion from others or yourself
Being yourself is an OPPORTUNITY
I think that all creators can agree that authenticity is a core aspect of their online success. This falls in line with the importance of Aesthetic and Community: Who are you? What do you want? Why do you make music? What make’s you important? Why should people care? One thing I see a lot of new artists struggle with is that they project an image of themselves, but it is not authentic to who they are a person and they ultimately are dissatisfied with their brand, or they become split by the duality of their created persona and their actual personality. If you’re a nerdy, manga-loving, young, black, conscious rapper, there is a community for that. If you’re a white, middle-class, political, indie pop-punk artist… there is a community for that. If you are a Latino, middle-aged man who loves cranberry juice, longboarding, and Fleetwood Mac… there is a community for that. But you have to be authentic to who you are through your content. Any less would be a disservice to your art and your fans.
Growth Strategy: Viral Hooks
You have 1 second to grab someone’s attention. 1 SECOND!
Pattern Interrupt: A Pattern Interrupt is a process of breaking a user’s scrolling habit. We are all guilty of endless scrolling… discover what makes us stop scrolling and watch a piece of content! Tik Tok auto-play content, so as creators we have less than 1 second to introduce a Viral Hook.
Viral Hook: This is a storytelling tactic meant to interrupt the scroll to watch a piece of content. It is a carefully designed phrase, idea, or proposition meant to “hook” the audience's attention. Examples of Viral Hooks are below:
Hook #1: Introduce a Problem and Find a Solution.
Works well for content that is Fact-Based, educational, motivational, & Lifestyle
Example: “Is your cable management a mess? Try this easy fix.”
Hook #2: First Person Narration
Immediately immerse your viewers into a story or information
Quickly move the plot forward
Use text bubbles to introduce a story
Use Voiceover to convey thoughts
Hook #3: Direct Audience call out
Mentioning something VERY specific about your demographic (interests, problems)
Example:
“This video for anyone that just upgraded to Ableton 11”
“This video is for anyone who wants to learn the piano”
Hook #4: Question or Scenario proposition
Overall Trajectory of the video is very clear
Example: “What happens if I make a pop song entirely out of kick drum samples?”
Hook #5: Motion!
This means quick cuts! An ADHD video essentially, using clever cuts to create seamless transitions. Play with the eyes!
Hook #6: The Oddity
Include an oddity in the first frame
Example: Weird musical instrument, Crazy food discovered on tour, etc.
Growth Strategy: Video Structures
Thematic Continuity: All of the elements of your video(s) revolve around 1 theme (Watercolor painting, Guitar, etc). When users experience your content in the future, they will already have an understanding of certain elements of the video (such as who you are, what you are doing, or what to expect from the video)
Promise-To-Payoff: This video Strategy is responsible for most of the Viral videos on Tik Tok. P2P videos begin with a promise or a claim (such as “How to overcome performance anxiety” or “Top 3 techniques for mixing hip hop drums”) and then lean into a payoff at the end of the video. It is important that the payoff be both well deserved and worth it! If you make a big claim and then do not deliver, users will respond negatively.
Video Sequels: Videos that are back to back. These incentivize an audience to return to the channel because naturally, humans want closure. Video sequels and series should always have a memorable and strong title.
Bait & Switch: Expect the Unexpected. Create a Lead that is interesting, but delivers a result that baffles the audience. Use a Bait & Switch strategy to increase your video’s re-watch.
Skits: Some of my personal favorite creators on Tik Tok are those who make skits and short films. They establish a setting & adopt characters and conflict right away, and then work through dialogue to resolve the conflict, usually in a funny way. This strategy requires some really good writing and screenplay skill because the dialogue and acting do most of the heavy lifting.
Growth Strategy: Hashtags & Captions
You must find harmony between the content you create and your audience. Even an amazing idea that deserves to go viral will fall dead in its tracks if it is shown to users that have no interest in that subject (which is a reason why going viral on a piece of content outside of your niche can be detrimental to your long-term growth and success). A good way to bridge the gap between your content and your audience is with great hashtags and captions! Here is an example:
Account Theme: Recording Studio
Video Concept: Expectations vs Reality of being a Producer
Hashtags: #mixingtips #studio #recording #beatmaker #wtf #music #reality
Caption: “Send you a beat? Nah, Send me a check!”
Hashtags
Relevancy
Ratios
Research
in order to put the right videos in front of the right” people, it is important to do a little bit of research into your niche. This is referred to as “Keyword Research” and will help you break into new audiences of users interested in your content. First, Identify your niche. Are you a producer? A pianist? A Guitar player? A sculptor? A Music Industry influencer? You can begin to search for niche-related keywords in the hashtag section of TikTok’s discovery page. Once you have found a few hashtags that match your niche, you will want to browse through a few of the hashtags to make sure your content will perform well in that interest feed. Ask yourself: “How likely are people who are interested in ‘hashtag X’ going to be interested in my content?” Find something that is relevant to your content style and also that of other high-performing accounts in the same niche. Finally, you should browse through videos in your niche and take note of the hashtags and caption keywords that successful videos have attached to them. Doing this dedicated research will give your content a much greater chance of being put in front of someone who is likely to engage with it and even follow you for more in the future!
How to Sustain your Growth?
Create Demand for your Content
A reason that creator’s views are falling right now in 2021 is Tik Tok has hit a critical mass, where the amount of creators on the platform is in ratio with the number of consumers. As a result, followers’ attention spans are being spread across a wider spectrum of content. If you are posting 6-7 times a day, you will burn out your follower’s attention. The solution to this goes against the grain of what Tik Tok guides have said in the past which is to post every day, or at least 3 times a week. Personally, I have found no evidence of that being a necessity in the Tik Tok landscape, and in fact, by limiting the number of videos you release, you can focus on making them as high quality as possible and creating demand. This way when a video shows up in a user’s feed, they are more likely to “pattern interrupt” their scrolling and watch the full thing. Quality + Consistency = Demand.
Decrease Upload Frequency
Put extra effort into a smaller number of videos
Leveraging “Breakthrough” content
Successful uploads on your Tik Tok channel, or uploads that perform better than average, tell the creator that something about the video is working and is resonating with more people than usual. Something about the packaging or the formula or the style of the video is proving to be successful. Too many content creators ignore their successful videos because the content may not be in line with their music or their artist brand, and they don’t learn from it. Here is an example: A member of a band goes viral by reacting to eating octopus while on the road. This has nothing to do with their music or their brand, per se, but it can still be leveraged as a way to introduce yourself to a larger audience and to pull more eyes to your channel and your creative career. In a scenario like this, you as the creator should take a step back, analyze why the “breakthrough” video was more successful than others, and then create 3 new uploads around the successful idea. You and your band could start a series where you stop and film a reaction video to an oddity or weird food in that city. Make it painfully obvious that you are a touring band with music available (tbh it’s a pretty good promo for the show that night) and then lean into the successful content! The rapper Action Bronson does a similar show on Hulu called “F*ck, That’s Delicious!”
Stick to your Niche
It is relatively easy to create continuity between videos if you stick to your niche and use hashtags appropriately. Having a diverse array of content, such as uploading videos with no continuity between them in theme or purpose, can really work against you. Here is a scenario: You wake up one morning after a viral hit and your account has 15,000 new followers. If that video that went viral was unrelated to your niche or community, those people are not likely to engage in any of the niche content you release in the future. So - using the same example as before. You wake up and you are so excited to show your 15000 new followers your latest music video! So you upload it to Tik Tok with the caption “Thank you so much for the follow, welcome to the channel"!” almost none of those 15,000 people are going to interact or engage with that video. And the reason for that is that you have not created any continuity between the videos. The audience doesn’t know or care to understand that your food reaction video and your music video are related at all. This brings me to a very important insight:
Going viral outside of your niche can work against you!
If you have a viral video that is in your niches, such as beat making, singing, rapping, or the bass guitar that is great! But if not, then you suddenly have a ton of followers who have no interest in your interest and are unlikely to engage in any future videos. This is why it is a bad decision to diversify your content too soon. Experimenting with new content ideas is very important, but if you stray too far out of your niche it can work against you.
Keep your Content Original
A majority of the content on the Tik Tok For You Page is highly original and as a creator, you won’t get very far reusing the same content ideas as your contemporaries. While using tools like “Stitch” and “Duet” and capitalizing on “Trends” can be great supplemental assets for your growth, relying on those will not take you to the For You Page without some originality. It is important to create a balance between original content and content that capitalizes on Tik Tok Culture.
Keep your Engagement HIGH
Tik Toks algorithm expects your engagement ratio on your videos to increase at the same rate as your followers, which is another reason why having a video outside of your niche go viral can really work against you. Most creators on tik yok are in the pursuit of follower attraction, but not community building: How can I get on the For You Page? How can I go viral? But the real strength and power of the Tik Tok algorithm is to answer the question: “What can I do to strengthen the engagement of my followers on each of my pieces of content?” because that is the key to unlocking growth and exposure on the FYP. It is important not just to grow, but also to retain your audience. Some tips to increase engagement:
Change your environment. If all of your content takes place in the same space and you are wearing the same clothes, your audience will start to feel disengaged.
Return to your best-performing videos. If you find your audience engagement starting to fall off, return to the ideas that brought that audience to you in the first place.
Request Engagement Actions. Encourage your audience to leave comments, like the video, and share it with their friends.