Five Lessons From 21 Million Views on TikTok

Today, I’m going to share what I discovered after going viral on TikTok. 

This will help you pick the best platforms for your business and decide whether TikTok should feature on that list. I'll also share tips to improve your chances of going viral.

Regardless of which platforms you choose, I believe every small business, startup and solopreneur should be using social media to grow your business.

No other channel can match the organic reach and scale you can achieve on social media at zero cost.

The problem is we have an abundance of choices. Too many platforms and too little time. It’s difficult to know where to focus your efforts.

Unfortunately, businesses try to be on every platform. By trying to do too much, they end up doing nothing well. Eventually they conclude social media doesn't work. They stop posting and miss out on the massive opportunity.

To unlock the full potential of social media, you need to focus on a few platforms that really matter for your business and ignore the rest.

How I Started On TikTok

I avoided TikTok for a while because I couldn't justify the time. I knew it skewed to a younger audience and I didn’t expect to find any clients there.

But I was curious. In 2019, I published my first TikTok.

I found a trending sound, edited a clip of Kelsey Plum throwing a T-Shirt into a crowd at an NBA game and posted it. At the time I had zero followers.

A few hours later, the video had 50k views. That evening, it hit 168k. When I woke up the next morning, the view count was 15 million. It topped out at over 21 million views.

I gained 50k followers from that one video. I haven’t really posted since and that was almost three years ago. 

I’m not anti-TikTok. I think it’s a great platform and I recommend it for some clients. It’s just not suitable for me.

Let me explain what I learned about TikTok and why you don't need to be on every social media channel.

Lesson 1: Everyone Can Go Viral On TikTok

TikTok’s biggest strength is it gives anyone the chance to reach an enormous audience. 

It has a massive user base of over 1 billion monthly active users. Every video has a chance to go viral because of the way the platform prioritises content.

Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn prioritises content from your friends, followers and connections. TikTok doesn't. It focuses on popular and high-engagement content to feature in its “For You” feed.

Here’s how they explain it:

“You may come across a video in your feed that doesn't appear to be relevant to your expressed interests or have amassed a huge number of likes. This is an important and intentional component of our approach to recommendation: bringing a diversity of videos into your For You feed gives you additional opportunities to stumble upon new content categories, discover new creators, and experience new perspectives and ideas as you scroll through your feed.” (Source: TikTok)

The “For You” page gives every video the chance to be seen even without the support of an existing audience.

This makes TikTok a great option for new creators and small businesses starting out.

Lesson 2: Use Trending Audio

TikTok sounds are integral to how the platform works. One of its unique features is how it categorises content through sounds. 

When you click on the “sound” at the bottom of a TikTok, you can see all the other videos that use that same sound file.

You'll have a better chance of appearing on the "For You" page and going viral if you add a trending sound to your video.

That’s what I did. I picked a trending sound that suited the on-screen action.

I edited my clip (using Adobe Premiere) so the hang time on Kelsey’s throw matched the audio perfectly. I slowed down the video as she’s winding up, which also helped build suspense.

It was fun to create. A bit like making a music video.

Here’s how to find trending audio:

1. Open the TikTok app.

2. Click on the + sign at the centre of the bottom menu as if you were posting a new video.

3. Tap on the “add sound” option at the top of the screen.

4. Scroll down to “Playlist” and browse any playlist that looks like it’s related to trending songs e.g. “TikTok Viral” or "Trends".

Lesson 3: TikTok Is A Fickle Mistress 

TikTok blessed me with my first video. I grew to 50k followers overnight. I posted more videos over the next few days. I thought there was a chance my larger audience would propel me into further viral breakouts. I was wrong.

Some videos did ok, but nothing came close to that original video. 

I didn’t stay on the platform long enough to discover the trick for going viral. I suspect the answer is the same as it is for LinkedIn. Show up every day. Post consistently.

If you are lucky enough to land an early viral hit, don't get too excited thinking you’re the next Charli D'Amelio. You could be, but it will take more than one hit to make you a star. 

But I left TikTok for other reasons, which I’ll explain in the next lesson.

Lesson 4: Check Your Ideal Customer Is There

Going viral is great. I became famous overnight. News vans showed up outside our house asking for interviews. Neighbourhood kids started following me to the shops chasing my autograph. A Nike scout even turned up offering me an endorsement deal. It was surreal. Like a dream.

Actually, it was a dream. None of that stuff happened. My two teenage daughters were excited. That was about it.

None of the 21 million views led to a single enquiry for work. 

This table shows the age distribution on TikTok in the US. The platform is starting to age-up as more adults join. However it is still a very young user base with almost half of TikTok’s users in the US aged 10-29.

I decided to stop posting. It wasn’t a hard decision. Committing to any platform comes at a cost. For small businesses and solopreneurs, that’s the opportunity cost of what you could be doing with that time.

By ignoring TikTok (for now), I could go deeper on LinkedIn. Looking back, it was the right decision.

Think about where your audience hangs out. Focus your efforts there. Ignore the rest. 

Your business doesn’t need to be on every social media platform. 

Lesson 5: Play To Your Strengths

No one opens TikTok to read. It's all about video and I like to write. It's not a good fit.

Every platform is different.

- If you’re a writer, publish on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, or start a blog.

- Instagram is great for artists to showcase their work. So is Pinterest.

- TikTok and YouTube are for video.

Focus on the platforms that showcase your skills.

Wrapping Up

It’s tough to post consistently across multiple platforms. For small business owners and solopreneurs, I don’t recommend it. 

Your audience isn’t everywhere and you don’t need to be either.

Decide which social media platforms are worthy of your time. 

Ask yourself:

1. Are my potential clients there? 

2. Do I have the skills and passion to show up every day and post?

3. Do I have time to dedicate to this channel?

If you can answer “yes” to all three questions for TikTok, start posting immediately. There's a big opportunity there with huge organic reach potential.

As for me, I’ll be over on LinkedIn.

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That's a wrap on issue 003.

Thanks for all the lovely feedback on last week's issue. Much appreciated.

See you again next week.