+6,000,000 views & +6,000 followers in less than 6 weeks! (10 TikTok thoughts)
I started publishing daily videos on TikTok 5,5 weeks ago.
Since then I've published mostly 2 videos per day.
Most of them are fast to create. Depending on the video it has taken 5-30 minutes to create a video.
But then I've also spent a lot of time answering comments which has been kinda fun but also time-consuming.
Anyways, I wanted to share some thoughts what I've noticed so far about this platform.
I hope you get some interesting value out of it. If you've also started your TikTok journey, feel free to share your insights in the comments. I'd love to hear from you!
And even if you wouldn't have started on TikTok, let me know what your thoughts about all of this!
10 TikTok Facts That I've Noticed
- It's easier to get traffic and views than anywhere I've ever seen.
- Most viewers are very young people. Less than 18 usually.
- Even though most are kids, there are also some adults using the app.
- IMPORTANT: Your videos will primarily be shown to the people that are in the country that your SIM card is registered.
There may have been a way around this but it was so complicated that I didn't bother to do it.
If the video gets enough engagement, it starts showing the video also to other countries nearby. If it still keeps on getting engagement, it shows to other countries too. So for me it works like this:
1. Finland (because I'm from Finland)
2. Sweden/Norway/Denmark
3. Other countries
Most of the people who comment under my videos are from Finland and Nordic countries. But for example, when one video got 1,5 million views, it got also 100,000's views from the US.
- Comments can be very rude. Because a lot of viewers are kids, they don't have same kind of manners as most adults. They don't know how to filter their bad words so comments can be extremely rude. This surprised me at first.
-> PRO TIP! Use comment filters.
TikTok allows you to filter comments so that if there is a specific word in a comment, it won't publish it (In the same way as in YouTube).
Therefore, I've added dozens of rude words in the filtered comments and this is helping to keep the comment section now much cleaner. Once I encounter rude words, I simply delete the comment and add the word in the filtered comments.
Another option would be simply let them come but I think it's better for everyone to filter such negativity because it's not mature. - TikTok traffic isn't "high quality" traffic... But it can still be profitable. Now if you compare 1,000,000 views on TikTok to 1,000,000 views on YouTube, YT views are much more valuable every day of the week.
Even 5,000 views on YouTube may be probably more valuable than 1,000,000 views on TikTok. Depends on the content of course...
BUT!
It doesn't mean that TikTok views wouldn't have any value at all. The reason I got started on TikTok was that I saw several Internet marketers making $1,000's on TikTok with a relatively low effort so I wanted to try it myself.
At the moment, I also enjoy the game and I want to see where it leads.
- Young people will become older. Someone might think, "If they're all young, does it have any value to show them videos?" Yes it does. A person who is 15yo today will be 18yo in 3 years.
Let me tell you a story from my own life...
I think it was in 2013 or 2014 when I saw Brian Tracy's video for the first time on YouTube. I didn't know who is this guy and I didn't want to listen to him.
Fast forward to 2018 and I bought a ticket to Brian Tracy's event for 2 persons. It took 4-5 years for him to make a sale but it happened. And over the course of those years I've recommended his content to many others.
I saw Tony Robbins' video for the first time also in 2014 and I thought like, "Who is this guy? He's just some American guru?"
Fast forward until today and I've spend money on his online course, live event and I've promoted his courses and content to others.
=> Even if you wouldn't make the sales today, it doesn't mean that you couldn't make them along the way!
- Some people will don't like you, but some people will love you.
Even though I mentioned above that you'll get a lot of comments on TikTok that are hateful, you'll also get some positive comments.
I've received many messages saying, "I love your content!" "I wanna see more videos from you!" "Don't stop doing this!" "I don't understand why you've got so many negative comments. I enjoy these videos." - Growth seems to be exponential. This applies to basically any platform but in a nutshell, the first 100 followers is always the hardest. Next 100 are easier. And then it gets easier and easier.
A lucky thing with my TikTok journey was that the first "serious" video got immediately more than 150,000 views so I didn't have that initial hard phase. But still now it's much easier to get views and followers because I've got more videos there.
- TikTok may suddenly start promoting your old video. TikTok algorithm is still a little bit of a mystery to me.
Sometimes it shows a video on For You page for several hours and it gets 10,000's views and it just suddenly stops. Then it doesn't get views for several days or even a week. And then suddenly it gets 100,000's of views. And then it stops again.
Anyways, this leads us back to point #9. If you have more videos on your TikTok profile, you have more chances that TikTok will start pushing and promoting one of your videos. At least that's how I've figured out. Tell me if you have a different view of this.
For me this was actually surprising because I thought that TikTok promotes your videos only after publishing for a day or two.
It promotes your day for a day after publishing. Then it may promote it for another day. Then it doesn't promote your video for a week and again suddenly it may start showing your videos to 10,000's of people.
What I draw as a conclusion from this is: Keep on creating and publishing content because it will increase your chances of getting viral videos.
Future Plans?
I'm gonna keep on seeing where does this TikTok game lead.
It's been fun and I know it has already generated money because many of the TikTok followers have come to my YouTube channel and I believe they're getting value out of my videos.
I'd like to see where does this game lead in the long, long term. I'm anyway going to stay in this Internet marketing and make money online industry for years and decades to come so kids will became adults over time.
A known fact is also that in order to make a purchase, an average customer needs to be exposed to the product for 7 times on average.
So if some people resist at first they make purchase later. Just as I did with Brian Tracy and Tony Robbins.
I'm going to create my own Internet courses in the future (about YouTube at first) in addition to my current email marketing course. So I'm just thinking how awesome it would feel in the future to have someone who had watched my TikTok videos coming to my course and even becoming an affiliate. How awesome would that be? :D
Time to take steps towards that.
Cheers
- Roope "Exploring the TikTok game" Kiuttu
PS. Now I'd love to hear from you.
What are your thoughts about TikTok?
Have you used TikTok yourself? What has surprised you and what have you learned?
Let us know in the comments below.
Recent Comments
41
I'm steering clear of Tic-Tock...
If I'm not mistaken, Tic-Tock and WeChat are soon to be banned...
Here is an excerpt from a post from the website Brookings
The link to the article is at the bottom...
In August 2020 "executive orders were issued that will effectively ban two major Chinese apps from the U.S. market.
The orders state that 45 days from now, Americans will be prohibited from carrying out any transactions with the parent companies of TikTok and WeChat.
This means that U.S. companies and individuals couldn’t advertise with the platforms, offer them for download via app stores, or enter into licensing agreements with them.
The decision will have both immediate and long-term implications for the companies and their American consumers, for U.S.-China relations, and for the broader conflict over the future of the internet.
The executive orders argue TikTok and WeChat should be banned from the U.S. market due to national security concerns.
Yet on the surface neither appear to touch on traditional issues of national security, such as access to classified information on weapons or intelligence systems.
Instead, the concern is primarily around data security and data privacy.
TikTok is a social networking app for sharing short user-produced video clips, popular particularly among teenagers, with an estimated 100 million users in the U.S. and many more around the world.
WeChat is a “super app” which includes messaging, social media, and payment platforms.
While it is not as popular in the U.S. as TikTok, it is extensively used by the Chinese diaspora to connect with family and friends in China.
Like other social networking apps, both TikTok and WeChat collect extensive data on their users, and the core American concern appears to be that the Chinese government will be able to access this data and potentially leverage it for espionage or blackmail.
U.S. officials also worry the apps censor political speech and could be used to spread misinformation.
Behind the scenes, there are several broader motivations likely also contributing to American action against TikTok and WeChat.
The move is a significant escalation in ongoing technology tensions between the U.S. and China, building on earlier U.S. action against hardware companies such as Huawei and ZTE.
It also reflects some officials’ desire for greater reciprocity in the U.S.-China relationship, given that many U.S. technology companies cannot operate freely in China."
Bottom Line: Tic-Tok seems to be on life support and the government is about to pull the plug...
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/08/07/why-is-the-trump-administration-banning-tiktok-and-wechat/
Congratulations on the numbers. I agree with you that there is no accurate way yet to gauge how valuable Tik Tok views are. But there is no question they do have value.
We are just starting to experiment with Tik Tok and numbers are small, but we will see how it goes.
Alex
yes i undertood it to be a younger people's app
so with that in mind expecting anything bus adult minded responses would be rediculous
But Roope, its a good way to get established as a authority of a kind, as you said if they love you they say so if you stink the let you know in their own way.
Lol
Chris
Roope, I did the research. Tiki's Tok founded by a Chinese company. I find that it is interesting that their government did not censor it.
I have not used it but I did see some videos on there, that were purely disgusting. It turned me off. I guess that why I felt repelled about using that app. Like you said, it seemed more geared for young kids. I am a senior. I have no tolerance for that kind of disgusting stuff that they post on there. I am not sure how it will help with business. I would not be interested in the amount of views, more interested in getting conversions, meaning sign ups to our affiliate program. People now are bored since COVID so I guess its anything goes including disgusting stuff.
Thanks for sharing your experience with it. Due to some of the negativity that you mentioned and for that reason I would not want to use it at all in spite of what other WA members say. There are other platforms that provide for wider mature audience. I will stick to what works. What works I noticed is sticking with business like minded people. People who are already established and have a self employed career and have money to burn to help with their business. Those people who I focus on my target audience. Like Linked In and other platforms for Professionals. That markets seems to cater well for me because I had been in those professions before my retirement.
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Good morning Roope,
A great and interesting blog post-Roope, thank you.
I haven't started on Tic Tok yet, however, through reading some of your blog posts I feel that I should be! I need to have a look at this platform!
Thank you for the tips, they are appreciated.
Have a great day.
Roy