Last month, in December 2021, I had a video go mega-viral on Tik Tok with over 9 million views. While the account is a little bit more family-focused (instead of my business and brand), I still wanted to talk about the experience and some tips about what I did before, during and after going viral on Tik Tok to help continue the growth of my account. This one video helped me gain over 35k new subscribers, and since then, I’ve continued to create content around our family. It’s been fun to play more with this app. Whether you’re just looking to grow your personal brand or want to jump onto using Tik Tok, here’s what I did!
MY VIRAL VIDEO
First things first, the video that went viral… it was my reaction to finding out that we’re having twin baby girls at our 18 week ultrasounds. The whole thing was a complete surprise and we managed to catch it all on film. I uploaded it to Tik Tok for a little bit of fun and then it wound up going viral. You can see it here if you want!
WHAT I DID AS MY VIRAL VIDEO PICKED UP TRACTION
Within a day of posting the video, I remember it hitting the first 100,000 views and I was just overwhelmed. It continued to grow steadily since posting it in December and is just now starting to slow down, which is insane to me. So once I noticed that it was taking off, I took the opportunity to jump more fully into Tik Tok. The first thing I did was that I started to post more consistently. Until then, I hadn’t been posting regularly there and I think that was part of my slower growth.
So, I made the decision to post more family content daily on my account. Things from our gender reveal to bump updates made it easy to come up with content, and I made sure to jump on new trends. All of them were related back to my niche on Tik Tok – our family content. Whenever you have content go viral, it’s a good idea to post new content with a similar niche so that it makes sense for them to continue to follow you! This is a concept we talk about a LOT with Reels – and it definitely still applies here, too.
WHAT DO I POST ON TIK TOK
Moving forward on Tik Tok, I really want to document our family and not just create. So, while I am jumping on trends, I want to be able to look back and see all of these videos about our journey to just enjoy, too. Additionally, I’ve also made more of an effort to use Tik Tok’s feature of replying to comments with video replies. This is a feature that makes Tik Tok different from Instagram Reels (though it just came out on Instagram!). Unlike Instagram, on Tik Tok you can’t actually DM someone to connect or build that community. Instead, you can create these video replies and share them with those who comment on your videos. It’s a really interesting part of this app!
Another huge priority has been engaging on my “For You” page more strategically. I took the time to engage with more accounts that are similar to mine – so those that are moms, family, or pregnancy accounts. I want Tik Tok to know that this is what my account is all about and it just helps me connect with that community.
Finally, I’ve started a personal YouTube channel for our family to document this journey. It was definitely for myself (and Michael!) but it’s been a great place to share longer versions of this content so that the audience can be pointed to that YouTube channel. This is a great move as my Tik Tok account continues to grow. It was also a great place to share the viral video on other platforms, including YouTube shorts and my Instagram Reels. It’s all about repurposing content!!
WHAT I’M DOING MOVING FORWARD
Now that I’ve gone viral, I’ve started to think about what I’m going to do to grow my account. It’s really neat because I’ve almost got a jump start on that process. Like I mentioned before, the biggest thing for me is to keep posting content daily – but remembering to focus on DOCUMENTING not just creating. On Tik Tok, it’s definitely not about having a curated or “perfect” feed, so there’s more freedom here. This content is important to me but it’s really about capturing the journey and just isn’t as perfect as I might share on Instagram. It’s a cool experience that Tik Tok really lends itself to.
I also want to continue creating a community for my niche and journey. Using the videos replies will be a great way to do that answering questions and comments I get! I also want to keep sharing my longer-form YouTube videos on my family channel account. By linking that YouTube channel in my Tik Tok bio, I’m able to drive traffic there and provide new content that they can consume regularly that’s still within the niche they found me for! Finally, I’m planning to repurpose a lot of my Tik Toks to Instagram Reels. This will help fill in some of my content calendar and allow me to share more of this personal journey there, too.
HOW HAS TIK TOK BEEN DIFFERENT?
While Tik Tok and Instagram Reels are both short-form videos, there’s definitely differences between the two apps. The first thing that’s really different is that Tik Tok users aren’t afraid to share their opinions on your videos. I know that people do that on Reels, but it’s a little bit harsher on Tik Tok, if you ask me. I think you have to have a tougher skin when you use Tik Tok. People are just a little bit more bold. At the same time, the viewers on Tik Tok are super engaged – they’re not afraid to comment and interact with you. It’s really a neat community!
Another way Tik Tok has been different is that the videos are less about being perfect and more about documentation. That means my strategy here is different, and I just love that I can relax a little bit here. If you’re looking to jump into video, Tik Tok can be a super place to start. No one expects super high quality video content. They like it better if it isn’t, it seems like. I’m honestly excited to have this chance to look back at our journey in the future. Being able to document this season of life here is attainable for me right now and I’m thankful for that!
I’ve had a lot of fun really experimenting with Tik Tok around this viral video. This is a great chance to learn more and connect with a new audience. It’s been a truly joyful experience and I can’t wait to see what happens next! If you have more questions about Tik Tok, let me know – I’d love to chat more about what makes Tik Tok so unique!!
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