How to Get Started on TikTok: A Basic How-To Guide on How to Go Viral

Creating viral content on TikTok is something so many of us want to accomplish. However, many are plagued with the question: Where on earth should I start? I currently have 44,000 followers and have made many viral videos, including two with over 1 million views. As someone who has a growing TikTok platform, I have a few tips that will be useful for your future content creator career.

Where Should You Begin?

1. Make an Account: This one seems like a no-brainer, but we all have to start somewhere! Create a TikTok account and be sure your account a “creator” account. You can do this by going into “settings”, choosing the “manage account” option, and choose “creator account”. Now you are officially a TikTok creator!
2. Choose Your Niche: Now it’s time to pick your niche. In other words, specifically do you want your content to be about? Maybe you want to become a beauty guru and create makeup tutorials, or maybe you want to dance. No matter what your talent is, TikTok has an audience for it. That’s why it’s important for you to pick your niche and stick to it. This will help land your content on the right “for you page” and drive the right audience to your page.

You’ve Chosen Your Niche; What’s Next?

1. Use Good Lighting: Good lighting is pretty important when it comes to creating viral videos. You want your audience to watch your whole video, and that can be hard to do if they have a hard time seeing what you’re doing. That’s why good lighting is so important. However, you don’t have to go all out when it comes to lighting. I recommend purchasing a “ring light”. Ring lights are round lights that are attached to a stand. You can customize the height of your ring light stand and choose a light aesthetic. Some of them can be pretty pricey, but my original ring light was roughly $30 on Amazon. Ring lights also help you free up your hands as they have a built-in cellphone or camera holder. Check them out!
2. Begin Filming Your First Video: It’s time to film your first video! And good news: you can do all of your editing within the TikTok app. There are plenty of outside apps where you can edit videos and import them into TikTok, but I recommend just using the TikTok app until you get more comfortable. In the TikTok app, you will see the “record” button pretty easily. On the bottom left corner, you will see an option where you can pick different filters. They have beauty filters and special effect filters; there are plenty of options! However, your real best friend is going to be the “timer” button which is located on the right side of the screen underneath the “filter” button. The timer button will allow you to adjust your recording countdown to either 3 or 10 seconds. That will allow you to prepare, get ready, or make really clean transitions.
3. Keep It Short & Sweet (At First): TikTok is a very fast-moving app, meaning people typically watch videos quickly. At first, try to stay away from long videos. Try to keep it under 10 seconds. By keeping your videos short, viewers are more likely to watch your whole video and get it on the “for you page”.
4. Put on the Finishing Touches: After you’ve finished filming, press the red “check mark” in the bottom corner of the screen. That will bring you to the next page where you can adjust your clips, pick some cool effects, throw in some transition, or add text to your video. When you’ve finished the final editing process, it’s time to get ready to post your first video.

Captions, Hashtags, and More

1. Choose Your Caption: You want to pick an intriguing caption that invites the viewer to watch the video or make them curious about they’ about to see. I’m a beauty content creator and I like to give a brief identifier as a caption. For example, one of my creations was a makeup video where I painted myself into a Disney princess with a twisted, alternative ending. I captioned that video, “Twisted Disney: Frozen’s Princess Anna”. This captioned signaled the viewer that they were about to watch a scary makeup look based on the movie “Frozen”. TikTok also pays attention to what you write in your captions, so make sure it’s relevant to video because that will help it get on the “for you page”.
2. Don’t Be Afraid of Hashtags: There’s no need to be afraid of hashtags! They’re around to help your video land on the right people’s “for you page”. They aren’t necessary but using them won’t hurt the statistical performance of your video. However, you want to keep them relevant to your video and your niche. For example, it wouldn’t make sense to use the hashtag “#eyemakeup” on a video you created about a dance routine. It wouldn’t hurt you, but it’s irrelevant. Keep your hashtags relative to your video and niche. Trust me on that one!
3. Caption the Cover of Your Video: In the top right-hand corner of your screen, you will see a preview button for your video. Click on that, choose a template, and create a caption for the cover of your video. This will help viewers identify which video is which when they visit your profile, which will help boost your profile views.
4. Make Sure Your Video Is Set to Public: Make sure you confirm that your video is set to “public” towards the bottom of the screen before you post. If it’s not, no one will see your video but you (or your followers). Also, can allow or remove the ability for your video to be a duet or a stitch. A “duet” is when some else records themselves beside your video, and a “stitch” is when some uses a portion of their video and “stitches” it into their own. It’s not necessary, but you are free to take part as you please.

Time to Post!

At last, it’s time to post your first TikTok. I hope this was informative and helpful to those who don’t know where to start. For the majority of people, going viral does not happen overnight; it takes time, patience, and perseverance (it took months for my video to go viral for the first time). It can certainly be done though with the right approach and techniques. Good luck!