Viral TikToks: 8 Tips To Create Shareable, Clickable Content on TikTok

TikTok is no longer just about dance videos and quirky challenges (though these still work). Today, TikTok is a powerful platform for brands and creators to make authentic connections with their audience. Whether you’re a small business building your social media presence or an established brand looking to tap into a niche community, TikTok offers huge potential. But it all starts with the right content. And today we’re diving into what makes viral TikToks tick.

So, if you are a creator looking to revamp your content strategy or a marketer looking for ideas to make your brand content resonate with your audience, you are in the right place. We have some easy and useful tips to create content that has the potential to become viral TikToks. 

Ready for a crash course on TikTok content strategies? Let’s go! 

The TikTok Algorithm: An Overview 

Before we talk about virality on TikTok, let’s take a moment to understand how the TikTok algorithm works. To know why the formula for viral TikToks is not exactly the same as the formula for going viral on other platforms. 

On TikTok, the goal is to land your video on the For You Page (FYP), where users discover new content tailored to their interests. For brands, this means reaching a relevant, engaged audience. For creators, it’s about connecting with like-minded viewers who are likely to enjoy, follow, and share their content.

Users who find the TikTok algorithm challenging might benefit from the other emerging TikTok alternatives but this platform still remains among the top contenders. So, understanding the nuances of the TikTok algorithm helps.

Remember, the TikTok algorithm doesn’t just favor videos with the most views. It focuses on aspects like relevance, quality, and engagement. Specifically, there are three key elements that influence how your content is ranked and distributed:

• Video Information – this includes the basic details like hashtags, audio used, and the captions. These basic details tell the TikTok algorithm what your video is about and who might be interested in seeing it on their FYP. 
• User Interactions – this is all about the evident parameters like shares, likes, comments, replays, and watch time. These metrics tell the TikTok algorithm that your video is engaging and worth being shown to more people. This works particularly when your content sees a lot of interaction within the first few hours after uploading it. Or when there are more replays, it helps the algorithm understand that your content is engaging. 
• Device & Account Settings – this is about the device type, language, and location. These traits ensure that the content is shown to people who relate to it. 

Having addressed the nitty-gritty, let’s move on to some useful tips to create viral TikToks. 

The Secret Sauce Behind Viral TikToks: 8 Tips You Need to Know

1. Stop the scroll with shock value

Considering the fast pace of TikTok, it’s all about stopping the scroll, and using shock value is one way to do it. If you surprise your audience in the first few seconds, you evoke curiosity and thus increase the chances of viewers staying back and watching the full video. That “Wait, what?!” moment goes a long way in encouraging replays and boosting engagement on your content. This leads to replays and, therefore, makes your video a strong contender to become a viral TikTok. 

This could be in the form of a visual hook like:

• A dramatic, enigmatic reveal.
• Something that sounds like a “wild confession”.
• Or even a mid-video plot twist. 

For instance, consider the viral TikTok video where Duolingo announced the death of their Duo mascot (only to reveal after a few days that it was all fake). The shock value in this video brought it about 66.9 million views. 

2. Join the conversation with Stich & Duet 

Remember, creating viral TikToks isn’t just about creating and sharing videos but about truly engaging with other creators and users. It’s about creating conversations and joining conversations. The best way to do that is to make use of TikTok’s features like Stitch and Duet. 

Duet and Stitch let you directly engage with other users through their videos and thereby placing your content in front of a broader audience, as part of a popular trend. Therefore, this can be an effective way to tap into the existing momentum of a video to increase your visibility and make your profile or brand feel more interactive. 

For instance, brands can tap into these features when sharing user-generated content to share testimonials and user stories. Or creators can add fresh perspectives and humorous twists to trending content. 

Take the video here, for example. Vessi, a footwear brand known for their waterproof shoes, created a duet with a TikTok user who lost her shoe while creating a “jumping picture near water”. Directly addressing the issue, Vessi created a video demonstrating their “shoes that don’t fall off”. Besides being a witty response, the duet cleverly delivers the brand’s value proposition. That’s a brilliant use of TikTok Duet, don’t you agree? 

3. Hook viewers with creative use of visual effects 

TikTok is a visual-first platform with a lot of videos competing for attention. So, a creative use of visual effects is a solid way to stand out. Effects add a layer of surprise and enhance storytelling to elevate your content from just another video to scroll-stopping content. 

Thus, using the right visual effects when used strategically can entertain viewers and enhance your message. Consequently, this helps improve watch time and thus enhances the chances of going viral. 

For instance, take Zach King’s viral Harry Potter illusion video. He is a creator known for creating visually engaging videos that stun the audience with their illusions. This one does not just boast intriguing editing but also tells viewers how it’s done. Simple, relatable, and visually engaging. That’s how your content needs to be to go viral on TikTok. 

4. Tap into emotions 

Emotions drive actions, and hence, adding strong emotional elements is a good approach to create viral TikToks. 

So, here’s the deal – when people watch your video and feel emotionally connected with it, they are more likely to share it with their friends. This could be humor, motivation, awe, nostalgia or any relevant emotion. 

How do you do that?  

• Identify the emotions that work best for your brand. 
• Or ones that feel relevant to the message communicated. 
• Convey these emotions in a manner your target audience will grasp without ambiguity. 

The best way to deliver content with a strong emotional value is to leverage storytelling. When you get your viewers to feel the right feels, when your video conveys genuine emotions, magic happens. But yes, to make this magic happen, your visuals, the captions, or on-screen text, and the audio should all work together. 

5. Evoke curiosity

We spoke about the power of emotions and how they can be a valuable tool in crafting viral TikToks. Curiosity can be one of the most powerful emotions to trigger, particularly among the young audience on TikTok, a crowd that’s always curious about learning and trying new things. 

It’s all about intriguing the viewers, making them feel like they absolutely need to know what happens next. That’s when they are more likely to watch your video through to the end, rewatch it, and share it with others. In other words, that’s how you get both the TikTok algorithm and the viewers to like your content. 

To achieve this, start with a hook – something unique, teasing what’s coming next without giving away too much info. 

For example, the San Diego Zoo often shares curiosity-driven videos that tap into the viewer’s sense of wonder and fascination with animals. 

6. Humanize your brand with behind-the-scenes content 

In the world of trends, challenges, and choreographed dance videos, people crave authenticity. In fact most of the creators who recently gained a lot of followers are known for their unmatched authenticity, for showing through their content that they are unique. That’s what you need for your brand page or TikTok profile – authenticity that speaks directly to your audience. 

Behind-the-scenes content helps achieve this. How many times have you stopped and watched a video for a few more seconds, just because the creator included bloopers? You’re not alone. People enjoy the raw, authentic side of social media, of their favorite creators and brands. So, be sure to include behind-the-scenes videos every now and then. Authentic videos like them have a good chance of becoming viral TikToks.

Take cues from the strategies adopted by the NBA, for instance. While they have a lot of videos on their page, raw and simple videos like clips of popular players arriving for practices or their moments before the big game are often the ones with the most views. 

7. Ride the meme wave 

The meme format is unique and works on almost all social media platforms. Because memes feel like the internet’s native language. Using memes boosts the relatability of your page. Hence, the meme format can be valuable in creating viral TikToks. 

To make memes work in favor of your brand or your unique style on TikTok: 

• Stay up to date with popular cultural moments.
• Know what memes are trending and what feels outdated. 
• Double-check the meaning of the chosen meme. You do not want to capitalize on something that does not align with your brand or connect with your audience. 

Summing up, the key is to match the meme to your niche, product, or message in a way that feels clever and relevant to your style and personality. But when it is about trending moments made into memes, you need to act fast. Like when creating memes based on the Met Gala, the Oscars, and other occasions, where specific moments become popular memes. 

For example, here’s a short, snappy, meme-style TikTok video by Ryanair.  

8. Use trending audio to boost discoverability 

Remember, on TikTok, audio is not just another component of your video, it’s a discoverability tool. So, good audio is a must-have for viral TikToks. 

TikTok’s algorithm often recommends videos based on the audio tracks users engage with, making trending audio one of the fastest ways to land on the For You Page. Accordingly, using a popular sound not only makes your content feel current but also increases its chances of being seen by a wider audience.

To know what’s trending, spend some time scrolling through your FYP to identify audio tracks that frequently appear in videos in your niche. You’ll often notice patterns in the type of content associated with a particular sound, humor, storytelling, tutorials, etc. Once you identify a trending audio track that fits your tone or message, jump in with your unique take. 

But when it comes to trending audio, ensure that you jump on the trend right when it’s trending. Ideally, most trends on TikTok last only a few days. Beyond this window, the trend might get forgotten or feel outdated and therefore weigh down your content both with the algorithm and with your viewers. 

Ready to Go Viral on TikTok? Get a KIMP Video Subscription! 

To conclude, creating viral TikToks isn’t just about chasing trends – it’s about crafting content that resonates with your viewers, entertains them, and connects with them. Once you have all your ideas in place, the trending audio you know will work in your video, all it takes is that one last step. The step where you put all of them together and edit your video to perfection. And that’s where a professional design team like KIMP comes in. 

Because, let’s be honest, consistently designing high-quality, scroll-stopping videos takes time, skill, and creative energy. So, why not leave it to your dedicated design team? Besides, the unlimited design service format means that you can tweak your design as many times you like and however you like. This lets you effortlessly repurpose your videos for other platforms and applications. 

Ready to create viral TikToks? Sign up for a KIMP Video subscription. 

Register now for a free 7-day trial!