How to TikTok (by a viral TikTok Creator)

In four weeks, I gained over 500,000 followers on TikTok.

In one month, I went from having 50,000 followers to having over 850,000+ followers & partnerships with some of my favorite brands like the Sundance Film Festival, Squarespace, and National Geographic.

And now, TikTok pays me every single day to create content.

Take my Skillshare course on TikTok here.

I’m not a Gen Z, I don’t dance, and I’m not a professional influencer or blogger.

I’m actually a full-time documentary filmmaker, director, and editor. Look, here’s my IMDB page. TikTok is something I do on the side, for fun. That’s the thing about TikTok:

Unlike Instagram, TikTok influencers aren’t creators because they’re popular—they’re popular because they are creators.

With a background in film + marketing, I like to think I bring a unique perspective when it comes to understanding TikTok.

There are many people who claim to understand TikTok—especially in the agency space. But this platform is new, and no one has all the answers.

TikTok is young, immature, and unsaturated—the wild wild west.

I truly believe TikTok is currently Youtube in 2006, Facebook in 2005, and Instagram in 2008. The opportunity here is massive. So I’m going to guide you to hop on TikTok and seize this incredible opportunity.

If you prefer watching instead of reading, check out my Skillshare Class.

It’s only 41 minutes and your first 14 days of Skillshare is free with this link.

(scroll all the way to the bottom to check out some of my TikToks!)

From my perspective, here is what you need to know about TikTok:

1. Understand the #ForYouPage

• TikTok has the power to take you from zero followers to hundreds of thousands in a few hours with just one video.
• TikTok’s incredibly powerful algorithm sends your content out to people who like that type of content in primary feed, called the For You Page, or #fyp.
• The goal is to end up on your ideal audiences For You Page. Example: when I post a video about the film industry, it will be sent out to people who engage positively with film industry content. If I’m lucky and the content is good, it will quickly snowball and go viral, leading me to more and more relevant followers.
• However, if you post a video and TikTok sees it tests poorly on the For You Page, it will stop growing.

TikTok doesn’t reward popularity—it rewards quality of content. And that’s why it is such a great platform.

2. This isn’t Instagram.

• At first glance, it may seem TikTok is just Instagram for videos—but that isn’t the case.
• TikTok is more of a platform than a social media—more in the vein of Youtube or Tumblr than Twitter or Instagram.
• TikTok values unfiltered content—raw, unrefined video that is rough around the edges—almost as a reaction to over-filtering on Instagram.
• Comments matter on TikTok. The commentary of a video is the most important aspect of the platform, of course, in addition to likes and views.
• How many followers you have doesn’t matter outside of validating you as a creator. Good content will do well regardless of how many followers you have. However, having more followers means you have a bigger testing pool for content—so bigger creators will generally get more views on average.
• Brands are secondary. Outside of sponsored or paid media, brands are on the same playing field as everyone else. They need to create quality and/or relevant content that will organically spread.
• TikTok is much more wholesome than Instagram, I believe, due to a combination of its younger audience and censorship. TikTok filters for distasteful content and has strict policies. At first this was off-putting to me, but it really does make the platform very wholesome.

3. You’re too serious.

• To be successful on TikTok, you can’t take yourself too seriously. You need to be able to laugh at yourself, relax, and have fun.
• Social medias like Instagram have be come a very serious. Everyone’s grid must be perfect. Every photo must be eye-catching. Every story or reel must be filtered or designed. Every person’s actions must be picked apart on Instagram. Sure, there are meme accounts—but overall, Instagram has become a very serious place. Remember, people go on TikTok to laugh and learn.

Don’t try to out-smart TikTok, it won’t work. There’s no hack or code that will crack it. Your videos simply just have to be very, very interesting.

4. Play the game

• Don’t repurpose Instagram videos for TikTok. Don’t be lazy with your content—its a waste of time. Invest some brain power into crafting interesting and original videos.
• Make sure your content looks like TikTok. Use in-app text, effects, and features.

Don’t spend too much time on your videos. TikTok is a gamble—you never know what will go viral and what will completely flop. Experiment a lot.

There’s a lot more where this came from in my Skillshare masterclass on TikTok. Use this link to get your first 14 days on Skillshare free!