For cross-border sellers, everyone hopes to TikTok platform brings more sales to your e-commerce store. However, only by understanding TikTok’s algorithm can we end up on the “For You” page to drive virality for our own creatives.

Here are our 3 tips for cracking the TikTok algorithm.

1. Why do you need to care about the TikTok algorithm?

TikTok not only has a user base of 1 billion, it also means that it has a large enough network traffic. it recently replaced Google became the most commonly used network domain. It presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all brands to get in front of a large and receptive audience — especially Gen Z.

With $143 billion in spending power and 60% of TikTokers being Gen Z, getting them to view your content and want to listen is the trickier part of the marketing process. This is where you have to play by the rules and follow some TikTok algorithms to grow.

We see a lot of brands make mistakes when trying to grow on TikTok. TikTok is adding 8 new users per second, the fastest growth ever social Media One of the platform. So get ready for information on the major mistakes you make when trying to crack the TikTok algorithm and how to avoid them.

Once you take advantage of this, then I believe your TikTok marketing will help your brand to the next level.

2. Does the TikTok algorithm rely on luck?

The answer must be no. Videos on TikTok videos don’t perform as expected, and there are often a few key reasons. It’s not necessarily that you’ve been unlucky, or that users don’t like you; it’s usually because you haven’t created content that fits the TikTok algorithm.

The algorithm can determine what to show on people’s “For You” Pages (FYPs) in a number of ways. These include elements such as completion rate, engagement, and likes for the video.

3. 3 main TikTok algorithm “hacks”

– Tip 1: The 3-second rule

When you post a video on TikTok, the algorithm promotes the content to the “For You” page in a fraction of the time. This way the algorithm can determine how relevant the content is to the audience and whether people actually want to watch and share it.

Watch time and completion rates are the algorithm’s measures. If most users only watch the first few seconds of your 30-second video, the algorithm will label it “not engaging” and “not relevant to the audience”. Your film will be “forgotten” since the system prioritizes videos with higher watch time and completion rates.

A useful rule to remember here is that you must engage your audience within the first 3 seconds. If people watch most of your videos and the completion rate is very high, you are a winner and the algorithm will reward your content by continuously promoting your posts. It creates a “snowball” effect and gets exposed to more people so you can go viral.

– Tip 2: Grasp trends quickly

Trends are the glue that holds TikTok together through a variety of content styles and themes — not just dance, jokes, and music, but all the popular video styles your audience is interested in seeing, no matter your brand or industry how.

Trends on TikTok aren’t just the whims of users — though they’re guided by users’ interests. They are an expression of the TikTok algorithm. Videos and conversation styles in different content communities are picked up by the TikTok algorithm and grow exponentially. If you want to expand your influence, a very effective way is to “ride the wind and waves” and keep up with the trend.

It is also important for brands to stay on top of relevant trends to make them relevant to their target demographic and boost brand sentiment. Look for popular sounds (popular songs or popular audio) and popular tags on discovery pages, and assess the type of content you see. So, TikTok is growing extremely fast, which means new trends emerge every day. It is critical for brands to capitalize on relevant trends quickly.

– Skill 3: Interact with others

TikTok’s algorithm values engagement. Watch duration and completion rate quantify it, but video likes and comments measure involvement. As described in our post on how to build TikTok followers, TikTok wants its users to stay active, thus connecting with others is a wonderful viral hit that will boost your participation rate (ER).

Find other similar niches by hashtags and keywords through TikTok’s search function. Like and comment on these videos and spend some time interacting with different TikTok creators. This will set your account up for success.

This hack works in part because of the personal nature of TikTok’s algorithm. Not only can it be adapted to show users their favorite videos, but also their own videos to a similar audience. By commenting and liking other videos in your niche, you show TikTok who should see your own videos — helping you reach your target audience.

This technique also works because TikTok is a social space. 77% of users say they read comments on TikTok posts and videos. A comment section also allows you to build stronger relationships with your audience.

4. 3 Mistakes Violating the TikTok Algorithm

We are also often prone to making some mistakes when looking at how to crack the TikTok algorithm. If brands don’t understand how the TikTok algorithm works, there are many pitfalls they can fall into.

– Mistake 1: Being “banned”

This isn’t the most common error of the three, but it’s the worst and can drastically affect your performance on the app. Shadow-banning means TikTok has minimized the reach of your posts and stopped pushing your content to viewers.

How did this happen? When TikTok identifies an account as spam or exhibits “spammy” behavior, it will stop sharing that account. This can happen if:

You delete a lot of posts in one go You like and follow a lot of people in one go You use copyrighted content/songs You use banned hashtags

How can I get banned by unshadow? If you think you might be banned on TikTok (your content isn’t showing up in searches), there are a few things you can do to hack the TikTok algorithm and get your account growing again.

Uninstall and reinstall the app – this can sometimes refresh your account and help resolve issues Remove any objectionable content – this could be the reason you got banned in the first place, so make sure to remove any inappropriate content from your account. Etc – Typically, accounts are banned for about 2 weeks. Once you are sure your account is clean, you can wait for the automaticUnblock. This should give the algorithm enough time to determine if you are spamming. With any luck, your content will be on FYP in no time.

– Mistake 2: Your video message is not optimized

TikTok has great SEO. TikTok users aren’t just using hashtags to find relevant content — they’re going to be using free-text search, because the TikTok algorithm can pick up a staggering amount of detail about every TikTok video.

Never neglect your TikTok captions. You should write an engaging headline: the character limit is 300, but try to stay below this limit.

You can also add text to your videos – we’ve found it’s a great way to get more great content. On TikTok, pausing a video is easy, and many TikTok creators will require viewers to click the screen to pause to read important text in the video. It’s not hard to see that sometimes TikTokers misspell profanity in their videos. This is because the tiktok algorithm also extracted this text. So – think carefully about the text you include.

Tip: Don’t include too much text, or it will be overwhelming. But text is really useful for improving SEO. The text color should preferably be a solid contrasting color, which is easier for users to see and read.

If you crack TikTok SEO, it will be easier for your ideal users to find you on the Discover page.

– Mistake 3: Deception or cheating (buying fans)

Many brands and creators want to buy TikTok followers as “social proof” to increase the number of followers to start operating their accounts. This is a very wrong idea. In short: Fake followers are a quick way to tell the TikTok algorithm that your videos won’t improve.

Original content is also important! Don’t be a copy of someone else’s TikTok account: If you do this well, your videos will be shown to very similar audiences by the TikTok algorithm. Before long, someone will identify you as a copycat. This won’t do your brand sentiment any favors and will undo all your hard work as people unfollow you in droves. Sure, take inspiration from others, but make sure to always be original.

Avoid Spam! Doing a lot of comment engagement is helpful, but pretending to engage with a generic comment like “great video” or “wow” will annoy anyone who sees it. Worse, accounts that copy and paste messages asking for more followers are considered spam. Instead, be authentic: this is the best way to drive real engagement and trigger the TikTok algorithm to help you grow.

V. Summary

To crack the TikTok algorithm is to be in sync with it, not against it.

The best way is to produce high-quality creative content consistent with your brand tone for the purpose of entertainment. 31% of TikTok users listed “lifting their spirits” as one of the top three reasons for returning to the TikTok platform. So if you want to know how to really hack the algorithm and create viral video after viral video, think about how to create content that inspires joy, entertains, and most importantly, is real.

Wondering how to create great marketing campaigns for amazing ROI? Follow us and show you more TikTok marketing tips to see how to make your brand have a place in the hearts of Generation Z. Or, private message me, let me help you!