Decoding the TikTok algorithm for business success

Understanding how the TikTok algorithm works

The TikTok algorithm is a system that determines which videos are displayed on each user’s For You Page (FYP). 

The algorithm evaluates numerous data points—possibly thousands—to decide which content performs well and deserves to be shown to more users. By analyzing user interactions such as video replays, comments, shares, and likes, TikTok ensures that videos are engaging the right audience for longer periods.

So, how does the TikTok algorithm work? At its core, the TikTok algorithm’s goal is to match the most relevant videos to individual users’ preferences, keeping them engaged for hours. 

Videos that perform well in terms of watchtime, engagement (likes, comments, shares), and replay frequency are pushed to a broader audience, increasing their potential to go viral. On the flip side, if a video underperforms, it will not be pushed further, limiting its reach.

To maximize your chances of TikTok success, it’s essential to send the right signals to the algorithm. Videos that get a high percentage of watchtime, relative to their length, and high engagement rates are seen as high-quality content. This leads to them being shown to a wider yet more relevant audience.

However, just because other businesses are going viral on TikTok doesn’t necessarily mean your business needs to be there, too. Each platform serves different purposes, and TikTok’s fast-paced nature may not align with your specific business model or audience.

By understanding how the TikTok algorithm works, you can create content that resonates with your audience, ensuring that your videos perform well and reach the right people.

But just because other businesses go viral on TikTok doesn’t mean you should be there, too.

Should your business invest in TikTok?

There are three main things to consider if your brand should post content on TikTok:

1. If your target audience is active on TikTok
2. If you can consistently produce TikTok-style videos
3. If you’re selling a product or service primed for TikTok

1. If your target audience is active on TikTok

If your target audience is active on TikTok, leveraging the platform’s algorithm and understanding its user demographics is essential for maximizing engagement and business success.

TikTok has a diverse user base, but certain demographics tend to be more engaged and likely to make purchases through the platform:

• Age range: Most active TikTok users are between 18 and 34 years old, with many in the 25–34 age group. These millennials and younger millennials usually have more money to spend and are more likely to interact with and buy from brands on TikTok.
• Gender: While TikTok has a fairly balanced user base, women tend to be slightly more engaged and more likely to make purchases through the app.
• Interests: Users interested in beauty, fashion, fitness, and lifestyle content are among the most engaged and likely to buy based on TikTok recommendations or advertisements.
• Behavior: Users who regularly engage with live streams, participate in challenges, and interact with branded content are likelier to purchase through the platform.
• Income: While TikTok appeals to a broad range of income levels, those with disposable income in the middle to upper-middle-class range are more likely to make impulse purchases based on TikTok content.

Understanding these demographics can help you tailor TikTok marketing strategies to reach the most receptive and potentially lucrative audience segments.

2. If you can consistently produce TikTok-style videos

Succeeding in TikTok requires a specific set of skills from your team. If you already have some experience with live streaming or other forms of interactive content, this can be a great advantage when creating TikTok videos.

Here are a few questions so you can assess what you’ll need:

• What’s the main goal? Sales or brand awareness?
• Which types of videos are you going to produce? Skits or product videos?
• Who will be in the video? For example, do you need on-camera talent?

Answering these questions will give you a clearer picture of the resources and capabilities you’ll need to succeed on TikTok. It’s important to be realistic about your team’s capacity to create engaging, platform-specific content consistently. Remember, success on TikTok often comes from authenticity and creativity, not just polished production.

If you also produce long-form content such as podcasts, webinars, or interviews, TikTok is a great platform to repurpose that material into bite-sized content, expanding your reach.

Additionally, consider the long-term sustainability of your TikTok strategy. Can you maintain the pace and quality of content creation over time? It’s better to start small and scale up rather than burn out quickly.

Lastly, don’t forget to factor in the time needed for community engagement. Responding to comments and participating in trends is crucial for building a strong TikTok presence.

3. If you’re selling a product or service primed for TikTok

Some products are organically well-suited for TikTok’s style and target audience.  Visually striking products tend to perform well on the platform.

Beauty and skincare products are often a great fit for TikTok. A great example is The Ordinary. It’s a skincare company known for its no-frills approach and affordable prices. 

Their videos on TikTok also reflect those values. They’re short, simple, and engaging. Most of the time, they showcase the benefits of their products. Sometimes, they produce highly creative videos, like squeezing a giant bottle of their serum.

They also collaborate with influencers who review their products, which has significantly increased both product purchases and user-generated content, with people creating their own videos about the products. This collaboration has led to greater brand awareness.

If your brand is exploring different ways to engage audiences, you should also look into how TikTok compares to other video subscription services in terms of audience reach and engagement.

6 factors that affect the TikTok algorithm

There are hundreds of factors that could affect TikTok’s algorithm. But generally, the more you engage, the more data TikTok has.

Here are the top six factors that impact the TikTok algorithm:

1. Past interests
2. Device and account settings
3. Video information
4. User interactions
5. Video completion rate
6. Trends and popular content

1. Past interests

If you’re new to TikTok and they don’t have data from your account yet, the platform can pull information from your past activities and interests online. 

TikTok’s algorithm may include data from your web browser, previous high-performing videos, and other social media platforms like Facebook. This ensures the content you see on your For You Page (FYP) is relevant and engaging from the start.

For instance, if you’ve been searching for air fryers on search engines like Google and then sign up for TikTok, you’ll likely start seeing air fryer-related videos on your FYP. Similarly, if you frequently watch content on medical topics, including graphic medical procedures, TikTok’s algorithm will consider this interest when curating your feed.

2. Device and account settings

The TikTok algorithm also takes into account various ranking factors related to your device and account settings. 

These settings play a role in personalizing the content shown to you and optimizing your user experience:

• Language preference: TikTok will display content in the language you’ve set on your device.
• Country setting: The app often tailors videos based on your geographical location or IP address, favoring content that is popular or trending locally.
• Device type: Whether you’re using iOS, Android, or accessing TikTok via the web can influence how content is displayed and which features are available.
• App version: The specific version of TikTok you are using may limit or provide access to certain content and features.
• Network type: Whether you’re on Wi-Fi or cellular data can impact how quickly content loads and how well videos perform in terms of ranking.

Although these factors influence your experience, user interactions and content preferences still play the most critical role in TikTok’s algorithm recommendations.

3. Video information

Video information is one of the key ranking signals based on which the TikTok algorithm categorizes and distributes content. 

Here’s how each element affects the algorithm:

• The algorithm analyzes captions to understand the video’s content. It uses natural language processing to identify keywords, themes, and context. 
• TikTok’s algorithm tracks the popularity and usage of different sounds or music tracks. Videos using trending or popular sounds are more likely to be shown to a wider audience. You can also add royalty-free music to give your videos a unique and original touch.
• Hashtags serve as content classifiers for the algorithm. They help TikTok understand the topic and theme of the video, allowing it to show the content to users who have engaged with similar hashtags in the past. 

4. User interactions

Now, the heart of the algorithm is in user interactions. It is how TikTok mainly evaluates and promotes content. 

Here’s how different types of engagement impact the TikTok algorithm:

• Likes: A like is the most basic engagement a video can get. The more likes, the more chances your videos have of being shown to a wider audience.
• Comments: High comment engagement indicates that a video sparks conversation or interest. A comment generally holds more weight in the algorithm than a simple “like.” It also provides more context and sentiment.
• Shares: Sharing a video is a strong indicator of quality content. When users share videos, it expands the content’s reach beyond its initial audience.
• Follows: If a user follows a creator after watching their video, it’s a powerful signal to the algorithm. It suggests the content was compelling enough for the viewer to want more.
• Views: The number of views also plays an important role. More views suggest that the video is attracting attention, which may lead the algorithm to promote it to more users.

These interactions work together to create a feedback loop. As a video receives more engagement, the algorithm will likely show it to additional users. However, it’s important to note that the algorithm considers factors like watch time and completion rate, not just raw engagement numbers. 

On top of that, these interactions offer valuable customer experience insights, which can help brands fine-tune their content strategies based on how their audience engages with their posts.

5. Video completion rate

One of the key factors TikTok’s recommendation system uses to rank content is the video completion rate. It’s not enough for people to simply watch videos briefly; the algorithm pays close attention to how much of your video viewers actually watch. If other users finish watching your entire video, or even replay it, the algorithm will favor videos like yours and boost them to more users.

For example, even if you keep your video short (around 60 seconds long) and viewers only watch 10 seconds on average, the algorithm will interpret this as a lack of engagement. 

However, suppose users consistently watch your video from start to finish, or watch it multiple times. In that case, the algorithm will see this as a signal that your content is engaging and will promote it to other users on their For You Pages (FYP).

6. Trends and popular content

TikTok’s algorithm heavily favors trending content and popular hashtags. Here’s how trends and popular content impact the algorithm:

• Trending sounds and music: Videos using trending sounds get a boost in views compared to those that don’t.
• Timely content: Videos related to current trends, events or holidays often see increased distribution as the algorithm pushes relevant, timely content.
• Hashtag challenges: TikTok reports that branded hashtag challenges (HTC) have a 17.5% engagement rate, which is significantly higher than that of other platforms.

A great example of a brand leveraging trends effectively is Duolingo. Their TikTok account (@duolingo) has gained over 12.6 million followers by participating in trends and creating entertaining content around their mascot, the green owl. 

They frequently use trending sounds, participate in popular challenges, and create timely content about current events or pop culture moments, such as the 2024 Paris Olympics. This strategy has significantly increased their brand awareness and engagement among younger audiences.

How to create videos in favor of TikTok’s algorithm

Hopefully, you’ve got a better understanding of the TikTok algorithm by now. While you probably won’t crack its entire code, you know enough to start planning content that gets results.

Here are the best practices to follow:

1. Put audience first
2. Follow best practices
3. Make posting easy
4. Capitalize on industry trends when you can
5. Leave room for experiment
6. Make data-driven decisions

1. Put audience first

Understanding your TikTok audience is crucial for creating content that resonates. Start by analyzing your TikTok analytics. Use the platform’s built-in tools to gain insights into your audience demographics, viewing habits, and engagement patterns. 

If you’re still building your following, you can look at your competitors’ TikTok accounts to gather relevant data. 

Additionally, studying successful accounts in your niche will help you understand the type of content that resonates with similar audiences. Remember, your TikTok audience may differ from those on other platforms, so it’s important to tailor your content specifically for TikTok users.

2. Follow best practices

Once you know your audience, you can follow TikTok’s official best practices to increase your chances of success. TikTok’s Best Practices Guide offers valuable insights for optimizing your content for the platform.

Here are some essential tips from TikTok for uploading content:

• Use relevant hashtags: Include 3-5 hashtags to categorize your content effectively.
• Post at optimal times: Schedule posts based on when your audience is most active.
• Create engaging content: Keep your captions concise and include clear calls to action.
• Leverage native features: Use TikTok’s filters, effects, and trending sounds to stay relevant.
• Optimize video details: Make sure your video information—captions, sounds, and hashtags—is clear and aligned with your content.
• Maintain consistency: Aim to post regularly, ideally 1-2 times per day.
• Engage with your community: Respond to comments and interact with other creators to build engagement.

While you can’t control the algorithm, you can optimize these factors to work in your favor.

3. Make posting easy

Once you know your video posting schedule, you can start planning. There are tons of social media tools, but most are not optimized for TikTok. 

You can either choose to schedule your posts natively, or you can use a scheduler to plan your content across all your channels from one place.

To schedule TikTok posts natively:

1. Log in to TikTok on Desktop.
2. Upload your video by clicking the “Upload” button.
3. Enter video details (caption, hashtags, etc.).
4. Toggle “Schedule Video” and select your date and time.
5. Click “Schedule” to confirm.

If you want to use a scheduler, onsider the following criteria and features:

• TikTok-specific features: Look for tools tailored to TikTok’s unique requirements, such as support for vertical video formats, TikTok-specific hashtag recommendations, and the ability to handle different post types like carousels and Stories. Many tools also allow for customizing content by adding custom thumbnails, enabling duets, and more.
• Analytics and performance tracking: Choose a tool that provides detailed analytics for TikTok, helping you understand what content resonates best with your audience and refine your strategy over time.
• Content creation features: The tool should offer video editing, hashtag generation, AI caption writing, and more. 
• Best posting time recommendations: Look for tools that suggest optimal posting times based on audience activity to maximize engagement.
• Cross-platform compatibility: While focusing on TikTok, it’s beneficial if the tool also supports other platforms for a cohesive social media strategy.
• Collaboration features: If working with a team, look for tools that allow multiple users to collaborate on content creation, scheduling, and approval.
• Engagement tools: Select tools that offer features like automated replies, comment tracking, and audience interaction management to help you stay engaged with your community and respond quickly.
• Mobile app availability: Given TikTok’s mobile-first nature, a tool with a robust mobile app can be very useful for on-the-go content management.