As we’ve all seen in the last few years, TikTok’s usage has truly exploded. It now has over 1 billion active users daily and is taking over the social media space. It’s no wonder that both creators and brands are trying to understand and create a presence on this platform.
Before you dive straight in and set up an account on TikTok, it’s worth reading this short guide to understanding how to get on TikTok’s For You Page (FYP).
When you open up the TikTok app you’ll be presented with two tabs that you can open; ‘following’ and ‘for you’. The ‘following’ page works a bit like your Instagram feed, where you’ll only see the content of the creators and brands that you’re already following and engaging with.
When you land on your ‘For You’ feed you will be shown a stream of videos curated to your interests that TikTok’s algorithm thinks you’ll enjoy. This makes it easier for you to find the content and creators you love, as well as get your content in front of as many eyes on the platform as possible. The FYP is part of what enables that connection and discovery and is essential to the TikTok experience.
It is the sweet spot to growth and has the potential to allow your content to go viral. That’s why understanding how it works and how you can increase your chances of appearing on more feeds is essential to your success on the platform.
Similarly to the Instagram algorithm, the TikTok FYP is constantly evolving and your success as a creator is dependent on how well you can navigate it. TikTok’s smart algorithm will either reward or punish users' content based on users’ actions, preferences and account settings.
Here are the main factors that affect whether your piece of content reaches the FYP or not:
The more engagement and views a TikTok video receives, the more likely it will reach a wider audience. This means that in terms of the platform pushing your content, it will favour the posts with more likes, comments, shares, Duets and Stitches because the app knows that users like your content!
It’s not just the captions that will get you noticed, TikTok determines the subject matter for recommendations based on hashtags, sounds, and effects.
The app looks at your posting location, language preferences and device settings to determine who may be interested in a video. For example, if you go on holiday and tag the country, you can expect to see some local content on your TikTok For you Page.
It is important to note that TikTok can also punish users if they go against what the algorithm stands for, by not showing their content to as many users (if any at all).
While there is no sure way to get your videos on TikTok’s FYP, there are several tips and tricks to increase your chances. Here are our top 3 to give you a helping hand.
With users scrolling through a large number of videos daily the large volume of videos on the platform that users are scrolling through daily, you only have seconds to capture and retain their attention. That’s why it's important to keep your videos short, to ensure you are engaging the audience and boosting your chance of getting more likes and shares.
The growth in technology and ease of access to quality cameras means there is no excuse for low-quality videos. High-quality videos that are filmed and edited well will grab the attention of users and increase your chance of landing on their FYP.
Having initially started as Musicaly.ly, an app primarily for lip-syncing, TikTok has evolved but with music still at its core. That’s why it’s essential to use trending sounds in your videos to help them rank higher on the algorithm. Tapping into trending sounds will mean the algorithm will serve your video to people who have already engaged with the trend, getting you on the FYP.
To increase your chances of getting on the FYP it stands that the more you post the greater your chances are. However, don’t be tempted to post content for the sake of it. You need to ensure you are creating good quality and engaging videos for your audience. Beyond engagement, the algorithm wants consistency, so look at posting around three times a week and then start to build up to posting daily.
It’s also important to post at the right times and these can vary by day of the week. It’s useful to look at what the industry thinks is the best time to post. Although it’s worth noting that as TikTok is evolving constantly and new users are joining, you will need to revisit and adapt accordingly.
Using trending hashtags increases your chances of your content being picked up by the TikTok algorithm and boosts your chances of them hitting the FYP. Similar to Instagram hashtags, TikTok hashtags categorise your content to help increase its discoverability.
Whilst there is no guarantee that this will work, using #fyp and #ForYou is said to help increase your chances. You should aim for quality hashtags that a relevant to your content as they provide a better chance of attracting the right followers.
To further your education, we recommend signing up for the TikTok Academy as a fun and engaging way to learn how to create the videos that will get you onto the For You Page.
