Summary of "19 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started TikTok"

19 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started TikTok

The video offers comprehensive tips and strategies for beginners to grow successfully on TikTok, emphasizing consistent effort, strategic content creation, and understanding the platform’s algorithm.

Key Tips and Advice

Post Every Day Consistency is crucial for momentum and growth. Posting daily helps you learn quickly and build an audience.
Stay Consistent with Your Niche Focus on one topic or related topics to attract a specific audience. Niching helps the algorithm understand who to show your videos to, increasing chances of virality.
Do Thorough Research Study successful creators in your niche and analyze their top-performing videos. Research trending topics and sounds to leverage TikTok trends for extra reach. Avoid posting random content without research.
Increase Posting Frequency Gradually Posting more than once a day can accelerate growth by providing more chances to go viral. However, don’t sacrifice research quality for quantity. Avoid excessive posting (5+ times daily) to prevent being flagged as spam.
Take Imperfect Action Don’t stress over low-performing videos; keep creating and learning. Focus on replicating and improving your winning content. Don’t delete videos with low views—use them as learning tools.
Posting Time and Hashtags Posting at specific times doesn’t significantly impact views. Use relevant hashtags related to your video topic, not generic or overly popular ones. Avoid overthinking hashtags; focus on good content ideas instead.
Create Strong Hooks and Use Text Headlines The first 3 seconds are critical to stop viewers from scrolling. Use on-screen text to grab attention and generate curiosity. Curiosity-driven hooks increase watch time and engagement.
Focus on Watch Time Percentage Shorter videos often perform better because they achieve higher watch time percentages. Aim for viewers to watch 100% of short videos for better virality chances.
Use Auto Captions Captions make videos accessible for viewers watching without sound. They also help the algorithm understand your content through keywords.
Understand TikTok’s Algorithm Every video gets an initial 200-300 views for testing. If your video performs poorly, it’s a signal to improve content quality or packaging.
Optimize Account Settings Switch to a Creator account to access commercial sounds and trending audio, which boost virality. Turn off “Suggest your account to others” for contacts and friends to avoid irrelevant viewers who may hurt engagement metrics.
Leverage Keywords and Descriptions Use auto captions and on-screen text to embed keywords. Use one core hashtag consistently plus 3-4 specific hashtags per video. Write keyword-rich, natural language descriptions to help the algorithm understand your content.
Create Two Types of Content
1. Growth Content: Short, trend-driven videos designed to go viral and attract new followers.
2. Trust-Building Content: Longer, educational videos that build relationships and convert followers into customers.
Balance Creativity and Audience Needs Create content that feels good to you but also addresses your audience’s interests and problems. When feeling stuck, consume content in your niche to recharge creativity but avoid overconsumption.

Notable Mentions

The speaker references a colleague/editor named Hudson. The video encourages watching a related tutorial on step-by-step TikTok growth strategies. Emphasizes that TikTok success is about strategy, consistency, and understanding the platform, not luck.

This summary captures the core lifestyle and content creation tips for TikTok growth shared in the video, including practical steps, mindset shifts, and technical account optimizations.