What I learned from making a viral TikTok

Last week, a post on my cats’ TikTok account went unexpectedly viral. It wasn’t even about cats.

As of publication, here are the stats on the viral July 4 parade video:

  • 2.5M views

  • 478.6K likes

  • 3568 comments

  • favorited 27.5K times

This view count exceeded my second-most viewed video, a video of my cat Uncle Rico falling out of a laundry basket, by 478x.

Here’s what I learned from the viral TikTok:

  • Vanity metrics are truly just vanity metrics. Unsurprisingly, this video did not convert any leads.

  • All those eyeballs are scary. The sheer volume of comments and messages made me feel pretty vulnerable, even though I’m not in the video at all.

  • I was shocked to find that only one comment was hateful (I’ve since deleted it).

  • Numbers are only exciting for a day or two.

  • Something interesting: I first posted this video on Saturday July 1, when I was at the parade. The video had about 700 views for 3 days. Then it skyrocketed on day 4 (July 4) to 2.4M. This suggests the algorithm pushes topical content.

Tips for making a viral TikTok, which I feel wholly unqualified to provide after doing it only once:

  • Music choice is important. Well-known music is ideal, and a clash between music and footage creates a fun tension.

  • Caption needs to be funny.

  • Post current, topical content.

  • Be in the right place at the right time—ideally near someone doing an insane stunt like pirouetting a bobcat on its rear wheels.

And now, for your viewing pleasure…the video.

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