TikTok has exploded in popularity over the last few years, becoming one of the most used social media platforms. With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok offers creators the chance to reach a massive audience and build their personal brands. One key feature that helps TikTok stand out is the ability to “save” videos you like to watch again later. But can creators actually see who has saved their videos?
Saving a video on TikTok functions similarly to liking or bookmarking content on other platforms. It allows you to easily find and rewatch videos without having to scroll for long periods or rely on the algorithm to surface them again. For TikTok users looking to curate collections of their favorite videos, the save feature is invaluable.
However, on the creator side, analytics around saved videos have been somewhat limited in the past. In this article, we’ll explore how TikTok’s creator analytics work, who can see when you save videos, strategies creators use to boost saves, and why this metric matters for influencers.
What Saving a TikTok Video Means
The save feature on TikTok allows users to bookmark videos they like so they can easily find them later. When you tap the share icon on a video and select “Save,” it saves that video to your “Saved” folder in your profile. This lets you create a collection of your favorite videos to refer back to.
Saving a video doesn’t notify the creator or share it anywhere. It’s private to your account. However, creators can see metrics on how many times their videos have been saved in aggregate. So saving is a way to privately bookmark content you like, while also helping creators understand what types of videos people are interested in watching again.
Creator Analytics Dashboard
TikTok provides creators with an analytics dashboard inside the app where they can view performance data on their videos, followers, and profile (Understanding your analytics | Creator Portal). The dashboard gives an overview of total views, likes, comments, shares, followers gained, and more. Creators can see top videos based on views or engagement. There are also demographics insights into follower gender, age, location, device, traffic sources, and when followers are online.
The analytics provide creators with the data they need to understand what type of content resonates best with their audience. This helps them optimize both the content style and best times to post. However, the dashboard does not show creators which individual users liked, commented, shared or saved their videos.
Who Can See When You Save a Video
When you save or “favorite” a video on TikTok by tapping the bookmark icon, it is kept private and only visible to you. The creator of the video cannot see that you have saved their content (Source). Saving a video simply adds it to your own private list of favorites – it does not show up on your profile or activity in any way. Other users also cannot see which videos you have saved.
TikTok confirms this on their help site, stating “Only you can see the videos you’ve liked or favorited” (Source). So saving a video is an anonymous way to bookmark content you like for later viewing.
Exceptions
While creators can’t see exactly who has saved their videos, there are some exceptions where they may know a video has been saved: https://www.quora.com/Does-TikTok-show-if-you-save-a-video
If someone comments that they saved or downloaded the video, the creator will see that comment and know their video has been saved. Creators may also notice a spike in views or likes on an old video, indicating that someone shared or saved it more recently.
Additionally, if a saved video gets stitched or duetted by another user, the original creator will be notified and see that their content has been re-shared. This signals that the original video was likely saved and repurposed.
So while TikTok doesn’t directly notify creators of saves, there are indirect ways they can deduce if their videos have been saved through user engagement and remixing of their content.
How Creators Can See What’s Popular
TikTok provides creators with analytics tools to gain insights into their videos’ performance. The Creator Analytics dashboard shows creators key metrics like views, likes, comments, shares, and more (TikTok Support). This allows creators to see which of their videos are resonating most with viewers.
Specifically, creators can view statistics like total video plays, average percentage viewed, and average watch time to get a sense of which videos viewers are watching repeatedly and in full. The analytics also show likes, comments, shares, follows, and traffic sources. This gives creators a breakdown of their most engaging and sharable content.
Additionally, creators can filter the analytics by geographic location. This allows them to see which videos are most popular in different countries and regions. By leveraging these insights, creators can refine their content strategies to focus on what’s working best for their target audiences.
Strategies to Increase Saves
There are several proven strategies TikTok creators can use to get more saves on their videos. According to Source, one of the easiest ways is to purchase saves directly through services that offer this. However, creators looking to gain saves organically have options as well.
Some tips for getting more saves include:
– Making highly sharable content that viewers will want to save and send to others.
– Using popular audios and effects that are trending to take advantage of existing traffic.
– Encouraging viewers in captions and comments to save videos they like.
– Posting consistently so you remain top of mind for loyal fans.
– Collaborating with other creators to cross-promote content.
– Interacting with commenters to build community around your channel.
– Asking questions and using cliffhangers to entice viewers to save a video.
While buying saves is an option, focusing on watch time, engagement, and offering value to your audience will organically result in increased saves over time.
Why Saves Matter
For creators, saves are an incredibly valuable metric to pay attention to. When a user saves a video, it indicates they really enjoyed the content and want to watch it again later. According to TikTok’s own research, people come to the platform to lift their spirits and feel entertained (source). Saves show a video truly resonated with a viewer emotionally.
High numbers of saves are also a sign of quality, engaging content. TikTok’s recommendation algorithm relies heavily on saves and rewatches to determine which videos to promote more widely in the For You feed (source). Videos with lots of saves are more likely to go viral. For a creator trying to build their audience and get discovered, having content that garners saves is essential.
In summary, when viewers save a video it validates the creator’s work and boosts the content’s reach. Creators should study save rates to understand what resonates most with their audience.
Other Social Media Comparisons
Saving on TikTok functions differently compared to saving content on other major social platforms like Instagram and YouTube.
On Instagram, when you save a post or video, it is private by default and only visible in your saved collection. Instagram creators cannot see who specifically has saved their content (source). However, creators can see how many times a post has been saved through Instagram analytics.
YouTube has a similar save feature called “Watch Later”, where users can save videos to watch later. Again, which specific users saved a video is not shown to creators. However, YouTube Analytics provides data on total video saves/watch laters (source).
So while TikTok does allow creators to see who has saved their videos, this level of visibility is unique compared to other platforms. Instagram and YouTube focus more on aggregate data for saves, while keeping user identities private.
Conclusion
To recap, creators on TikTok cannot directly see which specific users have saved their videos. The save feature allows users to bookmark content they like so they can easily find it again later. While creators can’t see individual users who save their videos, they do have access to analytics showing total saves and other engagement metrics for each video. These metrics are important for understanding what resonates with viewers and help creators refine their content strategy.
In conclusion, even though creators don’t know exactly who saved their videos, the total save count still provides valuable insight. Saves indicate popularity and allow creators to track which videos are hitting the mark. This helps them consistently produce content their audience loves.
