TikTok is a short-form video app that has seen explosive growth since launching in 2016, with over 1 billion monthly active users as of September 2021 (Source). Videos can “go viral” on TikTok when they quickly gain widespread visibility and engagement through shares, comments, and millions of views. While viral videos may get tens of millions of views, most regular TikTok users have much lower view counts. Whether 500 views on a TikTok video is considered good depends on factors like the age of the account, number of followers, typical performance for that niche, video type and quality, promotion efforts, and engagement metrics beyond just view count.
TikTok User Base Size
TikTok has seen immense growth in its user base over the past few years. As of December 2023, TikTok has approximately 1.1 billion monthly active users globally according to 46 TikTok Statistics For 2024 (Users, Creators & Revenue). This makes it one of the largest social media platforms, behind only Facebook which has 2.96 billion monthly active users as of Q4 2022. However, TikTok is growing at a much faster rate, having added approximately 400 million new users in 2022.
In the United States, TikTok has around 100 million monthly active users as of late 2023. This compares to Instagram which has approximately 130 million monthly active users in the US. Among Gen Z users, TikTok has surpassed Instagram in popularity in the US. Globally, India is TikTok’s largest market with over 300 million users, followed by China, Brazil, and Indonesia.
TikTok’s massive and growing user base, particularly among younger demographics, demonstrates the appeal of its short-form video content and innovative features like duets and stitches. While other platforms like Instagram and YouTube offer short videos, TikTok’s algorithm and format has proven uniquely captivating for users looking for entertainment, creativity, and community.
What Determines a Popular TikTok Video?
On TikTok, a video is typically considered “viral” if it exceeds 10,000 or 100,000 views. According to Statista, the average TikTok video receives around 30,000 views. However, most videos from regular users do not reach this level of success right away.
Some factors that can drive higher view counts on TikTok include:
- Using a catchy or popular audio clip
- Jumping on the latest meme or trend
- Featuring influencers in the video
- Posting consistently and using optimal posting times
- Having an existing large follower base
- Paid promotion through TikTok’s advertising platform
- Creating innovative, funny, or visually interesting content
Videos that leverage one or more of these tactics tend to perform better than average. However, even strong organic growth usually requires time and consistency in posting quality content that resonates with TikTok’s algorithm and audience.
Typical Performance for New Accounts
When first starting out on TikTok, most users find it challenging to gain significant views on their videos. This is because the platform’s algorithm is still learning about the new account and determining who to show its content to. Additionally, new accounts have a small follower base, limiting potential views.
For a brand new account with no followers, a typical video may only receive 20-50 views in the first 24 hours. As the account starts building its follower base and posting more content, the average view count per video may increase to 50-200 views. However, it takes consistency and regularly posting quality content over weeks or months to build up view counts of 500+ per video.
There are a few strategies new TikTok creators can use to help improve their view counts when just starting out. Making eye-catching thumbnails, using relevant hashtags, participating in trends, collaborating with others, and promoting videos on other social channels can all help attract more views early on. Additionally, remaining consistent with posting and interacting with others will signal to the algorithm that the account should reach a wider audience over time.
Performance Relative to Follower Count
When assessing whether 500 views is a good amount on TikTok, it’s important to consider it relative to the account’s number of followers. According to research from Rival IQ, the average TikTok account earns about 21.8 views per 100 followers on each video [1]. However, most accounts don’t achieve views at such a high ratio.
Another benchmark from Social Insider indicates the average view rate per video is around 14.49% of followers [2]. So for an account with 1,000 followers, one could expect around 145 views per video on average.
Compared to these benchmarks, 500 views would be considered quite strong for an account with fewer than 3,500 followers. It represents a view-to-follower ratio above 14%, surpassing typical performance. However, for larger accounts with 10,000+ followers, 500 views would be below average.
In summary, 500 TikTok views could signal a very successful video for a small or medium-sized account. But for accounts with higher follower counts, it may be viewed as underperforming relative to benchmarks. The key is comparing views to follower size.
Variation in Views Based on Content Type
Views can vary dramatically on TikTok depending on the type of content posted. According to Izea (1), some of the most popular TikTok categories grabbing huge view counts include entertainment, dance, pranks, fitness/sports, DIY/home renovations, beauty/skincare, fashion, and cooking/recipes. Dance videos in particular are consistently among the highest performing content given TikTok’s reputation for dance trends and choreography (2).
Videos that are entertaining, funny, useful, or informative tend to gain more traction than static or random content. Factors like a comedic personality, useful life hacks, captivating visuals, trending music, or engaging instruction can influence views. Ultimately videos that provide value to viewers through inspiration, entertainment, education, or emotional impact tend to get shared more on TikTok (3).
While any type of quality content can gain views, creators may want to focus on producing videos aligned with the platform’s identity and audience interests. Paying attention to current trends and making content specifically for TikTok can yield better results.
1. https://izea.com/resources/tiktok-categories-grabbing-the-most-views/
2. https://samyroad.com/en/top-eight-most-popular-content-on-tik-tok/
3. https://grin.co/blog/complete-guide-to-tiktok-content-categories/
Role of Algorithm and Promotion
TikTok’s algorithm is designed to quickly identify and promote content that is gaining engagement and going viral. As explained on Gramfollower.com, “TikTok’s algorithm works by splitting videos into small pieces and playing them back quickly. This helps TikTok identify trends and surface viral content.”
TikTok constantly monitors every video’s performance and determines which ones to push based on real-time growth in views, shares, comments and other engagement metrics. Videos that quickly gain traction get recommended to a wider audience. This allows rising trends and viral memes to spread rapidly on the platform.
Influencers and advertisers can also pay to promote their TikTok videos and accounts. As SpaceCoastDaily notes, buying TikTok views with ads or influencer marketing campaigns can “play a vital role in determining the reach of your content.” More purchased views signals rising popularity to the algorithm, leading it to recommend the videos to more users. This results in exponential growth in organic reach and engagement.
In summary, TikTok’s algorithm, along with paid promotion options, allows certain videos to gain tens of thousands or even millions of views very quickly based on their viral potential.
Monetization and View Thresholds
In order to qualify for TikTok’s Creator Fund, which allows creators to earn money from views on their content, accounts need to have at least 10,000 authentic video views in the last 30 days. Additionally, the account must have at least 1,000 followers and be in a region where the fund is available (source).
For an account just starting out with around 500 views per video, monetization through the Creator Fund may be difficult to achieve initially. However, consistently creating content, gaining followers, and increasing view counts can help accounts reach the thresholds over time.
In terms of sponsorships, brands and companies are looking for TikTok creators who have strong viewer retention and engagement. This includes metrics like shares, comments, likes, and video completion rates. 500 views from an audience that is highly engaged has more value for potential sponsorships than thousands of disengaged views.
While 500 views per video may not immediately qualify a new account for monetization options, it shows promise and can serve as a starting point. With consistency and by optimizing content for retention and engagement, accounts can leverage 500 views per video into eventual monetization through TikTok’s monetization programs.
Qualitative Assessment of Engagement
While the view count provides a quantitative measure of popularity, it is also important to assess the qualitative engagement on a TikTok video. Metrics like likes, comments, and shares provide additional indicators of quality beyond just the raw view count.
A video with 500 views would generally be considered strong if it also had high engagement in terms of likes, comments, and shares. According to Rival IQ, the average TikTok video gets around 5.4 comments per 1,000 views. So for a 500 view video, around 3 comments would be average. If the video has 10 or more comments, that would be a sign of above-average engagement.
The average TikTok video gets around 185 likes per 1,000 views, so 92 likes would be average for a 500 view video. Anything above 150 likes would be considered strong engagement. Shares are rarer, but even 5-10 shares on a 500 view video would be an excellent sign of quality content.
In summary, if a 500 view TikTok video also has high likes, comments, and shares, it indicates the content is resonating with viewers and providing value. This level of qualitative engagement is a great benchmark for any creator to strive for.
Conclusion
In summary, whether 500 views is considered good on TikTok depends on several key factors that were assessed:
– The size of your existing follower base. 500 views when you have 5,000 followers is different than 500 views with 100 followers.
– Your content type. Short dance or comedy videos often get more views than educational or informational content.
– How long you’ve been on the platform. 500 views is decent when just starting out but below average for more established accounts.
– Qualitative engagement metrics like likes, comments, and shares, not just the raw view count.
– Whether you utilized promotion or went viral. Organic views indicate better content than bought views.
Overall, 500 views on its own is a modest performance for most TikTok accounts. For new users with limited followers, it represents a good start, but established accounts would hope for more. The key is continuously improving the content to increase organic reach.
Here are some tips to improve your TikTok performance and grow your views over time:
– Analyze which of your videos get more engagement and views. Make more of that successful content.
– Use relevant hashtags and challenges to make it easier to be discovered.
– Engage with your followers by liking, commenting, and following back.
– Promote your videos on other social platforms where you have an audience.
– Collaborate with other creators to gain exposure to new audiences.
– Invest time daily to watch and engage with other TikTok videos to signal the algorithm.
– Consider small investments in promotion once you refine successful content formats.
With a strategic and patient approach, 500 views can ultimately become 5,000, 50,000 or even 500,000 over time.