TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 1 billion monthly active users as of March 2022. It allows users to create and share short videos, often set to music or containing other creative elements. TikTok has seen massive growth since launching outside of China in 2017, becoming one of the top apps worldwide.
Frequent and consistent posting is key for growth on TikTok. The concept of posting hourly involves creating and sharing a new TikTok video every hour around the clock. This requires an extreme level of commitment but can help content creators maximize views and engagement. Posting this frequently shows followers you are highly active and provides a continual stream of fresh content.
Potential Benefits
Posting more frequently on TikTok can lead to faster growth in followers and views. Brands that post daily or multiple times per day have more chances to be seen on people’s For You pages, which is key for reaching new audiences on TikTok. As one source notes, “The more you post, the more you’ll show up on FYPs, and the more new people you can reach” (Source).
Increased posting also gives brands more opportunities to go viral. The TikTok algorithm rewards engagement and selectivity, so consistently posting quality content raises the chances that one or more videos will take off. As an article points out, “Video views snowball on TikTok. If just one of your videos goes viral, your account will gain a swath of new followers” (Source).
Finally, more frequent posting allows brands to interact more with their audience and encourage engagement. Followers are more likely to comment on and share videos from accounts that post regularly. TikTok also surfaces active accounts more, so brands that post consistently see higher engagement rates overall (Source).
Potential Drawbacks
Posting every hour on TikTok can lead to several potential drawbacks for creators.
First, content quality may suffer when trying to post so frequently. Coming up with fresh, creative ideas and producing high-quality videos every hour is extremely difficult. The pressure to post new content constantly could result in rushed, lower-quality videos that feel repetitive or lack originality and imagination.
Additionally, posting hourly can be demanding and could lead to burnout for creators. The constant need to be creating and uploading new content leaves little time for breaks or other activities. Having to be “on” creatively around the clock may be mentally and emotionally draining over time.
Frequent posting also makes it harder to retain audience interest. When viewers see new videos from the same creator appear multiple times per hour, they may feel overwhelmed. Too much content at once risks causing audience fatigue and irritation. Viewers may lose interest if their feed is flooded with repetitive updates from a single user.
As social media strategists Transformation Marketing note, “When you post too much, you risk saturating your audience with content. This leads to disengagement over time” (source). Posting hourly leaves little time for audiences to fully digest each video before the next arrives.
Impact on Algorithm
The TikTok algorithm rewards frequent posting and is designed to show users fresh, engaging content. As Neil Patel explains, “The TikTok algorithm looks at how frequently you post content. The more consistently you post videos, the more TikTok will share your content with others.” [1]
Posting hourly takes full advantage of the algorithm’s preference for frequent posting. However, research suggests there are limits to how much you can benefit from increased frequency. According to Status, optimizing for the algorithm involves posting 1-2 times per day, not hourly. They recommend spacing out posts throughout the day and avoiding posting too late at night when fewer users are active. [2]
Overall, while increased posting frequency can help your content get seen, posting as often as hourly may provide diminishing returns versus a more sustainable cadence of 1-2 times per day. The key is finding a balance between posting frequently to satisfy the algorithm and developing quality content that engages viewers.
Impact on Views and Followers
Research shows that posting more frequently can help increase views and gain followers on TikTok, but the impact depends on the quality and timing of your content. According to 2023 TikTok Benchmark Report, the median engagement rate per follower for brands on TikTok is around 5.7%. This means for every 100 followers, brands get nearly 6 likes, comments, or other interactions.
To gain followers, you need to produce content that resonates with viewers and compels them to hit the follow button. Simply posting more often won’t guarantee increased visibility and followers – the content itself needs to captivate the audience. TikTok’s algorithm rewards videos that keep viewers watching, elicit engagement, and inspire shares.
Some data indicates active TikTok creators see follower growth in spurts tied to viral videos. As noted on r/TikTokhelp, creators may gain only a few hundred followers a day during slow weeks but see jumps of thousands of followers when a particular video takes off. So frequent posting gives you more chances at that vital breakthrough video.
Impact on Engagement
When considering the effects of posting once an hour, it’s important to analyze the impact on engagement rates. According to Hootsuite, most experts consider an engagement rate between 1-5% to be good. However, as an account gains more followers, maintaining higher engagement becomes more difficult.
Research shows that increased posting frequency can boost engagement, but only to a point. According to tips.ariyh.com, posting more than 45 times per month leads to engagement fatigue from followers. Accounts that post hourly would exceed this threshold very quickly.
Overall, constantly posting could see an initial engagement spike from existing followers. But it risks decreasing organic reach over time as the influx of content overwhelms audiences. Maintaining quality engagement should take priority over quantity of posts.
Impact on Watch Time
Average view duration is an important metric that impacts how YouTube’s algorithm recommends videos. Research shows that posting consistently can help increase average view duration compared to occasional posting.
According to one analysis, consistently posting videos and optimizing content for watch time helped increase average view duration (source). The Reddit community also discusses how average view duration tends to be low (2-3 minutes) regardless of video length for occasional posters (source).
In contrast, channels that post daily or multiple times per day can achieve higher average view durations. Their consistent output helps build an invested audience that watches more of each video. Overall, frequent posting correlates with stronger watch time metrics compared to sporadic posting schedules.
Creative Challenges
One of the biggest challenges with posting hourly on TikTok is coming up with fresh, creative, high-quality content on such a consistent basis. It takes significant time and effort to consistently develop engaging ideas and produce videos that will resonate with viewers.
According to Osmond Marketing, “Coming up with new content ideas every single day can be challenging, especially if you’re managing multiple social media accounts.” They note that the difficulty of ideating fresh content daily can lead to social media managers relying too heavily on repurposed or stale content.
The risk of burnout for the creator is also quite high with hourly posting. As Social Champ points out, “It can take hours to come up with engaging content to post every day on multiple platforms. It can definitely get overwhelming!” The demands of hourly posting may surpass the limits of even the most creative and indefatigable TikTok creators.
To sustain quality and avoid exhaustion, creators who post hourly may need to enlist additional help coming up with ideas or producing content. However, the additional investment may not justify returns from hourly posting. Ultimately, the major creative challenges point to why hourly posting may be an unrealistic strategy for most TikTok creators.
Case Studies
Some TikTok creators have found success posting hourly, while others have struggled to maintain engagement. Here are some examples:
Brenda Jones (@iambrandijones) is a TikTok influencer with over 800,000 followers who conducted an experiment posting every hour for a day. She found that her views and engagement increased significantly during that time. However, she acknowledged it was unsustainable long-term due to the amount of effort required (source).
The account TikTok Shop (@tiktokshop) grew extremely rapidly by posting hourly product reviews and affiliate links. They gained over 800,000 followers in just a few months. However, many followers accused them of spamming and they struggled to maintain engagement (source).
While hourly posting can drive quick growth in followers and views, most accounts cannot sustain it long-term. Maintaining authenticity and engagement often requires more thoughtful posting strategies.
Conclusion
In summary, posting hourly on TikTok has both benefits and drawbacks. The potential benefits include reaching new viewers, getting more overall views, and staying top of mind. However, it can be difficult to consistently create high-quality content this frequently. There’s also a risk of annoying followers with too much content.
Overall, the verdict on posting hourly is that it’s likely not sustainable or recommended in the long run for most creators. While brief experiments with higher frequencies can sometimes be beneficial, it’s best to find a consistent schedule that works for your skills and resources. Focus on quality over quantity, and pay attention to metrics like views and engagement to see what pacing your audience responds to best.
