TikTok has exploded in popularity in recent years and now has over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide. The app’s powerful algorithm is the driving force behind its success, curating an endless stream of short video content tailored to each user.
The TikTok algorithm determines which videos are shown on a user’s “For You” page, which is the main feed where people watch content. Unlike platforms like Instagram that show posts chronologically, TikTok’s algorithm personalizes the feed to match someone’s interests and preferences.
Understanding how the TikTok algorithm works is crucial for creators and brands seeking to reach an audience and get their content seen. The algorithm is complex and constantly evolving, but focusing on its core factors can help optimize content to appear more frequently in feeds.
User Interests
The TikTok algorithm learns user interests based on how users engage with videos on the platform. When a user likes, shares, comments on, or otherwise interacts with a video, this signals to the algorithm what kind of content they enjoy. As a user spends more time on TikTok, the algorithm builds an increasingly detailed understanding of their interests and preferences.
As explained on the Later blog, “The algorithm studies how you interact with content—which videos you like, share, comment on, or otherwise engage with. From there, it works to serve you more of what you enjoy.” https://later.com/blog/tiktok-algorithm/
According to an article on Search Engine Land, the TikTok algorithm maintains interest profiles for each user that are constantly updated based on their engagement. These interest profiles allow the algorithm to customize each user’s For You page with videos it predicts they will enjoy and keep watching. https://searchengineland.com/how-tiktok-algorithm-works-390229
Video Completion Rates
One of the most important factors in the TikTok algorithm is video completion rates. Videos that are watched to completion are ranked higher by the algorithm and shown to more users. This is because TikTok wants to promote videos that hold user attention and keep them engaged on the platform. As per this source, TikTok specifically looks at the percentage of a video that is watched before a user skips. The higher the completion rate, the more likely a video is to go viral.
TikTok has an incentive to recommend videos that users enjoy watching to the end. This increases overall time spent on the app and leads to more advertiser revenue. Creators who make engaging content that keeps viewers watching are rewarded in the TikTok algorithm. Shorter videos also tend to have higher completion rates. This makes it important to grab the viewer’s attention quickly and condense the most interesting parts into the beginning of the video.
Device and Account Settings
The TikTok algorithm takes into account the type of device you are using and your account settings. For device type, TikTok can detect if you are on an iOS or Android device and deliver content tailored for that operating system. The app experience varies slightly between the two platforms, so catering content based on device makes sense.
Your account language settings are also considered by the algorithm. TikTok will serve more videos with captions or audio in the languages you have set in your app. This allows you to see more relevant content in the languages you understand. Having your language set properly improves the recommendation experience.
Beyond device type and language, other account settings like your watch history, likes, shares, and subscribed creators impact what you see. The algorithm aims to serve content aligned with your interests and preferences based on these settings. Setting up your account fully allows TikTok to better understand what you want to see.
Video Information
The details and metadata of each video are an important factor in how the TikTok algorithm determines which videos to recommend to users. According to research from TikTok’s Secrets Unveiled: Understanding the Algorithm, elements like captions, sounds, hashtags, and more play a crucial role in ranking.
Specifically, videos that have good captions tend to perform better, as captions allow the video content to be searchable. Adding popular or trending sounds and hashtags can also help a video’s discoverability and reach. Even small factors like the time of day a video is posted and video duration can impact how well a video does. Overall, optimizing all the available video information fields when posting content to TikTok is important to improving its ranking potential.
Creator and Video Relationships
One of the key factors in the TikTok algorithm is the relationship between creators and videos. TikTok aims to show users more content from creators they already follow and interact with. According to The TikTok Algorithm Explained + Tips to Go Viral, videos from creators you follow and similar videos you’ve liked or engaged with in the past rank higher in your For You feed.
The TikTok algorithm takes note of how you interact with creators – who you follow, like, comment on, etc. It then assumes you want to see more videos like the ones you’ve engaged with before. So if you consistently watch, like, comment on, and follow gaming creators, you’ll start to see more gaming videos even if you don’t follow that many gaming creators yet.
TikTok wants to keep you engaged on the platform, so it aims to serve you content it thinks you’ll enjoy watching and interacting with. Focusing on building relationships between users and creators they like is key to this goal.
New vs Popular Videos
The TikTok algorithm balances promoting new videos while also keeping popular videos in circulation. According to TikTok, the algorithm is “much more likely to recommend videos from creators that haven’t yet taken off in popularity on TikTok.” This helps give exposure to new and emerging creators. However, once a video starts gaining traction and views, the algorithm will also start recommending it more to keep the momentum going. So the algorithm promotes both new content as well as already viral content, aiming to give users a mix of videos from smaller creators as well as established popular creators.
Location
One of the most important factors in the TikTok algorithm is location. TikTok serves content that is relevant to a user’s geographic location to provide them with a more personalized experience (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gadder-restaurant-app_tiktok-socialmedia-marketing-activity-7033876102150258688-S9sT). This allows users to see videos from creators in their area, find local trends and challenges, and discover events happening nearby.
TikTok determines a user’s location through their device settings and IP address. The app can access this information to cater content to users without them having to manually enter a location. This makes it easy for TikTok to surface hyperlocal trends and challenges.
For creators, optimizing content for location can help expand their audience and go viral within their geographic area. Using local references, landmarks, events, and language choices can help make a video appeal to viewers in a specific locale. Overall, location is key for both personalized experiences and local discovery on TikTok.
Demographic
The TikTok algorithm considers the age, gender, and language of each viewer when determining which videos to recommend. According to The TikTok Algorithm Explained + Tips to Go Viral, TikTok tracks user demographics like age and gender in order to cater content recommendations. Research shows TikTok’s audience skews young, with nearly a third of U.S. users aged 10-19.
TikTok also aims to serve content in users’ preferred languages. As reported by Forbes, TikTok tracks what language viewers engage with most and recommends videos accordingly. This localization helps TikTok connect users with content in the language they best understand.
In summary, the TikTok algorithm uses age, gender, and language data to cater video recommendations to each user’s demographic profile. While the exact formula is secret, demographic targeting is clearly a key part of the TikTok recommendation engine.
Conclusion
In summary, the TikTok algorithm is designed to serve users with relevant, engaging video content that keeps them interested and entertained. The algorithm evaluates many factors to determine which videos to promote in a user’s For You feed. Some of the main elements the algorithm considers include:
– User interests based on content previously liked, shared, or engaged with
– Video completion rates and length of time spent viewing
– Device settings and user account information
– Video details like captions, sounds, hashtags, etc.
– Relationships between creators and videos
– New vs popular videos
– Location of the user
– User demographics like age, gender, language
By analyzing all these signals, TikTok’s algorithm curates a personalized feed of entertaining, relevant videos most likely to engage each specific user. The goal is to keep users happily scrolling through an endless stream of captivating short-form video content on the platform.
