In this week’s production report, I would like to revise and add on more key factors that might contribute to the makings of a popular TikTok post. I have already considered timeliness, proximity, and the element of surprise. This week, I’ll be adding:

1) Discoverability
There are a couple of ways to increase discoverability on TikTok, namely, the use of hashtags and popular “sounds”.

Hashtags are used more sparingly on TikTok as compared to Instagram, with creators incorporating only about 4-5 hashtags in their captions at most. However, users often use hashtags to find specific content that they’re looking for, and as such, using hashtags in one’s captions could lend a hand with increasing views.

Meanwhile “sounds” are essentially audio files on TikTok that can be reused by other creators. They can be snippets of either songs or original audio recordings from TikTok creators. Typically when a certain “sound” goes viral, TikTok users will flock to this section to browse through the content that’s been created using this “sound”. As such, using a certain “sound” that’s already gone viral, could increase one’s chances of being discovered.

2) Aesthetics
As I scroll through TikTok, I realise that most of the videos that do well have, at the very least, decent lighting. It is not a requirement to have an extremely aesthetically pleasing background in order to do well, but the TikTok algorithm does seem to favour good lighting, and as such, it would help with increasing one’s visibility.

3) Post Frequency and Timing
According to the Sensis data, most use social media in the evening, first thing in the morning, and during work breaks or lunchtime. As such, I plan to upload 2-3 times a day, during these high-traffic hours.

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