How to Get Your Videos Categorized on TikTok

By Analiese Ross | April 7, 2024

The power of TikTok lies in its algorithm, and the more you understand it, the better you’ll get at leveraging it.

Before we dive into the intricacies, there’s one crucial difference between the TikTok algorithm and those of Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. TikTok is an interest-based platform. This means the algorithm is designed to show users content related to topics they are most interested in.

Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X are network-based platforms, meaning their algorithms prioritize showing you content from people you know in real life or those with mutual connections. TikTok doesn’t prioritize who you know or your follower count. Its sole focus is delivering content that aligns with your interests.

This is why the potential for virality is so high on TikTok and what makes this platform so powerful.

Now that we’ve established that, let’s dive into the details.

How exactly does the TikTok algorithm work?

When you post a video on TikTok, the first thing the algorithm does is scan it. It examines the words you speak in the video (via closed captioning), any native text overlays, the keywords in your caption, and the hashtags you’ve added.

It looks for a common theme or category within these areas. If it finds one, it will label it at the top of your video like this:

If it’s unable to identify a common theme, the search bar will simply say “find related content.”

If this happens, it means TikTok couldn’t determine what your video was about. The “find related content” search bar is added in the hope that viewers will search for related content, and those searches will help TikTok assign your video a category later. More on how you can use this to your advantage later…

For now, let’s return to the moment right after you post. TikTok scans your video and attempts to assign it a category to determine whose For You Page (FYP) to show it on. Again, its main objective is to show viewers content they are interested in.

Why does categorization matter on TikTok?

If your video is categorized as being about “social media marketing,” it will be shown on the FYPs of viewers interested in that topic. If your video isn’t categorized, TikTok can’t match it to specific interests and is forced to show it to a random sample of viewers.

The first sample of viewers that TikTok shows your video to is typically around 200 users. This is “level 1.” It places the video on these 200 users’ FYPs and the Friends tab of your followers’ feeds, and it analyzes how the video performs at level 1.

If the video does well (i.e., watch time is high), it signals to the algorithm that the video is strong, and TikTok will advance it to “level 2” (a larger sample size of about 500 viewers). If the video doesn’t perform well, TikTok stops pushing it out, and views level off. The video is still shown on your friends’ feeds, but it isn’t shown to any additional new viewers.

This is why categorization is so important. If a video is categorized, TikTok sends it to a highly curated group of viewers who are already interested in the topic, so the likelihood of it performing well is very high. If it’s not categorized and is sent to a random sample of viewers, the likelihood of them being interested is not very high. This is why studies show that nearly 80% of viral videos have been assigned a category on TikTok.

Now, if your video does well and advances to “level 2”, the process starts again. TikTok measures how it performs among this larger sample size. If it continues to do well, it will move on to “level 3” (1,000 viewers), then levels 4, 5, 6, and so on.

The moment the video stops performing well, it stops being pushed out. This is why it is common to see your views level off at certain milestones (200 views, 500 views, 1,000 views, 5,000 views, 10k, 20k, etc.).

If you’re stuck in “200-view jail” and can’t seem to break past that, it’s probably because your videos aren’t being categorized.

What can you do to help TikTok categorize your videos?

Identify the category for your video before you post it. Make sure you repeat that keyword in the video, in the title, in the caption, and in the hashtags.
Ensure everything in your caption and hashtags is centered around the same topic. Avoid contradictory keywords or an assortment of random keywords, as this will confuse the algorithm.

For example, if I were to turn this blog into a TikTok video, good hashtags would be:

#socialmediamarketing #socialmediamanager #socialmediatips #contentmarketing #socialmedia

Bad hashtags would be:

#soxialmediamarketing #colorado #womanowned #blogpost #categories

The first example clearly establishes a common theme, while the second could lead the algorithm in many different directions.

The more you utilize native TikTok features within your video, the easier it is for TikTok to identify what’s happening. The two most important places to use native features are in the subtitles and the title text on your video.
If all else fails, and you’ve posted your video and it hasn’t been assigned a category and is stuck at 200 views, go back to the video, find the search bar at the top that says “find related content,” and search for the keywords that you want TikTok to associate with your video. Watch and engage with a few of the videos that appear in the search results. We recommend doing this with 3 very similar search terms. Then close the TikTok app, wait 24 hours, and return. Often, just by prompting those searches, TikTok will be able to assign your video a category. It’s not a perfect science, but it’s definitely worth a try!

Last but not least, the best way to leverage the algorithm is to create amazing, high-quality content that relates to in-demand topics (i.e., that people are actively searching for) but that TikTok doesn’t have enough content to serve.

How do you find out what those in-demand topics are?

Go to your Explorer page, type in “creator search insights,” and select “content gaps.”

Here, TikTok will literally tell you the topics that your audience is actively searching for that they need more content to show. Use this to create your content and fill those gaps!

Remember, no amount of hashtagging or categorization can make bad content perform well. If you're following all these steps and still seeing no results, it may be time to reevaluate your content strategy. We've got plenty more advice to help you master TikTok!

Head over to https://amrdigital.com/category-tiktok for a wealth of information and further tips on boosting your visibility.