How Many Likes To Go Viral on TikTok?: Becoming a Sensation

Carolyn Howell

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2024

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“Anybody can go viral on TikTok!” And it seems that achieving viral status has become the ultimate goal for most TikTok users. Many creators, influencers, and brands create videos with the purpose of — you guessed it — going viral. But what is considered viral on TikTok? Do you want to know how many likes to go viral on TikTok?

Keep reading!

A huge audience flocks toward an outdoor concert.

How Many Likes Is Considered Viral on TikTok?

Let’s address this burning question first. Is there a magic number you must hit to achieve virality?

A video has to amass a high number of likes in a short time to go viral. Unfortunately, there’s no definitive number that everybody agrees upon. And TikTok has not specified any number as the minimum threshold for virality.

Tons of tips, tricks, best practices, and ultimate guides can help you maximize your video’s viral potential. However, the threshold for the number of likes that one must cross to reach viral status remains undefined.

But we want to give you a clear picture of the numbers you should aim for to earn the coveted “viral” label. So, let’s take a look at the most viral videos on TikTok for 2023.

An engaged crowd sits in front of a speaker and takes photos and videos with their phones.

TikTok’s Top 10 Viral Videos in the U.S. in 2023

Are you an avid TikTok user? Then, you would have seen these viral videos on your For You Page (FYP) more than a few times!

These are the top ten videos and trends in the U.S. according to the platform’s Year on TikTok 2023 report:

Nyadollie Deng’s (@dollievision) stunning but simple makeup tutorial with close to 40M likes.
@through.the.lleaves featuring an adorable, giant cat with 31.8M likes.
@kaaaathhhhy’s video of a tiny pup complaining in a teeny-tiny voice with over 14M likes.
@thezachchoi’s chicken prep video featuring delectably satisfying ASMR with almost 30M likes.
@chrishoffish showing off his amazing vocals in a parking structure with 28.5M likes.
@justinflom’s DIY Iron Man ceiling light with 26.2M likes.
@selenagomez’s pre-flight routine with almost 25M likes.
@kristy.sarah showing us how to slice an onion without shedding a single tear with 24M likes.
@tubbynugget’s cutest motivational video that’ll cheer you right up with 15.6M likes.
@bwpottery’s funny pottery fails with close to 10M likes.

TikTok’s Top 5 Viral Videos Worldwide in 2023

Need more inspiration for your viral video? Here are TikTok’s 2023 top five viral videos worldwide:

@seanthesheepman’s #FarmTok featuring their dog’s amazing sheepherding skills with more than 12M likes.
@unknowndazza shares the life of Frodrick the Frog and his ever-expanding 3D-printed house with over 10M likes.
@kirbyquimado’s super yummy and easy sausage roll recipe with 7.5M likes.
@gabryellurlan arguing in birdspeak with 4.8M likes.
@jazephua featuring the most zen or bored capybara with 3.3M likes.

A big audience watches and takes photos and videos of a man breakdancing on a stage.

How Many Likes To Go Viral on TikTok: Tip the Viral Scales in Your Favor

How do you go from zero to tens or hundreds of thousands of likes within the first few hours of posting? You need to accumulate hordes of views to get a deluge of likes and tons of shares for maximum exposure. So, another important question you need to ask is, “What would make people want to share my video?”

You need to know the factors that can contribute to your video’s virality. You also need to know how to manipulate these three factors to tip the scales in your favor.

1. Video Quality and Content Relevance

You need high engagement to fuel your video’s viral momentum within the first few hours of posting. And the only way to achieve this is by sharing a video that resonates with your target audience.

It may seem counterintuitive to tailor your content to satisfy your niche audience when you’re aiming for viral success. But this is actually a strategic move.

There are three steps to this strategy:

You must ensure prominent visibility on the FYP of your highly engaged fans: And you achieve this by creating high-quality and relevant content that aligns with their interests.
You must ensure video completion: You need compelling and engaging content that viewers will want to watch until the end.
You must ensure engagement and shares: Your video must offer genuine value — whether it’s entertainment, educational, inspirational, etc. Your viewers should instinctively want to share it with their friends.

Tens of thousands of people gather in a giant stadium for a live event.

2. TikTok SEO Opportunities

As a trendsetting platform, TikTok has become a preferred discovery tool for popular songs, products, videos, creators, and more. Optimization with popular hashtags will help push your video reach and visibility beyond your niche community.

Using trending sounds, effects, and keywords can also help your content appear on top of search results and video recommendations.

Because challenges continue to be huge on TikTok, trending challenges are among the most searched on the platform. If you want to increase your chances of creating viral content, participating in a trending challenge is one way to do it. You can instantly leverage the challenge’s trending hashtag and get featured on its dedicated TikTok page.

3. Right Timing

You need to know the best time/s to reach your target audience so you can schedule your post appropriately. This involves analyzing their behaviors and habits and identifying their TikTok browsing hours.

The first few hours after posting is crucial to your viral success. Your video should immediately appear on your followers’ feeds when they launch TikTok to ensure their immediate response.

Refer to your TikTok Analytics data to monitor your target audience’s TikTok habits. Or check out the pages of other creators in your niche. Track their posting times vis-a-vis high engagement from their fans.

People in the audience take photos and videos of performers on the stage.

Leverage Your Niche Influence To Go Viral on TikTok

Going viral in your niche community is the first step to amassing tons of likes to go viral on TikTok. Your video must first be a huge hit among your followers. It needs to generate enough likes, comments, and shares to fuel its viral momentum.

There’s no specific number that will tell you when your video reaches viral status. So, your strategy must focus on two things. The first is getting your video in front of as many viewers as possible. The second is generating hundreds to thousands of likes within the first few hours.

Immediately connecting with viewers who are most likely to give you engagement is a crucial factor.

Leveraging your niche influence is the surest way to drive high engagement and maximum TikTok exposure. When TikTok sees that your content is growing in popularity in your community, the algorithm will recommend it to more viewers. And TikTok’s algorithm is highly reliable when it comes to identifying viewers who will likely find your video interesting.

As your reach goes beyond your niche, your video’s viral potential will continue increasing.

Knowing how many likes to go viral on TikTok is less important than knowing what content will go viral in your niche community. Sign up for a High Social plan to help interested users discover your content easily.
High Social’s advanced proprietary AI technology perfectly complements TikTok’s algorithm. Instantly double your AI-powered, audience-targeting capability. Start growing your TikTok today!

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