Seizing the Moment: An Artist's Guide to Leveraging TikTok Virality

Amir Hamad

Ad Operations Analyst at Wavo

 
 

Wavo Blog: This series shares information that’s most relevant to music marketers around the globe.


It’s after a sound spreads like wildfire when the work really begins.

Context

As a musician, going viral on TikTok can be a game-changer for your career. With millions of users engaging with content on the platform, a viral moment can quickly propel your music to new heights and open doors for opportunities. While virality is often an initial goal, it’s after a sound spreads like wildfire when the work really begins. In fact, the moment after virality is a golden chance for artists to build long term professional success - as long as their teams do the work to capitalize off that momentum. In this guide, we will explore strategic marketing decisions to execute after going viral on TikTok and how to leverage that moment to maximize your exposure and earnings.

It’s essential to act quickly and strike while the iron is hot. This means doubling down on your efforts related to the viral trend.

Strategy

Strike While the Iron is Hot

When you notice that one of your songs or music clips is gaining traction and going viral on TikTok, it's essential to act quickly and strike while the iron is hot. This means doubling down on your efforts related to the viral trend and engaging with your newfound audience. Respond to comments, messages, and duets to build a connection with your fans and keep the momentum going. This will help you build a loyal fanbase and establish yourself as an influential figure in the TikTok community. By connecting with fans you become more than a sound - you become a brand. 

Create Follow-Up Content

To maintain the interest of your newfound audience, create follow-up content that builds on the viral moment. For example, if your music was used in a dance challenge, create a tutorial or a behind-the-scenes video that provides insights into the making of the music or the choreography. This way, fans can see the artist in the flesh and put a face to the sound. By consistently creating fresh and engaging content, you build off your existing success and increase your chances of converting interested audiences into long-term fans.

Cross-Promote on Other Platforms

While TikTok may be the platform where your music went viral, it's crucial to leverage that momentum and cross-promote on other platforms to expand your reach. Share TikTok videos on other social media platforms such as Instagram Reels, Twitter, and YouTube Shorts, and direct your followers to your music platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube Music. This will help you diversify your fanbase and create multiple touchpoints for your music, allowing you to connect with your audience across different platforms and increase your overall visibility. By pulling audiences into multiple platforms, you create a buffer against a potential future reduction in TikTok interest and build valuable first party audiences on platforms that directly contribute to revenue and charting success. 

These dashboards identify how much of a given audience organic and paid posts penetrate, and this data can be used to inform paid media strategy.

Utilize Paid Advertising

Paid advertising can be a valuable tool to drive streams or views to your music project following a viral TikTok moment. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook offer various advertising formats that can reach massive groups of people and push those users to click through to engage deeper with your music content. Utilize the insights and data from your viral video to inform your advertising strategy, such as the demographics, interests, and behaviors of your audience. By incorporating paid advertising into your music marketing strategy, you can further amplify the reach of your viral TikTok moment and drive streams, views or merch and ticket sales, ultimately converting your TikTok success into a thriving music career.

Collaborate with Influencers and Brands

Collaborating with influencers and brands can be a powerful music marketing strategy to amplify your viral TikTok moment. Identify influencers or creators who align with your music genre or target audience and collaborate with them to create content featuring your music. This can include dance routines, duets, or challenges that feature your music and encourage user participation. Creating variations of the original viral video or collaborating with supportive TikTok users helps keep the trend alive and build brand power. Additionally, you can explore partnerships to further monetize your viral moment and increase your exposure. Brands are increasingly looking to collaborate with musicians who have a strong presence on TikTok, and leveraging your viral moment can open doors to potential partnerships and sponsorships. 

Wavo as Your Music Industry Hack

Our team's exceptional expertise and in-depth understanding of social media advertising platforms enables us to promote your content in a compelling manner, particularly during pivotal moments. We’re prepared to leverage our experience and insights to create a laser-focused advertising strategy that can be executed in no time. Alongside that, Wavo’s managed services team will monitor performance regularly to optimize advertising efforts according to the market behavior. Having a highly responsive and competent team will ensure your music content reaches a broader yet more engaged audience in a precise and timely manner.

Key Takeaways

  • Going viral on TikTok can be a game-changer for musicians, opening doors for opportunities and propelling music to new heights.

  • Act quickly to keep the momentum going, engage with your audience, and build a loyal fanbase.

  • Create follow-up content that builds on the viral moment to maintain audience interest and collaborate with influencers and brands to amplify your reach.

  • Utilize paid advertising to further amplify the reach of your viral TikTok moment, drive streams or views to your music project, and diversify the platforms where your fans interact with you.

  • Partner with Wavo to optimize advertising efforts and reach a broader, more engaged audience in a timely manner.

Written by Amir Hamad, Ad Operations Analyst at Wavo


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