Beginner's mistakes and
how to avoid them
- Starting with a Business Account on TikTok: A Word of Caution
- The Common Pitfall: Chasing Likes Instead of Audience Retention
- Why You Shouldn't Delete Your "Underperforming" Videos:
- The Fallacy of Waiting for That "Magic Viral" Video
- The Burnout Trap: Why Posting 5+ Videos a Day Can Backfire
- The Pitfall of Posting Without Analysis: Ignoring Your "Winners"
Mistake: Starting with a Business Account on TikTok
Many newcomers rush to create a Business Account on TikTok, thinking it offers immediate advantages like analytics, ad capabilities, and a "professional" look. However, this isn't always the best strategy right out of the gate.
- Why It Can Be a Mistake (Initially):Potentially Lower Organic Reach: Social media algorithms (on platforms like TikTok and Instagram) sometimes deprioritize organic reach for Business Accounts. This is often to encourage businesses to invest in paid advertising.
Insight: Studies (e.g., by Social Insider or similar analytics firms) have occasionally indicated that new Business Accounts might see 20-30% less organic reach compared to Personal/Creator Accounts, especially at the very beginning.
- What to Do Instead (Recommended Approach):
- Start with a Personal/Creator Account: This often allows you to build your initial audience more quickly and get a better feel for what content resonates organically.
- Switch Later (If Needed): Once you have stable traffic, a clear understanding of your niche, and a specific need for business features (like advanced advertising or TikTok Shop integration for your own brand), you can then easily switch your Personal/Creator Account to a Business Account to unlock those tools.
How to switch account to business
Business center
In Short: Don't jump to a Business Account too soon. Focus on organic growth first with a Personal/Creator account, then transition when the time and your strategy truly call for
The Common Pitfall: Chasing Likes Instead of Audience Retention
A frequent mistake many new creators make is obsessing over likes while overlooking a far more crucial metric for algorithmic success: audience retention.
Likes are nice, they provide a quick dopamine hit, but they don't guarantee that people are actually watching your videos through to the end or engaging deeply with your content.
Likes are nice, they provide a quick dopamine hit, but they don't guarantee that people are actually watching your videos through to the end or engaging deeply with your content.
Why is Retention More Important Than Likes?
Platforms like YouTube and TikTok primarily rank and promote content based on watch time and overall engagement signals, not just likes.
Insight: Studies (e.g., by Tubular Insights or similar analytics firms) have shown that videos with high audience retention often receive 2-3 times more impressions and recommendations than videos that might have many likes but very low watch time.
Chasing likes alone is an inefficient strategy for growth. Instead, focus on creating content that genuinely captivates viewers and keeps them watching.
How to Shift Focus from Likes to Retention & Engagement (Proven Steps):
Here’s how to create content that people actually watch and interact with deeply:
1. Hook Them in the First Few Seconds:
- Start with a powerful, intriguing moment. The initial 3-5 seconds are make-or-break.
- Ideas: An unexpected fact, a compelling question, a vibrant visual, or a "cliffhanger" promising to reveal something important at the end to encourage full viewership.
- Data Point: TikTok and YouTube analytics consistently show that videos with strong openings retain viewers 30-50% longer.
2. Make Your Content Genuinely Useful and Relevant:
- Publish information that solves specific problems or answers questions your target audience has.
- Personalize your content to their interests, making them feel it's specifically for them.
- Impact: High-quality, valuable content can boost engagement and retention by an average of 20-40%.
3. Actively Engage with Your Audience:
- Ask questions at the end of your videos or posts to stimulate comments and discussions.
- Respond to comments and messages promptly; this creates a sense of dialogue and boosts loyalty.
- Benefit: Active interaction increases overall engagement and signals to algorithms that your content is valuable, leading to more visibility.
4. Use Diverse Formats & Interactive Elements:
- Incorporate polls, quizzes, challenges, duets, or stitches. These interactive elements draw users in and keep their attention.
- Result: Interactive formats can increase retention and engagement by 15-30%.
5. Optimize Content Length:
Observation: Videos with optimal length (for their specific content type and platform) often see up to twice the retention compared to poorly paced or overly long/short videos.
- For many social media platforms, especially TikTok, video lengths of 15-60 seconds are often optimal for maintaining viewer attention without causing fatigue.
- If your content is naturally longer (e.g., for TikTok's Creator Rewards Program), break it into clearly structured segments, use engaging storytelling, and maintain a dynamic pace.
Observation: Videos with optimal length (for their specific content type and platform) often see up to twice the retention compared to poorly paced or overly long/short videos.
6. Analyze Your Stats & Iterate:
- Regularly check your audience retention reports in your platform's analytics (e.g., TikTok Analytics).
- Identify specific points in your videos where viewers tend to drop off. Adjust your future content to make these moments more engaging or to cut them if they're not adding value.
7. Create Content Series or Cycles:
- Launch a series of videos on a specific theme or with a recurring storyline/character. This encourages subscribers to anticipate and return for new installments.
- Platform Insight: Serialized content on TikTok can increase engagement and retention by 25-40% as it builds a viewing habit.
- The Bottom Line:To maximize audience retention, focus on creating captivating and valuable content, actively interacting with your subscribers, using interactive formats, and constantly analyzing your results.
While likes are a nice form of validation, it's strong audience retention that truly signals content quality to the algorithms, leading to further promotion and sustainable audience growth.
The Mistake of Deleting Videos with "Low" Views
Many new creators, upon seeing a video garner only a few views shortly after posting, immediately hit the delete button. This is a significant mistake.
Why You Shouldn't Delete Your "Underperforming" Videos:
- Delayed Algorithmic Boost (The "Sleeper Hit" Phenomenon):
- Social media algorithms don't always promote a video instantly. Sometimes, a video can start gaining traction and views days, weeks, or even months after it was initially published. This is often because the algorithm later identifies a new audience segment for it, or a related trend emerges.
- By deleting the video, you completely lose the potential for this delayed organic traffic and discoverability.
- Loss of Valuable Learning Data:
- Every piece of content, regardless of its initial view count, provides data. Deleting videos prevents you from thoroughly analyzing what might have worked, what didn't, and why.
- This data is crucial for understanding your audience's preferences and refining your future content strategy.
- Personal & Community Experience:
- My own experience, and that of many other creators, confirms this: videos that had very low views at the start can sometimes unexpectedly go viral much later. There are countless stories of "sleeper hits" on platforms like TikTok.
What to Do Instead (The Smarter Approach):
Leave Your Videos Up (Even if Initial Views are Low):
Resist the urge to delete. Let the algorithm do its work over time.
Analyze, Don't Just Delete:
Instead of removing the video, try to understand why it might not have performed as well as you hoped initially.
Consider factors like:
Resist the urge to delete. Let the algorithm do its work over time.
Analyze, Don't Just Delete:
Instead of removing the video, try to understand why it might not have performed as well as you hoped initially.
Consider factors like:
- Was the hook strong enough?
- Was the topic relevant to your current audience or a wider one?
- Were the title, description, and hashtags optimized?
- Was the thumbnail/cover image compelling?
- Was the audio quality good?
Learn from Every Piece of Content:
Use every video, successful or not, as a learning opportunity. Identify patterns, understand what resonates, and apply those lessons to improve your future content.
Consider Archiving/Privating (If Absolutely Necessary, and as a Last Resort):
If, after a very long time, a video truly feels completely off-brand or you have a strong reason to hide it from your public profile, most platforms offer options to "archive" or set a video to "private" rather than deleting it permanently.
This way, you still retain the data (and the video itself) without it being publicly visible. However, for most "low view" videos, simply leaving them be is the best course of action.
Use every video, successful or not, as a learning opportunity. Identify patterns, understand what resonates, and apply those lessons to improve your future content.
Consider Archiving/Privating (If Absolutely Necessary, and as a Last Resort):
If, after a very long time, a video truly feels completely off-brand or you have a strong reason to hide it from your public profile, most platforms offer options to "archive" or set a video to "private" rather than deleting it permanently.
This way, you still retain the data (and the video itself) without it being publicly visible. However, for most "low view" videos, simply leaving them be is the best course of action.
Deleting videos prematurely is like tearing out pages from your own learning journal. Let them exist, learn from them, and focus on creating better content next time.
The Fallacy of Waiting for That "Magic Viral" Video
Many newcomers jump onto TikTok hoping that one of their early videos will suddenly go viral, bringing in millions of views and an avalanche of followers overnight.
While a viral hit is certainly a fantastic boost, the reality is that truly viral videos are more often the exception, not the rule, especially for new accounts.
While a viral hit is certainly a fantastic boost, the reality is that truly viral videos are more often the exception, not the rule, especially for new accounts.
TikTok's algorithms are designed to test your content gradually. When you post a video, it's typically shown to a small initial audience. The algorithm then measures various engagement signals (watch time, likes, comments, shares, saves).
Gradual Promotion: Only if these initial engagement signals are very strong does the algorithm begin to distribute the video to a wider audience, then wider still if engagement continues to be high. It's often a stepped process.
The Rarity of Instant Virality: While some videos do explode quickly, many others build momentum over time, or achieve moderate success that contributes to overall growth.
Industry Observations: General observations and creator experiences suggest that perhaps only a small percentage (e.g., maybe 10-15%, though this is a rough estimate and can vary wildly) of all videos posted achieve truly "viral" status with massive, widespread reach.
The rest of your content works to build brand awareness, engage your existing audience, and contribute to steady, incremental growth.
The rest of your content works to build brand awareness, engage your existing audience, and contribute to steady, incremental growth.
The Danger of Passively "Waiting for Viral":
If your entire strategy hinges on waiting for that one "magic viral" video and you're not publishing content regularly while you wait, you risk stagnating for a long time. You're essentially playing the lottery instead of building a sustainable presence.
What to Focus on Instead (The Proactive Approach):
- Consistent, Quality Content: Make it your primary goal to consistently produce quality content that resonates with your target niche.
- Analyze What Works: Pay close attention to your analytics. Identify which videos perform well (even if not "viral") and understand why.
- Iterate and Improve: Continuously refine your video creation skills, your understanding of your audience, and your content strategy based on data and feedback.
- Build a Community: Focus on engaging with your current audience, no matter how small. A loyal, engaged community is more valuable in the long run than a one-off viral hit with no follow-up.
While a viral video is a fantastic bonus, sustainable TikTok growth is built on a foundation of consistent effort, strategic content, and a willingness to learn and adapt – not just on waiting for lightning to strike.
The Burnout Trap: Why Posting 5+ Videos a Day Can Backfire
A common misconception among new TikTok creators is that "more is always better." They believe that the more videos they pump out, the faster their account will grow. This often leads to an intense schedule of trying to create and post 5, 7, or even more videos every single day.
While consistency is crucial, this extreme approach can quickly lead to creator burnout.
While consistency is crucial, this extreme approach can quickly lead to creator burnout.
- Why Over-Posting Often Leads to Burnout:
- Idea Depletion: Coming up with numerous high-quality, original ideas daily is incredibly challenging, even for seasoned creators. Your creative well can run dry quickly.
- Drop in Quality: When you're rushing to meet an excessive quota, the quality of your individual videos inevitably suffers. Editing might be rushed, concepts might be underdeveloped, and your overall presentation can become sloppy.
- Loss of Motivation: Constantly feeling pressured to produce a high volume of content, especially if you're not seeing immediate massive results, can be incredibly demotivating and strip the joy out of creation.
- Audience Fatigue (Potentially): While TikTok's algorithm is good at distributing content, bombarding your existing followers with too many videos in a short span might, in some cases, lead to them disengaging if the quality isn't consistently high.
A More Sustainable and Effective Approach:
My experience, and that of many other successful creators, suggests that a more optimal posting frequency, especially when balancing quality and consistency, is 1-2 high-quality videos per day.
- Benefits of 1-2 Videos Per Day:
- Maintains Quality: This rhythm allows you enough time to brainstorm, script (if needed), film, and edit thoughtful, engaging content.
- Keeps Audience Engaged (Without Overwhelming): You provide a steady stream of content without flooding their feeds.
- Prevents Creator Burnout: It's a much more sustainable pace for the long haul, allowing you to maintain enthusiasm and creativity.
The Importance of a Content Plan:
Develop a Content Plan: Brainstorm and outline your video ideas in advance.
Batch Create (If It Suits You): Some creators find it helpful to dedicate specific days to filming multiple videos, then edit and schedule them throughout the week.
Avoid Spur-of-the-Moment, Low-Effort Videos (Mostly): While spontaneous, trendy videos have their place, relying solely on them because you haven't planned can lead to a feed full of weak content.
In short: Focus on consistent quality over sheer quantity. A sustainable posting schedule combined with a solid content plan is far more effective for long-term growth and your own well-being than trying to churn out an unsustainable number of videos daily.
The Pitfall of Posting Without Analysis: Ignoring Your "Winners"
Another common mistake, especially for those new to content creation, is publishing videos somewhat randomly, without consistently diving into the analytics. Many creators don't systematically track which videos get more views, higher retention, and more subscribers, and therefore miss opportunities to repeat their successful formats.
- Your TikTok Analytics are your best friend in this journey.Pay close attention to which topics, styles, hooks, and video structures are genuinely working for your audience, and then lean into those.
Focus on iterating and improving your "winners" by experimenting with them, rather than constantly chasing brand new ideas without a clear understanding of what your audience actually wants to see.
Actionable Tips for Analyzing Your Content Performance:
- Deep Dive into Audience Retention:Examine the retention graph for each video. Pinpoint exactly when viewers start to drop off. If most are leaving within the first 5 seconds, your hook needs serious work.
- Track Engagement Metrics Closely:Likes, comments, shares, and saves are all indicators of how much your content resonates. Videos with notably high engagement are worth dissecting to understand why they struck a chord, so you can replicate those elements.
- Compare Similar Videos:If you have several videos on a similar topic or in a similar style, compare their performance. Which one did better and why? The difference might lie in your delivery, editing pace, music choice, or even the specific angle you took.
- Utilize Built-in & Third-Party Analytics:TikTok Analytics provides detailed data on views, demographics, and your followers' active times. Consider exploring third-party tools as well, as they can sometimes offer different visualizations or deeper insights into trends.
Tiktok analytics
- Maintain a Content Tracker or Journal:As we discussed earlier, log the performance of each video. This allows you to see patterns over time and make decisions based on data, not just intuition.
This systematic approach to analysis will not only help you understand what your audience loves but will also significantly accelerate your account's growth.
Common TikTok Mistakes That Can Kill Your Views & Sales (And How to Fix Them)
Beyond just analyzing "winners," it's also crucial to avoid common pitfalls that can hinder your videos from getting the views or generating the sales you're aiming for. Here’s a checklist of frequent missteps:
1. Your Video Isn't Speaking to Your Target Buyer or Audience:
- Mistake: Creating content that you find interesting, without considering if it addresses the needs, desires, or pain points of your ideal viewer/customer.
- Fix: Deeply understand your target audience. What are their problems? What kind of solutions are they looking for? Tailor your content to them.
2. Prioritizing Views/Engagement Over Actual Sales (for TikTok Shop/Business):
- Mistake: Focusing solely on getting likes and viral views, even if that content doesn't effectively lead to a sale or desired business outcome.
- Fix: While engagement is important, ensure your sales-focused content has a clear path to purchase and effectively showcases the product's value proposition for potential buyers.
3. Videos Are Too Long (When Brevity is Better):
- Mistake: Making videos longer than necessary, causing viewers to lose interest.
- Fix: For many TikTok formats, shorter is often better (e.g., under 30 seconds, or even 7-15 seconds for quick, punchy trends). Be concise. If a topic needs more time, ensure it's incredibly engaging or break it into a series.
The video is too long, so only 5 percent of the viewers watched it to the end
4. Overusing Filters (Algorithm & Authenticity Issues):
- Mistake: Applying heavy filters that obscure clarity or make the content look unnatural.
- Fix: The TikTok algorithm often seems to favor "clean" looking content with good, natural lighting. Prioritize clarity. If you use filters, opt for subtle ones that enhance rather than distract. Authenticity often performs well.
5. Filming in Poor Quality:
- Mistake: Grainy, shaky, or poorly lit footage.
- Fix: Ensure good lighting. If using your phone, film in the highest quality settings available (e.g., 4K at 60fps, if your phone supports it and you have storage). A stable shot is also key.
poor quality of video
6. Unreadable On-Screen Text:
- Mistake: Using fonts that are hard to read, text that blends into the background, or text that's too small.
- Fix: If your audience can't easily read your text, they'll scroll. Use clear, legible fonts with good contrast against the background.
When adding text directly in TikTok, remember that this text can be searchable, helping the algorithm match your content with the right audience.
7. Too Much On-Screen Text (Overwhelming the Viewer):
- Mistake: Walls of text that make the video feel cluttered and hard to digest.
- Fix: Keep on-screen text concise – 2 to 3 short sentences or key phrases max. You can elaborate further in your caption or voiceover if needed.
8. Using Oversaturated Trending Audio (Too Late to the Party):
- Mistake: Jumping on a trending audio when it's already past its peak and on the decline.
- Fix: While a sound might still be marked as "trending," it could be in its final stages. Aim to use trending audios that are in their early or rising stages for better discoverability. Even better, sometimes creating content with your own original audio or a less-used sound can help you stand out. (We'll cover finding fresh trending audio in more detail later!)
9. Inconsistent Posting Schedule:
- Mistake: Posting sporadically.
- Fix: If you're not consistent with your content, you'll get inconsistent results in terms of views, engagement, sales, and community growth. Aim for a regular, sustainable posting schedule.
An example of analytics for a blogger who posts videos randomly
10. Posting at the Wrong Times:
- Mistake: Publishing your videos when your target audience isn't active on the app.
- Fix: Timing can significantly impact initial engagement and visibility. Pay attention to your TikTok Analytics ("Followers" tab) to see when your audience is most active, and try to post during those peak windows.
By being mindful of these common mistakes and actively working to avoid them, you'll significantly improve the performance of your TikTok content.
Checklist to Avoid Common TikTok Mistakes (Boost Your Views & Sales!):
[ ] Audience Alignment: Is your video clearly speaking to your target audience's needs or interests?
[ ] Clear Goal (Sales vs. Engagement): If it's a sales video, does it effectively guide towards a purchase? If for engagement, does it encourage interaction?
[ ] Optimal Length: Is your video concise and engaging, or could it be shorter and punchier?
[ ] Clean Visuals: Are you avoiding heavy filters and ensuring good, natural lighting?
[ ] Clear Goal (Sales vs. Engagement): If it's a sales video, does it effectively guide towards a purchase? If for engagement, does it encourage interaction?
[ ] Optimal Length: Is your video concise and engaging, or could it be shorter and punchier?
[ ] Clean Visuals: Are you avoiding heavy filters and ensuring good, natural lighting?
[ ] High-Quality Footage: Is your video clear, stable, and filmed in the best possible resolution?
[ ] Readable On-Screen Text: Is your text clear, legible, and contrasting well with the background?
[ ] Concise On-Screen Text: Is there just enough text to enhance, not overwhelm?
[ ] Readable On-Screen Text: Is your text clear, legible, and contrasting well with the background?
[ ] Concise On-Screen Text: Is there just enough text to enhance, not overwhelm?
[ ] Fresh Trending Audio: Are you using trending sounds that are still rising or in their prime, not oversaturated?
[ ] Consistent Posting: Do you have a regular and sustainable posting schedule?
[ ] Strategic Posting Times: Are you publishing content when your target audience is most active on TikTok?
[ ] Consistent Posting: Do you have a regular and sustainable posting schedule?
[ ] Strategic Posting Times: Are you publishing content when your target audience is most active on TikTok?
By regularly running through these checklists, you can proactively improve your content strategy, avoid common pitfalls, and increase your chances of success on TikTok.