Low views are rarely bad luck. Usually a video breaks one of the platforms’ rules for recommendations, or gives a stranger no reason to keep watching. Both can be fixed.
First, rule out the platforms’ rules
A short video reaches new people through each platform’s recommendations, and each platform keeps some videos out of them:
- Instagram favours the original. Its rules for recommendations say an eligible post “has no visible watermarks”, and when it finds identical copies, it recommends only the original (Instagram for Creators, 30 April 2024). A video downloaded from TikTok, with TikTok’s mark on it, works against you.
- TikTok makes some content ineligible for its For You feed when it “may not be suitable for a broad audience”. Those videos can still be found through search or on your account (TikTok Community Guidelines).
If a video breaks none of these, the reason is almost always the video itself.
Look at the first second
Da.Si.Mar Shawarma, on Yonge Street in Toronto, kept posting, steady and small, until it posted a reel with a sigh for a caption: “The algorithm doesn’t reward effort.” The film that changed it had no words on screen at all: one beef wrap, start to finish, the bread warmed against the spit before anything else. From the first frame there was something to watch. It went viral, and our films for the shop reached 3.88 million views in under four weeks, more than all its earlier videos together.
Make it for strangers
Icon Auto Centre’s videos showed beautiful paint jobs, to a few hundred views at a time. They were made for people who already cared about the car. Our first film for the garage was made for everyone who has ever been a customer: one mechanic, four costumes, every question he hears at the counter. Not a drop of paint in it.
Give it a reason to be sent
A video that gets sent travels further than one that gets liked. Give people a reason: a dare (“comment your favourite bowl”), a joke about someone they know, or an offer that only works if they pass it on, like Da.Si.Mar’s film that said send this to someone, so they owe you a free shawarma.
Post again
For both shops, the viral film wasn’t the first. Icon Auto Centre’s first viral films were posted the day after our first, and Da.Si.Mar’s was our third, six days in. One video is one chance; a month of them is many. “How often should a business post?” explains the rhythm.
When you want views you can count on
Every one of our plans guarantees its views: 250,000 a month on Base, 500,000 on Growth and 1 million on Premium. We count every post, on each platform’s own numbers, until a month after the month ends. See the plans.
Questions owners ask
Why does my TikTok have no views?
Check it against TikTok’s Community Guidelines first: TikTok makes some content ineligible for the For You feed. If it passes, look at the first second, and whether it was made for people who don’t know you yet.
Why don’t my Instagram Reels get recommended?
Instagram’s rules for recommendations say an eligible post has no visible watermarks, and when Instagram finds identical copies, it recommends only the original. Upload your own file, not a download from another app.
Does posting more often help?
Each post is another chance to be recommended. For Icon Auto Centre and Da.Si.Mar Shawarma, the films that went viral were posted after the first.
How do I start?
Book a free thirty-minute video consultation with a partner: a few quick questions, then pick a time. Book a consultation