I’m looking for a cryptographer to help design a protocol, and either write or audit security-sensitive code. We are not a “crypto” company in the web3 sense of the term.
We allow users to encrypt their data (not quite E2E) using their own passwords/keys, which makes certain features difficult to implement. We are therefore aiming to change the encryption scheme, and want to ensure we do this right.
When responding please include which AES mode you’d use for authenticated encryption.
TikTok has steadily become one of the most popular social media apps.
According to data from Sensor Tower, TikTok now surpasses three billion downloads, and it’s the only non-Facebook app to achieve this.
Consumer spending within TikTok is looking pretty rosy, too, with TikTok surpassing $2.5 billion worldwide.
There appears to be no stopping the social media juggernaut that is TikTok, and as its popularity grows, so does the question of getting on the FYP.
If you’re new to the social media giant, the TikTok FYP consists of curated content that users see when they log in.
This article will answer how to get your TikTok on the FYP and teach you everything you need to know about the site’s mysterious algorithm and how to use it to your advantage.
However, first, let’s begin with the basics.
What Is TikTok?
TikTok is an iOS and Android social media app for creating and sharing short 15 to 60-second videos on any topic.
In 2016, the app launched as Douyin in China, and in the following year, ByteDance released it for markets outside of China as Musical.ly before rebranding to TikTok.
While it started as a fun lip-syncing app with a cult Gen Z following, it’s evolved into a way for users to share short comedy skits, business tips, and more.
As the newest social media app on the block, it could be much easier to grow a following on TikTok than on over-saturated sites like Instagram and Facebook with restricting algorithms.
TikTok also lends itself well to how we consume our content these days. With 6.6 billion smartphone users out there, TikTok’s bite-sized format is perfect for those that want to watch their content on the go.
Naturally, with the popularity of TikTok, and a keen audience, businesses are flocking to the platform. Some of the high-profile companies there include Nando’s, Levis, and BMW.
In addition, TikTok offers powerful tools for businesses to measure their performance and track engagement, allowing companies to see which videos are performing well and better understand their audience preferences. With this data, companies can create more compelling content strategies for future campaigns and grow their followings.
What Is the FYP On TikTok Designed For?
The For You page, aka “FYP,” is the first page you land on when you open the TikTok app. It’s a curated feed of videos from creators you might not follow, but TikTok’s algorithm thinks you will like them based on your interests and past interactions.
Several factors contribute to the content you see on the TikTok FYP. Each feed is unique and stems from the types of content you watch and the interest you state as a new user.
Other factors include:
Information from videos, like captions and hashtags.
Device settings, such as language preference, country settings, and your device type.
The types of content you share, like, follow and create, along with the comments you add.
For example: If you like and leave comments on several videos about Instagram tips, you can expect to see a fresh serving of social media marketing TikToks on your For You page every day.
Think of it as the Instagram Explore Page. The app wants to hook you in with more content you like to keep you scrolling longer.
Why You Should Optimize Your Content for the TikTok FYP
The TikTok For You page showcases the best content from around the platform. It’s also where users go to discover new content. It’s simple: if you want users to find your business or content, you need to be in the mix.
To further enhance your chances of getting your content on TikTok’s FYP, you can optimize your content to get more views and followers.
That’s why many consider the TikTok FYP as the ‘holy grail’ of success on the app. After all, it means you’ve created a piece of content that resonates with your audience, and it’s attracting attention.
The algorithm picks this up and recognizes your content’s quality above all the other videos on the app.
What this means for business owners and influencers:
Followers and Monetization: By landing on the TikTok FYP, you could gain followers faster and get closer to the 10k goal. Once you hit that milestone, you can start making money from your videos with the TikTok Creator Fund.
Sponsorships, Thought Leadership, and Sales: Once the algorithm starts pushing out your video to a broader audience, you might start getting more recognition as a master of your niche. This can lead to paid sponsorships or more sales in your business.
Platform Growth: Ever heard the saying, “it takes a platform to grow a platform?” Once you’ve struck TikTok gold, you can use the attention to redirect traffic back to your other platforms like Instagram or YouTube and start growing your community across the board.
Free Exposure: If you usually get 100 views per TikTok, an FYP feature could push that to tens of thousands. It’s incredible exposure you can leverage without spending a dime on ads.
In addition, you can reach your target market, share your messaging and use it for relationship building.
3 Ranking Factors That Determine How To Get Your TikTok on The FYP
For years, the TikTok FYP algorithm was cloaked in mystery. Rumors and speculation flew around the internet, sparking the rise in hashtags like #fyp and #ForYou, until TikTok HQ came out with a statement settling the debate once and for all.
On TikTok, the For You feed reflects preferences unique to each user. The system recommends content by ranking videos based on a combination of factors – starting from interests you express as a new user and adjusting for things you indicate you’re not interested in, too – to form your personalized For You feed.
Here are the nitty-gritty details of the TikTok algorithm and how the For You page works.
1. User Interactions
The more comments, likes, shares, and duets your video gets, the more likely the algorithm will pick it up.
Another ranking factor you need to keep in mind is your video completion rate. As more users watch your TikTok to the end, it’s more likely to get pushed out for further distribution.
2. Video Information
Hashtags, sounds, and captions are a treasure trove of information to help you get onto the For You page. For instance, if you use a trending hashtag or sound bite, it’s more likely to get noticed by the algorithm.
Remember, TikTok’s goal is to keep people on the app, and serving trending content is one way to do that.
3. Device and Account Settings
Your location, language preference, device, and country setting play a role in curating your TikTok FYP. After all, a comedy skit about South African politics would probably only appeal to South African users.
However, these signals don’t have as much weight as the others, giving you the chance to reach a global audience.
Before wrapping up this section, just a quick note:
You also want to avoid duplicate content. It’s tempting to repeatedly share the same content, like some do on Twitter. for businesses leading to wasted time and resources but also decreased engagement as TikTok won’t recommend duplicated content.
Finally, if you’re new to TikTok or have yet to create any viral content, don’t worry because TikTok doesn’t consider any of this.
Eight Tips to Get on the TikTok For You Page (FYP)
There is no bulletproof recipe for success on TikTok or any other social media network. Algorithms are constantly changing, and if your content doesn’t resonate with your audience, it won’t rank.
However, you can do several things to improve your chances of hitting TikTok’s FYP:
Let’s start with the basics:
It’s important to optimize your videos for search engine optimization (SEO). This means including keywords in your titles and descriptions so that people looking for content like yours are more likely to find it.
To get started, research to find out which keywords are most relevant to your topic. Then, use those keywords throughout your video title and description. You can also include them in the tags section of the app.
Use creative visuals. Since the main purpose of the app is to watch short videos, it’s important to include effects that capture people’s attention.
Add subtitles for greater accessibility.
1. Use Proper Hashtag Etiquette
Some users believe using #fyp or #ForYou will get their content pushed out to the masses, but it’s only a rumor. TikTok has never confirmed this, and these hashtags don’t guarantee you any viral success.
You don’t want to use those hashtags as a crutch and miss out on using keywords relevant to your content and niche.
After all, the main goal of social media is to attract the right followers and then monetize your audience.
Here are some basic TikTok hashtag rules to follow:
Don’t hashtag stuff. Choose a small number of relevant hashtags.
Mix popular hashtags with less popular ones.
Use trending hashtags in your niche.
Participate in hashtag challenges.
Use #fyp and #ForYou, but don’t only rely on them.
Remember, there is no tried-and-true formula, so as on Instagram, you’ll need to experiment to find a hashtag strategy that works best for your account.
2. Create Shorter Videos
Remember when I told you how vital the video completion rate is on TikTok? Creating shorter, engaging videos is the easiest way to achieve top marks for this ranking factor.
Although you can record 60-second clips, using all the time available won’t necessarily translate into viral success. The less time someone spends watching your TikTok, the more likely they’ll watch to the end and not swipe away.
You can improve your watch time by ensuring you have a hook right in the beginning to encourage viewers to stay until the end.
As your video completion rate increases, so do your chances of landing a coveted spot on the TikTok FYP.
Here are some tips for creating awesome videos:
Keep it simple. The best TikTok videos are those that are simple and easy to follow.
Use creative transitions. Try using some of the app’s built-in transitions, or develop your ideas.
Be funny and entertaining if it suits your overall tone. The best TikTok videos are those that are entertaining and make people laugh. Be creative and think of original ways to grab people’s attention.
Engage with your viewers – Be interactive with your viewers and reply to their comments. This helps create a community around your content.
3. Write Engaging Captions
TikTok is not the platform to spill your guts in a microblogging session.
You only get 150 characters, including any hashtags you add, which leaves you with fewer characters at your disposal than on Twitter.
With such limited real estate, you need to focus on writing short captions that compel viewers to engage with your content.
The ideal TikTok caption should:
Be short
Feature related hashtags
Encourage engagement
How do you do this?
You could stir up some mystery by saying something like, “this took me five attempts to get right,” or “wait until the end.” This could encourage viewers to stick around and watch the entire video.
Another tactic is to ask a question. Comments are another engagement factor, and getting people to watch and reply can help send all the right signals to the FYP algorithm.
Lastly, you can tease viewers with the information you’re revealing in your video. For example, “How I find clients as a freelance writer” or “One easy hack to make $100 online.”
4. Create High-Quality Videos
Are you still posting grainy, low-quality videos on TikTok? That might be one of the reasons you haven’t earned a spot on the For You Page.
A high-quality video is more likely to keep eyeballs on your content, which means higher completion rates and more views.
TikTok isn’t going to push out low-definition, blurry, or grainy videos to the masses. At best, it could cause users to swipe away; at worst, people will close the app.
With most smartphones offering HD video, it’s easier than ever to produce high-resolution videos without a big budget or full production team.
Besides the quality of your content, the platform also rewards editing skills. Experiment with filters, stickers, and transitions to make your videos more exciting and keep people watching (and hopefully rewatching) until the end.
1. Use a tripod or other stabilization device to keep your camera still. This will help minimize shaking and ensure your videos look smooth.
2. Use TikTok’s optimal sizes, which are 1080 x 1920 with a 9:16 aspect ratio. You can resize videos using a free app like Veed or Kapwing.
3. Use good lighting. Natural light is always best, but if you need to use artificial light, make sure it’s bright and doesn’t create harsh shadows.
5. Post New Content When Your Audience Is Most Active
With engagement being such a critical factor in getting onto TikTok’s FYP, posting at the right time can make or break your video’s success.
How do you figure out when your followers are online and ready to engage?
With a free TikTok Pro Account. It’s similar to Instagram Analytics, and you can see:
Video views over the last 7-28 days
Profile views
Follower growth
Trending videos
Gender/age demographics
Your international audience
When your followers are online
Basically, everything you need to tailor your TikTok content to prospects in your niche. A Pro account also gives you access to a WorkSpace and tools to help grow your followers.
To switch to a TikTok Pro account, do the following:
Open the TikTok app.
Tap the “Me” icon at the bottom of the screen.
Tap the three dots in the top left corner.
Tap “Manage Account.”
Tap “Switch to Pro account.”
Select “Creator” or “Business,” and you’re done!
6. Add Trending Sounds and Music to Your Videos
Think of music and sounds on TikTok like hashtags. You can use trending audio clips to boost your discoverability and get a bump in likes, comments, and views.
How do you find popular sounds to use in your videos?
You’ll need to put on your stealth hat to uncover what’s getting the most traction. Here are three ways to find trending music:
Sounds in the Video Editor
When creating a video, tap the “Sounds” button at the top of the screen. A new page will load, and you’ll see a “Discover” page.
Here, you can view recommended sounds for you to use and a “Playlist” section featuring viral clips, trending sounds, and TikTok music charts. You can also explore the “Trending” page to see what’s currently trending in different categories like “fitness” or “food and drink.”
Scroll through the sounds and add what you like to your Favorites folder to use for later.
Save Sounds to Your Favorites
When you’re swiping through TikTok and come across a sound you want to use for a video, add it to your Favorites folder.
The feature collects your clips in one handy spot, and you don’t need to waste time trying to remember the name of a sound.
If you like a sound and want to save it, tap the sound name under the username. An audio page will load where you can see a list of all the other videos using it and a button to add the clip to your Favorites.
Use Sounds Your Followers Are Listening to on TikTok
Once you’ve switched to a TikTok Pro account and hit 100 followers, you’ll get access to another juicy analytics feature.
Under the “Followers” tab, you’ll see a list of sounds your followers have watched in the last seven days.
It helps reduce research time and shortlist sounds for your next video.
Use TikTok Stories
While they’re not a firm feature yet, TikTok has been trialing Stories. After an initial pilot in Brazil, U.S. users are starting to see notifications about the new app.
TikTok Stories appear for 24 hours before disappearing from feeds and have a blue circle next to them. Users can find stories by going to your TikTok FYP. Posting videos works much the same way as regular content. You just:
Open TikTok’s posting tool and choose the ‘post’ button’
Create some content
Choose the ‘Story’ button. Then the TikTok automatically posts it to the For You feed
Look at other users’ profiles and look for video posts.
Be UniqueTo Get Your TikTok On The FYP
It may seem like a good idea to copy popular ideas, but if you want to stand out, one of the best ways to go about it is by creating unique content.
Use the sounds and effects that others are using as inspiration, and see if you can take it in a different direction.
You can also get creative with your editing techniques and use filters and effects to add an extra layer of creativity to your videos.
Just one more tip before rounding off this section: stay active and engaged with your followers, liking and commenting on their videos as often as possible.
FAQs
What is FYP in TikTok?
FYP on TikTok is an abbreviation of ‘For You Page.’
How can I use hashtags to get on Tiktok’s FYP?
Choose popular hashtags that are trending and relevant to your topic. Also include #fyp and #foryou (even though TikTok has not confirmed this guarantees a spot on the FYP.
How long are videos on TikTok’s FYP?
Most popular TikTok FYP videos are 60 seconds or less.
What TikTok FYP captions should I use?
Captions on your TikTok videos should be short, include related hashtags, and encourage engagement (likes, comments, and shares) from other TikTok users.
What time should I post a video, so it appears on TikTok’s FYP?
After you get 100 followers, look at your free TikTok pro account to see when users that like your videos are usually online. Try to publish a video when people are most active.
According to research from Later, Monday to Friday at 1 PM is the optimal time for posting. However, there are plenty of variables, such as time zones and niches, so that’s not guaranteed.
If it’s engagement you’re after, Later’s research also found that Thursdays and Fridays get the most attention.
What sounds will help me get on TikTok’s FYP?
Effects are another factor in how to get your TikTok on the FYP. Try to use trending or popular sounds with your videos. While there is no official confirmed link between using trending sounds and being on the FYP, it usually helps increase popularity.
How long does it take to get on TikTok’s FYP?
There’s no firm timeline. Some find their content appears within 48 hours, while others wait weeks for their content to appear on the TikTok FYP.
How can I get my TikTok on the FYP?
Remember the basics. Use hashtags, short content, and viral sounds/images. Post at the optimum times and always maintain quality.
FYP on TikTok is an abbreviation of ‘For You Page.’
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Conclusion
These tips are good starting points to get on the FYP. However, I’m not making any guarantees.
While these tips can significantly improve your chances, multiple factors can influence whether TikTok features your content in users’ feeds.
There’s more to TikTok than stardom, hashtags, and trending sounds. If you’re not creating memorable, worthwhile, and shareable content for your audience, there’s less chance TikTok will pick it up and share it.
How do you plan to use TikTok in your social media strategy?
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You’ve heard of Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, and even Amazon. It doesn’t matter where you live in the world, the chances are you have heard of those companies.
But have you ever heard of Danaher, Fortive, AmerisourceBergen, Centene, or Archer Daniels Midland?
I bet you haven’t heard of any of those companies.
These companies aren’t small either. Here’s how much revenue each of them generates a year:
Danaher – $29.45 billion
Fortive – $5.25 billion
AmerisourceBergen – $213 billion
Centene – $118 billion
Archer Daniels Midland – $85.25 billion
Now that’s a lot of revenue. These companies didn’t get to where they are by accident either. And although they might not be as “sexy” as Nike or Apple, they still generate a lot of cash.
We don’t work with all the brands that I mentioned above at my ad agency, but we do work with some of them as well as dozens of other billion-dollar companies you have never heard of.
And although our primary objective is to help our clients (which we do, hence we were awarded agency of the year and the 21st fastest growing company by Inc Magazine), we also learn a lot by consulting with over a hundred publicly traded companies.
Here are some of the marketing insights that you aren’t thinking about that billion-dollar companies leverage on a regular basis.
Lesson #1: The riches are not in the niches
Marketers always talk about finding a niche and how it is easier to market in a niche.
That is totally wrong. It’s not easier to market in a niche.
Think of it this way… what’s easier to do… rank number 1 for the term “credit cards” or “heatmap analytics tool”.
It of course is easier to rank for terms like “heatmap analytics tool”, which funny enough is what one of my former companies does.
But what happens if very few people ever search for terms like heatmap analytics? Sure you’ll get high rankings so you could claim it is easier to do marketing for that product, but if you barely get any traffic and sales from that term does it really matter?
See, rankings don’t mean much. All that really matters is are your marketing efforts paying off.
To keep it simple, are your marketing efforts driving you revenue profitably?
And although niche industries aren’t as competitive, it is harder to generate sales or even traffic. But if you go broad and you go after industries that are applicable to everyone, such as health insurance, it’s much easier to get traffic.
Sure you probably won’t get anywhere near the amount of traffic as the competition, but even if you get 1/100th of the traffic you can still build a big business.
That’s why I don’t go after niches. I go after massive TAMs (Total Addressable Market).
And yes health insurance isn’t sexy but United Health Care, a company most people don’t think about, generates $287 billion dollars a year in revenue.
The bigger the market, the more customers, and the easier it is to make some money. Now, it will be harder for you to win and be the top dog within that industry but hey you don’t have to win in order to generate enough income to be happy.
A prime example of this is one of my friends used to have a best man speech website where he sold speeches to people. He ranked at the top of Google, was the most popular site within the space and he couldn’t figure out how to generate more than $200,000 a year.
Good income nonetheless, but when he put the same effort into the education space, he was nowhere near the most popular site, heck people took him for granted… but he was generating millions a year in profit with the same effort.
As Rich Barton (founder of Expedia and Zillow) once said, it takes the same effort to swing a home run as it does to hit a single or a double. So might as well swing for the fences every time.
Lesson #2: Easier to market multiple products
Similar to lesson number 1, your market size keeps expanding as you continually introduce more products.
The familiar big brands that you know of have many products.
Amazon has ecommerce, streaming, cloud computing, grocery stores, etc.
Google has search, android, self-driving cars, Nest, etc
Apple has phones, laptops, iPads, computers, headphones, etc.
But it isn’t just the well-known brands that have multiple products.
I can’t think of one multi-billion dollar company that I know that doesn’t have multiple products or services.
And if you can think of one, I bet they will have multiple product offers, it is just a question of when. It’s how successful companies continually grow. You have no choice but to expand.
So if you want to grow your traffic or sales, think about what other products you can start offering that your current customers would want.
You can then cross-sell, which should help on the revenue end. But you can also expand your marketing. Just think about all the new paid media or SEO campaigns you can kick off the moment you have more products to sell.
It’s one of the simplest ways to scale your growth.
Lesson #3: The best marketing is word-of-mouth marketing
I first started out in marketing learning SEO and become good at it (or at least I think I am decent at it).
I then got into social media marketing with Digg, which doesn’t really exist in its old form, but it used to drive 20,000 plus visitors to your site in a day if you got on the homepage.
Then I started to learn conversion optimization, email marketing, paid ads, and pretty much all forms of online marketing.
I always thought that you build big business through marketing. And to do well with that you have to take an omnichannel approach.
And although it helps it’s not how you grow into a billion-dollar business.
Luckily from working with some of these unknown multi-billion dollar companies, I’ve gotten to know many CMOs as well as CEOs of some of these companies.
When I ask them what’s their number one marketing channel, do you know what they all tell me?
It’s word-of-mouth marketing or variations of it. In essence, other people telling others about your company, your product, your service… it is how you win.
So then I went on to ask these people, how do you generate more word-of-mouth marketing? When I took all of their responses and aggregated the data, here is what people said were the top 3 ways of getting more word of mouth:
Be in business for a long time – no matter what you are selling and no matter how great it is, word-of-mouth marketing doesn’t happen overnight. People need to be patient and give it 10 plus years for it to fully kick in.
Have an amazing product or service – if your product is great you will have more word-of-mouth marketing. And if it is terrible you will either have little to no word-of-mouth marketing or even worse, you will have it but it will be people talking negatively about you.
Build a big organization – having thousands of people work for you is marketing. Whether it is people listing your company on their LinkedIn or your employees telling other people about your company, having a big labor force working for you is a great way to spread your brand out to the masses.
Lesson #4: Ugly is sexy
Do you need a new pair of shoes? It would be nice to have the latest Jordan shoes, but do you really need them?
Do you need the new iPhone? Again it would be nice to have it, but I bet your old iPhone lets you order food, send text messages, make calls or even check your emails well enough.
Maybe the camera isn’t as good as the new phones, but I bet you don’t use your phone for high-end photography and more so just use it to take selfies… so the new camera isn’t really needed.
But what about industries like payroll? Do you think a business can just stop using its payroll provider?
Well if they do stop, their employees won’t be paid and they won’t have a business.
That’s why companies like Ceridian are so popular. Again, you probably haven’t heard of them but they generate $1.02 billion a year.
Why?
Because they provide payroll services. Businesses can’t just stop using them unless they want to have their employee go unpaid and be pissed at them.
And even if you choose not to use Ceridian for payroll, the chances are whoever you use, pays them for their tax infrastructure as they are one of two companies who help calculate tax information for payroll in the United States.
And building a system that helps calculate payroll tax payments in the United States is complicated. If you get it wrong there are penalties, which is a big liability for any company.
When building that system, you have to think about each state within the United States as well as each county and city as they all have their own tax rules which also constantly change.
In other words, there is a lot of money in building ugly businesses that people need.
You don’t see kids growing up talking about building software to help with payroll taxes. Instead, they talk about creating a new fashion brand or getting paid to be an influencer.
Lesson #5: the United States is not the center of the world
I live in the United States and love this country.
Yes, it has issues, but all countries have problems…
But the United States is by no means the center of the world. The majority of the 7.7 billion people in this world don’t live in the United States. They actually live in other countries.
At my ad agency NP Digital we have people who work with us all over the world. And we have offices in places like India, Brazil, Canada, Australia… and the list goes on and on.
We don’t have these offices for outsourcing as many people would assume. We have these offices to help people out with their marketing within those regions.
For example, why would companies like Cisco want to market to people in India? It’s a booming market.
Even my CEO, he was the president of a division within a publicly traded company. That division had over 4000 employees. And can you guess what percentage of their revenue came from the United States?
Roughly 26%. That means roughly 3/4 of their revenue was coming from regions outside of the United States.
Going global makes it easier for you to get more traffic because there is a bigger pool of people for you to target and in many cases, it is less competitive.
That was one of the instrumental strategies for our fast growth at NP Digital, in which we expanded globally (and we are still adding more regions).
We did this using this strategy. As it helped us get leads and traffic from countries all around the world.
Lesson #6: Your marketing is only as good as your team
Years ago I created a startup called KISSmetrics that failed.
I had an investor who sat on our board named Phil Black from True Ventures. Overall awesome guy and I loved him as a board member.
I remember him continually giving one piece of advice…
As an entrepreneur you don’t have to figure everything out or do everything on your own, instead you need to hire amazing people. People who have done what you are looking to accomplish and have done it before in your exact industry.
In other words, Phil kept pushing us to hire amazing people for every role.
For example, if you are an ad agency and you need to do better with sales, hire the head of sales from one of your competitors who you know is crushing it. It may cost you a lot of money, but there is a higher chance that they will know exactly what you need to do in order to succeed.
Versus just hiring a head of sales from a random industry because they won’t know your industry and what they need to do in order to succeed.
I wish I understood the power of what Phil was trying to teach to me when we founded the company in 2008. Because if I truly understood it, I would be much further along in my career.
With NP Digital we took that advice to the extreme. Our CEO was the President of iProspect, the largest performance marketing agency (aka a competitor).
Our head of client services came from there as well.
Our COO was in charge of all performance marketing fulfillment at Dentsu, which meant she was in charge of over $1 billion in revenue.
My co-founder and I continually look for the best people. As that is the way to really grow fast.
That’s what large corporations do.
You need to also do that with your marketing. From the person running your marketing division to each individual player such as your SEO or paid media manager.
Do they have industry experience? If not, they may not perform that well.
Did they continually get promotions at their previous jobs? If they didn’t then they may not be as great as they claim to be. It doesn’t matter how good people claim to be, if they didn’t continually get promotions at their previous jobs it means that others didn’t find them as valuable as they claim to be.
These are 2 things to consider when hiring marketers or any role for that matter of the fact. Yes, you want people who are a cultural fit, but you also want people who worked for competitors and continually got promotions and raises in the past because it usually means they did a good job.
Lesson #7: You have to build a brand to do well in the long run
Guess what the second most popular search term is?
It’s the term “YouTube”.
The 3rd most popular search term is Amazon. The 5th is Google, 6th is Walmart, and the 7th is Gmail.
Notice a trend here?
The most popular search terms, not just in the United States, but globally tended to be brands.
Just look at the brand Nike. In the United States, it is searched 6 million times a month. And the term shoes is only searched 1.2 million times a month. In other words, Nike gets more searches for the brand each month than the whole category of shoes.
Now, what do you think my most popular search term is that drives traffic to my business?
It’s actually not Neil Patel, it’s Ubersuggest.
Our second most popular term is another brand that we own… Answer the Public.
And the third most popular search term for us is my personal brand, Neil Patel.
To build a big business you need to build a brand.
SEO will only get you so far. Paid ads will only get you so far. To win people must love your product or service if you expect your brand to be big and do well.
If you are struggling to build a brand keep in mind that it just takes time. Don’t expect the world of results in the first 3 years. You’ll have to give it 5 plus years for your brand to start taking off.
Learning from brands like Apple is great. They are an amazing company. Heck, I’m writing this blog post on a Macbook.
But it’s hard for people to replicate the magic Apple has with their business and even marketing.
On the flip side, it’s much easier for you to replicate the marketing strategies that these unknown multi-billion companies are leveraging because they work for all business types and they aren’t tough strategies to implement.
So, what other strategies have you learned from companies that many of us aren’t familiar with?
TikTok | Software Engineer | Full Time| Singapore/United States/London/Vietnam/Jakarta | Global Hiring VISA SPONSORSHIP
I am a software engineer from TikTok, a short video product company you might already know. I am trying to make extra money by referring talents who are looking and don’t mind to join ByteDance. Now there is a lot of head count and a very good change to have a try.
Free free to reach me for any consultant.
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