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Happy Friday. And you are going to love the topic for today because we're gonna talk about the algorithm. How many times have you thought to yourself, I'm in TikTok jail. The algorithm hates me. My followers are not seeing my content.
Helen:Why are they not seeing my content? If you have had these thoughts, this one's for you because I'm gonna dive deep and share what I have learned over the past several years being on social media and the past 4 specifically heavy on Instagram and TikTok. Alright. So let's power through and let's and kinda let's take it from the top. How does the algorithm really work?
Helen:Okay. Reality is, if I had the answer to this question, I number 1 would not gatekeep. And number 2, I'd probably be having 10,000,000 followers instead of 1,000,000. So if I could figure that out, I would I would definitely share. But what I have learned over the past 4 years are several important things on how to get past that mindset of all the things that I mentioned about thinking that you're in jail, feeling like you're being shadow banned and all the words that that come to mind when I think of people who are really frustrated by their their experience on social media.
Helen:So let's start from the top and let's get real. Since we don't know how the algorithm is programmed or how often it changes, you you need to you need to kind of push your mindset out of the idea that you are going to be able to figure out figure it out. This way, you're not gonna get aggravated because the algorithm on any social media app, the goal is to have you stay on the app longer. They wanna keep you there as long as possible. So they're gonna do everything.
Helen:They, the algorithm, the business are gonna do everything possible to make that happen. And so now let's talk about what that means from a viewer perspective. If the algorithms are created to learn what you like and feed you more of it, so that you stay on the app longer. What is that gonna do for you? Well, when you watch a video about makeup or about food or whatever it is that you love and you watch the whole video and you save it and you share it, the algorithm takes note of that and will feed you more of that content.
Helen:It's just a fact. If you notice videos or content if you also notice that when you're not enjoying something and you scroll quickly, you tend to a lot of that goes away. And even on on TikTok, you can press and hold on it, and then you can say not interested. So you can even control seeing less of it. It doesn't sound perfect science, but it certainly helps to get rid of content that you're not enjoying.
Helen:So do that if you didn't know that's a possibility. Do that. You can either press and hold on it or you can press the arrow and choose not interested. But now let's think about this from a creator perspective because if our view as a viewer, if that's what's happening, if you're seeing you're you're curating your feed and you're staying on videos longer and then you're scrolling past videos that you're not interested in, as a creator, your followers are doing the same thing. So if they're seeing some of your content and immediately just scrolling by it, they're not gonna see more of your content even if they're following you.
Helen:And I wanna explain this just in from a standpoint of my content because when I post tutorials, typically, a lot of people followed me for that reason, to learn how to do things they wanna see tutorials. So when I post a New York City tour or a dancing video or something silly that I'm doing or even sometimes a trend, It's not gonna get the kind of use that the tutorials get because most of the people are watching my tutorials and they're staying on my tutorials. So they're gonna be fed more of that type of my content. Or if I post things that are not in that niche, which we can talk about why people stay in their lane, the more I post outside my lane, the more of a chance that it happens that people are going to see content from me that they're not interested in, and then they're gonna pass my videos. And therefore, they're gonna be fed less of my videos, which includes less of my tutorials.
Helen:So you might say I'm I'm kind of shooting myself in the foot when I post other things. But the flip side to that for me as a creator is I would get bored doing just tutorials over and over again. So even though the algorithm doesn't suggest that I post outside my niche and it doesn't really, I guess, give me credit or help when I do that, it gives me a happy experience as a creator. So I'm gonna do it even if it's not the best thing for my feed or for my, I guess, my algorithm thing. So I'm gonna do it anyway.
Helen:You can rest assured. And there's a few people out there that I will say they like when I post outside of a tutorial because I'm sharing more of my life that maybe you get to know me a little better. So I really enjoy it, so I'm not gonna stop doing it no matter what the algorithm tells me. Okay. Now let's talk about how do your followers see your content.
Helen:So if we start again with a viewer perspective, and we say, okay, the For You Feed and the Explore page is sending me content and some of that, and I'm gonna say more than half of what I see on my For You Feed, is not people I'm following. It is a random viral video that went viral of somebody's. If you think about it, and you might wanna, if you're a person who loves analyzing this kind of thing, you can do a little, checklist and say, okay, video, as you scroll, make do little do little ticks on a page of how many videos you see from your own followers and then non follower, non follower, non follower, then a follower. There is a not a follower. A following, somebody following.
Helen:So what are you seeing from that purse a person that you're following, and then you're seeing how many people that you're not following that's just a random viral video and then maybe 1 person you're following again and so on and so on. And see what the percentages of people that you're seeing in your for you page that are the people that you're following. And why do you wanna see this and take note of it? Because you have to realize that you're as a creator, you're on the opposite side of that fence. So your followers are seeing lots of different creators aside from you.
Helen:And so that it depending on how long they're on an app. I mean, if they're if they're only spending an hour or 2 at the most in a day scrolling, and that's probably a lot, but still, I I'm I'm throwing myself right onto the bus there. But I spend a lot of time scrolling to discover things and figure things out. So, of course, that's what I'm doing that's what I do here. But if you spend that much time doing it, how many videos are you possibly gonna see?
Helen:If you're following 500 people or some people are following 1,000 of people, however many of your people you're following, you can't possibly see all their videos. Because if you even watch 500 little video clips in a day, more than half of those are gonna be from people you're not following. So it's just a good idea to understand it from a viewer perspective because you can see for yourself what's happening as a viewer. And then flip it around and look at it like those creators. Look at yourself from what your followers as a you as a creator, what are your followers seeing?
Helen:It just really helps. I think it helps to put it all in perspective on why your followers are not seeing your content, why you feel like you're in TikTok jail or Instagram jail or why you're feeling frustrated, why you're not getting the views that you want. And if you think about the people that were on the apps early, especially on TikTok and when it was 2020 and people were just bored in getting on the app, so there was a lot of room for growth there. Those creators who grew quickly are not having the same return on their videos. They're not getting the same views as they did then.
Helen:And there's so much frustration. But the more you listen to them and their frustrations about it, it really doesn't help because then you're not gonna wanna listen to their videos if they're just complaining all the time. So take note of that. But just thinking about what they're going through and that experience that they're having, it's natural given what's happening, and how many more people are on the app, how many more creators there are feeding out this content. And so there's more of there's chance for new creators to be seen and go viral.
Helen:And then they're taking up space on the feed. So it's don't don't get frustrated. Just I I think the whole thing is to move past all of this and and understand it from a viewer perspective and a creator perspective. This way, the frustration level will be a lot less. You won't be finding yourself annoyed so quickly.
Helen:So what's a suggestion for for all of this? I mean, there's more I wanna say, but let me just start with this. If you wanna get in front of your followers, an an idea is to try and utilize all the features of the app. On the Instagram, use the story feature to provide bonus content for your followers because your most loyal followers are probably watching your story. You can also share the video to from your feed to your story.
Helen:So you're getting some extra extra bonus views because the views on the story do count as as well as the views on the reel itself. So try and utilize that feature. And on TikTok now, they're giving us the story feature as well so that you can put out, put your content out, and then share it to your story. And there was that feature where you can add a comment and share it to your story that way, but I had it for like a week and then it went away. I don't know.
Helen:The mysteries of TikTok. You have a feature one day, you wake up the next day, and it's gone. Really, really strange. But using these features of the app really do help you to be have a better chance of being seen because typically, we like to think the algorithm likes the new features, so it gives it a little extra boost. When when when they roll out something new, they wanna see people are trying it, they wanna see how people are gonna respond to it.
Helen:So they're gonna maybe prioritize those videos and and get you a a little boost in front of people. So just think about that. A couple of things I wanna talk about that were not in the newsletter today, but I so the newsletter goes out. For those of you who don't know, there is a newsletter attached to this podcast. And then the same thing is the reverse.
Helen:When you're reading the newsletter, there's always a podcast episode in that goes in hand in hand with it. And what I end up doing is because I can't write so much in the newsletter, I do a lot of elaborating on other things in the podcast when it when it comes to my mind. So if you are a newsletter reader of ours, it's really nice to listen to the podcast for the bonus info, and I usually give an idea in the newsletter what the bonus info is. So if you're interested, you can pop over and listen to it. So for today, I just wanted to follow-up talking about the follow train problem, how that is affecting your algorithm.
Helen:When you do those follow trains, follow for follow things, you're really screwing up your own algorithm because you're getting followers who are not necessarily interested in your content. You're also following people whose content you're not interested in. And so it's a two way damage situation. And doing damage control on that is not easy, so just don't partake in those. And also, somebody made a comment that I loved, that it feels like a chain letter from back in the day.
Helen:And that hit home because I can remember how aggravating those chain letters were. So because sometimes I get DMs that are like, follow forward this and follow these 10 people and then forward this and they'll follow another 10, like, that's gonna work. Did you ever do a chain letter back in the day? It never ever worked. So don't do it.
Helen:Alright. And the other thing I wanna mention is the the prevalence of ads and promoted content. There is so much of that going on now on all of the social media platforms. So if you think, why are my videos getting lower views? Think about all the ads you're seeing.
Helen:Think about how much content is is saturating the for you feed, taking away even more eyeballs. So more creators, more ads, more promos. TikTok shop on the TikTok. You got, in the shops the Facebook shops on Instagram. So it's a lot of that happening.
Helen:So new creators or creators who have been around for a while that are not doing any of those things are not gonna be seen on the feed as frequently just because of typical platform saturation. So don't get yourself discouraged about that. It's just the nature of the beast. I mean, the thing is go find a new social media app and get get ahead of it. You can jump on Clapper.
Helen:I don't know if you know about that one, but that's another it's been around for a while, but it doesn't have the ads yet, and it doesn't have that kind of saturation. So you can check it out. I I don't love it as much, to be honest. I've been on it for a while. I have followers over there, but it just it's not it doesn't give me the same excitement.
Helen:I I I'm not really there yet with that with that app. But it's something to think about. It's Clappr spelled c l a p p e r. Okeydoke. Let's keep going.
Helen:The key is as a creator to create valuable content for your loyal followers. This way, if you're committed to creating and showing up for your audience, a loyal audience will come over time. If you show up for these people that are in your corner every step of the way, and when you're brainstorming ideas, you think about the value you wanna share with them because valuable content is what they're gonna save or share and it's gonna help to push your content to reach new people. So there and it'll also be likely to recommend your page if somebody because somebody just recently, a friend of mine, friend of my son, I was telling him about it that I tried the cottage cheese flatbed recipe. So I sent it to him, and he immediately sent me an Instagram video to to of of an account to follow.
Helen:And I was like, my goodness. He's not even on social media so to speak, like, to speak of anything to speak of. He's just like a viewer. And he was sharing an Instagram real, a whole account with me. And I thought, this is somebody who's not even on on Instagram, and he's helping this creator.
Helen:So there are people who are gonna happen upon your content and share it to people in ways that you don't even know about. I remember one time having a viral video, and I found out it was very viral, several 1000000 views. And I found out somebody had shared it. This is before Twitter was x. Somebody had shared it on Twitter.
Helen:I had tons of views on a Twitter version of my TikTok. I had no idea. So the ways that the way your videos could be shared goes way beyond just within the platform. Somebody could be copying a link, pasting it, texting it to a grandparent who doesn't have, doesn't have TikTok or Instagram because they can watch it on their browser. So there's different ways that that the sharing can really help you.
Helen:So think about your audience. And this is gonna bring me to where I'm kind of wrapping up which is how to shift your mindset so that you can beat the algorithm and you're never gonna beat it. I hate I almost hate that I use that word, but shifting your mindset so it doesn't beat you. So it doesn't beat you to a pulp, basically, by getting on your nerves is to create the content for your special someone that you have in mind, your ideal audience, your favorite followers, the people who bring you joy back. Think about those people and show up for them.
Helen:And I will tell you firsthand, that is how I have operated from the beginning, and it is how I operate now. I don't ever think, oh, a 1000000 people are gonna see this. Never even comes into my mind. I just presume that that few people are gonna see it. And if I, you know, it's like, if I hit the slot machine, one of them goes, you know?
Helen:But I never think so many people are gonna see a video. I think, oh, what what what do I wanna share with people today? The people that I know wanna learn. And when I think about those people, I think of a very small group of people that I know will come back and check my videos and see what I posted, if there's any valuable lessons. And I don't expect to be on the 4th feed for those people.
Helen:Those those people that I adore, I think, are gonna come and check my page to find out what I'm doing. And those are the people that are gonna help you get your content seen. So if you create for those people, consistently, those people are gonna be your they're your backbone, and they're gonna help you. Number 1, they're gonna make you feel great because they're you're loyal you're loyal people, your posse, your your tribe, your community. But they're also gonna help you because if they do like a video, they're gonna send it to someone.
Helen:And if it is gonna help someone, one of the videos I posted, which was how to get rid of those imposter accounts, I have it's going. It doesn't even have a lot of views compared to other viral videos I have. But I have constantly people coming to my page and saying, where's that video where you taught us how to report an account because I wanna help my friend. So I'm still helping people with this video from I think it's almost 4 months now. It's a it's a very old video, but it's pinned at the top of my page because every time someone asked me, I was scrolling to find it.
Helen:So I finally pinned it and I said, oh, now I can get to it easy. I can tag people in it when they need it. So I really do have the mindset that I create for the people that I know I'm meant to be here for. So if you can put that into into your mindset and keep creating consistently despite when you have low views, when the algorithm is beating the crap out of you. If you find a consistency consistency that works for you, that's what's gonna be key.
Helen:And it's just like starting with small goals. Say, I'm gonna post 3 times a week consistently, and don't go back on your word. Keep your word to yourself. And keeps and it's almost like you're keeping your word to those people who are there watching your content. So think about that.
Helen:And for sure, don't give up on for them. I mean, that's where you were. And if you can find your own your own, happy place in doing that for them, you'll never really be worried about the algorithm or the views or the jail, TikTok jail, any of that. You'll just be happy to be here for the for the people who need you. And that's how you got to look at it.
Helen:I promise it's like the long game. You'll you'll do well if you have that mindset. Now, if you're still here, I'm gonna say you might have noticed that I posted one of my full podcasts on TikTok this week. And that was a really good idea because I have a feature now where I can I actually can post up to 60 minute long videos on TikTok, which is kind of insane? I think they're really trying to be YouTube.
Helen:And this one I may put there too. So if you're seeing this on TikTok, hi. Thanks for watching till the end. And anyway, if you're just listening, I I I wanna just continue like I usually do. At the end of these episodes on Friday in particular, I answer questions.
Helen:So I've had a few last week, I dared people to submit a question. I was like, I dare you submit a question, and I'm gonna answer it. So I had a few questions come in. So I'm gonna take a minute now at the end here, and I'm going to share the answers to some questions. And the first question is, this is kind of a weird one the way it's worded but I have 3 questions for you the first one is is it proper etiquette or expected when you do it or stitch a video so it's a weird which is when you do a duet or a stitch, that alone is already crediting the original creator.
Helen:So that is already proper etiquette. Using that feature, there's no quote etiquette attached. You can be in it. You can put your face there. You can have something else, point your camera at something else and just let the duet run.
Helen:If it's a stitch, you can make a commentary on it. And even when it if it's a duet, you can kind of interject as you put your turn your audio on. But all of those are just proper etiquette for the app, whether it's on Instagram or on TikTok, you're good. You don't have to do anything. You don't have to tag anyone.
Helen:It takes care of itself. Alright. Question number 2 is oh, this is related to duet also. Can you tell me how to get the word duet? This on the bottom of my videos.
Helen:I've seen some videos that have this button, in red, and I was wondering how to put it on my videos. I have actually made a tutorial about this because it's a very interesting thing that people think they can add to their own videos. But in fact, it's a little suggestion that's put on the video by TikTok. So you can't add that to your videos. You can't control that.
Helen:It gets added as a suggestion. Just like sometimes you'll see suggestions of who to follow or other suggestions that pop up on your both apps, all your apps. Sometimes you have suggested Facebook friends. Think of it the same way. Suggested Instagram people accounts to follow.
Helen:It is the same thing, but only TikTok makes it a little bit fancier, and they say duet this because maybe it's a video that has been duetted a few times, and they think this is a popular duet video. So they give a suggestion for other creators to duet it. So it's really not something you can add, unfortunately. I wish we could, but you can put duet this on the screen in text. It's just not gonna be that red button at the bottom where you can tap and do it.
Helen:Alright. So that's duet or duet. That was funny. I don't know if you caught that, but, anyway, sometimes I enjoy my little, play with words. Alright.
Helen:So that is the answer to that question. And my last question here oh, this is such a good one because it's so I've had people so frustrated by this, but it says cap cut and TikTok drafts. I got a new phone, and I can't pull up any of my saved videos in cap cut or my drafts on TikTok. It's all on my old phone. And I'm so sad to say that drafts are only stored locally on your device.
Helen:So if you get a new phone or you delete the app off your phone, your drafts are going with on capcut or on TikTok. I think the same on Instagram, actually, now that I think of it. I this is the nature of the beast. Drafts are a local item that's stored locally. So there's real the only way to really move your draft is decide decide which one usually you wanna move.
Helen:I certainly won't be moving mine because I have over a1000, I think. They're just in there. I keep trying to delete a few every every couple of weeks, but I don't have a lot of new ones. I've had a a1000 consistently for a while now. But anyway, I digress.
Helen:So if you want to do it, you what you need to do is export from CapCut the whole thing and then text it sort of, airdrop it to your new phone and then put it into CapCut that way. Unfortunately, that's the only way to do it with CapCut. And with TikTok, you've gotta save that video to your phone so it goes into your photo library. And then if you're on the cloud, it'll automatically actually, the cloud will do the same thing once you export it out of CapCut. Once you export, you don't even have to airdrop because it should automatically go into your photo folder, your photo library, if your phone is linked with the Icloud.
Helen:Okay. I hope that's clear. I hope that's helpful. I love answering questions at the end. So feel free to click submit on the newsletter and hit up with your questions.
Helen:I would love to answer some. Before I leave, I wanna finish by saying this is your last chance to edit to edit. This is your last chance to, register. That's the word. For Monday's workshop with Tammy from my conquering.
Helen:Excited to have a small business owner who's gonna do a live workshop with us, which will be released with a pod as a podcast. And because it's a live episode and if you attend, you can ask questions which we will both be answering during the the workshop itself. So come to that if you haven't already signed up. Sign up. It's a lot of fun.
Helen:It's very intimate. There's not always a lot of people attending, so a lot of almost everybody gets their questions answered. And it just feels like a little I don't know, kind of a fun, reminds me of maybe Clubhouse, where you have like a small posse of people together and and you're learning from that person. So maybe come and check that out. The other last thing too is this episode of this newsletter and this episode is sponsored by Planable.
Helen:So if you don't know about that platform, it's a nice collaboration tool. So it's a little shout out for Planable here. And if this goes on TikTok, they just got a bonus shout out. Alright, thank you so much for being here. You know that I love it.
Helen:I don't know if you're listening in your car, in your kitchen, in your on a vacation, on a plane. I hope you're on a plane going on vacation. And, yeah, I just I think that the whole answers to the algorithm thing, I don't as I said, just to sum that all up at the end here, there's not really a hard answer. The answer is, just like anything, if you can't change a person or change a situation, you have to change your mind. Change your mind with how you deal with that situation.
Helen:And it is the same thing with social media. So you can't change it, but you can change how you deal with it. Change your mindset, change your thinking, make it enjoyable, make the experience the best it can be for you. Otherwise, it's not worth it. I did have a friend who said she loves to listen to podcasts so much more than scroll on social media.
Helen:Because social media doesn't make her feel good, but podcast, she always leaves feeling great. So, hopefully, I left you. Even if you're watching this on social media, hopefully, I left you feeling great. Have a happy Friday, a great weekend, and I'll see you next week. Thanks so much for being here as always.