Founder Playbook · Sub Club by RevenueCat
10 tactics from Joseph Choi
How to Go Viral on TikTok (and Profit From It)
Watch the full episode“I made a new account, made a video with zero followers and got 50,000 views on the first video... 95% plus of the videos you scroll through are from creators you've never seen before.”
TikTok's For-You Page Lets Zero-Follower Accounts Go Viral Overnight
TikTok's For You Page distributes watch time based on content quality, not account age or follower count. Joseph contrasts this with every other platform: SEO is saturated, Instagram requires a built following, Facebook ads cost money upfront. On TikTok a well-crafted video from a brand new account can immediately reach millions. For app founders testing new ideas, this makes TikTok the cheapest viable acquisition channel from zero.
“You can hire a creator to play just the role of the actor. If you know how to do marketing you can give them a script that you know will perform well on the For You page.”
You Are the Director, TikTok Is the Distribution — Hire Creators Just to Act
Traditional influencer marketing bundles three roles: director (script), actor (on-camera talent), and distribution (audience). TikTok unbundles them. A founder who understands the algorithm can write a script, hire a charismatic creator to deliver it, and let TikTok's FYP handle distribution. This means you no longer need to pay for access to an established audience — the platform substitutes for it, dramatically lowering the cost of influencer marketing.
“Find people that have less than 50,000 followers who've maybe hit one or two viral videos... they sort of know what it takes. And they're probably not making much from brand deals so you can pay them cash.”
Target Low-Follower Creators Who Have Gone Viral Once — They Know the Formula and Are Underpriced
Joseph's influencer playbook deliberately avoids big accounts (expensive, agented) in favor of creators under 50K followers who have already experienced virality. These creators understand the mechanics of a hit video but haven't been discovered by brands yet, so their rates are low and their motivation is high. For a $500-$3,000 monthly retainer they'll post 30 videos — one per day — giving you a volume of shots at the algorithm.
“A typical rate I've seen is $1,000 per million views or $500 per 500,000 views — $1 CPM which is very cheap. Plus a base rate for making the videos.”
Structure Creator Deals With a Base Rate Plus CPM Bonus — Aligns Incentives Without Capping Upside
Joseph recommends splitting creator payments into a predictable base (covering production effort) and a per-view bonus (aligning the creator's incentive with virality). At $1 CPM the economics are dramatically better than paid ads. The critical counterbalance: a detailed creative brief with non-negotiable CTA requirements, because a viral video that doesn't mention the app or direct people to download it delivers only vanity views.
“By the time they get halfway through the video they've already given the algorithm the 50-60-70% watch time and then you plug the app.”
Bury the Product Reveal Past 50% Watch Time — Let the Algorithm See Engagement Before the Sales Pitch
TikTok's algorithm rewards completion rate. If a video feels like an ad from the first second, viewers skip and the algorithm buries it. Joseph's template: lead with relatable content that earns the watch time, then introduce the app naturally at the 50%+ mark as a solution to the pain point just demonstrated. The ADHD hack TikToks exemplify this — genuine tips first, app mention last, delivered to an audience already nodding along.
“I've seen people build apps in the completely opposite direction where they do the marketing first just for a waitlist... and they just get people to sign up. That's instant product validation.”
Build a Viral Feature Hook Before Building the Full App — TikTok as Product Validation
Founders in Joseph's community have launched TikTok accounts showing Figma mockups of apps that don't exist yet. Breezy, a social note-sharing app, got 5,000 waitlist signups from a 15-second video of the founder describing the concept. The insight: if you can't create a compelling TikTok about a feature idea, that's a signal the feature may not be compelling enough to build. TikTok becomes a free, zero-code product validation layer before a single line is written.
“It's an infinitely repeatable tactic. Spotify wrapped if you just remake Spotify wrapped but for XYZ niche — that concept goes viral every single year reliably.”
Spotify Wrapped Format Goes Viral Every Year — Remake It for Your Niche
Joseph points to Verse app as the recent example: they generated an AI image of a bedroom matching the user's music taste, rode that Spotify-Wrapped format to the #1 App Store slot for several days. The tactic works because it's inherently shareable (people love seeing personalized content about themselves), seasonal (it anchors to year-end), and novel when adapted to a new category. Any app can find its version of the 'year in review' hook.
“Apps choose one hook, one viral killer feature within their app that will go viral on TikTok... I've seen apps create features just to go viral on TikTok and then use that as a funnel to their main ecosystem.”
Design Features Specifically to Go Viral on TikTok — Virability Is a Feature Requirement
A health analytics app that normally pitches 'improve your biometrics' created a single graph showing anxiety levels throughout the day — and it blew up on TikTok. Joseph's framework: if you can't identify a single feature of your app that's funny, controversial, or has wow-factor enough to be shared, that's a product gap, not just a marketing gap. The most virally-designed features also tend to be the most emotionally resonant ones for retention.
“I scroll on TikTok and I have swipe files — multiple folders. Every time I watch a video that seems like it was paid for I put it into one of my four categories.”
Build a Swipe File of Competitor TikTok Ads — Consuming with a Producer Mindset Beats Any Tool
Joseph's competitive intelligence method: four category folders (talking head, skit, slideshow, product demo) where he drops every branded TikTok he spots while scrolling. Over time the swipe file reveals patterns — which hooks repeat across categories, which content formats are being AB-tested at scale, which app niches are heating up. He supplements this with TikTok's first-party ad library and Creator Marketplace filters. The mindset shift is consuming like a producer, not a passive user.
“Here's five controversial rules that we had at our wedding recently... the no taking pictures kind of hints at the last slide — oh by the way I had the guests use the POV app. It's part of a storyline rather than saying hey go download this thing.”
Embed the App Into a Storyline Instead of Saying "Link in Bio" — Authentic Placement Converts on FYP
POV, a disposable camera app, went viral by embedding the product reveal inside wedding stories: five controversial rules, one of which required guests to use the app. By the time the audience reached the app mention, they were emotionally invested in the narrative and the product demonstration was natural. Joseph's rule: on the FYP where there's no pre-existing trust, any 'Link in Bio'-style CTA kills virality. The product has to feel like the organic resolution to the story, not a commercial break.