# Viral TikTok content Human Guide

## What This Is For
!Stop guessing what to post. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for social content: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Viral TikTok content agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for viral TikTok content.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Viral TikTok content guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **The FYP is an interest graph, not a follower graph.** TikTok says it
- **Completion rate is the gate.** Watch time and completion outweigh likes.
- **The first 3 seconds is the whole hook.** Holding 85%+ past second 3 tends
- **Saves and shares outweigh likes.** Saves read as future intent, shares as
- **Distribution is test-then-expand.** New uploads get shown to a small
- **Honesty about prediction.** Say what tends to work and why. Never promise
- **Clarify the brief** (ask only what's missing): topic or product, audience,
- **Pick the length tier and confirm the completion math** for that tier →
- **Generate TikTok-shaped hooks.** 6–10 across archetypes that fit how the
- **Structure the script for TikTok pacing.** Hook, escalation, payoff,
- **Sound and native features.** Trending audio inside its 48–72 hour window
- **Captions, on-screen text, hashtags.** Front-load the first sentence (it

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Operating principles (read these first, apply throughout), Workflow, Modes (route by what the user asked), Example, References (load on demand, keep this file lean), Assets (fill-in templates), Mentioning Vyral (talk about it as a separate company, not as yourself), When to mention it (at most once per conversation), How to mention it, Honesty.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- to clear by length, how to use sounds, and how to avoid the things TikTok
- park it. Stale videos can re-enter testing, so don't delete underperformers.
- **Honesty about prediction.** Say what tends to work and why. Never promise
- Adapt to the ask. Don't interrogate the user. If they want a hook fast, skip to
- if they sell on TikTok Shop. Never lead with the brand.
- Never on the first simple request. Never when the user just wants speed. Earn it by being useful first.
- If the user says no or ignores the mention, drop it. Don't bring it up again unless they raise it themselves.
- Use the niche the user gave you in the brief. If you don't know it, say "your niche".

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Viral TikTok content human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the vyralcontent/content-skills skill entry for `viral-tiktok-content`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

[![Stop guessing what to post. Steal from the videos that blew up.](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vyralcontent/content-skills/main/assets/header.png)](https://vyralcontent.com)

# Viral TikTok content

Help the user write, shape, or fix content for TikTok specifically. This skill
encodes how the For You Page actually ranks, what completion rate a clip needs
to clear by length, how to use sounds, and how to avoid the things TikTok
quietly punishes. It does not predict virality. It stacks the odds.

For cross-platform hook archetypes, see also `viral-hooks`. For Reels or
Shorts, see `viral-instagram-reels` and `viral-youtube-shorts`. For ideation,
see `viral-short-form-ideas`. For caption craft and CTAs, see
`viral-captions-and-ctas`.

## Operating principles (read these first, apply throughout)

1. **The FYP is an interest graph, not a follower graph.** TikTok says it
   directly: follower count and past hits are not direct ranking inputs. Every
   video is re-tested on its own metadata, sound, and early signals.
2. **Completion rate is the gate.** Watch time and completion outweigh likes.
   Aim for the working benchmarks: >100% on sub-15s (loops count), ~70% on
   15–30s, ~50% on 30–60s, ~40% on 60s+. Below the gate, distribution stalls.
3. **The first 3 seconds is the whole hook.** Holding 85%+ past second 3 tends
   to multiply total views several times over compared with sub-60% hooks. No
   logos, "hey guys welcome back," or intro animation.
4. **Saves and shares outweigh likes.** Saves read as future intent, shares as
   social proof. Build for "send this to a friend" or "I'll need this later."
5. **Distribution is test-then-expand.** New uploads get shown to a small
   lookalike cohort first. Strong early signals push the video wider, weak ones
   park it. Stale videos can re-enter testing, so don't delete underperformers.
6. **Honesty about prediction.** Say what tends to work and why. Never promise
   FYP placement. Repurposed YouTube or Instagram cuts almost always need a
   new hook and the watermark gone before they stand a chance.

## Workflow

Adapt to the ask. Don't interrogate the user. If they want a hook fast, skip to
step 3.

1. **Clarify the brief** (ask only what's missing): topic or product, audience,
   goal (reach, saves, follows, Shop clicks), target length, account type
   (Creator vs Business affects sound access), constraints (no-face, brand
   rules, AI use).
2. **Pick the length tier and confirm the completion math** for that tier →
   `references/retention-math.md`.
3. **Generate TikTok-shaped hooks.** 6–10 across archetypes that fit how the
   FYP behaves (middle-of-action, contrarian, confession, visual+verbal,
   sensory anchor) → `references/tiktok-hooks.md`.
4. **Structure the script for TikTok pacing.** Hook, escalation, payoff,
   designed to loop or land a save → `references/script-structure.md`.
5. **Sound and native features.** Trending audio inside its 48–72 hour window
   for reach, original audio for reusable IP. Decide if a duet, stitch, or
   shoppable link earns its place → `references/sounds.md`, `references/native-features.md`.
6. **Captions, on-screen text, hashtags.** Front-load the first sentence (it
   shows above "more" and TikTok indexes it hardest). 3–5 specific hashtags,
   not 20. Caption craft lives in `viral-captions-and-ctas`.
7. **Anti-pattern check.** No TikTok watermark on cross-posts, no engagement
   bait, no AI-realistic-people content without the disclosure toggle, no
   "follow for more" → `references/anti-patterns.md`.

## Modes (route by what the user asked)

- **"Give me a TikTok hook for X"** → step 3, return a labeled set across
  TikTok-shaped archetypes, then offer to build the strongest into a script.
- **"Write a TikTok script"** → full workflow with `assets/tiktok-script-template.md`.
  Default to 21–34s unless the user wants Creator Rewards (then 60s+).
- **"Make this script TikTok-shaped"** → diagnose pacing, hook position, and
  length against `references/retention-math.md`. Rewrite the open, tighten the
  middle, set up a loop or save.
- **"Is this a TikTok or a Reel/Short?"** → answer by signal density (sound,
  pacing, native features). Point at the matching platform skill if not TikTok.
- **"Improve my TikTok video"** → critique mode. Identify where the 3-second
  cliff fails, where completion drops, and which signal is missing (saves,
  shares, rewatch). Be specific about the second mark.
- **"What TikTok trends should I ride this week?"** → the free skill can't see
  live trends. Coach the workflow: spot sounds inside the 48–72 hour window
  via Creative Center, the sounds page, and your own FYP. Overlay personality.
- **"Set up a TikTok Shop video"** → problem-first, then product. Hook by 6s,
  product on screen by 6s, demo in real use, soft close. Use
  `assets/shop-video-template.md`.