Posting UGC on TikTok and Instagram — and why it isn't getting views

Captions and hashtags that help

The caption isn't decoration. Platforms read it to understand who should see the video, and viewers read it when the hook made them curious. Write one or two sentences that add context the video doesn't say — a detail, a question, the result — and include the words people actually search ("oily skin routine", not just "skincare").

Then add 3–5 specific hashtags: one for the niche, one or two for the problem or product type, and the campaign tag if the brand requires one. Skip giant tags like #fyp or #viral; they tell the algorithm nothing about who the video is for. If the content is paid, use the platform's disclosure toggle ("paid partnership" / "branded content") — it's required in most of Europe and doesn't hurt reach.

Batch your week

Posting daily is much easier when you don't film daily. A simple rhythm that works for account-based campaigns:

• One planning session (30 min): pick 3–4 ideas from your template list, write the hooks.
• One filming session (1–2 hours): same outfit, same light, all videos and all b-roll in one go.
• One editing session: edit everything, write captions, schedule or save drafts.
• Post one a day, ideally when your audience is online — your analytics show this after a couple of weeks.
• Spend 10 minutes after each post replying to comments and watching niche content.

If the brief asks for TikTok and Instagram, post on TikTok first, then upload the strongest videos to Reels a day or two later — as native uploads, without watermarks.

Why your videos get few views

When a video stalls at a few hundred views, it's tempting to blame a shadowban. In practice the cause is almost always one of these, roughly in order of likelihood:

1. 1A weak hook. If people swipe in the first second, the platform stops showing the video. Check the retention graph: a cliff at 0–2 seconds means the hook, not the rest.
2. 2A cold account. A new account that skipped the warm-up — or one that hasn't watched its niche in weeks — doesn't know who to show the video to. Go back to chapter 2.
3. 3Slow pacing. Long intros, pauses, no visual change for five seconds. Cut harder; aim for a change every few seconds.
4. 4Looking like a bot. Identical captions, the same hashtags on every post, bursts of activity, logins from several devices.
5. 5Deleting and reposting. Removing videos that underperform and uploading them again often hurts the account. Leave flops up and move on.

A weekly review loop

You don't need a dashboard. Once a week, spend 20 minutes with a simple sheet: one row per video with hook type, format, length, views, average watch time and percentage watched to the end.

1. 1Sort by views and look at the top two and the bottom two.
2. 2Name one thing to keep — what the best videos have in common (a hook type, a format, a length).
3. 3Name one thing to change — what the worst ones share.
4. 4Change only that one thing next week, so you know what made the difference.
5. 5Share the summary with the brand. Two lines on what worked and what you'll test next makes you look like a partner, not a supplier — and retainers come from that.

For view-based pay, also track how close each video came to the payout minimum and the cap. If videos regularly stall just below the minimum, that's a conversation to have with the brand before the next month.

Frequently asked questions