The €1 TikTok Virality Hack
Week of June 9, 2025
📢 From My Desk
This week I cracked TikTok organic reach and had a breakthrough with iOS ASO that took months to figure out. Also launching something new for our community. Let's dive in.
🔥 Growth Wins
TikTok Organic Views: I Cracked the Code
The problem: Super low views to new videos organically. Most videos get stuck on 0 to 100 views. Now I can get 25K Tier 1 views with 1 Euro. Spark ads is magic.
Micro-budget Spark ads unlock reach - even a €20 install-objective Spark can kick-start a flood of organic views. You don't need big spend to validate the channel; Spark is a cheap ignition switch (Tagging TikTok for Business Europe).
Extreme leverage example: €1 ≈ 25K organic views in Tier-1 (US-heavy) traffic within a day. Proves that the CPM you "buy" can multiply 100× in free exposure.
Spark widens the first-10 viewers gate - more early impressions → higher chance the algorithm spots a winner. Treat Spark as a virality catalyst, not just a Performance Marketing/UA tool.
Virality ≠ revenue - Some apps rack up big TikTok numbers, but AppMagic shows no revenue lift for those apps (See this, or that post). Track bottom-line impact (installs, ARPU) or you'll chase vanity metrics.
Best next step - quietly observe creators' Spark setups, copy what works, and iterate with €20 quick-fire tests. Low-risk experimentation beats large, agency-driven bets.
This levels the playing field for indies. Instead of competing with agencies throwing $20K at volume, you can test smart for €20.
iOS ASO Breakthrough
After months, I think I had a leap with App Store ASO. It's important to rank on the most popular generic keyword. For one app, I started running 1 US Apple Search Ads campaign with 1 ad group (only a few exact keywords with high bids, gradually increased). The keywords came from Astro ASO tool and Google Keyword Planner.
Apple Search can be expensive, but it's important to see how much each vetted keyword gets impressions daily (needs to be significant), and how TTR and conversion rates follow. There I found 1 keyword that I now have in the app's title. For the rest of the relevant generic keywords, I use subtitle and the 100-character field.
🌱 From My Desk
Launching Tiny App Circle
This week I founded a vetted Slack group: Tiny App Circle.
Getting 5-star reviews in Tier 1 countries is tough. So if you're a developer with a live app on App Store or Play Store, targeting US, UK, CA, DE, FR, JP, KR, AU, this might be for you. We are exchanging genuine, human reviews from one developer to another: no fake installs, no shady swaps. Helps us grow, learn, and give better signals to other users. No spam. No bots. No sales pitches.
If this sounds like you, connect and comment "circle" and I'll DM you the invite form 🌱
🧠 Hard Lessons
The Indie App Growth Trap
Many indie devs (me included) fall into this trap:
"If I rank for the right keyword or run Apple Search Ads, installs will follow."
Here's what actually happens:
ASO gives visibility, not traction. If your app doesn't convert or retain, ranking won't save you. Or worse, there is no traffic in your ranked keyword.
Apple Search often burns cash. $1K/month can mean 200 installs and zero revenue.
Sometimes spending does trigger momentum. One dev spent $3K upfront, got enough installs to climb organically and stayed there.
But: That only works if your product is ready.
This is the dilemma:
You need installs to get rankings. You need rankings to get installs. But you can't buy your way up if your app's not ready to keep them. Ratings, purchases, retention; they all matter.
Don't assume ASO or ASA ads will fix a weak product. But if your app is solid, sometimes money unlocks momentum.
💭 Random Thoughts
#1 - A YouTube creator wrote me about featuring one of my apps in an upcoming "best apps" video. Took us a few days to figure out payment (PayPal, their preference, didn't work). At the end, as thanks for their patience, I paid them 2x what they asked for. They said on top of what they promised, they'll do a dedicated video for my app. This reminds me about creator negotiations. Makes sense to negotiate a product price since it's usually fixed. But with creators, the implementation is flexible. Being generous gets you more than you paid for.
#2 -Currently not buying into commenting under AI Agent LinkedIn posts that start with "this helped them generate $123K/month."
See you next week. 👋
Samet Durgun a.k.a. Growth Therapist 🌱