What does tiktok earn from?It is clear on what – on ad impressions.

More ads will be watched – more money will be earned.

You can even deduce a simple formula:$ = number of sessions * depth

I think everything is clear with the number of sessions. And depth is the time in the tape and the number of views scrolled through.

How do I make sure that users log into the feed every day and watch videos? Thereby generating a profit for the company.

To do this, Tiktok has implemented a very elegant gamified mechanics in its simplicity.

We made an interactive counter: how many days in a row you and your friend exchange videos.

Screenshot from the screen of all chats in TikTok

It works very simply. Users send videos to each other for three days in a row. A “light” appears in the chat and a number indicates the length of the series.

And in order for the series to grow, you need to take off the videos every day.

If you skip one day, then this message appears:

Screenshot from the chat screen with a user in TikTok

A total of 2 chances are given to restore the series.

Screenshot from the chat screen with a user in TikTok

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What is the beauty of such simple gamification?

1. It catches two users at once;
2. It affects exclusively the internal non-material motivation of a person. That is, it does not require any budgets for prizes;
3. She boosts DAU (daily active users) – to keep the series running, you need to log into the app every day;
4. Boosts the depth of the session – to send a video to a friend, you first need to find something interesting in the feed.

And since 2 users are involved in the game, a new interesting scenario of their behavior opens up:If one sees that the other has not sent the video, he can naturally force him to log into the application and do it.

Even when I was testing this mechanic myself, I kept writing (and even calling) my friend so that he would go into tiktok and send me a video.And this, you will agree, is much more effective than the notorious push and other mailings.

And in this video you can see how two girls celebrate their 50-day series with a cake:https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMhS5DSRn/

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As a gamifier, I always strive to implement such simple and effective solutions in my work.

After all, their biggest advantage is non–material motivation. That is, the user is motivated to target actions not by prizes and gifts (which is always an additional budget), but by pure psychology. In this case, the effect of accumulating progress and the fear of losing it is exploited. And the longer the series, the more the effect is enhanced.In fact, the user himself falls into a trap from which he cannot get out. After all, interrupting the series means not only losing the “spark”, but also letting down a friend.

And the mechanics themselves, let's be honest at least with each other, are very easy to implement. There is no need to create bulky services, develop architecture, or insert additional screens into the product.

If we do less, we get more.

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I have written in other articles more than once.

At the start of the gamification implementation, there is absolutely no need to accelerate the development of large and cumbersome solutions. It is much better to start with simple scenarios that allow you to get results here and now, collect analytics, and introduce the user to the new product.

And only then, having collected the data, proceed to the design and development of a large model.

By the way. In this article, I wrote why you should not start gamification with gamified score mechanics, achievements and leaderboards.

If you, like me, are interested in gamification, do not hesitate to write to me in Tg or by e–mail. You can find me under the nickname "Dima Igrotechnik"

Do business effortlessly!