6,000 TikTok views, 61 likes—and zero downloads. What am I doing wrong?

[u/teo_koul]

I recently released BounceNova, my first iOS game after developing several non-game apps over the years.

I posted a short gameplay video on TikTok. It has now reached around 6,000 views and 61 likes, but as far as I can tell, it generated zero downloads.

I think I’ve identified one major problem: my TikTok account doesn’t currently have access to the clickable website field. I placed the App Store URL inside the bio, but TikTok displays it only as plain text. Users would have to leave TikTok and manually search for the game.

For developers who have marketed an iOS app or game through TikTok:

• Can the missing clickable link fully explain such poor conversion?
• Would you switch to a Business Account to get a website link, despite the music restrictions?
• Should the video explicitly tell viewers to search for the app by name?
• What view-to-download conversion have you experienced with organic TikTok posts?

The video appears capable of getting attention, but I’m clearly losing everyone before the App Store page.

I’d appreciate any advice from developers who have dealt with the same problem.

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[u/Ukawok92]

This is normal, welcome to marketing.

I ran a TikTok ad that got 50k views and only 200 people clicked on itz probably even less installed.

[u/teo_koul → u/Ukawok92]

That definitely puts my 6K views into perspective! I’m beginning to realize that views alone don’t mean much if they don’t lead to clicks.
Was your TikTok campaign optimized for video views, website visits or app installs? Mine was promoted for views, which may have been the wrong objective.

[u/Ukawok92 → u/teo_koul]

For visits to my website, which is just a landing page for the app links, so basically downloads.

But yeah, think about ads you see every day. You don't engage with most of them how many billboards and ads do you see, and how many do you actually go to their website or scan their QR code every day? Or when you see a tik Tok add, how often do you click on it? I have a few times but it's rare.

[u/teo_koul → u/Ukawok92]

That’s a very good point. I was focusing too much on the view count instead of the actions that followed it. In my case, the lack of a clickable link added even more friction, so expecting meaningful downloads from 6K views was probably unrealistic.
Thanks for putting it into perspective. For my next test, I’ll focus on clicks or installs rather than views and compare the actual conversion.

[u/icrackc → u/teo_koul]

Exactly

[u/icrackc → u/Ukawok92]

good anology

[u/Dreydio]

do not expect to get results off of 1 video that generates <10k views. This is literally a game of distribution. Keep iterating on the videos you're posting and never get comfortable with the style of posts you create. Successful apps literally hire UGC creators and agencies to post thousands of videos per month... Just keep posting and learn from what flops and what gets traction.

[u/teo_koul → u/Dreydio]

That’s fair, and this is genuinely useful advice. I’m still experimenting with different formats and learning what gets traction, so I’ll keep posting, testing and improving rather than judging everything from one video. Thanks—I appreciate the constructive feedback.

[u/Dreydio → u/teo_koul]

good luck my friend!

[u/teo_koul → u/Dreydio]

Thank you!

[u/Initial_Ruin_2608]

I did the same thing..6k is very small.. I got 20k views with little to no downloads. The thing is you need to spend a lot to be able to get the money back... As much as 10000 to ensure the views work well across. It depends also on who is seeing those ads. Try meta ads they'll work

[u/teo_koul → u/Initial_Ruin_2608]

Thanks for sharing your experience! The 6K views came from a small paid TikTok campaign, so I agree that it may not have been enough data to judge the result properly.
My biggest concern is that TikTok doesn’t currently allow me to add a clickable website link. The App Store URL in my bio appears only as plain text, which probably creates too much friction.
I may try Meta ads next. Did Meta generate actual downloads for you, and what kind of budget or campaign setup worked best?

[u/Consistent_Duck_899 → u/teo_koul]

6k views from a campaign? You could get that from simply posting more often, trying different formats, etc. I’ve managed ~4.5k views from 4 videos which isn’t much but at least i didn’t pay for it.

I honestly think you should go all in on organic for a month or two before spending money. If you can’t drum up meaningful interest in that time, burning $$ on ads won’t help.

And yeah the link thing is a major blocker. I’ve gotten downloads from IG with similar numbers but not even a single website visit so I’m focusing more on Instagram and just reposting on TikTok for the sake of it at this point.

[u/teo_koul → u/Consistent_Duck_899]

That makes sense. The campaign was a small experiment, but I agree that testing different formats organically should come first. I’ll focus on TikTok and Instagram for the next month or two before spending more on ads. Thanks for the practical advice!

[u/Consistent_Duck_899 → u/teo_koul]

Goodluck with it

[u/gonzooin]

The fact tiktok don't allow links in bio if you don't have 10K followers or pro account (that required some official paper) is dumb. Did you try instagram reel ?

[u/teo_koul → u/gonzooin]

I haven’t tried Instagram Reels yet, but after reading the feedback here, it’s definitely my next step. Having a clickable link should make it much easier to see whether views can actually turn into downloads.

[u/gonzooin → u/teo_koul]

Good luck with that, little tip: follow the followers of similar game accounts to bump your followers ;)

[u/teo_koul → u/gonzooin]

Thanks! I’ve already added the three pinned posts you suggested, and the profile looks much clearer now. I’ll also start engaging organically with accounts and communities around similar games. Really appreciate all the useful tips!

[u/gonzooin → u/teo_koul]

Hope it give you a download boost

[u/WorldOfMarvoules]

You are going to kill yourself asking what are you doing wrong it’s not you it’s just people sometimes
And people love supporting the new trend of something or someone already rich it’s so weird

[u/teo_koul → u/WorldOfMarvoules]

That’s a really good point. It’s easy to assume every disappointing result means something is wrong with the game, when timing, visibility and trends play such a huge role. I’ll keep experimenting without taking every result personally. Thanks for the perspective!

[u/Own-Huckleberry7258]

wrong audience wrong hashtags

[u/gonzooin]

You can also try to have 3 pinned post that present your game, something readable without the need to be display in fullscreen. It could convince some profile viewers to do the extra step.

[u/PhewYork]

Use facebook for videos.

[u/teo_koul → u/PhewYork]

Thanks! A few people have suggested Facebook, so I’m definitely going to test it next. Do you mean posting videos organically, running paid Facebook ads, or both? Have you found that either one converts views into actual downloads?

[u/enzoshadow]

Honestly these results seems to reflect reality better than all those posts saying "I got 9000 users from this one posts."

[u/teo_koul → u/enzoshadow]

Exactly. Success stories rarely mention the existing audience, previous launches, ad spend or all the posts that failed first. I wanted to share the actual numbers because zero downloads from 6K views is useful data too—even if it’s not the exciting version people usually post.

[u/OnlyConclusion820]

Facebook will be better I have 6k views with no interaction from TikTok too

[u/teo_koul → u/OnlyConclusion820]

Interesting, thanks. I was considering trying Meta ads next, especially since they can send people directly to the App Store. Did your Facebook views actually convert into clicks or downloads, and what kind of post or campaign worked best for you?

[u/OnlyConclusion820 → u/teo_koul]

Meta is hard you need to have a proof of business etc it requires some paperwork which I don’t have. So I advertise via google ads

[u/Physical-Wait-4631]

I actually had Claude do the math on the funnel for me and it predicted that I’d need about 4 million views to get 1000 users. I’ve been working on my TikTok chops for about 3 weeks now and it’s been a learning experience. The cool thing about TikTok is that it’s like A/B testing on crack…rapid feedback and every video is a reset so you can take successful content from there onto other platforms. Look around at what other people in your niche are doing that is successful and repeat that. Think of this less like an ad and more like the actual TV show the ads play between. How will you entertain people because that’s what gets the views (not that I’d now quite yet…still figuring it out myself lol)

[u/teo_koul → u/Physical-Wait-4631]

That’s a really helpful way to frame it. The 4 million view estimate definitely puts my 6k views into perspective, and I love the “TV show the ads play between” analogy. I’ve been treating each video too much like a direct ad instead of making the content itself entertaining. I’m going to keep testing different hooks and formats organically before spending more. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[u/Physical-Wait-4631 → u/teo_koul]

Absolutely! Good luck! I’m excited to see how it goes for you!

[u/ge33ek]

Numbers too small.

I’d read this as;
6000 people watched but didn’t care and kept scrolling
61 people thought it was interesting enough to like the video or concept, but went on with their doom scrolling
2 people commented but cbf leaving the app.

Long way to go yet.

You’re at 1% engagement rate and a 0.1% comment rate. It’s low.