How to Find Viral Products on TikTok

Everyone wants to find a winning product on TikTok, but most people just scroll endlessly hoping to get lucky. There's a much smarter, more methodical way to unearth products that have the potential to take off. This guide will give you the exact strategies and step-by-step methods to stop passively scrolling and start actively hunting for your next viral hit.

The Mindset Shift: Stop Scrolling, Start Investigating

Before you learn the tactics, you need to change your mindset. Don't use TikTok as an entertainment app when you're doing product research. Think of yourself as a detective looking for clues. Every video, comment section, hashtag, and user profile is a potential lead. The "TikTok Made Me Buy It" trend isn't an accident, it's a predictable outcome of specific product characteristics meeting a powerful algorithm.

The beauty of TikTok is that users reward authenticity and utility. They aren’t seeing a polished, perfect TV commercial. They’re seeing a real person showing how a portable blender saved their morning routine or how a pink cleaning paste actually removed a stubborn stain. This user-generated proof is what drives sales. Your job is to find the products that generate this kind of genuine excitement *before* they become completely saturated.

Your First Stop: Mastering the TikTok Search Bar

The TikTok search bar is far more powerful than most people realize. It’s your primary tool for digging deep and getting ahead of trends. Used correctly, it serves as a direct pipeline into consumer demand. Go beyond just typing in product names, use it to discover categories and spot emerging interest.

Go Deep with Hashtags

Hashtags are the filing system of TikTok. They categorize content and allow users to find exactly what they’re looking for. Monitoring the right ones is like having a direct line to consumer trends. Here's a starter list of hashtags to search and follow:

• #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt: The classic. This is ground zero for viral products that have already gained traction. Look for videos with high engagement (likes, comments, saves) and check how recently they were posted.
• #AmazonFinds & #AmazonMustHaves: Perfect for identifying potentially dropshippable products. People use these hashtags to showcase interesting, useful, or quirky items they discovered on Amazon.
• #ViralProduct: This is a straightforward tag used by creators who believe they have something special on their hands. It's a great way to see what else producers are trying to make a hit.
• #CleaningTikTok & #KitchenHacks: Niche-specific hashtags are goldmines. If you’re interested in a particular category, search for "[Your Niche] + TikTok" or "[Your Niche] + Hacks." Seeing what organizers people love (#OrganizationTikTok) or what gadgets are saving time in the kitchen (#KitchenGadgets) is priceless research.

Use Broad Keywords to Discover Niches

Don’t limit yourself to specific product types. Instead, search for broad terms and problems people are trying to solve. This can lead you to unexpected product categories you wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

Try searching for terms like:

• “Cool tech”
• “Problem solving products”
• “Gift ideas for him/her”
• “Organization must-haves”
• “Apartment upgrades”

As you scroll through the results, pay attention to the patterns. Are multiple videos showing the same clever foldable cutting board? Did three different creators feature a portable, pocket-sized projector? When the same product appears under multiple broad searches, you’ve found a signal.

Pay Attention to Suggested Searches

When you start typing in the search bar, TikTok's autofill will give you a list of Suggested Searches. This isn't random, it reflects what other users are actively looking for. If you type "skincare," TikTok might suggest "skincare for acne," "skincare for oily skin," or "viral korean skincare product." These suggestions are direct insights into popular sub-niches and user pain points. Click through them and see what products are dominating those conversations.

Turn Your "For You Page" into a Product Goldmine

Your For You Page (FYP) is driven by an algorithm that's designed to show you more of what you engage with. Instead of letting it serve you random content, you can deliberately train it to become your personal product scouting assistant.

Train Your Algorithm Like a Pro

The algorithm learns from every action you take (and don't take). To coax it into showing you trending products, you need to adjust your behavior accordingly.

1. Engage with Product Videos: When you see a video featuring a product, don't just watch it. Like it. Save it to a dedicated "Product Ideas" collection. Leave a comment, even something simple like "That's so cool!" or "Where did you get that?" And most importantly, watch the video all the way through, or even multiple times. These are all powerful signals.
2. Follow the Right Accounts: Search for and follow creators who specialize in product discovery. These can be reviewers, influencers in specific niches (like home, beauty, or tech), and accounts dedicated to dropshipping finds. When you follow them, the algorithm starts associating your profile with their type of content.
3. Click on Sounds and Hashtags: Notice a trending sound being used on a lot of product videos? Click it to see who else is using it. Following these little trails can often lead you to an earlier, less saturated version of a trend.

Create a Dedicated Research Account

Your personal TikTok account is probably tailored to your hobbies, friends, and general interests. Trying to train that same algorithm for product research can muddy the waters. The easiest solution? Create a second, brand-new TikTok account dedicated solely to your research.

Use this new account to exclusively engage with product-related content. Follow product reviewers, brands, and trend-spotters. Like, save, and comment only on videos about products. Within a few days, your FYP will transform from a random mix of entertainment into a highly-curated feed of potential winners.

Unlock Hidden Insights with TikTok's Own Tools

While the front-facing app is powerful, TikTok offers some behind-the-scenes tools that provide invaluable data for marketers and product researchers.

The TikTok Creative Center: Your Secret Weapon

This is the most underutilized tool in the entire product research toolkit. The TikTok Creative Center is a free resource designed to help advertisers, but it’s an absolute goldmine for product research. Head to the "Trends" tab and look for the "Top Products" section. Here, you can filter by region and category to see which products are gaining popularity on the platform, backed by actual data. It shows you the percentage increase in popularity over a week or month, giving you concrete evidence of what's on the rise.

Browse the TikTok Shop Like a Customer

Now a massive part of the platform, TikTok Shop is a living catalog of what's selling right now. Don't just browse casually. Look for the "Best Sellers" and "Trending" sections within the Shop. See which products have tens of thousands of sales. These products have already proven their ability to convert on the platform.

Think beyond just finding established winners here. Look at the type of videos that creators are making to promote these Shop products through the affiliate program. Notice how they demonstrate the value, what hooks they use, and which kinds of reviews get the most engagement. This is free market research on how to sell a product effectively on TikTok.

What Makes a Product Go Viral? The Winning Formula

After finding a few potential candidates, you need a framework to evaluate their viral potential. Not every "cool" product is a winning product. Viral products usually share a few common traits.

The "Wow" Factor: Visual Appeal and Instant Gratification

A viral product must be visually compelling. Can a complete stranger understand its appeal within the first three seconds of a video? Products like the sunset lamp, galaxy projectors, or portable electric whisks are perfect examples. They have an immediate visual hook. It's either beautiful, incredibly satisfying, or dramatically different. Ask yourself: does this product make you stop scrolling?

The Problem-Solver: Does it Make Life Easier?

Many of the most successful TikTok products address a common annoyance in a clever way. Think of the car headrest hook for holding a purse, the little gadget that squeezes all the toothpaste out of the tube, or an innovative vegetable chopping tool. These items offer a simple solution to a persistent problem. A great problem-solving product makes the viewer think, "I didn't even know I needed that, but now I can't live without it."

The Goldmine in the Comments Section

The comment section is your most honest form of market research. Scan the comments on videos featuring the product. If they are filled with questions like, "WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?!", "Link please!", or people tagging their friends saying "we need this!", you've found a strong buying signal. A high volume of shares and saves also indicates that people want to remember this product for later, which is another sign of purchase intent.

Final Thoughts

Finding a viral product on TikTok is less about luck and more about a consistent process of investigation. By mastering search, actively training your algorithm, using TikTok's own data tools, and learning to identify the traits of a winner, you can dramatically increase your chances of finding a product that connects with millions.

Once you've found that product, the real work of content creation, planning, and consistent posting begins. We know how chaotic it can feel to juggle video uploads and schedules across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. At Postbase, we built our whole platform around making that process seamless with a visual calendar that just makes sense for modern social media, helping you stay organized so you can focus on building momentum for your next big hit.