/Content Marketing
Question
My video got 400k views and I made exactly 3 sales - what went wrong?
Posted by •12/15/2025
Finally had a video take off after 2 months of trying. 400k views, 15k likes, hundreds of comments asking where to buy.
I was SO excited. Checked my store obsessively.
3 sales. €87 total revenue.
The video was a satisfying demo of my product (a reusable lint roller thing). People seemed to love it in the comments. But basically nobody actually bought.
I had link in bio pointing to my store. Product is €19.99. Shipping is €4.99 (I know, I know, working on getting free shipping set up).
What happened? I thought the hard part was getting views. Turns out views mean nothing?
I was SO excited. Checked my store obsessively.
3 sales. €87 total revenue.
The video was a satisfying demo of my product (a reusable lint roller thing). People seemed to love it in the comments. But basically nobody actually bought.
I had link in bio pointing to my store. Product is €19.99. Shipping is €4.99 (I know, I know, working on getting free shipping set up).
What happened? I thought the hard part was getting views. Turns out views mean nothing?
4 Replies
•12/15/2025
Ok I checked my analytics:
- Site visits that day: 1,847 (way more than usual)
- Add to carts: 23
- Completed purchases: 3
So 23 people added to cart and 20 of them bounced at checkout. That seems like a checkout problem, not a product problem?
Also my followers went from 340 to 2,100 so that is something.
I think you're all right that shipping cost is the killer. €19.99 feels reasonable until they see €24.98 at checkout. Going to switch to €24.99 with free shipping and see if that helps next time.
- Site visits that day: 1,847 (way more than usual)
- Add to carts: 23
- Completed purchases: 3
So 23 people added to cart and 20 of them bounced at checkout. That seems like a checkout problem, not a product problem?
Also my followers went from 340 to 2,100 so that is something.
I think you're all right that shipping cost is the killer. €19.99 feels reasonable until they see €24.98 at checkout. Going to switch to €24.99 with free shipping and see if that helps next time.
•12/16/2025
23 add to carts → 3 purchases is a ~13% cart conversion rate. Industry standard is 45-70%.
So yeah, your product and content are fine. People WANT it. They're abandoning at checkout.
Shipping is likely the main culprit but also check:
- How many payment options do you have? (Add PayPal, Apple Pay, etc.)
- What does your checkout look like on mobile?
- Is there a trust issue? (No reviews, sketchy-looking site?)
- Does shipping time surprise them? (If it says 2-3 weeks from China they might bail)
The good news: this is very fixable. You proved the content can work. Now fix the checkout and try to go viral again with that same formula.
2,100 followers and a viral formula is actually a great foundation. Most people never get that far.
So yeah, your product and content are fine. People WANT it. They're abandoning at checkout.
Shipping is likely the main culprit but also check:
- How many payment options do you have? (Add PayPal, Apple Pay, etc.)
- What does your checkout look like on mobile?
- Is there a trust issue? (No reviews, sketchy-looking site?)
- Does shipping time surprise them? (If it says 2-3 weeks from China they might bail)
The good news: this is very fixable. You proved the content can work. Now fix the checkout and try to go viral again with that same formula.
2,100 followers and a viral formula is actually a great foundation. Most people never get that far.
•12/15/2025
Had the same experience. 600k views on one video, 8 sales.
But here's what I learned: that viral video brought me 2,000 followers who DID convert later on subsequent posts.
The viral video itself didn't sell. But it built an audience of people vaguely interested in my niche. Then when I posted more targeted, less-viral but higher-intent content, those followers actually bought.
Think of viral content as top-of-funnel awareness. It's not supposed to convert directly - it's supposed to build your audience. Then you nurture that audience with content until they're ready to buy.
Did your follower count jump? That's the real win from viral videos, not immediate sales.
But here's what I learned: that viral video brought me 2,000 followers who DID convert later on subsequent posts.
The viral video itself didn't sell. But it built an audience of people vaguely interested in my niche. Then when I posted more targeted, less-viral but higher-intent content, those followers actually bought.
Think of viral content as top-of-funnel awareness. It's not supposed to convert directly - it's supposed to build your audience. Then you nurture that audience with content until they're ready to buy.
Did your follower count jump? That's the real win from viral videos, not immediate sales.
•12/15/2025
A few things I noticed:
**"Link in bio" is a weak CTA.** On TikTok, getting someone to:
1. Stop watching
2. Go to your profile
3. Find the link
4. Click it
5. Wait for site to load
6. Find product
7. Add to cart
8. Checkout
...is A LOT of friction. Most people think "cool" and keep scrolling.
**Better approaches:**
- Use TikTok Shop if available in your region (one-click purchase)
- Pin a comment with clearer CTA
- Create urgency: "Only 50 left" or "20% off this week"
- Reply to "where to buy" comments with link FAST while video is still hot
**Also: €4.99 shipping on a €19.99 product is a conversion killer.** That's 25% added at checkout. People see €24.98 total and bounce. Bake shipping into price (€24.99 free shipping) or offer free shipping threshold.
Viral reach is only half the battle. Converting that reach is a whole different skill.
**"Link in bio" is a weak CTA.** On TikTok, getting someone to:
1. Stop watching
2. Go to your profile
3. Find the link
4. Click it
5. Wait for site to load
6. Find product
7. Add to cart
8. Checkout
...is A LOT of friction. Most people think "cool" and keep scrolling.
**Better approaches:**
- Use TikTok Shop if available in your region (one-click purchase)
- Pin a comment with clearer CTA
- Create urgency: "Only 50 left" or "20% off this week"
- Reply to "where to buy" comments with link FAST while video is still hot
**Also: €4.99 shipping on a €19.99 product is a conversion killer.** That's 25% added at checkout. People see €24.98 total and bounce. Bake shipping into price (€24.99 free shipping) or offer free shipping threshold.
Viral reach is only half the battle. Converting that reach is a whole different skill.
•12/15/2025
400k views and 3 sales is painful but actually pretty common for viral content. Let me break down what probably happened:
**The viral content problem:**
When a video goes viral, it gets shown to EVERYONE, not just your target buyers. You probably got views from:
- Kids who think it's cool but have no money
- People in countries you don't ship to
- People who just like watching satisfying videos with no intent to buy
- Random people the algorithm decided to test on
**Let's trace the funnel:**
400k views → maybe 2-4% clicked bio (8-16k)
16k bio clicks → maybe 10-20% clicked link (1.6-3.2k site visitors)
3k visitors → at 0.1% conversion = 3 sales
So your numbers might actually be... normal? Just at every step there's massive drop-off.
**Questions to investigate:**
1. How many people actually visited your site? (Check analytics)
2. How many added to cart vs purchased?
3. What's your page like on mobile? (Most TikTok traffic is mobile)
**The viral content problem:**
When a video goes viral, it gets shown to EVERYONE, not just your target buyers. You probably got views from:
- Kids who think it's cool but have no money
- People in countries you don't ship to
- People who just like watching satisfying videos with no intent to buy
- Random people the algorithm decided to test on
**Let's trace the funnel:**
400k views → maybe 2-4% clicked bio (8-16k)
16k bio clicks → maybe 10-20% clicked link (1.6-3.2k site visitors)
3k visitors → at 0.1% conversion = 3 sales
So your numbers might actually be... normal? Just at every step there's massive drop-off.
**Questions to investigate:**
1. How many people actually visited your site? (Check analytics)
2. How many added to cart vs purchased?
3. What's your page like on mobile? (Most TikTok traffic is mobile)