How SNL Got Their Most Viewed TikTok Ever.

The real reason a recent sketch hit 50 million views in 48 hours.

Hello, and welcome to the 8 (!) new subscribers since last week’s column about Netflix announcing a John Mulaney-led, weekly live talk show. The first portion of today’s piece will be freely available, while the remainder will be for paid subscribers only.

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Popping in to share how Saturday Night Live got 57 million views (and counting) on a clip of a recent Ariana Grande sketch posted on TikTok two days ago.

But first, here’s some free thoughts on SNL’s current social media presence.

YouTube: @snl (14.7 million followers, 8.8K videos)

I think their YouTube “About” section is a bit of a mess, and could use a tune-up:

The first part is a bit lifeless, and the word “favorite” is used twice:

Welcome to the official Saturday Night Live channel on YouTube! Here you will find your favorite sketches, behind-the-scenes clips, and web exclusives, featuring all your favorite hosts and cast members.

Inject some personality here – you’re SNL, not IBM!!

I’d also vary the usage of “SNL” vs. “Saturday Night Live” to cover both ways people refer to the show, and add keywords like comedy, funny, and videos for SEO purposes.

The second part reads like a placed ad for Peacock:

All seasons of Saturday Night Live are now available on Peacock. Watch thousands of hours of hit movies and shows, plus daily news, sports, and pop culture updates. Stream now on Peacock: https://bit.ly/3esVzIq

And including a non-clickable bit.ly URL for Peacock (presumably to track all the signups that come directly from this specific page) will yield minimal conversion.

Underneath all that, we have six Links – five of which go to SNL’s other social media.

First of all, the top and bottom URLs are just plain ugly, and look like spam.

Here’s the full first one:

https://www.peacocktv.com/?cid=20200101evergreensymyt186&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=symphony_onlinevideo_brandawareness_aboutlink&utm_campaign=20200101evergreen&utm_term=saturdaynightlive&utm_content=peacockbrandaboutlink

I’m assuming it’s so long because of embedded tracking, but a URL as simple as https://www.peacocktv.com would get the job done just as easily. Alternatively, use the currently unclickable bit.ly link in its place. They both lead to the same destination.

Additionally, having a button to subscribe to the SNL YouTube channel when I’m already on the SNL YouTube channel is a bit redundant.

As for all the other social links, what value am I getting by following SNL on TikTok or Facebook that I don’t already get by subscribing to the YouTube channel?

Do you actually want your YouTube audience to follow you on Instagram? Or would you rather they watch the full, 90 minute episodes on Peacock or NBC?

My assumption is the latter.

I first talked about the concept of the digital marketing funnel in The Top Mistakes Every Comedian Makes On Social Media, but I’ll re-share a relevant excerpt:

Regardless of what you post, consider that each individual social media channel (TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) sits at the top level of a funnel designed to guide your digital audience downstream towards a specific series of actions:

That action might be to buy tickets to your upcoming tour, or to watch your newest hour-long special, or to subscribe to your mailing list, or to listen to your podcast.

But more often than not, the funnel is leaky.

Instead, comedians tend to pinball their online audience back and forth between their various, undifferentiated digital platforms at the top level of the funnel.

Rather than all pointing towards the same action, their Instagram bio links to their YouTube channel. Their YouTube videos embed their inactive Twitter account in each video description. Their Twitter bio plugs their abandoned podcast from 2021.

None of it is optimized for conversion, and so there’s a ton of friction between their growing social media presence and half-filled seats at their live shows.

All of this same logic can be applied here. Only instead of a podcast or tour, it seems like the actual goal is to drive subscribers towards the full-length episodes on Peacock.

So offer us one Link (Peacock), and have the revised “About” copy funnel us towards it.

Perhaps you can introduce a code like “SNL50” for a 50-day free trial in honor of the show’s 50th Season, so you can measure its effectiveness.

Instagram: @nbcsnl (7.6 million followers, 8,912 posts)

Bio Copy: I don’t really understand the practicality of tagging @nbc and @peacock . It’s not like their IG profiles offer any additional, SNL-related content. I’d also probably type ‘SNL’ instead of ‘Saturday Night Live’ so you hit both when searched.

Location: Love this touch.

Link in Bio: linktr.ee/snl

• You should all know by now how I feel about LinkTree.

• Currently, SNL’s LinkTree features five links and five social icons.

• There are two video links to the recent musical guest’s performances (Stevie NIcks, atm), and three links to Peacock, YouTube, and Ticket info:

TikTok: @nbcsnl (8.6 million followers)

Bio Copy: They butcher their own signature catchphrase (it should technically be, “Live from TikTok, it’s Saturday Night!” without the second “Live”.

I think this line would be great if it was consistent across platforms (“Live from Instagram…”, “Live from YouTube…”, etc.)

Link in Bio: Their Instagram profile. Psst – you can just embed that below! E.g., Hulu:

It’s strange how SNL’s LinkTree isn’t utilized on TikTok, only on Instagram.

This is especially curious because their X (Twitter) bio link is their YouTube channel.

So for those keeping track, SNL’s TikTok funnels us to their Instagram, which funnels us to their LinkTree, where you can find their Twitter, which funnels us to their YouTube, where we are encouraged to follow them on all their other social media.

Oo-wee! What up with that?!

I couldn’t help myself.

Anyway, on to their most viewed TikTok video of all time:

@nbcsnlbest weekend ever

Tiktok failed to load.

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Quick Stats (at time of writing):

• 57.6M Views, 6.6M Likes, 11.1K Comments, 264.5K Shares, 344.3K Saves

• Like PCT: 11.5% | Comment PCT: 0.02% | Share PCT: 0.5% | Save PCT: 0.6%

• Video Length: 2 min 14 seconds

• Text Hook: none

• Hashtags: none

While it certainly helps that the song being parodied (“Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter) is one of the most popular TikTok songs ever (324K+ uses at the time of writing this), and having talented singers deliberately sing off-key is always hilarious (Tim Minchin’s “F Sharp”, anyone??), there’s one simple trick being employed here.