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Guides and blog

Resources to help you use Volume more effectively. Short videos and step by step guides.

Guides

Video walkthroughs of building with Volume, step by step.

How to build TikTok and Instagram slideshows with your AI agent using the Volume MCP

Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code or Codex to Volume, describe a slideshow, and watch your agent build it in the editor.

Jake Coppen6 minRead the guide

Blog

What we have learned growing apps with TikTok slideshows.

September 21, 2026, 5 min read

How to Market a Mobile App on TikTok With No Budget and No Filming

The best way to market a mobile app on TikTok with no budget is to post faceless slideshows consistently: copy formats that already work in your niche, lead with useful content, and send viewers to your app with a clear call to action. It costs nothing but time, and you never have to film yourself.

September 21, 2026, 5 min read

How to Make TikTok Slideshows for Your App (Step by Step)

Marketing a consumer app takes a lot of time, and most founders don't know where to begin. That's especially true for indie hackers and solo founders, who only have so many hours for marketing and can't post at the volume social media rewards.

September 21, 2026, 6 min read

TikTok Slideshow Hooks That Work: 50 Examples by Niche

The hook is the most important slide in any TikTok slideshow. If the first slide doesn't make someone stop and swipe, nothing after it matters. A strong slideshow hook does three things: it tells the viewer exactly what they'll get, promises something valuable, and creates enough curiosity that they need to see the rest.

September 21, 2026, 3 min read

How Many TikTok Slideshows Should You Post Per Day?

Post as many TikTok slideshows as you can today while still being able to post tomorrow. Many accounts can comfortably post 10 to 15 slideshows a day with 60 to 90 minutes between each one, but consistency matters far more than any single day's number.

September 21, 2026, 4 min read

How to Warm Up a New TikTok Account Before Posting for Your Brand

To warm up a new TikTok account, use it like a normal person for a couple of days before you post. Spend a few minutes each day liking, commenting, sharing, saving, and following accounts in your niche. It helps TikTok understand what your account is about and that a real person is behind it.

September 21, 2026, 3 min read

Is It Safe to Auto Post to TikTok? Official API vs Unofficial Tools

Yes, auto posting to TikTok is safe when the tool uses TikTok's official Content Posting API. TikTok built this API so apps can post to users' accounts, and posting through it is fully within the rules. The risk comes from unofficial automation, like bots, scripts, or emulated phones, which TikTok prohibits and can ban accounts for.

September 21, 2026, 4 min read

TikTok Slideshows vs Video: Which Gets More Views for Apps?

Both TikTok slideshows and videos can drive millions of views. Large studies show video often has an edge in average reach, while slideshows can match or beat video on engagement. For most app founders, slideshows are the better choice anyway: they take 15 to 30 minutes to make instead of hours, they're easier to work your product into, and they're far easier to repeat and automate.

September 21, 2026, 3 min read

How to Use Claude to Automate Faceless Slideshows for TikTok and Instagram

Faceless content is one of the most reliable ways to grow an app on social media right now. Instead of relying on a founder filming themselves or a creator you have to manage, faceless slideshows and carousels let you post consistently from anywhere, test dozens of hooks, and work your product into content naturally.

September 21, 2026, 6 min read

Best Tools to Automate TikTok Posting in 2026

Posting to TikTok every day is one of the most reliable ways to grow an app, and one of the hardest to keep up with. Between making content, testing hooks, and publishing across multiple accounts, it can eat hours a day. That's why more founders are turning to TikTok automation tools.

September 21, 2026, 6 min read

Volume vs ReelFarm: Which TikTok Slideshow Tool Is Right for You?

TikTok slideshows are one of the most reliable ways to grow an app or brand organically, and two of the tools built specifically for them are Volume and ReelFarm. Both create slideshows, post them to TikTok automatically, and let you run multiple accounts. But they're built for slightly different people.

November 8, 2026, 5 min read

Volume vs Virlo: Which Tool Shows You What's Working on TikTok?

Volume and Virlo both help you find short-form content that's working before you make your own. Virlo is a research and social listening platform for TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. Volume is a library of what's working by niche on TikTok, Instagram and Meta ads, plus a slideshow editor that makes and posts your version. Here's how they compare.

November 5, 2026, 8 min read

Best Tools to Find Viral TikTok Formats and Trends in 2026

The best tool to find viral TikTok formats is the Volume Library: it lists the TikTok and Instagram posts that beat their own account's average views, by niche, with the format and hook behind each, and your AI agent can search it. It comes with Volume's slideshow editor and TikTok scheduling, from $29.99 a month after a 3-day free trial. For research across more platforms, Virlo is the most complete. For TikTok's own view of trending hashtags and top ads, use the free TikTok Creative Center.

November 5, 2026, 4 min read

Virlo Alternatives in 2026: 6 Tools for Finding What's Working on TikTok

The best Virlo alternative is the Volume Library: TikTok and Instagram posts that beat their account's average, by niche, including photo slideshows and long-running Meta ads, that your AI agent can search, with a slideshow editor and TikTok scheduling to make your own version. It starts at $29.99 a month after a 3-day free trial; Virlo starts at $49. If you want a research tool more like Virlo, look at Sandcastles for scripts from outliers or Shortimize for tracking accounts you already know.

November 5, 2026, 3 min read

TikTok Creative Center Alternatives: 5 Tools That Show What's Working in 2026

TikTok Creative Center is free and comes straight from TikTok, but it ranks by raw views, covers TikTok only, and shows little until you log in. The best alternative is the Volume Library, which ranks TikTok and Instagram posts against each account's own average, by niche, and adds long-running Meta ads, from $29.99 a month after a 3-day free trial. Its What's working pages are free to read. For research across more platforms, Virlo is the most complete; for trending sounds, Tokchart.

November 5, 2026, 5 min read

Best TikTok Analytics Tools in 2026 (Free and Paid)

For your own TikTok account, TikTok Studio's built-in analytics is free and enough to start. To see which posts in your niche are beating their account's average, the Volume Library does that across TikTok and Instagram, from $29.99 a month after a 3-day free trial. For competitor benchmarking across networks, Socialinsider and Rival IQ are built for it, and Metricool has the best free plan, including an MCP server for AI agents.

November 5, 2026, 5 min read

Best Free Social Listening Tools in 2026, Plus One for TikTok and Instagram

Only a handful of social listening tools are genuinely free. For alerts when your brand name appears, use Google Alerts and Talkwalker Alerts; for Reddit, F5Bot. Almost none of the free ones cover TikTok and Instagram, so for what's resonating there in your niche, use the Volume Library, which your AI agent can search too, from $29.99 a month after a 3-day free trial. Brand24, Mentionlytics and Awario have free trials, not free plans.

November 5, 2026, 5 min read

Best AI TikTok Slideshow Makers in 2026

The best AI TikTok slideshow maker for most marketers is Volume: your own AI agent (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code or Codex) builds the slideshow in its editor from formats already working in your niche, and it schedules straight to TikTok. For hands-off daily TikTok posting, ReelFarm automates it. For one scheduler across many networks with an MCP, look at Genviral, Postiz or Blotato.

November 5, 2026, 3 min read

ReelFarm Alternatives in 2026: 5 Tools for TikTok Slideshows

The best ReelFarm alternative is Volume if you want your AI agent to make slideshows from formats already working in your niche and schedule them to TikTok, with a library of what's working to start from, from $29.99 a month after a 3-day free trial. Genviral and Postiz are strong picks if you want one scheduler across many networks with an MCP, and PostNitro if your slides double as Instagram and LinkedIn carousels.

November 5, 2026, 4 min read

Best Ad Inspiration Tools in 2026: Meta and TikTok Ad Libraries Compared

The best free places to find ad inspiration are the Meta Ad Library (every live Facebook and Instagram ad, searchable by brand) and Volume's Meta ads pages, which group the longest-running ads by niche so you can see what brands keep paying for. TikTok Top Ads is free for TikTok. For a paid swipe file with competitor tracking and an MCP, Foreplay is the most complete and Swipekit the cheapest.

November 5, 2026, 4 min read

Best MCP Servers for Marketing in 2026

The most useful MCP servers for marketing connect your AI agent to the data you already use: Ahrefs or Semrush for SEO, HubSpot for CRM, Meta's own Ads MCP for campaigns, PostHog or Google Analytics for product and web data, and Canva for design. For short-form content, Volume's MCP lets your agent search what's working on TikTok and Instagram, then build slideshows and schedule them to TikTok, from $29.99 a month after a 3-day free trial.

What’s working on TikTok this week, by niche

Updated daily: the formats, hooks and slideshows beating their own accounts’ usual views in each niche, with real examples and the numbers. Free to read.

Across every niche: TikTok trends this week, slideshows and carousels, viral hooks, Meta ads that keep running.

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