TikTok has exploded in popularity over the last few years, becoming one of the most downloaded and used social media apps globally. As of 2022, TikTok had over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide (The 50+ Important TikTok Stats Marketers Need to Know). The platform is best known for its short video format where users can create and share 15-60 second videos on any topic.
Becoming “TikTok famous” means amassing a very large following and viewership on the platform. Usually, this means having millions of followers and consistently getting millions of views and likes on your videos. TikTok fame leads to opportunities like brand sponsorships, media interviews, live performances, and even potential careers as full-time influencers.
This guide will provide tips and strategies for how to build an engaged audience on TikTok and create content that stands out. It covers key factors like developing a unique persona, making quality videos, optimizing hashtags, collaborating with others, analyzing data, and more. Follow these steps to increase your views, likes, and followers on TikTok.
Develop Your Persona
To gain a following on TikTok, it’s important to develop a consistent persona and brand that showcases your niche and interests. Determine what you’re passionate about and the type of content you want to create. Popular personas on TikTok include comedians, dancers, musicians, critics, entertainers, and more.
Pick a niche that excites you and that you can create quality content around consistently. For example, if you love comedy, consider creating funny reaction videos or sketch videos in a comedic style. If you’re a talented dancer, post dance videos showcasing your skills. Focus on developing content around your strengths and interests to build an engaged audience.
Craft a consistent persona that shines through all your content. This helps viewers know what to expect from your videos and builds familiarity with your brand. Consider crafting a memorable avatar or profile photo that represents your persona. Come up with a unique username that fits your niche as well.
Stay true to your persona as you create more content. Viewers will come to your profile expecting a certain style and tone based on the brand you build. Leaning into your niche and crafting videos that align with your persona is key to developing an engaged, growing audience on TikTok.
Create Quality Content
One of the best ways to gain a following on TikTok is by creating high-quality, engaging content. According to Descript, videos with high production value tend to perform better on TikTok. Invest time into filming and editing – use good lighting, clear audio, smooth editing transitions, text overlays and effects. Pay attention to trends and viral challenges happening on the platform and put your own spin on them. TikTok’s algorithm favors videos that follow popular formats like dance trends, comedy sketches, point-of-view scenes, reaction videos and more. Participate in hashtag challenges and duets to increase your reach. Descript recommends researching top performers in your niche and analyzing what type of content resonates best with their audience.
Sources:
https://www.descript.com/blog/article/16-tiktok-video-ideas-for-when-your-creative-well-runs-dry
Use Proper Hashtags
Hashtags are essential for getting discovered on TikTok and reaching a wider audience beyond your current followers. Researching trending and niche hashtags relevant to your content can help maximize your discoverability and views. According to Artlist, it’s best practice to use a mix of both popular hashtags with millions of views, as well as more targeted, niche hashtags with a smaller but more engaged audience.
When including hashtags, aim for a mix of 5-10 that are a combination of popular and niche tags. You can research trending hashtags using TikTok’sDiscover and search features. Additionally, sites like All-Hashtags allow you to search by category and view top hashtags. Just be sure not to include an excessive amount of hashtags, as this can appear spammy.
With strategic use of relevant hashtags, you can put your content in front of audiences that are most likely to be interested. This makes proper hashtag research and selection one of the best ways to maximize your TikTok reach.
Post Consistently
To gain a loyal following on TikTok, it’s important to post consistently so your audience knows when to expect new content. You’ll want to aim to post at least once per day, if not multiple times. The more content you put out, the more chances you have of going viral and reaching new viewers.
Take some time to analyze when your target audience is most active on TikTok. Are they browsing during their morning commute or before bed? Look at when your existing posts get the most engagement and try to post consistently around those peak times.
It can be hard to post that frequently while also producing high quality videos. Consider scheduling some content in advance using TikTok’s built-in scheduling tool or third party apps. This allows you to maintain a consistent feed even if you don’t have time to create new content every day.
Consistency is key, so develop a posting schedule that works for you and stick to it. Your followers will come to rely on your daily or multiple times per day posts to get their entertainment fix.
Engage With Your Audience
Engaging with your audience is crucial for building a loyal following and increasing your views and engagement on TikTok. Here are some tips for effectively engaging with your viewers:
Reply to comments and messages – Make an effort to respond to as many comments as you can, especially in the first few hours after posting a video. Even a simple like or emoji can show viewers you appreciate them. Replying to questions and having conversations in comments is a great way to connect. According to Keyhole, responding to comments leads to a 5-15% increase in overall engagement.
Duet and stitch popular videos – Dueting or stitching a trending video or creator’s content and putting your own spin on it is an easy way to tap into an existing audience. Just make sure to give credit to the original poster.
Go live and interact in real-time – Livestreams allow for direct communication with viewers. You can answer questions, get instant feedback, and have more personal conversations. As Adobe suggests, going live daily at a consistent time can help build a community.
Collaborate with Others
One great way to gain more visibility on TikTok is by collaborating with other creators. Doing shoutouts and reposting others’ content is a great way to build relationships. According to this article, successful TikTok collaborations involve “leveraging each other’s audiences to achieve common goals.”
Create duets featuring popular creators to introduce your content to their followers. You can also reach out to larger accounts and offer to create guest posts or take over their account for a day. Getting featured on established accounts will help expose your content to a wider audience. The key is finding creators to collaborate with who have an audience that would be interested in your content as well. Building relationships can lead to cross-promotions that help grow both of your followings.
Analyze Your Analytics
Studying your analytics is one of the best ways to optimize your content and growth on TikTok. Pay close attention to key stats like views, likes, comments, shares, and watch time to see which types of posts are performing the best. You can access your analytics by going to your profile, tapping the three-line menu, and selecting “Analytics”.
According to PlannThat, TikTok’s analytics tool allows you to “See how your videos are doing over the past 7, 30, or 60 days. Get stats like plays, likes, comments, shares, profile visits, followers, and more. See top videos, follower growth, traffic sources, and watch time.” Using these metrics will help you fine-tune your content strategy to maximize engagement.
[Source: https://www.plannthat.com/how-to-use-tiktok-analytics-tool/]
LinkedIn recommends analyzing your audience demographics to see which age groups, genders, locations, and devices generate the most views. You can then tailor content accordingly. They also suggest tracking how viewers discover your videos, so you know which hashtags, sounds, or profiles lead to the most traffic.
[Source: https://www.linkedin.com/advice/3/how-can-you-effectively-use-tiktok-analytics-grow]
Consistently monitoring your TikTok analytics will provide valuable insights to refine your content strategy and achieve faster growth.
Promote Your Account
Once you have built up a solid base of content and followers on TikTok, it’s time to promote your account more widely to gain greater reach. Consider promoting your TikTok account and content on other social platforms like Instagram and YouTube where you already have an established audience. You can share your best performing TikTok videos natively within Instagram Stories and YouTube Shorts. This allows you to tap into your existing follower base elsewhere to drive traffic back to your TikTok profile.
Running paid advertising campaigns can be an effective way to get your TikTok content in front of new audiences. You can use TikTok’s self-serve ads platform to target your promotions based on demographics, interests, behaviors and more. Consider teaming up with relevant influencers in your niche and running collaborative paid ad campaigns to tap into their follower bases. Offer to split the ad spend and profits with them.
Reaching out to media outlets and bloggers that cover your niche is another great promotion tactic. Getting your TikTok account featured in relevant articles and roundups allows you to gain credibility and exposure to aligned audiences. Make it easy for writers by offering story ideas, sample videos, interviews and statistics around the growth and engagement of your TikTok account.
Persist and Evolve
It can be discouraging when your account grows slowly at first. Many successful creators say it took months or even years before their accounts started gaining significant traction. Don’t get discouraged – persist and continue improving your content over time.
Don’t give up just because your first few videos don’t go viral. As you post more content, the algorithm will start to learn what your audience responds to. Focus on improving the quality of your videos, using better equipment, and developing your on-screen personality. The more content you put out, the more chances you have to create that viral hit.
It’s also important to adapt as TikTok introduces new features. For example, when TikTok launched Duets and Stitch, creators had to learn how to use those tools to creatively engage with other videos. Pay attention to new music or meme trends as well. By constantly evolving your content, you can keep growing your account.
As this source notes, persistence is key: “It takes a little extra work, but I think it saves you from getting shadow-banned by their filtering algorithm.” Don’t give up, and eventually your hard work on TikTok will pay off!
