Followers are incredibly important on TikTok because they help increase your visibility and reach. Accounts with more followers tend to rank higher in algorithmic recommendations and searches. Followers also indicate social proof and credibility, making your account seem more established and trustworthy. In addition, having an engaged follower base provides opportunities for monetization through sponsorships and branded content deals.
Gaining 1,000 new followers quickly on TikTok does require consistent effort. While growth hacking tactics can help, true follower growth takes time. This guide will provide tips to optimize your profile and content strategy to attract real, engaged followers organically. However, patience and persistence are key to building an audience on any social platform.
According to social media expert Mike Gingerich, “Having a substantial amount of followers on TikTok is important as these followers can help you make sales and grow your business online.” Source
Optimize Your Profile
Optimizing your TikTok profile is one of the most important steps to gaining more followers quickly. Fill out your bio with a memorable, descriptive username, bio text that conveys your niche, and relevant hashtags that will help you get discovered. According to The Leap, “Optimize the text in your TikTok bio” by being “clear about who you are and what you do.”
Make sure to add a profile and cover photo that communicate your brand. Link to your other social media accounts like Instagram or YouTube so fans can find you elsewhere. As tips from Ampfluence mention, “A good, memorable name plays a vital role in your TikTok bio.”
Leverage Trends
Making videos using trending sounds, challenges, and hashtags is a great way to get more views and followers quickly on TikTok. Keep an eye on what’s currently popular by checking TikTok’s trending page and hashtag pages. Some of the most popular current trends include the “One Thing About Me” trend, “Jiggle Check” dance trend, and songs like “About Damn Time” by Lizzo. Participate in trending challenges, create dances using trending sounds, make reaction videos using popular audios, and use relevant hashtags. This allows your content to be discovered by people looking for those trends. As certain trends fade, stay on top of emerging ones. Leveraging trends strategically when they are peaking in popularity can expose your profile to large amounts of new viewers.
Engage With Your Niche
One of the best ways to get more followers on TikTok is to actively engage with content and creators in your niche. According to Medium, identifying your niche and creating content around it is key to growing your audience. Start by liking, commenting on, and duetting videos from other accounts in your niche. This gets you on their radar and exposes you to their existing follower base.
When engaging with other accounts, provide value through your comments. Ask thoughtful questions, provide useful feedback, or share how their content relates to your own experiences. The more you interact authentically, the more likely others will be to check out your profile and follow you back.
Duetting niche videos can be especially powerful. As Buffer explains, duets allow you to put your own spin on popular trends and topics within your niche. Done right, you can capture the attention of the original video’s audience, earning new followers in the process. Just be sure your duets add value for viewers.
Staying active in your niche helps position you as an expert. The more consistent and thoughtful your interactions, the faster your targeted following will grow.
Post High-Quality Videos
High-quality videos are more likely to go viral and gain traction on TikTok. Focus on the following elements when creating videos:
Use good lighting and optimal camera angles to make your video look professional. Make sure the subject is properly framed and in focus according to TikTok’s creative best practices. Avoid shaky camerawork by using tripods and camera stabilizers.
Invest time in editing your videos using transitions, text, effects, and trimming to polish the final product. Smooth editing that enhances the storyline or provides emphasis will engage viewers.
Add captions, sounds, voice-overs, and music that improve watchability and tie into trends. Choose audio that complements your brand and hooks the audience within the first few seconds.
Overall, well-produced videos that look like they took effort and creativity inspire more likes, comments, and shares on the platform.
Post Consistently
Posting consistently is key to gaining a large following on TikTok. According to TikTok’s best practices, you should aim to post 1-4 videos per day. This may seem like a lot, but regular posting is essential for showing up in user’s For You feeds and getting your content in front of new viewers.
To keep up with daily posting, try scheduling videos in advance using a social media management platform. This allows you to space out content over time so you’re not scrambling to create new videos every day. Having a backlog of videos ready to go makes it much easier to stick to a consistent posting schedule.
Aim to establish a regular cadence for your account, such as posting 2-3 videos at optimal times each day. Consistency is key on TikTok, so make sure you can commit to regular posting over the long-term.
Use Relevant Hashtags
One of the best ways to get more views and followers on TikTok is to use a combination of popular, niche, and broad hashtags that are relevant to your target audience and content. According to TikTok’s Trend Discovery tool, some of the most popular hashtags on the platform cover categories like fitness, sports, health, and more [1]. Researching trending hashtags in your niche is a great way to reach users who are actively searching for that type of content.
It’s important to use a mix of both niche hashtags tailored to your specific content, as well as more general hashtags that cast a wider net. For example, a fitness content creator could use niche tags like #gymworkout or #fitnessmotivation along with broader tags like #fitness and #workout. Just make sure the hashtags accurately reflect the content of your video. According to experts, aiming for a mix of about 5-10 niche hashtags and 5-10 broader tags is ideal for getting more views on TikTok [2].
Run Collabs
Collaborating with similar, larger accounts can help grow your TikTok following quickly. Doing “shoutout for shoutout” collaborations where you promote each other’s accounts is an effective strategy.
According to TikTok’s blog post on brand collaborations, partnering with creators that resonate with your target audience can drive great results (https://www.tiktok.com/business/en-US/blog/brand-collaborations-tiktok-creators-drive-big-results). When you collaborate with larger accounts in your niche, you gain exposure to their existing audience who are likely to follow you and engage with your content since it’s relevant to their interests.
To set up effective collaborations, identify 5-10 creators with 2x-10x your current following who make videos similar to yours. Reach out asking to do a shoutout exchange where you’ll both promote each other’s accounts in your own videos and posts. Make sure to highlight why audiences of that creator would be interested in your account. Track engagement on the collaboration posts and follow up to potentially do more in the future.
Advertise Elsewhere
TikTok has a built-in promotion feature that allows you to advertise your account and videos to a wider audience directly within the app. This feature is called “Promote” and can be accessed from the “Creator Tools” section of your profile. You can tailor your ad targeting to a specific audience, set a budget, and track performance.
Some key ways to use TikTok’s built-in Promote tool include:
– Promote your best videos to reach new viewers. This can expand your audience and get more eyes on your quality content.
– Promote your profile to increase brand awareness. Advertise your TikTok page to gain more profile views and followers.
– Target your promotions to relevant users. Select demographics, interests, and behaviors to reach your ideal audience.
In addition to Promote, you can advertise your TikTok presence on other platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or Google to further expand your reach. Create posts, ads, or listings that mention your TikTok profile and encourage people to follow you there. Cross-promoting your channels allows you to tap into multiple audiences.
Be Patient
Gaining 1,000 followers on TikTok does not happen overnight. It takes time and consistency to build an engaged audience. While viral videos can sometimes lead to overnight success, this is more the exception than the norm.
Most TikTok creators find it takes weeks or months of regular posting to gain 1,000 followers. One Quora user reports it took them 8 months to 2 years to reach 1,000 followers by posting one video per day (source). Slow organic growth allows you to build real relationships with viewers who will engage with your content long-term.
The most important thing is to not get discouraged. Consistency and patience are key. The more videos you post, the more chances for views and follows. Results will compound over time as your account gains traction. Stay committed to regularly creating and engaging, and your 1,000 follower milestone will come before you know it.
