Choosing the right niche is critical for growth and success on TikTok. With over 1 billion monthly active users, standing out on TikTok requires identifying a specific niche and audience to target. Research shows the app has become a go-to platform for niche communities and subcultures (Source). Tailoring content to a narrow, well-defined niche helps creators build a loyal following that actively engages with their content. This increases chances for virality, while also clearly conveying to new viewers what type of content to expect. Overall, a focused niche strategy enables TikTokers to produce relevant content their target audience wants to see, resulting in higher view counts, shares, follows, and engagement.
Understand Your Interests and Skills
When choosing a niche for TikTok, it’s important to reflect on what you’re passionate about and good at. Think about your hobbies, skills, education and work experience. Making videos about topics you enjoy will make the process more fun and allow your passion to come through in your content. It’s also easier to create quality videos if you already have knowledge about the topic.
Consider what you like to do in your spare time. For example, if you enjoy cooking, a cooking niche could be a great option. Or if you’re an amazing artist, you could showcase your skills in a drawing or painting niche. If you have expertise from your job or studies, tap into that. For instance, if you’re a nurse you could create informative healthcare content.
Make a list of your top interests, talents and areas of expertise. Then brainstorm types of videos you could make related to them. The goal is to find overlaps between what you love and what performs well on TikTok.
Start by being true to yourself. Then optimize your content style and topics for the TikTok platform. But always keep your passions at the core so your niche is sustainable long-term.
Research Trending Niches and Topics
One of the best ways to find a niche for TikTok is to research what’s currently trending and popular on the platform. Look at some of the top hashtags and sounds to get ideas. As of [January 2023], some of the hottest niches seem to be focused on cooking and recipes, dance challenges, comedy and impressions, life and relationship advice, as well as faceless niches like ASMR and storytelling. Use TikTok’s search and recommendation features to explore trending content and niche ideas.
Look for niches where people are engaged and actively participating through duets, stitches, and using trending sounds. Pay attention to which types of videos are going viral and sparking trends. Consider niches that align with your own interests and skills. But also research niches that seem widely popular on TikTok right now, even if they are outside your usual expertise. Capitalize on rising trends and topics that already have momentum on the platform.
Consider Your Audience
A key part of choosing the right niche for TikTok is considering who you want to reach and help with your content. According to the TikTok Business Blog, brands can reach their target audiences on TikTok by targeting their ads based on demographics, interests, and other insights.
Think about the specific segment of viewers that would get value from your niche. What are their interests, pain points, demographics? Defining a clear target audience will help ensure you create content that resonates. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, doing hashtag searches can reveal popular topics and trends for different audiences on TikTok.
Aim to fill a niche that serves a specific audience segment, rather than a broad mainstream topic. Tailoring both your content and marketing to appeal to that audience will help you stand out and build a loyal following in your niche.
Assess Competition
Before choosing a niche, it’s important to assess the level of competition. You can do this by searching related hashtags and viewing the number of posts. Highly saturated niches like comedy, dance or cooking will be difficult to stand out in as a new creator. Instead, look for more narrow niches that have decent interest but less competition. For example, niches like cat training, astronomy photography or beatboxing have strong engaged communities with less overall video volume.
Searching niche-related hashtags is a good way to gauge interest and competition. If top videos in a niche have millions of views, it will be an uphill battle to compete. But if most videos have thousands or tens of thousands of views, you’ll have more room to grow an audience. Pay attention to the number of views on recent videos as well, not just top all-time ones. A niche with consistent interest is better than one driven by temporary viral hits.
It’s also helpful to browse the profiles of top creators in your prospective niche. Examine their follower count, engagement levels, and video view counts. This will give you a benchmark for reasonable growth expectations starting out.
While less competitive niches have advantages, be wary of niches that are too obscure as well. There needs to be a minimum level of search volume and interest to gain any traction. Finding the right balance between interest and competition takes some research.
Choose a Narrow Niche
When first creating content on TikTok, it’s best to start with a very specific, narrow niche. This allows you to deeply understand a target audience, identify their wants and needs, and create tailored content. According to one source, the TikTok algorithm supports narrow subcategories like ethical acne treatments, dark academia fashion, and at-home workouts1. Choose a niche focused on your unique interests and skills that has a passionate, engaged audience.
For example, starting with the broad niche of fashion, you could narrow it down further. Men’s fashion, workwear fashion, vintage fashion, streetwear fashion, and modest fashion are all more specific niches to consider. The more narrow the niche, the better chance you have of gaining a loyal following and standing out.
Once you create a steady viewership around a specific niche, you can gradually expand into wider topics and niches over time. But keeping content focused early on is key for growth on TikTok.
Plan Video Ideas and Content
Once you’ve chosen your niche, the next step is to start planning the types of videos you’ll create. The key is coming up with fresh, creative ideas tailored to your niche that will capture attention.
Make an editorial calendar mapping out video ideas for the next few weeks or months. You may want to plan different series or categories of videos. For example, if you’re in the travel niche, you could do destination highlights, packing tips, budget travel hacks, and more.
According to research from Pathmonk, videos should be under 60 seconds to maximize engagement. Keep them fun, funny, useful, or informational. Film vertical videos, use popular songs, effects, and trends relatable to your niche. Iterate based on feedback and analytics to refine your content strategy.
Having a plan will help you consistently produce quality content. But you’ll also need to stay nimble, trying new ideas and capitalizing on trending topics. Use AI tools like Pathmonk to generate fresh video ideas personalized to your niche.
Optimize Your Profile
Customizing your profile for your niche is an important part of optimizing it. According to TikTok SEO: Tips for Showing Up in TikTok Search + Free Guide, you’ll want to include relevant keywords in your bio, username, and profile description. For example, a fitness influencer would want to include keywords like “fitness,” “workout,” “health,” etc.
Be sure to clearly identify your niche in your profile so viewers immediately know what type of content to expect from you. Consider adding emoji relevant to your niche as well. Having a profile photo and profile picture that align with your niche also helps viewers easily grasp your niche when landing on your profile.
Engage With Your Niche Community
Once you find your niche on TikTok, it’s crucial to actively engage with the community by liking, commenting on, and collaborating with others’ content. According to The Power Of Communities On TikTok, TikTok facilitates discovery of new interests and brands through its strong community connections.
Make an effort to like videos from others in your niche. This spreads visibility and shows your appreciation for their work. Thoughtful, value-adding comments can spark conversation and demonstrate your expertise. Consider collaborative opportunities like duets, stitches, or shoutouts to mutually benefit from each other’s audiences. As stated by Why brands should be part of the community on TikTok, engaging with the community builds trust and brand performance on TikTok.
Consistent, positive interactions will organically grow your niche community. Don’t simply broadcast your own content – take time to support fellow creators too. An engaged, loyal audience is far more valuable than a large, disengaged one. Build connections to thrive on TikTok.
Track Analytics and Adjust
Analyzing your TikTok analytics is crucial for improving your content and optimizing your strategy. You can view key metrics like views, likes, comments, shares, follower growth and more in the TikTok Analytics portal (https://www.sproutsocial.com/insights/tiktok-analytics).
Regularly check your posts’ performance and watch engagement trends over time. Pay attention to top performing content and understand what made it successful. Look at metrics like audience retention to see which parts of videos resonate most. Identify peak posting times when your followers are most active. You can also view demographic data on your audience to create content tailored to them (https://buffer.com/resources/tiktok-analytics/).
Based on these analytics, you can fine-tune your niche, content style, captions, hashtags and more. Continuously experiment and track what works to boost engagement and build your following. Measure the impact of any changes you make. Be prepared to pivot if certain strategies don’t pan out (https://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/tiktok-analytics-guide/). Analytics provide the key insights needed to constantly evolve and succeed on TikTok.
