How to Grow Your TikTok Following [Expert Insights + Data]

Rising a following on TikTok can really feel daunting. Belief me, I do know. I first created a TikTok to advertise my YouTube channel, weblog, and podcast again in 2022. Although I managed to achieve over a thousand followers in just some days, that was a couple of years in the past.

Now, I am beginning a brand new TikTok to advertise my content material for HubSpot, and I can see already the panorama has modified. Luckily, I nonetheless know a factor or two about learn how to develop on TikTok, and I’ve achieved sufficient analysis to understand how to take action in 2024. 

With out additional ado, let’s dive into one of the best ideas and methods to develop your TikTok.

Why Rising Your Followers on TikTok is Essential

Rising your following on TikTok will improve your model’s visibility. Like I stated, I joined TikTok to advertise my YouTube channel, weblog, and podcast. And I can not let you know what number of occasions I’d see feedback saying, “I noticed you on TikTok and knew I needed to observe your channel.” 

I’ve additionally discovered via HubSpot’s most up-to-date Shopper Developments survey that TikTok is particularly essential for those who’re promoting services or products. In our survey, the vast majority of our respondents (37%) say they like discovering new merchandise by way of short-form movies comparable to TikToks or Instagram Reels. 

Rising your TikTok can also be a superb solution to get the eye of Gen Z. Gen Z is projected to have the quickest development in spending energy, reaching about $12 trillion by 2030.

So, if you wish to faucet into the Gen Z market, you will be comfortable to know TikTok is a well-liked app amongst them. In line with our survey, 30% of Gen Z customers say TikTok is their favourite app, and 72% of Gen Z customers reported utilizing TikTok previously three months. 

Now you understand why TikTok is essential. Let me provide you with what you got here right here for and current 6 methods to develop your TikTok following.

1. Area of interest down.

Whenever you attempt to enchantment to everybody, you wind up attracting nobody as a result of nobody is aware of what to anticipate from you. You may find yourself posting content material that appeals to 1 crowd however turns off one other. 

So, area of interest down by researching your audience and creating content material that’s interesting to them. You are able to do this by way of focus teams, surveys, creating buyer personas, or observing what opponents in your business are doing to interact their viewers. 

For instance, trend is a well-liked class on TikTok. A lot in order that the hashtag #trend has over 66.6 million views on the platform.

If you wish to put up fashion-related content material, you would possibly get misplaced on this aggressive vertical. As an alternative, I counsel specializing in a sub-niche like fashion ideas and mid-sized trend, which has a fraction of the views however a extra engaged viewers.

One in every of my favourite fashion-related creators on TikTok is Andrea’s Fashion Galaxy. Moderately than deal with a variety of trend subjects, Andrea focuses on educating her viewers learn how to fashion particular items or learn how to costume for sure events. 

Within the TikTok beneath, Andrea reveals viewers learn how to fashion a metallic mini skirt as a high. She even provides her personal aptitude to her movies by incorporating her many pets. 

2. Put up on the proper time.

Typically, it isn’t simply what you put up however when you put up. That is very true on TikTok.

A current HubSpot Blogs survey of 1,400+ global marketers discovered one of the best time to put up to TikTok is between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Since TikTok is well-liked with the Gen Z crowd  — they usually’re at school for a very good a part of the day — the morning and early afternoon “useless zone” is smart.

When posting content material on TikTok, keep clear of those gradual hours and take a look at posting in the direction of the tip of the week or through the weekend.

3. Duet or Sew top-performing movies.

One of the crucial well-liked movies on my TikTok is one I sewed with a widely known creator. It has about 12,000 views, whereas most of my movies would garner a mean of 300-5,000 views.

TikTok’s Sew allows customers to play as much as 5 seconds of another person’s video as an intro to their very own. That is often achieved to answer the unique creator, reply questions, or contribute to a viral subject.

One other useful device is TikTok’s Duet function, which helps you to play your video subsequent to a different person’s video. That is best if you wish to add commentary or a humorous response to the unique video. This is a duet I did some time in the past with Steve from Blue’s Clues.

One of the simplest ways to leverage these options is by participating with top-performing movies in your area of interest. You are able to do this by utilizing the search bar and typing key phrases referring to your model.

Then, as soon as you’ve got zeroed in on a video you want, faucet the Sew or Duet button and let your creativity fly.

However there’s extra — you can even encourage others to Duet or Sew your movies.

For instance, Tesco, a British grocery chain, asks customers to Duet the next video for an opportunity to grow to be the brand new voice of their checkout machine:

The end result? Tesco’s unique video scored 22 million views and 1000’s of Duet submissions.

4. Take part in a problem (or create your individual).

It appears there is a new viral problem making waves each time I log into TikTok, and I’ve seen how they will explode a follower rely. The trick is discovering the best one on your model.

For instance, the horror movie A Quiet Place: Day One just lately spawned a problem on TikTok referred to as The Quiet Place Problem. The problem was impressed by a cat within the movie that manages to stay quiet sufficient to maintain alien monsters from detecting him and his caretakers. 

To partake within the problem, TikTok customers should run round whereas holding their cat to see in the event that they’d survive the movie in actual life. 

This problem was excellent for cat-themed TikTok accounts like @realsirpounce, managed by a person named Carson, who has 4 feline companions. Try Carson’s try on the problem beneath.

The video went viral, gaining greater than 1 million likes.

You too can create your individual problem — simply be sure it is comparatively easy to do. For instance, Chipotle began the #LidFlip problem, which inspired customers to flip the lid of their burrito bowl with fashion:

Within the first six days, the problem generated over 100,000 video responses. Much more spectacular, it created a record-breaking sales day for Chipotle.

5. Bounce on trending sounds and songs.

88% of TikTok users say sound is important to the TikTok expertise. Because of the algorithm, it is also important for driving extra engagement.

TikTok has an in depth library of sounds — however you need to prioritize those that get quite a lot of love from the group. It is because the TikTok algorithm tends to favor movies that leverage trending sounds.  

For instance, the preferred video on my TikTok has nearly 100,000 views, far more than my traditional common, and it contains a sound that was trending on the time and was continuously used within the anime and manga group (the area of interest my account occupies). 

To discover a stylish sound that works on your model, take a look at TikTok’s Creative Center, which ranks the preferred sounds every day. You too can filter by area, which is useful in case your viewers lives in a distinct location from you.

6. Cross-promote your TikTok.

Odds are your viewers is energetic on different social media in addition to TikTok. Because of this, it is essential to cross-promote your movies to different channels, comparable to Instagram or YouTube.

Simply keep away from together with the TikTok watermark in your movies when importing to different platforms, as this could have an effect on whether or not your content material is prioritized within the algorithm. 

To keep away from this problem, I often create a single video that’s stored to about 60 seconds lengthy, and I add the unique to every platform individually. 

For instance, I interviewed actress, host, and filmmaker Cheyenne Ewulu of Amazon Prime’s Anime Club for my podcast Nerds At Work w/ TsundEri.

To cross-promote the episode on each Instagram and TikTok, I took a 60-second clip from the interview and uploaded it to TikTok and Instagram Reels individually slightly than downloading it from TikTok and reposting it to the latter platform. 

7. Embrace Related Hashtags.

Hashtags are key to discovering and connecting with the best group on TikTok. An excellent instance of that is #BookTok on the app. The hashtag is utilized by each readers and authors to seek out, advocate, and promote books. 

The tag was instrumental within the reputation of the New York Instances Finest Vendor “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover. The ebook initially got here out in 2016 however entered one of the best sellers’ checklist in 2021 after it gained popularity with the #Booktok community. 

Just some years later, the ebook was tailored to the large display in a movie starring Blake Energetic and Justin Baldoni. 

So, scroll via TikTok to see what hashtags your audience is utilizing to seek out content material like yours.

For instance, for those who’re a shoe retailer, begin by together with #footwear or #sneakers in your movies and look to see what different hashtags pop up in movies inside your area of interest. 

8. Use trending songs.

There may be by no means a scarcity of trending songs on TikTok, so that you’re certain to seek out one which matches the vibe of your content material and your model. 

For instance, actress Nicola Coughlan of the Netflix sequence Bridgerton cleverly used the tune “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter to advertise the present’s pink carpet premiere in Italy. 

Couphlan’s character on the present, Penelope, is in love with one other character named Colin, and followers have dubbed the couple “Polin” (pronounced like “pollen”).

“Espresso” turned followers’ anthem for the couple due to the verse “My honey bee, come get this pollen.” Naturally, Coughlan used it within the TikTok video beneath. 

9. Use closed-captions. 

The extra accessible your video is the extra individuals can take pleasure in it, have interaction, and go it on. One solution to make your video extra accessible is to incorporate closed-captions. Luckily, TikTok mechanically provides closed captions to movies uploaded to its platform. 

Nonetheless, the auto-generated captions aren’t at all times correct, which is why I counsel going via the captions and modifying them for accuracy. To do that, click on the auto-captions editor on the right-hand aspect of your video earlier than importing your video. 

From there, you’ll be able to edit the captions manually and guarantee your movies are accessible. 

10. Share user-generated content material. 

TikTok permits customers to repost content material and share it with others. Should you begin a problem on TikTok and also you see others collaborating, repost their movies to share user-generated content material.

You too can use the Sew and Duet options I discussed earlier to share user-generated content material whereas participating together with your viewers.

11. Collaborate with influencers and creators.

Most TikTok customers desire to maintain up with creators and influencers as an alternative of manufacturers on the app, so it may be tough to get customers to grow to be invested in your content material for those who’re attempting to advertise a enterprise.

However worry not! There’s a answer. Attempt collaborating with creators and influencers to get them to introduce your model to your viewers. Simply be sure stated influencer or creator aligns nicely together with your model and your audience’s overlap.

For instance, wallpaper model Dizzy With Excitement collaborated with DIY residence decor creator Kaarin Pleasure by making a line of wallpaper patterns impressed by Kaarin’s DIY tasks.

Kaarin is thought for quirky, out-of-this-world DIY tasks, and DWE boasts an array of distinctive, funky patterns on its web site. So, Kaarin was an ideal option to introduce the model to a wider viewers. 

12. Create a content material sequence.

A content material sequence is a good way to interact your viewers as a result of it supplies a constant stream of content material they will sit up for and affiliate together with your model.

For instance, one in all my favourite TikTok content material sequence (that must be introduced again, please) is Sure That is on Etsy. This sequence is on Etsy’s official TikTok account and showcases the enjoyable and distinctive merchandise that may be discovered on Etsy’s official web site. 

Consider a sequence of movies which are easy to make, may be unfold out over a number of movies, and might showcase the services and products of your model. 

13. Keep watch over what works on your viewers.

As you put up your movies, preserve observe of what generates probably the most buzz on your platform. Which of your movies are likely to get probably the most likes, feedback, or reviews? Make sure that your TikTok is a business account so you will have entry to all types of analytics and metrics that may inform your technique on the app.

14. Create TikTok Tales.

TikTok Tales work equally to Instagram Tales. They permit customers to put up quick movies that disappear after 24 hours. TikTok tales can drum up pleasure for upcoming movies or be used to point out fast, unique behind-the-scenes content material of your corporation. 

15. Embrace CTAs.

If doable, at all times embody a call-to-action that may encourage viewers to remain tuned to your content material. For instance, Kaarin Pleasure nearly at all times ends her movies by asking her followers to counsel extra DIY residence enchancment tasks within the feedback of her movies or to test again later for updates on her tasks. 

After all, if you do not know a very good CTA so as to add to your video, you’ll be able to at all times stick with the basic name for viewers to observe your channel. 

16. Discuss to your viewers. 

Group is essential on TikTok and one solution to construct group together with your followers on the app is to easily have interaction with them. Reply to their feedback, sew their movies, do a duet, or repost the content material that resonates together with your model. 

All of this may construct loyalty together with your viewers and improve visibility on your model.

Begin Creating 

Finally, the important thing to rising your TikTok is to constantly create and put up high-quality content material that showcases your model. So begin creating now and when you’re at it, strive implementing any of the above ideas I gave you.

I am additionally attempting to develop my new account, so it is time for me to cease typing and begin creating. Better of luck to each of us!