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 realize over a thousand followers in only a few days, that was a number 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 tips on how to develop on TikTok, and I’ve executed sufficient analysis to know the way to take action in 2024. 

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

Why Rising Your Followers on TikTok is Vital

Rising your following on TikTok will enhance your model’s visibility. Like I stated, I joined TikTok to advertise my YouTube channel, weblog, and podcast. And I am unable to inform you what number of instances I might see feedback saying, “I noticed you on TikTok and knew I needed to observe your channel.” 

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

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

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

Now you realize why TikTok is necessary. Let me offer you what you got here right here for and current 6 methods to develop your TikTok following.

1. Area of interest down.

Once 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 target market 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, style is a well-liked class on TikTok. A lot in order that the hashtag #style 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 recommend specializing in a sub-niche like fashion suggestions and mid-sized style, 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. Quite than deal with a variety of style matters, Andrea focuses on instructing her viewers tips on how to fashion particular items or tips on how to gown for sure events. 

Within the TikTok beneath, Andrea exhibits viewers tips on how to fashion a metallic mini skirt as a prime. She even provides her personal aptitude to her movies by incorporating her many pets. 

2. Submit on the proper time.

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

A latest 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 standard with the Gen Z crowd  — and so they’re in class for a superb a part of the day — the morning and early afternoon “useless zone” is sensible.

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

3. Duet or Sew top-performing movies.

Probably the most standard 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 permits customers to play as much as 5 seconds of another person’s video as an intro to their very own. That is normally executed to reply to 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 consumer’s video. That is very best if you wish to add commentary or a humorous response to the unique video. Here is a duet I did some time in the past with Steve from Blue’s Clues.

The easiest way 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 regarding your model.

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

However there’s extra — it’s also possible to 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 turn into the brand new voice of their checkout machine:

The outcome? Tesco’s authentic video scored 22 million views and 1000’s of Duet submissions.

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

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 depend. The trick is discovering the fitting one in your model.

For instance, the horror movie A Quiet Place: Day One not too long ago spawned a problem on TikTok known 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 must run round whereas holding their cat to see in the event that they’d survive the movie in actual life. 

This problem was good for cat-themed TikTok accounts like @realsirpounce, managed by a consumer 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 may as well create your personal problem — simply make certain 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. Leap 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 it’s best to prioritize those that get a variety of love from the group. It’s 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 regular common, and it encompasses a sound that was trending on the time and was ceaselessly used within the anime and manga group (the area of interest my account occupies). 

To discover a stylish sound that works in your model, try TikTok’s Creative Center, which ranks the preferred sounds every day. You may as well filter by area, which is useful in case your viewers lives in a unique location from you.

6. Cross-promote your TikTok.

Odds are your viewers is lively on different social media moreover TikTok. Because of this, it is necessary to cross-promote your movies to different channels, corresponding to Instagram or YouTube.

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

To keep away from this difficulty, I normally 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 relatively than downloading it from TikTok and reposting it to the latter platform. 

7. Embody Related Hashtags.

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

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

Only a few years later, the e-book was tailored to the massive display in a movie starring Blake Full of life and Justin Baldoni. 

So, scroll by way of TikTok to see what hashtags your target market is utilizing to search out content material like yours.

For instance, for those who’re a shoe retailer, begin by together with #sneakers 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 search out one which matches the vibe of your content material and your model. 

For instance, actress Nicola Coughlan of the Netflix collection Bridgerton cleverly used the tune “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter to advertise the present’s crimson 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” grew to become 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 get pleasure from it, interact, and cross it on. One technique 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 all the time correct, which is why I recommend going by way of 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 possibly can 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. In case you begin a problem on TikTok and also you see others taking part, repost their movies to share user-generated content material.

You may as well use the Sew and Duet options I discussed earlier to share user-generated content material whereas participating along with your viewers.

11. Collaborate with influencers and creators.

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

However worry not! There’s a resolution. Strive collaborating with creators and influencers to get them to introduce your model to your viewers. Simply make certain stated influencer or creator aligns nicely along with your model and your target market’s overlap.

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

Kaarin is thought for quirky, out-of-this-world DIY initiatives, 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 collection.

A content material collection is an effective way to interact your viewers as a result of it offers a constant stream of content material they will stay up for and affiliate along with your model.

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

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

13. Control what works in your viewers.

As you put up your movies, hold monitor of what generates probably the most buzz in your platform. Which of your movies are inclined to get probably the most likes, feedback, or stories? Ensure 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 indicate fast, unique behind-the-scenes content material of what you are promoting. 

15. Embody CTAs.

If potential, all the time embrace a call-to-action that may encourage viewers to remain tuned to your content material. For instance, Kaarin Pleasure nearly all the time ends her movies by asking her followers to recommend extra DIY house enchancment initiatives within the feedback of her movies or to test again later for updates on her initiatives. 

After all, if you do not know a superb CTA so as to add to your video, you possibly can all the time stick with the basic name for viewers to observe your channel. 

16. Discuss to your viewers. 

Group is necessary on TikTok and one technique to construct group along with your followers on the app is to easily interact with them. Reply to their feedback, sew their movies, do a duet, or repost the content material that resonates along with your model. 

All of this can construct loyalty along with your viewers and enhance visibility in 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, attempt implementing any of the above suggestions 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!