Why would you want to grow your TikTok account?
Even if you don’t think that your brand or niche would go well on TikTok, you should still be on there.
This is mainly because TikTok’s growth so far has been unstoppable with over a billion users, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Once you’ve got a good idea of how the newest social media sharing app works, the next step is to grow your profile – but how do you do that?
Let’s talk about it, and I’ll also go over my secret growth hack at the end (Hint: check out TokUpgrade).
Here’s how to grow your TikTok account.
1. Make Your Profile Picture Friendly
You’ll already know about this from using other social media accounts to expand your brand. The more approachable your profile picture is, the more attention your content will get.
Here’s a bonus tip that only applies to TikTok: you can use a video, which is going to appeal to people even more.
2. Get Your Profile Right
This is another tip that you can translate right from other social media platforms. The longer people will stick around, the more relevant, succinct, and appealing your profile description is.
Be clear about what you want to communicate and try to be as original as you can.
We also recommend checking out the profiles of influencers that you look up to, so that you can learn from what they’re doing. There’s no harm in using a call to action, which encourages people to check out your content.
Right now, you can’t include a link, but this will change at some point, hopefully.
3. Share Your Other Social Media Channels
If you want to encourage your other online communities to check out your TikTok, then you’ll need to include your other socials on your TikTok profile and vice versa.
There’s no better way to debut a brand new TikTok profile than to share it with your existing followers elsewhere.
4. Find Self-Made Influencers
While there are a lot of celebrities that have already taken to TikTok, there are also quite a few influencers that have made their own name on the newest social media sharing app, without any existing claim to fame.
These kinds of influencers are the ones worth following for inspiration. They’ll also help you keep up with viral trends, too.
If you’ve just made a video that’s similar to one an influencer has put up, then you know you’ve got a pretty good chance of going viral at some point.
5. Keep Your Videos Short
As a rule, you can only upload videos to TikTok that are 60 seconds or less. However, even with this restriction, the average video’s recommended time is a lot shorter: only 8 to 15 seconds.
This is because the average attention span of a TikTok user is pretty short. If your video is too long, then they will simply skip over it, and you’ll lose that potential follower.
TikTok will also increase your reach if they can see that people are watching your videos until the end.
6. Use Popular Songs
Another way that TikTok is unique to social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter is that songs and music play a pivotal role in everyone’s content.
People on TikTok are used to turning on the sound when watching videos, so you need to make sure that you’re using popular songs that people will recognize and enjoy instantly.
The more popular your song, the more likely TikTok will pick up on your video and will decide to feature it. It could end up generating a lot of traffic just because of the song you’ve used.
7. Use Popular Hashtags
How’s your hashtag game on your other social media channels? The more familiar you are with using trending hashtags, the better you will be able to apply them to your TikTok content.
You can either use a hashtag generator outside of TikTok or simply put a hashtag into the search bar to see what comes up. TikTok will show you how popular it is, just like Instagram, which can help you decide whether to use it or not.
Using trending hashtags will increase your chances of being featured on the page of that hashtag.
8. Make the Most of Viral Challenges
While you might want to be as original as possible, there is one strategy you have to adopt that involves you being similar to everyone else, and that’s participating in viral TikTok challenges.
As soon as you find a challenge that’s quickly going viral, create one of your own with a twist on it to make it somewhat original. Videos that feature a viral challenge have a better chance of doing well than those that don’t.
9. Know When to Post
It’s all very well coming up with cool content ideas, but if you don’t post at the right times, you could be shortening your content’s lifespan.
When it comes to the right time to post, there’s no one right time. It’s going to vary depending on the day and the timezone that you’re in.
The first thing you need to do is figure out where the majority of your audience is located. If they’re located in Italy, for example, you’ll want to try to stick to Italy’s timezone as best you can. You can check out all your TikTok analytics by upgrading to a TikTok Pro account for free.
10. Network With the Big Guys
You will give yourself a really good chance of doing well on TikTok if you work out how to network with the big influencers.
You can either do this by making your niche and industry clear or getting in touch with them directly and regularly interacting with their content. It might take a while, but the more you try to connect with them, the greater your chances will increase.
11. Connect With Your Audience by Livestreaming
Once you’ve hit the 1K goal on TikTok, you can start doing live streams with your audience. When you’re live, your followers will be notified, and that notification will stay there until you’re not live anymore.
This is a great way to keep popping up in front of your followers to make sure that they don’t forget about you. It also gives you an opportunity to build a closer bond with the people that follow you.
12. Share Your Content Elsewhere
Not only should you connect your other social media channels with your TikTok profile, but you should also share your TikTok content over there. Cross-promotion can go a long way to increase your chances of going viral and being seen by more people.
13. Make Sure Your Thumbnails Are Engaging
What’s one of the first things people see when they’re scrolling through your content? Your thumbnail. The more appealing your thumbnails are, the more likely TikTok users will click on your content to check it out.
14. Maintain Consistency
One of the most critical aspects of your TikTok growth is being consistent. While you might not feel like you’re getting anywhere, in the beginning, you won’t go very far without persisting with it and being consistent about uploading content.
To keep people around and interested in your profile, you need to post content consistently. Try to upload at least one video a day, and make sure that your overall profile theme is the same with each piece of content, too.
15. Interact with Content That You Like
It’s really easy to forget that TikTok, just like any other social media platform out there, is made up of communities that engage regularly with profiles that they like.
This means that the more you engage and interact with people, the better you are going to do.
Make sure that you engage with TikTok content that you like, and leave comments and likes when and where you have the time. This is a great way to get your name out there, and it’s a great way to show your audience that you’re not just on TikTok to get more followers – you want to build an audience around your content.
16. Instagram and YouTube
Instagram and YouTube – two of the most effective places to put your TikTok content if you want to grow your TikTok and get more TikTok followers.
We’ve already talked a bit about sharing your TikTok content elsewhere, but if you really want to make a difference with it you’ve got to know that Instagram and YouTube are probably your best bets. Instagram is because it’s so similar to TikTok that it’s super easy to get that audience over to your TikTok profile, and YouTube because again, it’s similar.
YouTube also consists of video content, so if you have a following there, they will most likely be interested in learning more about your TikTok profile too.
17. Follow Popular TikTok Creators
Honestly, there’s no better way to grow your TikTok than to follow popular TikTok creators.
While you could be tempted to stick within your niche and just talk to people within that community, one of the only ways that you’re going to get seen is in the comment section of popular people.
You’ve got to put yourself out there to get something in return, so make sure that you’re interacting with popular creator’s content.
18. Regularly Check the ‘For You’ Section
If you want to have your finger on the pulse of trends all the time and make sure that you can stay ahead of the pack with this in terms of growing TikTok followers, then you need to make sure that you’re seeing what’s going on through the “For You” page regularly.
In fact, we recommend that you check this section at least once a day so that you can keep up to speed with it all. The best part is that it’s only going to take you a few minutes every time, but those few minutes could completely change your TikTok approach for the better.
19. Figure Out Your Target Audience
How much time have you spent so far figuring out your target audience?
If it’s not that much, then we suggest you change this. While you might not be too worried about who your audience includes right now, in terms of growing TikTok followers if you want to establish a niche and become well known in that niche, you have to think about your target audience.
What kind of content are you hoping to put out there?
What kind of people are you hoping to watch it? You’ve got to answer these questions because the more specific you are with your niche, and better a chance you have of doing well. You can’t tackle all of TikTok all at once.
20. Hit Those Trends at the Right Time
We’re already talked about making the most of trends to growing TikTok followers, but to really stand out you’ve got to hit them at just the right time.
You’ll notice that most challenges have various versions of them available at certain times, which means that if you create a video to do with an aspect of the trend that has passed, it’s quickly going to get swallowed up. Try to stay ahead of the curve, and understand what people are wanting tomorrow, not today.
21. Come Up with Your Own Challenge
If you don’t think that any of the current challenges or trends fit in with your niche, then it could be time to step outside of your comfort zone and try to come up with your very own that relates directly to what you’re trying to communicate with your audience.
While you might be a little shaky on this at first, it’s worth trying at some point, especially if you want to be established as an authority of TikTok. This is one of the best ways to grow your TikTok so that you can increase your social proof and be seen as someone with a lot of credibility.
While following viral challenges is practical and effective, there’s nothing quite like coming up with your own challenge to garner the right attention. Think about it – every challenge that you see out there or have tried was started by someone.
22. Be as Original as Possible
In a world where everyone wants to be like everyone else, try to be as original as you can.
This is not an easy thing to do, especially when you’re also trying to keep up with the latest TikTok trends in the hopes of growing your TikTok following. However, similar to coming up with your own TikTok challenge, if you are original with your content creation, then you’ll be able to establish a lot more authority a lot quicker.
Those that fall behind won’t be putting a lot of time and effort into their content, and their viewers will be able to tell.
23. Repost TikTok as UGC
If you’re someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to create their own TikTok content, there’s nothing wrong with reposting on your TikTok UGC.
UGC means user-generated content, and it’s when you repost content that falls within your niche that you think your audience will like. Don’t worry – you don’t have to worry about copyright issues, because their username and handle will be on the video when you copy and post it to your page.
This is a great way to fill up your TikTok feed without having to make your own content all of the time.
24. Come Up With a Good CTA
While your audience might love looking at the content that you put up on your TikTok, this might not be enough to get more TikTok followers right now. What might end up being enough, though, is placing a CTA, or call to action at the end of your videos.
This is a great way to stay connected and engaged with your audience and to show them that you are interested in what they have to say, as well as their opinion. You want them to be involved in your life on TikTok, and if you do it right they will be more than happy to oblige your CTA.
It can even be as simple as asking them to follow you for more videos like the one you just posted. Remember, simple is effective.
25. Use a Growth Service
If you simply don’t think you have the time to spend on your account, you can always grow your account by outsourcing your engagement strategy to a TikTok growth company such as TokUpgrade.
The TikTok marketing and growth service industry is big, and it’s getting bigger all the time. This means that there are now plenty of reputable growth services out there to choose from.
Growth services can automate your interactions with others, and if they focus on your target audience, you’ll be able to see your TikTok followers and views grow gradually but successfully. Make sure to pick one that has a good reputation, and only deals with real, active users.
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it! The definitive list on how to grow your TikTok account. You might not find it easy at first, but once you’ve learned the ropes and know how to apply your engagement strategy, it’ll be a piece of cake.
Happy TikTokking, and good luck growing that profile!
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