Alexandra Fasulo — May 15, 2020 One of the fastest growing apps in the world right now is video sharing sensation: TikTok. With over 800 million monthly users, regarded as the second most downloaded app of 2019 (with WhatsApp clinching the number one spot), TikTok is changing how social media addicts, influencers, and brands interact today.
What was once dismissed as a “teen fad” has celebrities and big name entrepreneurs, like Gary Vaynerchuk, singing its praises. There’s good reason why notable content creators can’t get enough of the app – it comes with an algorithm that makes it much easier to be “noticed” and “go viral” than most other social media sites today.
Since Facebook’s “popularity” algorithm has left content creators utterly frustrated, forcing them to pay for any kind of exposure, people are tired of going unnoticed.
On TikTok, users can actually share their content with their ideal follower without having to pay into the system. TikTok’s advanced algorithm considers metrics like re-watch rates, sharing rates, commenting, and likes in determining if a video is worth “going viral.” Without any intention to make you pay for advertisements (yet), if your content is good enough, people are going to see it. It’s plain and simple.
So, if you’re new to the world of TikTok, just getting started with the app, or you can’t quite seem to make your content stick, here are five ways you can grow your TikTok following in just one month.
(Note: I grew my account from 0 followers to 38,000 followers from February through May 2020.)
- Post More Than 3x Per Day: Contrary to social media etiquette on sites like Instagram, TikTok welcomes creators that blast out content. In fact, you are rewarded for posting multiple times per day AND going live. When I go live on the app, TikTok delivers new followers to my account to watch my live and interact with my content. Additionally, TikToks don’t “compete” with each other in the algorithm. You can blast out three per day and have all three go viral in a different segment. It’s triple the opportunity to grow a following.
- Strictly Stick to a Niche: It’s common knowledge to stick to a niche with social media marketing today, but it’s even more important on TikTok. Algorithm students on the app have noticed that TikTok gives your account a “chance” to go viral every so often. If your video performs horribly, it won’t give you a chance for a little bit. Therefore, the algorithm will come to associate your account with the hashtags you use on all of your videos. Hashtags aren’t the same on TikTok as they are on Instagram; on TikTok, they are used to categorize your content. So, your top five hashtags you use on all of your videos should describe every video you ever post. When have deviated from my brand with new video concepts, I have been punished in video views. The answer: just make other TikTok accounts for your passions.
- Yes, You Have to Dance: TikTok is all about dancing. The biggest platform content creators, like Charlie D’Amelio, amassed multi-million followings from their innate dancing abilities. I put off dancing in my marketing videos for a few weeks, and when I finally tried it, my engagement went up. I am a terrible dancer, which means you do not need to be good at dancing. TikTok users just want to see you at least make the effort. The whole point of TikTok is to leave the seriousness of LinkedIn, the stuffiness of Instagram, and the invasiveness of Facebook behind.
- Be the First to Comment on Your TikTok: It is common TikTok etiquette to be the first one to post on your video. In fact, I’ve seen big creators post twice on their videos with follow up information they weren’t able to include in the TikTok. This is a great way to get your followers chatting which, of course, helps boost the reach of your TikTok. Be sure to answer every single commenter as well – it could create a conversation that other people want to contribute to and share with their friends.
- Create Content for Re-Watches: It is generally accepted that the most important metric TikTok measures for “virality” is that of re-watching. If someone watches your TikTok 10-times before they scroll past it, TikTok is going to reward the video. Why? The whole point of TikTok is to keep you inside the app, looking at the paid-for advertisements. If they think your content is going to keep other people inside their app longer, they are going to blast it out. In order to create content that gets people to re-watch it, you have the following three options:
- Go for crazy, shocking, and unique content that is completely one of a kind.
- Pack a ton of information into a quick video that requires the viewer to watch it again.
- Tug on heartstrings with a TikTok that tells a story. We all want to read our favorite stories over and over again.
Just this week, an article came out claiming that TikTok stars with more than 500,000 followers are now earning steady, six-figure incomes from the app. That number is only going to trickle down, like it did in Instagram, with TikTok users under the 100,000 follower mark making six-figures in the coming year.
It won’t be like this forever. Advertisers will change the natural flow of content on TikTok, like they do in every social media app. Now is the time to capitalize from the potential of organic growth. These five TikTok recommendations should help.
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