What is TikTok?

TikTok is one of the most widely used social media apps which lets users create and share short videos with their followers. Its uniqueness lies in its ability to create, view, and share fun videos in bite sized chunks, the content of which varies however popular videos can contain funny sketches, viral challenges, comedy, sport or magic tricks, often with overlaying music.

Why do I want followers?

Growing a fanbase or followers is important to different people for different reasons. Ultimately when you gain followers on TikTok, the more “following Pages” your video will appear on which leads to more views, likes, comments and shares. Having more followers makes your videos more discoverable and accessible to a wider range of people.

Some individuals are proud of their skills and the content they create and wish to share this with as many people as possible. Likewise, some companies or brands might want to promote their products and gain a wider customer base. The more followers they have, the wider the reach and the more successful they will be.

Who are your target audience?

In order to gain followers on TikTok, it is key to identify who your target audience is, what they want, and create content which attracts them. Primarily thought of as an online platform for the younger generation, TikTok has a hugely diverse user group which means that you have a large and diverse audience to reach out to.

Like any form of media, content which is enjoyable for one demographic may not be for others and so it is important to identify your target audience from the beginning. Who are you trying to reach with your content and what type of content may be of interest to them? The better understanding you have of this the more inclined you will be to not only gain followers but keep them.

Frequency of Posts

It may seem a simple and obvious step to take, but the more you post the more likely you are to gain followers. There is a huge amount of content available on-line and it is easy for what you post to be lost among those who are posting content frequently and consistently.

Create Interesting and Engaging Content

One of the most important factors of TikTok success is the content you create and how appealing this is to the audience. The video subject must be interesting and engaging to your target audience and it is useful to understand the types of videos that they would like to watch.

Although the topics of your videos can vary, they should all be high quality from a visual and audio point of view. The content along with the production is what draws people to follow you, and it is imperative that this is of the best quality.

There are already vast numbers of videos out there with a range of content, so you need to make sure your videos stand out from the crowd. There is no one particular genre of video which gains popularity and goes viral but those that do, tend to focus on something which captures the attention of people for example entertaining instructional videos, challenges or trends. By creating a niche or theme to your content, often the quality will be better, and people may be inclined to want more.

Over time you will learn which videos your audience engages with more, and more about the things they are interested in seeing. You can play to these strengths and focus on the content which is niche to them.

Current TikTok Trends

TikTok is well known for its variety of trends and the uniqueness of these capture the imagination and attracts viewers. This could be anything from the use of a popular song to accompany a video, specific dance moves or a challenge for people to take part in.

By creating videos like this it can raise awareness of your content. This is not to say that you should create content around every popular trend as this is likely to dilute what you are trying to achieve. Any video should still be personal to you and relevant to your brand, message or personality.

Networking

By viewing, liking and commenting on the videos of others and the more you interact, the more visible your own videos will be on other pages. Not only that but the more content you can absorb the more creative ideas and inspiration you can draw upon for your own content. Collaborating with other TikTok users could also bring a greater audience and more followers to your own videos.

Sharing on Other Platforms

TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms, but to widen the net of your audience, videos can be linked to other social media sites such as Instagram or twitter. Likewise you can repost videos created by others from other platforms which is less time consuming and another good way to attract likes and followers. 

Hashtags are also essential to optimise your video views on multiple social media platforms and increase followers. When you use hashtags, this directly links to what people have been searching for so they are better directed to content which is of interest. They will be able to find your videos more easily, again increasing traffic and potential followers to your content.