Drumroll please, Later has officially hit 50K followers on TikTok.
We launched the Later TikTok account almost two years ago, and believe us when we say: it’s been a wild ride.
Lip syncs. Green screens. Sea shanties. A Nirvana album-inspired trend featuring a founder’s new born baby. You name it, we’ve done it.
However, it hasn’t all been smooth transitions and rapid growth.
Amongst the success stories and viral hits, we’ve also had videos that barely scraped 400 views, endured endless audio glitches, and (talking from personal experience) made it through a serious case of lip sync fatigue.
P.S. It’s Lindsay here. I’ve created almost 100 Later TikTok videos to date, and if my discarded drafts ever see the light of day, I am leaving the internet.
But as the saying goes, every mistake is an opportunity to learn something new — and we’ve got the receipts to prove it.
From the good, to the bad, to the “cheugy” — watch this video or keep reading to learn everything about our journey to 50K:
#1: Understand the Assignment
When Later first joined TikTok, we quickly realized that the highly-curated world of Instagram wouldn’t translate.
With fewer filters and more fast-moving trends, we knew we needed to post content that felt authentic, but TikTok was a brand new (and younger) audience for us, so figuring out what to post took some trial and error.
Okay, a lot of trial and error.
In the beginning, we filmed content that could be interesting to a broad audience of influencers, small business owners, and social media managers.
But after looking at who was engaging with our posts, we quickly realized that social media managers were our main audience — so we niched down. Majorly.
This was a natural fit since we could easily relate to their struggles, already had insight into their interests, and could provide value by explaining Later’s social media scheduling tools.
Knowing exactly who your audience is — and what content will resonate — is one of the biggest secrets for success on TikTok.
Get this right, and you’ve definitely understood the assignment.
Did you know: You can plan and schedule all of your TikTok content in advance with Later. Sign up today, for free:
#2: Let Loose and Experiment
Experimenting with different types of content is key on TikTok.
It’s not always easy, but by testing out different content lengths, styles, and formats is the only way to discover what works with the TikTok audience.
Even Duolingo, a brand with over three million followers, posted almost 40 videos before they had a viral hit.
We’ve found that jumping on quick, fun audio trends often works better than a long, detailed video when it comes to announcing our new product features. A short “teaser” video piques their interest and drives them to tap the link in our bio.
However, if we’re sharing a tutorial or hack, longer tutorials (upwards of 60 seconds) frequently perform best.
This is likely because our audience can learn an entirely new hack in around a minute, without having to leave the app.
But no two brands are the same — which is why letting loose and experimenting with different formats is so important.
#3: Be the CEO of Consistency
“Be consistent” might be the single most overused phrase in social media marketing, but alas, it truly is key to finding lasting success.
In July 2021, our social team started posting every day during the week. After only a couple weeks, we started to see the effort pay off, especially in terms of follower growth.
In the last two months alone, our following has grown by over 100%, and, dare I say it? It’s actually fun sharing videos every day.
Want to be more consistent with your social media posting? Plan and schedule posts for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter from one easy-to-use dashboard with Later.
#4: Find Your TikTok Besties
One of the big things we learned while growing the Later TikTok account was the importance of community. In other words, you need to find your besties.
Cultivating a community around your brand is huge for engagement, and it helps set the tone for new visitors to our account.
We often search specific keywords like “social media tips” or “social media manager” to find creators within our niche who we can follow, engage, and even partner with.
Every like, comment, and view is valuable for your ranking with the TikTok algorithm, but it doesn’t stop there. A strong and engaged community speaks volumes for your brand on every level.
#5: Put Your Own Spin on the Trends
Keeping on top of the latest TikTok trends can feel never ending, but once you know how to use them, they can really fuel your content strategy.
At Later, we use trends in two different ways: to promote Later’s latest scheduling features and light-hearted humor for community-building.
Trends are a huge part of our strategy at Later, but we always find our own unique spin.
For example, the “Drop it Low” dance challenge didn’t really make sense for us to take part in at first, but we soon found a corporate spin that felt relevant:
Don’t be afraid to get creative and step out of the box with trends — adding your own twist will help your content stand out from the competition.
TikTok is unlike any other social media platform (no matter how hard Instagram tries) and we’re still learning every single day. We probably always will be.
So the next time you’re questioning your life choices after getting caught in a TikTok wormhole for 4-6 hours, know that you’re not alone. In fact, this TikTok sums it up perfectly:
Next stop, 100K. We’ll see you there!
Plan and schedule all of your TikTok content in advance with Later — the social media scheduling tool trusted by over 4M businesses, creators, and social media managers. Sign up today, for free:
