Transcript
Introduction
Is it too late to grow on TikTok? Absolutely not, but things have definitely changed in the past year since we shared our video on how we organically grew our own account to 50K followers. So, let's get into what's working next.
Tip #1: Utilize All the Newest Features
Our first tip: utilize all the new features to boost your reach.
This is going to require some experimentation, but that's half the fun of it. Utilizing stories, going live, sharing photo carousels - these are all tools that you can use to build a closer connection with your current followers, as well as reach new ones. Now, let's get into some examples of how you can experiment with these newer features.
Try hopping on your stories right after you post and reference something that you did in that recent video. Don't make it as forward as saying, check out my last video, but make it conversational like this creator.
Another example might be that every Sunday, you do a Sunday reset where you clean up your space, or maybe you go live on a certain night every week. These types of repetitive formulas make your content stand out in a vast sea of random videos.
Tip #2: Get Consistently Predictable
Speaking of formulas, there's something that practically every creator who's consistently growing on TikTok today is doing. They're giving people a reason to come back to their profiles with predictable, consistent content. Let's take a lesson from TikToker Emilie Kiser for a moment.
This creator has grown to over 2 million followers within a few short months, and it only takes a couple of minutes on her profile to see some patterns. She posts the same types of videos over and over again, and yet her audience isn't bored. They're actually delighted and waiting around for the next video because they've come to expect it. She posts at least three times a day. And while there's some variations to the content, she's typically sharing her morning routine, a short tutorial, and a trending audio.
Once again, this type of consistent predictability works on TikTok because most of the time, the content that people are consuming is totally random. Seeing familiarity immediately stops their scroll. Now, you don't have to take this 100% literally. We aren't saying that it's necessary to post three times a day or to only post the same types of content on your page. What we are recommending is trying to find some consistent themes in the way you share out your content.
If you do pick a literal theme, like a Sunday reset, where you post yourself cleaning your workspace every Sunday, for example, you can increase your video's chances of being found by utilizing keywords through your title, caption, and community hashtags around that type of content...but more on that later.
Tip #3: Don't Rely on Trends, Mix it Up!
Now, you know we love a good trend, but relying on trends to grow as your sole strategy just doesn't cut it anymore. You'll find better success mixing in original content with occasional trends.
Vlog-style videos are gaining a lot more momentum and they're a low-pressure way to connect with your audience. For example, you can explore filming A Day in the Life. And just to be clear, when we say day in the life, it doesn't have to be an entire day that's overwhelming to you. You can also just film short snippets to share a small part of your day or, even better, if you do film your entire day, you can break it down into multiple pieces of content that you can share over multiple days.
Some other ideas for original content might be educating your audience on a topic you're passionate about, trying something that's going viral, or even just sharing a random thought that might be relatable to your audience. Keep the pressure low and don't be afraid to have a little fun experimenting. If you're still feeling a little lost on how to get started with original content, try giving yourself something to do while filming. Maybe it's making a cup of coffee, or it could be putting on makeup, or even going for a walk. It can help the content feel a little bit more natural and visually interesting as well.
Tip #4: Build Community Through Comments
In our humble opinion, a TikTok is only as good as its comment section. Community happens in the comments, so we recommend getting social to give your brand some extra visibility. Back in the day, this used to work on Instagram, but on TikTok, comments are still a bigger part of the TikTok experience, making it easier to get noticed, especially on accounts that are bigger than yours and ideally within your niche.
You're likely not going to gain thousands of followers overnight from a comment, but we know firsthand that it does give your account a small boost and it's pretty low effort.
Tip #5: Play With Storytelling Techniques
We know that longer-form content is really thriving on the platform right now, and it's paying off to play with different storytelling techniques. For example, let's go back to the Day in the Life concept.
Instead of ordering the clips to show chronologically, you could have the first clip of the video be a really quick snippet of the end or middle of your day, and then it jumps back chronologically so the audience is prompted to keep watching to see the full story be told. You could even do this in a smaller way with your caption by sharing a funny detail in the video that the audience can keep an eye out for while watching your video. It's all about getting creative with how you capture your audience's attention because you literally have 1 to 2 seconds to grab most people's attentions on the platform. Let's say you want to add a call to action. Don't make it quite as formal as you would on, say, Instagram or YouTube.
Choose a more casual approach, like referencing another video on your page. It doesn't feel quite as forced or promotional, and you're still getting them to spend a longer time with your content. And hopefully that, in turn, converts them into a follower. By keeping things conversational and playing with how you tell a story, original content can feel like a FaceTime call with a friend. That's exactly the kind of vibe audiences are craving on TikTok.
Tip #6: SEO Keywords
Our last tip for this video make sure you're being thoughtful with keywords.
This goes for pretty much every part of a video, from the copy on the title, the caption, hashtags, et cetera. If you're like wait, “TikTok isn't like Google? Why do I need to care about SEO?” Well, consider this: nearly half of Gen Z and Millennials use social platforms like TikTok and Instagram as a search engine for topics they're curious about. If that's not enough, TikTok videos are also starting to be indexed on Google as well.
To level up your SEO strategy, make a list of words and phrases that your target audience would likely search. This is also a perfect way to gather ideas for content that you can create around these topics while optimizing for those keywords.
All right, that's six tips you can start implementing this week, and we've got plenty more TikTok strategies that we'll link for you in the description below. In the meantime, head to the comments and let us know what's been working or not working for you on TikTok this year. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you later.
