How to Get Followers on TikTok: 16 Top Tips and Tricks
With an estimated two billion users and an average time spent of 47 minutes, TikTok is one of the most powerful social media platforms. But, as with any other platform, success only comes if you play your cards right.
If you’re considering getting on the platform or are already there and want to grow your followers, take time to research what works.
Lucky for you, we’ve got you covered. In this guide, we provide tips that can help you grow your TikTok account.
1. Understand Your Audience
Diving into TikTok without understanding exactly who you want to target is like taking a shot in the dark. Odds are, you won’t make it.
So, start by identifying your target audience. Do you want to speak to parents? Women who love fashion? Residents of a specific location?
Determine who to target and research their interests, likes, and dislikes. This way, you’ll know what type of content to create.
If your target is women who love fashion, for example, you’ll know to make videos on things like styling tips, fashion icons, or brand recommendations. Such videos can capture their interest, earning you new followers on the platform.
2. Stick to Your Niche
Picture this: you come across a TikTok content creator who posts everything — food content today, perfume reviews tomorrow, construction tips the next day, and so on. Would you trust their content? Not really, right?
A lack of focus can do more harm than good. It can confuse current and potential followers, resulting in unfollows or a lack of engagement with your content. It can also make it difficult for you to build authority in any specific niche.
Rather than get into a little bit of everything, identify where you excel, what your target audience enjoys, and what aligns with your brand, and stick with it. If you choose fashion content, consistently create fashion-focused videos. Doing this can help you secure follows from TikTok users who are primarily interested in fashion content. It can also position you as a reliable and trusted source of fashion information, prompting the TikTok algorithm to showcase your content on more For You Pages.
3. Create High-Quality Content
Your content plays the biggest part in determining whether casual scrollers become followers. So, this isn’t an area you want to overlook or skimp on.
Create high-quality, engaging videos that capture and maintain TikTok users’ interest. You can do this by:
- Ensuring good video and audio quality: While you don’t need movie-production-level cameras and mics to make it on TikTok, you need high-quality videos. Invest in a device with a good camera, a clip-on mic, and a ring light, and you’re good to go.
- Hooking your audience within the first few seconds: Capture users’ attention by asking interesting questions or making bold statements. For example, if you’re a content creator, you could start with something like “Here’s how I grew my social media following to X within Y months.”
- Avoiding sounding too “business-like: TikTok isn’t somewhere many people go for “serious” conversations. So, try to keep things light, even when discussing professional topics. For example, try to incorporate stories into your marketing content.
4. Let Your Profile Speak for You
Engaging, high-quality videos will likely pique individuals’ curiosity. This may prompt profile visits from users who want to know more about you or watch more of your content.
Make a good impression by optimizing your profile. Use a high-quality image that represents who you are, write a bio that highlights your value proposition, and pin some of your best videos.
An optimized bio could be the difference between convincing visitors to become followers and losing them entirely.
5. Keep Up with Trends
Trends are a big thing on TikTok. If you don’t keep up, you may inadvertently miss out on new followers.
Pay attention to what TikTok users are most interested in and incorporate it into your content. Use trending sounds in your videos and take part in challenges that align with your content. For example, if you’re a beauty content creator and a makeup challenge goes viral, be sure to participate. Similarly, if you’re a brand manager and a specific sound becomes popular, add it to product videos (if practical).
To keep up with the latest trends:
- Regularly consume TikTok content.
- Use the Discover tab to find viral videos and trending sounds.
- Follow content creators in your niche to see what they’re posting.
6. Be Consistent
With millions of daily uploads and a For You Page that constantly introduces users to new content creators, it’s easy for your content to get “lost” on TikTok if you’re not consistent.
Post videos regularly to continually appear in users’ FYPs. The more you appear, the greater the chance of piquing casual users’ interest in your page, ultimately leading to visits.
7. Post at the Right Times
Publish TikTok videos when your audience is actively scrolling to increase engagement.
To identify the best times to post, go to TikTok Studio, then Analytics. Tap the Followers tab and scroll to the “Most active times” section to see which days and times register the most engagement.
This data is based on current followers’ TikTok activity. However, it can provide insights into your general target audience’s behavior. After all, similar personas typically engage the same way. For example, if a 9-to-5er who follows you gets on TikTok at 6 p.m. every day, odds are, even a non-follower with the same characteristics will do the same.
Read Also: The Best Time to Post on TikTok for High Engagement
8. Engage With Your Community
Nothing will kill your chances of getting followers faster than coming across as stand-offish. To get people excited about following you, maintain a lively community.
Interact with your audience by liking and responding to their comments, resharing their content (especially when it’s related to your brand or niche), and engaging in Q&As through Stories or TikTok Live.
Engagement not only makes you more relatable and likable, but also fosters increased conversations. These can signal value to the TikTok algorithm, prompting it to share your content on more FYPs. And, as you know, the more you appear, the higher your likelihood of attracting new followers.
9. Use Hashtags
As with social media platforms like Instagram, users don’t need to know your username to find your videos. If they search for keywords related to your content, you’ll likely appear organically in their results.
One of the best ways to incorporate keywords is to use them in hashtags. But don’t overdo it. Including many hashtags just to rank higher in search results can make your page look spammy.
Focus more on quality than quantity by ensuring every hashtag is relevant to your content. If you’re a marketing specialist, for example, only use hashtags that relate to marketing.
10. Add Closed Captions to Your Videos
Make your content accessible for people with hearing difficulties and those who prefer to watch videos with the sound off by adding closed captions. This is pretty easy to do on TikTok, since the platform provides a built-in auto-caption feature.
To add them, upload your video and tap the Captions button. TikTok will automatically generate the captions for you. It’s worth noting, however, that they may not always be accurate. So, review them and make any necessary adjustments before you post your content.
11. Take Advantage of TikTok Stories
Some content creators overlook TikTok Stories because they’re not as popular as Instagram Stories. However, they can be just as valuable.
Use TikTok’s Stories feature to interact more with your audience. Run Q&A sessions, provide updates, and post behind-the-scenes images or videos. Alternatively, you could use the feature to share content outside your niche that’s still interesting to your audience.
Posting on Stories can increase followers’ engagement, potentially sending positive signals to the TikTok algorithm. This could result in more appearances in non-followers’ FYPs, helping you grow your community.
12. Start Your Own Challenges
Don’t always wait for trends to find you; create your own. Start a challenge and encourage TikTok users to use your hashtag or tag your account when posting their videos. For example, if you’re into fitness, you could start a 7-day “dance as an exercise” challenge.
When you do, engage with participants’ content by liking, commenting, or reposting it. This can encourage even more participation and position your brand in front of a broader audience.
13. Partner with Other Content Creators
This is one of the best ways to reach non-followers. Creating content with influencers and other content creators on TikTok allows you to tap into their audiences and increase your visibility.
Of course, not all creator partnerships will work to your benefit. For positive outcomes, only partner with people who align with your niche and brand (or personal) values.
14. Promote Your TikTok Account on Other Platforms
TikTok isn’t the only place where people can discover your account. Cross-promote your page and videos by adding their links on your website.
Alternatively, you can promote them on YouTube — add the links in the Description section of your videos, or repost TikTok videos on Shorts.
Cross-promotion exposes you to different audiences, which can help you gain new followers.
15. Give Ads a Try
Ads can be an asset if you’re starting out and are unable to appear organically in users’ feeds. When you get them, TikTok will share your content on FYPs with a “Sponsored” tag.
As with standard content, create high-quality, engaging videos that hook audiences within the first few seconds. This can encourage page visits and secure some new followers.
Of course, this will also depend on your overall content quality, your bio, and how you relate to your current audience.
16. Monitor Your Follower Growth
Some strategies may be better suited for your account and audience than others. To identify what works and what doesn’t, continually track your follower growth and content engagement metrics, like video views.
Then double down on what works. If performance data shows that your following grows after creating or participating in challenges, do more of that.
Also, drop any strategy that doesn’t work and refocus your time and budget on the right tactics. For example, if you find that working with influencers gets you results and TikTok ads don’t, let go of the ads and invest more in partnerships.
Should You Buy TikTok Followers?
Absolutely not. While buying followers can boost your TikTok numbers quickly, this tactic is far too risky. Bought followers are often inactive bots that can’t consistently engage with your content.
They create a visible discrepancy between your TikTok follower count and engagements, which might signal to the algorithm that your followers are fake. This could result in penalties that affect your account’s visibility. The discrepancy can also be a red flag to potential followers who visit your page, as it makes you appear inauthentic.
If you have a new or inactive TikTok account, warm it up instead of buying followers. TikTok account warming involves engaging with the platform (watching, liking, and saving videos) before posting new content. It can help you build credibility, boosting organic visibility and follower growth.
However, manual warm ups, especially when managing multiple TikTok accounts, can be tedious and error-prone. That’s where GeeLark comes in. Our solution automates engagements with other TikTok accounts, so you can focus on vital tasks, such as actually creating content.
Unlike standard bots, GeeLark mimics human behavior when scrolling on TikTok and engaging with other users. This reduces the risk of raising any red flags.
How to Warm Up a TikTok account with GeeLark
To automate TikTok account warm up using our solution:
- Log in to the GeeLark dashboard.
- Create a cloud phone profile (or multiple profiles if you have different TikTok accounts). To do this, go to New profile, select your preferred device, and enter your proxy details.
- Go to Applications and download the TikTok app. Then, log in to your account.
- After logging in, navigate to Automation, then Marketplace, and search for the “TikTok AI account warmup” template.
- Tap Add and select the cloud phone you’ve used to log into your TikTok account.
- Provide all the necessary information on the template.
- Verify all your inputs and tap Confirm publication.
GeeLark can also help you maintain active accounts once you start posting by automating content publishing. To automate TikTok posting with GeeLark:
- Create your content.
- Log in to GeeLark and go to the Automation section.
- Tap Marketplace and search for the “TikTok video posting” template
- Add the cloud phone linked to your TikTok account.
- Upload your videos and add content details, such as captions.
- Schedule your content to go out when users are the most engaged.
- Tap Confirm publication after verifying all settings.
Leverage GeeLark to Get More Followers on TikTok
TikTok is one of the most growth-friendly social media platforms. However, that growth doesn’t always come easy; it requires you to implement the right strategies.
To gain followers on TikTok, create valuable and engaging content, maintain a consistent posting schedule, partner with other creators, interact with your audience, and monitor each tactic’s impact on your growth to determine what works. If you have a new or inactive account, consider account warm up.
With GeeLark, you can automate warm ups for one or multiple TikTok accounts without raising bot suspicions. Our AI-powered technology mimics normal human behavior when scrolling through the platform and engaging with content, making it seem like actual people are using your accounts.
Want to increase your visibility and gain more TikTok followers?