Are you interested in discovering how to grow on TikTok?
This post shares original research I compiled by conducting a case study showing you how to grow on TikTok.
At the time of this writing, one billion people use TikTok which is a massive audience for your brand.
It gets better: The TikTok user base is still growing.
According to statistics, between July 2020 and September 2021, TikTok experienced a 45% growth.
UPDATE: By early 2022, TikTok was gaining one new user every eight seconds (Source). Will you be able to interest TikTok followers new and old to follow your account?
By reading this guide, you discover how to grow on TikTok, why you should grow on TikTok, and how to market on TikTok.
Here are the advantages of TikTok:
- By discovering how to grow on TikTok, your reach also grows on Instagram and Twitter.
- Since the average TikTok video is only 15 seconds, you’ll find using TikTok is quick.
- Organic reach is dying on social media sites but organic reach is not only possible, but it’s also easy on TikTok.
- The TikTok community is welcoming.
- You can market on TikTok.
Considering organic reach is quickly dying on other social media sites, discovering how to grow on TikTok in 2022 enables you to capitalize on organic social media reach which still exists on TikTok.
After reading this article, you will know how to grow on TikTok for free.
By continuing to read this guide to how to grow on TikTok, you will discover how to get a massive amount of views. That is the power of TikTok. You don’t need followers to get massive exposure.
You also discover mistakes to avoid when attempting to learn how to grow on TikTok. I share my early mistakes here so you can avoid making them.
Let’s get started exploring how to grow on TikTok. Be sure to stick around for the 14th, Bonus Tip.
By the end of my first week on the TikTok platform, I only had 14 subscribers. However, I had a whopping 2,178 views of my content. 104 people checked out my profile. 86 people clicked the like button, and I received 21 shares.
Are you sure you want to know how to grow your TikTok account?
One important note though…
There are trolls on TikTok. However, if you truly want to know how to grow on TikTok, keep comments turned on. Comments, likes, and shares indicate to the TikTok algorithm that your content should be pushed out to other users’ feeds.
This post takes a case study approach and follows my efforts in trying to learn how to grow on TikTok.
Was I able to learn how to grow on TikTok in order to tell you?
Yes!
On December 5, two days short of one month on the platform, I have 822 followers.
Look:
By December 23, the time of this writing, I had well over 1,000 followers on TikTok.
I hope you will learn from my wins and my losses as I share my journey, a total TikTok newbie.
Why did I decide to find out how to grow on TikTok?
My tech-savvy friend told me how to grow on TikTok: post dog videos.
For years I insisted I would never care about how to grow on TikTok since I had no intention of using the social media site.
I mean, TikTok is for teens, right?
Oh, how times change.
As a blogger, I found a keyword I believed I could rank for relating to TikTok audio.
Suddenly, the impossible: the thought of me downloading the TikTok app became all too possible.
In order to compose a post about TikTok audio, I figured I’d have to, at some point, use TikTok.
My friend’s advice gave me the impetus to try to learn how to grow on TikTok.
On November 6, I downloaded the app and posted my first video, a commercial I made after being offered a brand sponsorship.
Will Ferrell was there singing, and I immediately felt more comfortable. I mean, the man is older than me for sure.
The morning of November 7: It’s been almost 24 hours since I began my journey in discovering how to grow on TikTok. I’ve uploaded two videos, received 888 views on one video, 99 views on the other video, and 2 followers.
Analysis: I’m confused. When I posted the second video, I used a trending hashtag which I understand gets you more exposure, but TikTok is not showing the trending hashtag video at the same rate that it’s showing the first video.
How to Grow on TikTok: Don’t Do What I Did
TikTok Growth Mistake 1
Immediately the question came up about whether I needed a niche.
To recap: My friend told me to post dog videos. My first two dog videos were winners each garnering well over 100 views inside of a week.
@janicewald We were offered a brand sponsorship.Strangely, they never used or commercial after sending us free treats. Get sponsored: https://www.mostlyblogging.
♬ You Got A Friend In Me (From “Toy Story”) – Just Kids
November 11, 2021
In fact, in just four days, my first video generated 939 views, kind of a big deal to someone who never made a TikTok before like me.
That was then…
I found myself having so much fun on TikTok, my new playground, I stopped sticking to my niche.
I explored #SelfCare and #Relationships. Once I changed my niche, none of my videos did well.
At the time of this writing, I am going to try to learn my lesson and stick to dog videos, but I want to play!
I heard you go down a rabbit hole when you use TikTok. Boy, am I there.
TikTok Growth Mistake 2
Duets
Social media sites like you to use their new features. They reward you by giving your content visibility.
I discovered Duets let your video airs next to someone else’s. I chose a video in the dog niche that went viral and made a nice complement to my video.
Unfortunately, my video only got one view after many hours. Ouch!
I Googled what might be causing the problem. Apparently, instead of being rewarded with visibility, I might have been penalized for not posting original content. I read you should never remove your TikTok videos, but I did anyway.
But I was dead wrong…
Fast forward to December 23. I use Duets frequently due to the traction they bring me. Be sure to stay until the end of this post when you view my most viral TikTok video, a Duet.
November 25, 2021:
I have 105 TikTok followers.
Note: I grew my account to 105 TikTok followers for free in less than three weeks.
How to Grow On TikTok: Effective TikTok Growth Strategies
Keep your videos short.
If you feel your content needs retaining, you can speed up the video to up to 3 times fast.
Stay in your niche.
Having a content niche tells TikTok who to show your videos.
Using trending songs
People with a business account will have different trending song choices. If your songs aren’t licensed for commercial use, you can’t use them if you have a business account. This is an important step if you want to constantly acquire good check stubs, find new partners, and work with many brands.
When you choose music to accompany your videos, you will see trending song choices.
Find trending hashtags in the discover section.
They are often timely. For instance, at the time of this writing, late December 2021, many holiday hashtags are trending. For instance, currently, #HappyHolidays has 8.6 billion hashtags.
For instance, use hashtags with five or six digits, not just in the millions or billions. The competition is too fierce for viewership.
Use trending sounds
Not all trending sounds are songs.
A trending sound means any specific audio that’s being used many times TikTok video creators.
You find them in the Discover section.
Click the sound and then click Join Hashtag.
Replicate what works for others in your niche.
Note: Experts recommend this; yet, I networked with a successful TikToker who recommends being different. He posts videos of a dancing dog.
Use TikTok’s features like voice editing.
You can choose to make the people or animals in your videos sound like chipmunks and robots for instance.
Make instructional videos.
They can be short but helpful. For instance, I posted a video showing how NOT to get your dog to play with you that did well.
Be active on the platform.
This tells TikTok you are an active user whose content should be seen. Organic growth gets easier when TikTok pushes out your content for you to people’s home pages.
If you want people to follow you, tell them.
In the Search Bar, search #Follow4Follow. You can also search #Follow, #FollowTrain, and #FollowMe, and follow those users. In their caption box, ask them to Kindly Follow Back. These people are looking for people to follow them in exchange for following you.
Why this results in how to grow on TikTok: At the time of this writing, there are 9.4 billion views of the #Follow4Follow hashtag. These methods definitely result in how to grow on TikTok for free at a time when organic social media growth is down.
Join Follow Trains
UPDATE: May 2022
Here is more information about how to grow on TikTok using Follow Trains and Follow Loops.
By joining Follow Trains, you can discover how to grow on TikTok without even posting videos!
It’s true!
Follow trains are easy to find by searching for them in the TikTok search bar. Search #FollowTrains.
The way follow trains work is this:
You follow, you like, and share. Then, comment as instructed by the TikTok account holder. Follow everyone who likes your comment. TikTok will send you these notifications.
Don’t overanalyze.
Follow these strategies for how to grow on TikTok, but don’t overthink your video strategy. My first video did the best when I didn’t know how to grow on TikTok since I was so new. Also, some videos I thought wouldn’t generate any interest did well.
Bonus Tip: Use New Features
UPDATE: April 2022
When a social media platform introduces a new feature, the people that run the platform want you to use their new feature. To encourage you to use it, the platform will boost your organic reach.
This is a win-win for the site. The platform gets to see how well their new feature works, and you get an increase in your organic social media reach.
A climb in organic reach means more people see your content. This new exposure could lead to more followers and sales for you.
Therefore, if you want to know how to grow on TikTok, you should use TikTok’s new features like TikTok Stories.
Introduced in early 2022, TikTok Stories is an example. Just like Instagram Stories, TikTok Stories last 24 hours only.
What is the advantage of TikTok Stories?
Since TikTok Stories only last 24 hours, you can share a video you don’t want to permanently stay in your account.
Here is an example from my TikTok account.
I posted an edgy video that goes against my brand.
Do you want to see it?
If TikTok Stories had existed then, I could have still posted the video without it permanently staying in my profile and hurting my brand.
TikTok Marketing Strategies
UPDATE April 2022
The statistics in this infographic show the power of TikTok marketing.
One important note…
You don’t need to know how to grow on TikTok in order to make money on TikTok.
If your video content makes TikTok’s For You Page (FYP), the platform will send your videos out for you and you’ll get a boost in organic exposure.
Use Trending Music
According to the powers-that-be at TikTok, the old days of generating interest in your marketing materials with scintillating content are gone. According to the folks that run the platform, today marketers generating interest in their products and services with entertaining music.
Get a Business Account
At the time of this writing, there are one billion people on the site endlessly scrolling in order to view content. How can you capitalize on all this mega exposure?
You need a live link to your website. You can have one!
All you need is a free TikTok business account.
I have a link to my blog. If you have a Linktree account, you can post your Linktree link and offer many products and services.
In fact, Author Ashleigh Renard has a link to her Linktree in order to bring people to a list of links that will generate sales of her books.
Appeal to Your Target Audience
It is a myth that only teenagers are on TikTok. In fact, the largest growing demographic on TikTok is 25 to 34 years old (Source).
Once you reach 100 followers, you have access to new metrics that can help you plan your marketing campaigns.
Look at my analytics:
As you can see from the screenshot, the overwhelming majority of my TikTok followers are females and come from the United States.
If you want to see your analytics, Go to Settings and Privacy/Creator Tools.
Knowing these metrics can help you plan effective marketing campaigns.
Contact people in their DM’s.
I received this DM on TikTok from a marketer.
Make Content in the Best Niches
As indicated above, you need to make trending content within a niche.
However, according to TikTok expert Robert Benjamin, these are the best niches and therefore more likely to go viral:
- Story Time
- Pranks
- Pranks in Public
If you want to be TikTok famous, make video content in these niches.
Story Time
People have always loved stories.
Story Time guarantees you a large amount of watch time since your videos start with a hook.
When TikTok sees your video receives a significant amount of watch time, the platform pushes your video out to more people.
You could even have a sequel to your story. Give viewers a Call to Action. Tell them to follow your account so they can see the sequel.
Related Reading: Instagram Story Viewer Online [8 Easy Ways to Make Insta Stories in 2022]
Pranks
Since my brand is built around dog niches, that is what the TikTok algorithm shows me.
Do people play pranks on their dogs?
Absolutely!
For instance, pranks include making your dog think you are scared or incapacitated and videotaping your dog’s reaction, and posting it in a TikTok video.
Other pranks include barking at your dog or pretending to feed them. Then, people videotape and post the dog’s reaction.
Many of these pranks include challenges. The host account challenges people to pull the same prank on their dogs and post the video showing the dog’s reaction in a Duet.
Did I ever play a prank on my dog?
Full Disclosure: Yes! Do you want to see?
To date, this is my most popular TikTok video with well over 3,000 views.
How to Grow on TikTok Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get growth on TikTok?
You can get growth on TikTok by capitalizing on trending sounds and hashtags. Also, post content in the most popular TikTok niches: storytelling and pranks.
Is it easy to grow on TikTok?
Yes! If you follow trends, post content in the most popular niches, join Follow Trains, and ask people to follow you, you should find growing on TikTok easy. Also, TikTok videos are short averaging 15 seconds so you’ll find growing on TikTok is both quick and easy.
How do you get 1000 followers on TikTok?
Join trending sounds and hashtags. Join Follow Trains and ask people to follow you. Also, make content that is funny or suspenseful.
Wrapping Up: How to Grow on TikTok
By the time of this publication, nine weeks after starting this account, I had 1,612 followers. Now that you’ve read this guide, you know how to grow on TikTok as well.
By reading this post, you discovered 13 ways to grow on TikTok, 5 TikTok marketing strategies, and 2 mistakes to avoid when learning how to grow on TikTok. You also discovered 5 advantages of TikTok and the most popular TikTok niches.
Clearly, TikTok is my new passion. I believe you’ll have as much fun as I’m having and should give this entertaining social media playground a try.
As you can see, by the time of this publication, I learned how to grow on TikTok to over 1,000 followers. By following these techniques, you can too.
Readers, please share so social media users and social media marketers discover how to grow on TikTok.
I look forward to your views in the comments section. Do you have more strategies for how to grow on TikTok?
Related Reading:
If you are interested in how to grow on TikTok organically, you might be interested in how to grow on Instagram organically with this how to get Instagram followers cheat.
Janice Wald is the founder of MostlyBlogging.com and co-founder of the Mostly Blogging Academy. She is an ebook author, blogger, blogging coach, blogging judge, freelance writer, and speaker. She won the Best Internet Marketer Award and the Best Blogger Award at the 2021 Infinity Blog Awards. Wald was also nominated as 2019 Best Internet Marketer by the Infinity Blog Awards and in 2017 as the Most Informative Blogger by the London Bloggers Bash. She’s been featured on Small Business Trends, the Huffington Post, and Lifehack.
