25 ways to get more followers on TikTok

TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media apps ever—and for good reason. Short-form video has been taking the social media world by storm. And both brands and creators have been seeing a number of viral moments and opportunities to grow their platforms.

However, you still need the help of some good old fashioned TikTok marketing to grow your followers and maximize your viral potential.

Throughout this article, we’re going to walk you through 25 ways to get more followers on TikTok. So you can start creating content and engaging your audience today.

Why follower growth on TikTok is important

TikTok’s home screen is broken up into two different feeds: “Following” and “For You.” While the For You Page is dictated by the TikTok algorithm, the Following feed is filled with videos only from the accounts that user follows. This means, the more followers you have, the more Following feeds your videos will appear in—and many users do go back and forth between the feeds.

There are ways to get your content on the For You Page. But having your video content seen by those who follow you can also help your content go viral. It can also help you get more engagement and turn those followers into customers.

TikTok is one of the only social media platforms with a feed specifically for people the user is following. This makes your followers even more valuable on this platform than others. Discover how to grow your followers so you can build an engaged audience of TikTok users.

1. Identify your target audience

The first step in growing your following on any social channel is to make sure you know who to target with your content. That way, you can create content that your target audience will enjoy.

There are a few ways to go about this for growing your TikTok following.

First, consider taking a look at competitors and influencers in your industry. What kinds of content are they posting? Take notes on the most popular videos and use them to come up with your own unique ideas.

Next, think about the kinds of content you’ve been publishing on your other feeds. Granted, the content you publish on TikTok will likely be vastly different. But you can still pinpoint some common trends and content types or ideas that you know will perform well.

Finally, simply take a minute to review your customer persona again and remind yourself of their likes and dislikes. What would they want to see on a platform like TikTok.

Keep in mind that it’s all trial and error, especially with a new and virally-driven network like TikTok. You can try a million different types of videos before you find the one that really resonates with your audience.

2. Optimize your bio/profile

This may seem obvious, but your bio says a lot about the kind of content you create and the value you provide. So it may be the first place people will go to learn more about your profile. Make sure you optimize this section to effectively communicate your content niche and unique selling point.

tentree keeps it short and sweet while clearly explaining what the brand is all about.

A properly optimized bio instantly brings clarity and builds trust. It could even be the very factor that convinces your profile visitors to become followers.

3. Avoid buying followers at all costs

Buying TikTok followers may seem tempting, especially because it’s so easy. But it’s also the fastest way to land in hot water because TikTok’s Community Guidelines prohibit it. It can lead to severe penalties, which may even include account bans.

Even apart from this, fake followers can harm your TikTok strategy in a number of ways. Those bot and fake accounts don’t make up for real and engaged audiences. That means you’re not reaching real people who may be interested in your product or offering. So even if you do get engagement, most of it might not lead to real conversions.

And if you keep getting fake engagements, genuine followers might end up questioning your authenticity. In other words, buying followers can even damage your brand reputation.

4. Pay attention to trends

Trends are a big thing on TikTok. If you’ve perused the platform before, you’ve likely noticed a few videos follow very similar outlines or use the same sound clip. This is because that type of video is trending, proving its popularity. Try to create a similar video that makes sense for your business and take advantage of relevant TikTok trends.

The best way to discover popular trends is to consume a lot of TikTok content. Look for recurring trends, challenges and sound bites that you can use within your own content.

You can also head over to the “Search” section of your TikTok app to see trending news and topics to see if anything there stands out to you.

You can also take inspiration based on real life events that are happening and trending. For example, one of the biggest events throughout 2023 was Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Small business Sparta Candle Co. created a Taylor Swift-inspired soap called “Afterglow,” named after one of her songs, and made a video about it:

The video ended up going viral, and the team later created a video about how that soap became their best-selling product to date within two days. The impact of using trends for content can be huge—especially for a small business like this one.

5. See what the competition is doing

We briefly mentioned researching your competition when finding your target audience. Beyond this, a more comprehensive competitive analysis can inform your TikTok growth strategy.

Take a closer look at your competitors’ TikTok strategy. What types of content are they posting? Which posts are getting the most impressions and engagements? How are audiences engaging with their content?

This will help you identify patterns to connect specific strategies to audience growth. For example, your TikTok competitor analysis may be able to show you which hashtags to use for increased visibility. It can also show you which content angles seem to attract more followers for the competition.

Make the most of Sprout Social’s competitive analysis tools to see how your performance compares to the competition. You can easily get network-specific engagement data and see the top posts in your industry. Use these insights to find out what content to create to attract more followers.

6. Create a TikTok challenge

One thing TikTok is famous for is its various video challenges – from dances to dares and more. As you scroll through videos on the app, you’ll likely come across a few different challenges. See if any would work for your brand or consider creating your own TikTok challenge.

There are two main types of challenges: branded challenges and community challenges.

A branded challenge is one created and promoted by a brand. It’s often accompanied by a hashtag to help spread the word.

That’s exactly what MoonPie did here, with the #MoonPieChallenge. They introduced it with their very first video on TikTok and followed up with a couple more challenge videos.

This was one of their more popular videos as well as a great introduction to their brand presence on the app.

But there are also community challenges that are often created by popular TikTokers that brands can also try to jump on for their content.

One example is the “10 dip makeup challenge.” This involves makeup artists putting on makeup using 10 dips or drops of each type of makeup they put on. Here’s an example:

This type of challenge is the perfect one for makeup brands to jump on, giving their take on the challenge using only their makeup products. Keep an eye out for challenges like this that make sense for your brand to recreate.

7. Include the right hashtags

Just like on Instagram, Twitter and many other social media platforms, TikTok hashtags help users find your content. But it’s important to make sure you’re using the right hashtags.

One practice we see many people make is simply tag all of the trending hashtags in their TikTok captions. However, please don’t do this unless those hashtags are actually relevant to what you’re posting. Otherwise, it just looks spammy.

Instead, start typing in relevant hashtags when creating your caption to see how many views those hashtags are getting. And don’t forget to include the ever-popular #fyp or #foryou hashtags, popularly used in an attempt to get on the For You page. While the effect of these hashtags on placement hasn’t been confirmed, their widespread use can still expand the reach of your content.

8. Publish TikTok videos at the right times

It’s important to find the best time to post on TikTok in order to see the most reach on your videos. You can find this information by heading into your business or creator tools and checking out your TikTok analytics.

In the Followers tab, scroll down to find Follower activity. Here, you’ll be able to look at what days and times your followers are most active. Try publishing your posts just before the most popular time of that day in order to see the best results.

It’s also a good idea to keep a log of when you’ve published content so you can test different times to pinpoint what works best for your brand.

9. Leverage music and trending songs

Incorporate popular sound bites in your TikTok videos to help grab attention right from the jump. There are different music clips, songs and random audio clips that get reused for similar types of videos again and again. Using these can help your video’s overall performance.

Here’s an example from Scrub Daddy, using a sound and a video overlay that matches the song in order to create a humorous video.

One of the best ways to know which sound clips are trending is to consistently consume TikTok content. And pay attention to what popular TikTokers and other brands are sharing. See if you can discover ways to incorporate popular songs into your own content to engage your audience.

10. Add closed caption text to your videos for accessibility

Social media accessibility should be a key part of your strategy. This includes things like alt text on images and captions on videos. The latter is extremely easy to implement on TikTok. First, you can automatically turn on captions (just make sure you edit them so they’re accurate) or you can even add your own closed caption text overlay.

Here’s an example of what this might look like:

Many brands will do a bit of both. So they can use the text overlay to add additional context while also having closed captions that showcase what the person in the video is saying.

11. Share user-generated content

If people are mentioning your brand on TikTok or sharing videos hyper-relevant to your industry, ask if you can share that video as well! (While giving them full credit, of course—you can tag the original creator in the caption.)

Here’s a great example of user-generated content from online plant store The Sill. They’ve re-shared a video of a new customer unboxing one of their plants.

This is a great way to spread the word about their service, show off happy customers and give people an idea of what to expect when they order from them.

12. Use the right hashtags and create engaging captions

Just like with most social media platforms, your accompanying caption and hashtags can play a big part. TikTok hashtags can help your videos get more reach. Meanwhile, captions can be a great way to offer additional context, add humor or provide educational insights.

Visme chose the latter in their video example below, using the caption to share four tips to accompany the video’s content:

You can use a tool like TikTok Hashtags to find some hashtag ideas. Or start typing hashtags into the caption box and see what the app auto-populates as options.

13. Create TikTok Stories

It seems like every social media app has stories, and TikTok has now added this feature as well. TikTok Stories are video clips that can be up to 15 seconds in length and stay on your feed for 24 hours—similar to other types of Stories. They’ll appear as the first video in your feed with a “Story” banner overtop so your profile visitors know it’s not a traditional video.

TikTok Stories are a great way to share some behind-the-scenes content. You can also use them to share other bits of random content that don’t fit in with your strategy but that you still want to share with your audience.

This is still a newer feature, so it’s a good idea to start using it before it becomes more mainstream. Stand out from the competition by regularly sharing content to your TikTok Stories.

14. Tell engaging stories to connect with your audience

One of the best ways to turn viewers into followers is by fostering connection. And storytelling lets you do just that.

Engaging stories help to connect your audience to your content. They foster emotional resonance and retention instead of simply delivering information. So they’re effective for forming a deeper connection with viewers. The more connected someone feels with your content, the more likely they are to follow you.

As such, brand storytelling should be a core TikTok content strategy. Create videos showcasing a series of events in a way that resonates with viewers. Include elements like characters, settings, conflict, climax and resolution to engage the audience. Better yet, showcase real events and experiences for authentic storytelling.

tentree does a great job of telling impactful stories about the brand’s mission and values.

15. Create scroll-stopping hooks to draw in viewers

Although your content as a whole is what will engage the audience, the hook is what actually draws them in. Without a strong hook, users may simply scroll past the video, leaving even good content unseen.

The first few seconds of your video should be appealing enough to get users to stop scrolling and watch the whole thing. Here are a few tips to create stronger TikTok hooks:

• Use eye-catching visuals, such as bold images and unique formats.
• Make a bold statement or ask a relevant question.
• Display clear text overlays to immediately draw in viewers.
• Connect with the audience by addressing common pain points or highlighting relatable moments.

16. Experiment with different video lengths

Short-form video may be having its moment, but that doesn’t mean you should rule out longer videos completely. In fact, the TikTok algorithm is evolving to show a preference for content that drives deeper engagement. This means longer content (over 1 minute) could perform just as well as shorter videos.

A Socialinsider study found that 2-minute videos get the most views on TikTok. And videos between 90 and 120 seconds tend to have a great view rate.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Social Media Content Strategy Report found something different. Short-form videos between 15 and 30 seconds drove the most interactions among brand content.

So play around with different video lengths to see what works best for you. Connect the patterns between your top-performing videos to find the ideal length. This will help you create videos that drive significantly more reach and attract new followers.

17. Provide unique value through your content

Building a genuine presence on TikTok is more than just “gaming the algorithm.” Rather, it’s about giving people a reason to follow your account.

This is why you need to focus on offering a unique value to your audience. It’s all about providing unique information or offering a fresh perspective to set yourself apart. Show them why they should follow you by creating content that benefits them. Solve their problems, address their pain points, teach them something new or even entertain them.

When you constantly demonstrate your value, it keeps your followers engaged and attracts new ones. Dr. Althea strategically balances entertainment with product benefits to offer a unique value.

18. Work with TikTok influencers and creators

Influencer marketing is a great tactic on Instagram, but this also extends over to TikTok. With so many “TikTok-famous” users, working with influencers can be a great way to get the word out about your business.

Here’s an example from TikToker Jeremy Culhane. He created a video for Crocs in his traditional style, featuring a humorous video with random photo montages throughout. So it still feels natural, but is absolutely a marketing video.

This video is posted on the Crocs profile. By using a popular TikToker, those familiar with Jeremy’s work will immediately be more interested in watching the brand video. However, many influencer content partnerships also involve the video being posted on the influencer’s page. This could help the brand reach an even larger audience.

Keep in mind that working with TikTok influencers comes with its own costs. If you’re on a limited budget, you may want to look for micro-influencers with a highly engaged audience.

19. Create a content series with multiple videos

Creating a multi-part video series can be a great way to engage with your audience. This is especially true if you continue a video series that you’ve noticed your audience likes.

Here’s an example of what this might look like from Shopify, which has created several videos on “hot tools you need to know about.” Each video covers a single tool, making this an easy type of video to create every so often to share new tools.

However, you can get even more creative with this strategy, too. If you’ve posted a funny video that you’ve noticed people love or comment on asking for more, give the people what they want! Reply to comments to add additional parts so the videos are all linked together.

20.  Cross-promote your TikTok videos

Spread the word that you’re on TikTok. Your followers on other channels might not know that you’ve created a TikTok profile. So it’s a good idea to cross-promote your videos onto other channels.

Other platforms like Instagram and YouTube offer their own versions of short-form video content. This makes them the perfect place to repurpose content created for TikTok videos.

TikTok lets you save videos from your feed. The saved video will feature the TikTok logo and your handle in the corner of the screen. You can then upload them as-is, giving your followers an easy way to learn how to find you on TikTok.

Some platforms have a few restrictions to promote original content over repurposed TikTok videos. Instagram Reels does not allow reposted, watermarked videos, so you’ll need to upload the original short video or edit accordingly. YouTube Shorts does allow TikTok watermarked videos, but they can’t be monetized.

21. Use TikTok features to engage your audience

If you want to get more eyes on your TikTok profile, one of the best ways to do this is to engage with other videos. Like, comment and stitch/duet other users’ videos.

Stitching allows you to add your own video onto the end of the clip of another users’ video. This is perfect for adding your own commentary or additional content to an existing video.

Dueting places your video next to another users’ video so you can react to or complement an existing video with your own content.

Be sure to own stitch or duet videos that are hyper-relevant to your brand. Otherwise, just like and comment on videos that your target audience creates to grab their attention.

Take advantage of Sprout Social’s TikTok integration to schedule your video content. This is especially useful if you’re bulk-creating videos.

22. Leverage TikTok’s native monetization tools for growth

TikTok offers several native tools to monetize your presence. Creators can make money on TikTok through TikTok Shop, subscriptions and LIVE monetization. The Creator Rewards Program is another great way to make money through your content.

While these tools are technically for earning, they indirectly fuel audience growth. They incentivize creators to produce high-quality content consistently. And maintaining this type of publishing schedule helps you attract engaged audiences.

23. Use CTAs at the end of your videos

Another great way to get more followers on TikTok? Ask!

Try ending your videos with CTAs to visit your profile, check out similar videos or follow you. You can do this by adding a simple text overlay towards the end of your video, like we see in this example from Chipotle.

Note that doing this in every video you post can put a bad taste in your existing followers’ mouths. But no one will mind if the occasional video has a call-to-action to follow your content.

The best time to use this tactic is when you’re creating a video series or posting a multi-part video. Simply add a text sticker that says something like, “Follow us to catch part two!”

24. Monitor your growth and double down on what works

Pay attention to your TikTok analytics so you have a clear idea of which video types your audience likes. It can also show you whether you’re targeting the right people and what types of videos you should continue to create.

You can see which videos have had the most reach within the last week, giving you an idea of what may be going viral or trending. You can also see where people are finding your content—whether they went to your profile, saw it on the FYP, etc.

Consistently monitor your growth, analytics, reach, audience data and more to ensure your TikTok strategy is on the right track. Try to recreate successful content and let go of video ideas that simply aren’t performing the way you’d hoped.

25. Diversify your content with ads

Our last tip is simply to test out putting some of your marketing ad budget behind promoting your TikTok videos. This is the perfect approach when you’re just starting out. So you can have a starting foundation to measure what works and what doesn’t for your upcoming videos.

There are a few different types of TikTok ads you can try, but for this purpose, the brand takeover or in-feed ads will be your best bet. These require your own video content, though. So start brainstorming some catchy videos that will get your target audience interested in following you.

Get more followers on TikTok today

Excited to start implementing some of these tactics? Start by gathering inspiration from other brands on TikTok and what works for them. TikTok can be a great way to generate brand awareness and revenue, so don’t sleep on this platform.

Why follower growth on TikTok is important?

TikTok’s home screen is broken up into two different feeds: “Following” and “For You.” While the For You Page is dictated by the TikTok algorithm, the Following feed is filled with videos only from the accounts that user follows. This means, the more followers you have, the more Following feeds your videos will appear in—and many users do go back and forth between the feeds.