27 ways to get more followers on TikTok

Growing on TikTok takes more than posting consistently. It takes a sharp TikTok marketing strategy built around what the algorithm rewards, what your audience wants and how to turn content performance into real business results.

Short-form video has changed how people discover brands, evaluate products and decide to follow accounts. The brands winning on TikTok right now aren’t the ones posting the most; they’re the ones posting with the most intention.

Here are 27 proven ways to get more followers on TikTok and build an audience that converts.

Why follower growth on TikTok is important

TikTok followers directly expand your content’s reach through the platform’s dedicated Following feed, a feature that sets TikTok apart from every other major social media platform. The more followers you build, the more Following feeds your videos appear in, giving your content a guaranteed audience beyond the algorithm-driven For You Page.

TikTok is the top product-discovery platform for Gen Z, with 49% using it to find new products, according to the 2026 Sprout Social Content Strategy Report. That’s an active audience ready to convert, but only if you’ve built the follower base to reach them consistently.

Followers on TikTok do more than inflate a vanity metric. They create a compounding growth engine:

• Guaranteed placement: Your content appears directly in followers’ Following feeds, independent of the For You Page algorithm.
• Higher engagement signals: Early engagement from followers tells the algorithm your content is worth distributing more broadly.
• Faster path to conversion: Followers who repeatedly see your content are far more likely to become customers than cold audiences.

Build your TikTok follower base with intention and you build a direct line to your most engaged audience, one that compounds with every video you publish.

How the TikTok algorithm works: The foundation of every tip below

The TikTok algorithm ranks content based on watch behavior, not follower count. The algorithm pushes videos that earn rewatches, saves, shares and comments to wider audiences. The algorithm buries videos that lose viewers in the first few seconds.

Every signal you send matters. A strong hook stops the scroll. A focused topic tells TikTok exactly who should see your video. Consistency trains the algorithm to connect your account with the right audience over time.

• Hook fast: Lead with your clearest, most compelling idea in the first two seconds.
• Stay focused: One video, one topic, one takeaway.
• Reinforce your message: Use on-screen text, spoken keywords and captions together.
• Create share-worthy content: Saves and shares carry more algorithmic weight than passive views.
• Post consistently: Regular publishing builds topical authority with the algorithm.

Seventy-one percent of marketers are increasing their TikTok investment—the highest of any platform—according to the 2026 Sprout Social Content Strategy Report. The brands winning that investment are the ones who treat the algorithm as a system to master, not a lottery to win.

1. Identify your target audience

Knowing your target audience is the foundation of how to grow on TikTok. Without it, you’re creating content for no one in particular, and the algorithm notices.

Start by studying creators and brands in your industry. Which videos earn the most engagement? What formats, topics and tones drive comments and shares? Use those patterns to shape your own original ideas.

Then cross-reference what you already know about your audience from other social media platforms. Content formats will differ, but your audience’s core interests and pain points stay consistent.

Finally, use these three signals to sharpen your audience picture:

• Competitor and creator research: Analyze top-performing content in your niche to identify what resonates before you invest in production.
• Cross-platform audience data: Pull insights from your existing social analytics to identify recurring themes your audience responds to.
• Your customer persona: Revisit it with TikTok in mind. Seventy-two percent of Gen Z users are on TikTok and 55% engage with brand content daily, according to the 2026 Sprout Social Content Strategy Report. Knowing exactly who you’re speaking to is non-negotiable.

TikTok rewards experimentation. Test formats, iterate fast and let your analytics tell you what to double down on.

2. Optimize your TikTok bio and profile

Your TikTok bio is your first impression and your clearest pitch. It tells visitors exactly what you create, who you serve and why they should follow you. Treat it as prime real estate for communicating your content niche and unique value.

tentree keeps it short and direct while clearly explaining what the brand stands for.

A well-optimized bio builds instant trust and converts profile visitors into followers. To maximize yours, focus on these essentials:

• State your niche clearly: Tell visitors exactly what kind of content they’ll get from you.
• Include a keyword: TikTok’s search function indexes bios, so use terms your target audience searches for.
• Add a call to action: Direct visitors to your link, latest drop or lead magnet.
• Keep it concise: Every word must earn its place. Cut anything that doesn’t add value.

3. Define your niche and content pillars

Focused content builds followers. When your audience knows exactly what to expect from you, they follow, return and share. When your content jumps between unrelated topics, discovery stalls and trust erodes.

Pick a well-defined niche, then build three to five repeatable content pillars around it. Education, behind-the-scenes, product tips, customer stories and trend-driven takes through your brand lens all work. The goal is a system your team executes consistently, not a new idea every week.

• Choose a niche at the intersection of audience interest and brand expertise.
• Build three to five content pillars you post about every week without fail.
• Use repeatable formats so your team produces content faster and at higher volume.
• Establish a recognizable point of view so your audience identifies your content before they see your name.

Originality is the second most important factor that makes brands stand out on social, ranking just behind product or service quality, according to the 2025 Sprout Social Index™. A defined niche is what makes originality scalable.

Random content creates random results. A focused content system builds compounding momentum.

4. Avoid buying followers at all costs

Buying TikTok followers violates TikTok’s Community Guidelines and puts your account at risk of permanent suspension. No shortcut is worth losing everything you’ve built.

Beyond the platform penalties, fake followers actively destroy your TikTok strategy. Bot accounts don’t watch, engage or buy. They inflate your numbers while gutting your real reach and conversion potential.

Authentic growth is the only growth that compounds. Fake engagement signals erode trust with genuine followers and damage your brand reputation in ways that take far longer to repair than it takes to cause.

5. Post consistently with a content calendar

Consistency builds TikTok momentum. The algorithm rewards accounts that publish regularly, and your audience learns to expect you. Bursts of activity followed by silence reset that momentum to zero.

Build a publishing cadence your team can sustain, then plan ahead. A content calendar balances trend-led posts with evergreen content, campaign moments and experiments, so you’re never starting from scratch.

• Set a realistic weekly posting cadence and protect it like a deadline.
• Batch content creation so production doesn’t bottleneck publishing.
• Map content by pillar, campaign and format to maintain variety without chaos.
• Reserve space for reactive posts when a trend fits your brand within the first 48 hours—the window where trendjacking works.
• Review performance weekly and adjust your mix based on what the data tells you.

A repeatable system beats inspiration every time. Build the calendar, protect the cadence and let consistency do the compounding.

6. Publish TikTok videos at the right times

Posting at peak times directly increases your reach on TikTok. Find your optimal windows by opening your TikTok analytics and navigating to the Followers tab, then scrolling to Follower activity.

This view shows you exactly which days and hours your audience is most active. Publish your content just before those peak windows to maximize visibility the moment engagement spikes.

Sprout Social’s best times to post on TikTok data takes this further. Sprout’s patented ViralPost technology analyzes your specific audience’s behavior and automatically schedules content at the times proven to drive the most engagement for your account. No guesswork required.

Track your publish times alongside performance data. Testing different windows and logging results is how you move from general benchmarks to a posting schedule built around your audience.

7. Pay attention to trends

Trends drive discovery on TikTok. When a sound, format or challenge goes viral, the algorithm amplifies it, and brands that move fast earn the reach. Spot a trend that fits your brand and create your own version before the moment passes.

The most reliable way to find trends is to spend time on the platform itself. Watch for recurring formats, sounds and challenges that appear across multiple creators in your niche.

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

Real-world cultural moments are equally powerful. When Sparta Candle Co. created a Taylor Swift-inspired soap called “Afterglow” and posted a video about it, the content went viral, and that soap became their best-selling product within two days.

Thirty-nine percent of Gen Z consumers plan to use TikTok even more in 2026, according to the 2026 Sprout Social Content Strategy Report, and they’re most drawn to entertaining content. Trend-driven videos that entertain first and sell second are exactly what this audience rewards with engagement.

Pro tip: Act within one to two days of a trend emerging. Audiences respond best to brands that move at the speed of culture, not brands that arrive late to the conversation.

8. Leverage music and trending songs

Trending audio is one of TikTok’s most powerful discovery tools. When you use a sound that’s already gaining momentum, the algorithm recognizes the pattern and surfaces your video to a wider audience, including people who’ve never heard of your brand.

Here’s an example from Scrub Daddy, using a trending sound with a video overlay that matches the audio to create a standout comedic moment.

The fastest way to spot trending audio is to spend time on the platform itself. Watch what top creators and brands are using, then find a natural way to make that sound work for your content, not the other way around.

• Browse the For You page daily to catch sounds before they peak.
• Check TikTok’s Creative Center for real-time trending audio data.
• Match the sound to your content’s emotion—forced audio pairings fall flat with audiences who know the original context.

9. Use the right hashtags and create engaging captions

Strategic hashtags and captions directly expand your reach on TikTok. TikTok hashtags surface your content to new audiences, while captions add context, humor or educational value that keeps viewers engaged.

Visme puts this into practice by using the caption to deliver four actionable tips alongside the video content:

To find the right hashtags, start typing directly into TikTok’s caption box and let the app’s auto-populate feature surface trending options. Pair that with a caption that gives viewers a reason to stop scrolling, whether that’s a bold statement, a quick tip or a direct call to action.

10. Optimize for TikTok SEO and in-app search

TikTok is a search engine. People use it to find tutorials, product recommendations, reviews and answers to everyday questions, and the brands that optimize for search earn compounding discovery long after their post goes live.

Start with the exact phrase your audience types into TikTok. Then work that phrase into your video through spoken audio, on-screen text and your caption.

• Use specific keywords: The algorithm buries broad language. Niche phrases match real search intent.
• Say the keyword early: Speak it in the first few seconds so TikTok’s algorithm indexes it immediately.
• Reinforce it visually: Add the keyword to your text overlay and caption to signal relevance across every surface.
• Answer what people are already searching: Build content around common questions in your niche, not just trending sounds.
• Use hashtags to support the topic: Hashtags provide context—they don’t replace keyword strategy.

TikTok is the top social media platform for product discovery among Gen Z, with 49% of Gen Z consumers turning to the platform to find new products, according to the 2026 Sprout Social Content Strategy Report. That’s not a passive audience. It’s an active one searching for exactly what you offer. Show up in those results and your content works around the clock.

11. Create scroll-stopping hooks to draw in viewers

Your hook determines whether anyone watches your content at all. The first three seconds of a TikTok video decide whether a viewer stays or scrolls, and the algorithm rewards videos that hold attention from the very start.

Build hooks that stop the scroll and earn the watch:

• Lead with bold visuals: Unexpected imagery, dynamic movement or striking color contrasts signal immediately that something worth watching is happening.
• Open with a provocative statement: Make a claim your audience didn’t expect or challenge a common assumption in your niche.
• Use on-screen text immediately: Text overlays in the first frame give viewers a reason to stop before they even process the audio.
• Speak directly to a pain point: Name a frustration your audience knows well. Recognition creates an instant connection that keeps them watching.

As TikTok’s algorithm increasingly prioritizes completion rate and meaningful engagement, a strong hook isn’t just good creative practice. It’s the foundation of how to grow on TikTok in 2026.

12. Experiment with different video lengths

Video length strategy on TikTok is no longer a one-size-fits-all decision. The algorithm rewards content that drives deeper engagement, and that means both short-form and longer videos earn their place in a winning content mix.

Sixty percent of brand interactions on TikTok are driven by videos under 60 seconds, according to the 2026 Social Media Content Strategy Report, yet 71% of marketers are increasing their investment in the platform to meet Gen Z’s demand for high-frequency, original content. TikTok also now incentivizes horizontal videos over one minute with increased reach, making longer formats worth testing.

Track the patterns across your top-performing videos to identify which lengths drive the most reach, watch time and follower growth. Then build your content calendar around what the data tells you, not assumptions.

13. Provide unique value through your content

Knowing how to grow on TikTok starts with giving people a concrete reason to follow you, not just a reason to watch once.

Unique value is what separates accounts people follow from accounts they forget. Solve a real problem, teach something actionable or entertain in a way no one else does. When your content consistently delivers on a clear promise, followers stay and new ones arrive.

• Educate: Share expertise your audience struggles to find elsewhere.
• Entertain: Build a distinct creative voice that makes your content instantly recognizable.
• Solve problems: Address specific pain points your audience faces every day.
• Show results: Demonstrate product benefits in action, not just in theory.

Dr. Althea does this well—balancing entertainment with tangible product benefits to build a following that keeps coming back.

14. Tell engaging stories to engage your audience

Storytelling transforms passive viewers into loyal followers by creating emotional connection, not just content consumption.

The most effective TikTok stories include recognizable elements: a character, a conflict and a resolution. Real events and authentic experiences outperform scripted narratives every time. Originality is the second most important factor that makes brands stand out on social, right behind product quality, according to the 2025 Sprout Social Index™.

Make brand storytelling a core part of your TikTok strategy. Build a series of videos around a real mission, a behind-the-scenes journey or a customer transformation, and give your audience a reason to come back for the next chapter.

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

15. Create a content series with multiple videos

A multi-part video series builds audience loyalty by giving people a reason to return to your profile again and again. When viewers know more episodes are coming, they follow to stay in the loop.

Here’s an example from Shopify, which created a recurring series on “hot tools you need to know about.” Each video covers a single tool, a repeatable format that’s easy to produce and consistently drives engagement.

Take it further by replying to comments with follow-up videos. When your audience asks for more, link the response directly to the original post so every new part feeds back into the series and compounds your reach over time.

16. See what the competition is doing

A comprehensive competitive analysis on TikTok reveals which content strategies drive follower growth and which ones fall flat. Use that intelligence to sharpen your own strategy.

Dig into your competitors’ TikTok presence and look for patterns across these key areas:

• Content formats: What types of videos are they posting and which formats earn the most engagement?
• Hashtag strategy: Which hashtags consistently appear on their top-performing posts?
• Audience response: What comments, saves and shares reveal about what resonates with their followers?
• Content angles: Which topics or narratives attract new followers vs. retaining existing ones?

Your TikTok competitor analysis turns those observations into a clear content roadmap—showing you exactly where to focus to grow on TikTok faster than your competition.

Sprout’s competitive analysis tools give you network-specific engagement data and surface the top posts in your industry. Compare your performance head-to-head, identify content gaps and build a strategy grounded in real market signals, not guesswork.

17. Create a TikTok challenge

TikTok challenges are one of the most powerful organic growth tools on the platform, and brands that create or join them earn massive visibility fast. There are two types worth knowing: branded challenges and community challenges.

Branded challenges are created and promoted by a brand, typically anchored by a hashtag. MoonPie executed this perfectly with the #MoonPieChallenge, launching it as their very first TikTok video and building brand awareness from day one.

Community challenges originate from popular TikTok creators and give brands a ready-made cultural moment to join. The “10 dip makeup challenge,” where makeup artists apply each product using exactly 10 dips or drops, is a prime example. Makeup brands that participate with their own products tap directly into an engaged, relevant audience.

The key to knowing how to grow on TikTok through challenges is speed and relevance. More than a quarter of consumers say trendjacking only works if a brand joins within one to two days of a trend emerging, according to the 2025 Sprout Social Index™. Monitor trending challenges daily and move fast when the right one appears for your brand.

18. Share user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) is one of the most powerful tools for growing on TikTok. It builds social proof, drives discovery and shows real people connecting with your brand.

When customers mention your brand or share videos relevant to your industry, ask permission to reshare that content. Tag the original creator in the caption to give them full credit.

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.

A single reshared video does three things at once: spreads the word about your product, showcases happy customers and sets expectations for new buyers. User-generated content is one of the top-performing formats for brands on TikTok, according to the 2026 Sprout Social Content Strategy Report, with 30% of social users pointing to UGC as the brand content they are most likely to interact with on the platform.

19. Add closed captions to your videos

Closed captions on TikTok videos are one of the simplest, highest-impact changes to make to your content strategy. Social media accessibility directly affects your reach—captions keep viewers watching in sound-off environments and make your content discoverable to a broader audience. TikTok lets you auto-generate captions instantly, but always review and edit them for accuracy before publishing.

Here’s an example of what this looks like in practice:

The strongest approach combines both methods: use auto-generated closed captions to display spoken dialogue and add a text overlay to deliver additional context or emphasis. Two layers of text mean two opportunities to hold attention and communicate your message.

20. Use TikTok features to engage your audience

TikTok’s native engagement features, including Stitch, Duet, comments and likes, are direct signals to the algorithm that your content belongs in more feeds. Use them strategically, not randomly.

• Stitch: Clip up to five seconds of another creator’s video and add your own response or commentary at the end. Use it to add expert perspective on content your target audience already watches.
• Duet: Place your video side-by-side with another creator’s to react, complement or build on their content in real time.
• Like and comment: Engage with videos your target audience creates. Showing up in their comment sections puts your profile directly in front of the right people.

Keep every interaction hyper-relevant to your brand. Off-topic engagement dilutes your niche authority and confuses the algorithm about who your content is for.

Managing TikTok engagement across a high-volume content schedule gets complex fast. Sprout’s Smart Inbox centralizes your TikTok @mentions and ad comments in one place—so your team responds faster, never misses a high-priority conversation and spends more time on the engagement that builds community.

21. Go live on TikTok to engage in real time

TikTok LIVE builds the kind of trust that edited content can’t replicate. It gives your audience direct access to your brand, turns passive viewers into active participants and accelerates follower growth through real-time engagement.

Go live when you want to answer questions, demo products, react to launches, host interviews or unpack a topic your comments section keeps raising. The more specific your topic, the longer viewers stay.

• Promote before you go live: Announce your session in advance so your audience shows up ready.
• Lead with a clear topic: Tell viewers immediately why they should stay.
• Engage comments early: Acknowledge viewers by name and answer questions in the first few minutes.
• Repurpose your best moments: Clip strong live segments and publish them as standalone short-form videos.

Real-time connection is the one format your competitors can’t copy and paste. Use it.

22. Work with TikTok influencers and creators

Influencer marketing on TikTok drives real business results. Fifty-nine percent of marketers plan to build out their influencer roster in 2025, according to the 2025 Sprout Social Content Benchmarks Report. Partnering with the right creators puts your brand in front of audiences who are already primed to engage.

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. It feels natural, yet functions flawlessly as a marketing video.

Crocs posted this video on their profile. Fans already familiar with Jeremy’s work are immediately more invested in watching, and when the video lives on the creator’s own page, the brand reaches an even wider audience.

When building your creator strategy, focus on topical alignment over follower count. Content relevance and quality drive discovery, not audience size. If budget is a constraint, micro-influencers with highly engaged niche audiences consistently deliver strong returns.

Sprout Social Influencer Marketing makes finding the right creators faster. Use AI-powered natural language search to discover creators by topic, not just demographics, and evaluate fit through the Brand Fit Score, which measures how closely a creator’s content, voice and niche align with your brand. That’s how you build creator partnerships grounded in real audience alignment, not vanity metrics.

23. Cross-promote your TikTok videos

Cross-promoting your TikTok content on other social media platforms is one of the fastest ways to grow on TikTok by converting existing followers into new ones. Your audience on Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn has no idea you’re creating TikTok content unless you tell them.

Short-form video thrives across platforms. According to the 2026 Social Media Content Strategy Report, short-form video under 60 seconds is the top-performing content format on TikTok, and it translates directly to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

Here’s what to know before you repurpose:

• TikTok watermarked videos: TikTok lets you save videos with your handle and logo embedded. Upload these directly to platforms that accept them to drive profile discovery.
• Instagram Reels: Does not allow watermarked or reposted TikTok videos. Upload the original file or remove the watermark before posting.
• YouTube Shorts: Accepts TikTok watermarked videos, but watermarked content cannot be monetized.

Every piece of TikTok content you create is a cross-platform asset. Treat it that way from the start. Film in a format that works everywhere and distribute it everywhere.

24. Use CTAs at the end of your videos

Ending your videos with a direct call-to-action is one of the fastest ways to convert viewers into followers. Add a text overlay near the end of your video asking people to visit your profile, watch related content or follow your account—like this example from Chipotle.

Use this tactic selectively. Overusing CTAs trains your existing audience to tune them out. The highest-impact moment to deploy one is during a video series. A simple text sticker that reads “Follow us to catch part two!” turns passive viewers into committed followers before the next video even drops.

The best call-to-action feels like a natural next step, not a sales pitch. Keep it specific, keep it brief and tie it directly to the value your content just delivered.

25. Leverage TikTok’s native monetization tools for growth

TikTok’s native monetization tools do more than generate revenue. They drive consistent content output that attracts and retains engaged audiences. When creators commit to these programs, the quality and cadence of their content rises and so does their reach.

TikTok offers multiple ways to make money on TikTok while building your audience:

• TikTok Shop: Sell products directly through your content, turning viewers into buyers without leaving the app.
• Creator Rewards Program: Earn based on content performance, which rewards high-quality, high-engagement videos—exactly the kind that grow your following.
• Subscriptions and LIVE monetization: Build a loyal inner circle of paying followers who engage with your content at a deeper level.

Each tool creates a feedback loop: monetization incentivizes better content, better content drives more views and more views grow your audience. Treat these programs as growth infrastructure, not just income streams.

26. Diversify your content with ads

Putting ad budget behind your TikTok videos accelerates growth, especially when you’re building your audience from scratch. Paid promotion gives you a performance baseline so you know exactly what resonates before you scale your organic strategy.

Two TikTok ad formats deliver the strongest results for follower growth: brand takeovers and in-feed ads. Both require original video content, so invest time in creating short-form videos under 60 seconds, the format Gen Z engages with most on TikTok, according to the 2026 Sprout Social Content Strategy Report.

27. Monitor your growth and double down on what works

Your TikTok analytics reveal exactly which video types drive the most engagement, whether you’re reaching the right audience and what content to prioritize next.

Track these metrics consistently to sharpen your strategy:

• Reach and views: See which videos gained the most traction in the past week and identify what’s trending with your audience.
• Traffic sources: Understand whether people find your content through the For You Page, your profile or search—then optimize for the channels that deliver.
• Audience data: Confirm your content reaches the right demographics and adjust your targeting when it doesn’t.

Recreate what performs. Cut what doesn’t. The brands that grow on TikTok treat analytics as a decision engine, not a report card.

TikTok’s native analytics cap your historical data at 60 days. Sprout’s TikTok integration gives you access to your full performance history from the moment you connect your account—so you spot longer-term trends, benchmark content by format or campaign and build reports that prove TikTok’s business impact to your leadership team. When data drives your decisions, every video you publish gets smarter than the last.

Grow your TikTok following and your business

TikTok growth is a business strategy, not a numbers game. The brands winning on TikTok in 2026 build with intent: clear audience insight, repeatable content systems and a tight feedback loop that turns performance data into smarter decisions.

When follower growth connects to real business outcomes, it stops being a vanity metric and starts driving revenue. Know your audience. Build consistent content. Measure what moves the needle. That’s how TikTok becomes a growth engine for your entire business.

Sprout Social’s TikTok integration gives you everything you need to execute this strategy at scale—from scheduling and analytics to influencer discovery and competitive intelligence, all in one place. Start a free 30-day trial and see what intentional TikTok growth looks like with the right tools behind it.

FAQs about growing your presence on TikTok

What is the fastest way to grow your TikTok following?

The fastest path is a mix of focus and volume. Pick a clear niche, post consistently, lead with strong hooks and make content people want to share or save. Fast growth comes from a few videos that hit hard because the strategy behind them is well-defined.

How often should you post on TikTok to grow your following?

Post often enough to learn quickly, but not so often that quality falls apart. A steady weekly cadence beats short bursts of high output every time. The right frequency is the one your team can sustain.

Does engaging with other TikTok accounts support your growth?

Yes. Replying to comments, joining conversations and using features like duets or stitches increase visibility and strengthen community. Growth on TikTok isn’t just about publishing. It’s about participation.

How long does it take to build a TikTok following?

It depends on your content quality, consistency and how clearly your videos match audience interest. Some accounts gain traction fast. Others need more testing. The goal isn’t instant growth. The goal is repeatable growth.

What is the difference between TikTok followers and TikTok views?

Views show how many times your content was watched. Followers show how many people want to keep hearing from you. High views can spark discovery. Strong follower growth shows your content is building lasting interest.