TikTok Growth Hacks and Guidelines for Viral Success

Did you know that TikTok (alongside YouTube) is one of the most engaging streaming apps worldwide?In May 2021, the average user in the U.K. spent almost 26 hours on TikTok per month. Meanwhile, Americans spent an average of 24.5 hours a month in the app.

Source: App Annie

Not only is the app engaging, but it’s also immensely popular – expected to hit over 1.2 billion active users in 2021.If you’re wondering how you can tap into the ever-increasing power of TikTok to grow your business, you’re in the right place. We’ve composed a list of the top growth hacks for TikTok today.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Related Articles: Learn More About TikTok Marketing and Advertising

Looking for more tips on TikTok marketing and trends?

• The Marketer’s Guide on How to Advertise on TikTok
• A Comprehensive Guide to TikTok Advertising
• Influencer Marketing on TikTok: How to Develop Your Strategy
• B2C Marketing on TikTok for Forward-Thinking Businesses
• Should B2B Brands Spend Time Marketing on TikTok?

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8 TikTok Growth Hacks You Need to Know

To help you jump ahead of your competitors and create a channel your audience loves, here are some of the TikTok growth hacks you can do:

1. Be Authentic

You may feel the pressure to be hilarious. Or super witty. Or magnificently talented. But TikTok users appreciate authenticity. You can find your niche and place of belonging in the app – wherever it may be. Businesses can cover anything from entertainment and travel tips to education and financial advice.If you’re genuine and focus on having fun, without worrying too much about what your audience will think, you can grow a loyal following. Don’t forget to add loads of personality and let people get to know you, your business, and your brand well.

2. Target the Right Audience with Valuable Content

Just as important as knowing how to build the right audience is avoiding building the wrong one. Rand Fishkin weighs in by advising marketers to avoid targeting the wrong people by:

• Choosing a niche that isn’t overly competitive
• Shifting your efforts to reach people and publications that can amplify your work and send you real traffic
• Avoiding trying to sell to everyone who watches your videos or consumes your content
• Focusing on amplifying your content and increasing consumer engagement

Keep in mind that your audience members will fall into one of four stages: discovery, awareness, problem-experiencing, or solution-seeking.

Source: SparkToro

Providing content for only one category or group will cut you off at the knees. In other words, you’ll scare away individuals who may be at a different stage in their journey.On the flip side, if you create content that addresses people at every stage, you’ll help newcomers get to know your brand AND provide solutions for those who already know and trust you.

3. Follow the Trends

Your mom probably taught you not to follow the crowd, give in to peer pressure, and jump off the cliff if your friends do. But in this case, following the trends is one of the fastest ways to grow – and maybe even go viral.Look for trending content, sounds, and hashtags. Stars are born out of trends on TikTok. You can quickly stumble across numerous videos highlighting the same song, dance, or challenge. To get your piece of the pie, jump in and create your version of the video.You can look for trending hashtags on the Discovery page and create content that covers those popular topics. You can also find trending music, challenges, and sounds to adopt. Users pull sounds from hit music, movies, and even YouTube videos.When creating and publishing your content, include the hashtags you followed to let the app know who your content is for. More people will see it and find you organically.

Fleetwood Mac TikTok

Doggface (@420doggface208) started a trend when he hopped on his skateboard with cranberry Ocean Spray and lip-synced Fleetwood Mac’s song “Dreams” on TikTok in September 2020. Dreams quickly became a trending sound as the post earned millions of views and inspired others to create original videos.

Sea Shanty TikTok

Nathan Evans (@nathanevanss) posted a video singing The Wellerman, a famous sea shanty with over 9 million views. People began layering their harmonies over Nathan’s to record new videos, forming a new TikTok challenge. Various celebrities even took up the challenge, including Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Nickelback.

Zach King’s Magic Broomstick

Zach King (@zachking) created the most-viewed TikTok video of all time, with 2.2 billion views and counting. The illusionist struck gold as he impersonated Harry Potter flying on his Nimbus 2000. In the post, he asked his followers, “What house are you in?” The question has received over 16 million likes and nearly 400,000 replies (so far).

4. Optimize Your Profile

When it comes to your TikTok profile, you can’t just set it up and forget about it. Your business profile needs to be optimized so people take a desired action when they land on your channel.Here are some tips for optimizing your profile and biography:

• Add a link to your Instagram page and YouTube channel so users can follow you on multiple platforms.
• You can also add a link to your website for users to learn more about you.
• Add a call to action in your bio to send users where you want them to go.
• Add a high-quality cover photo and profile picture that represent your brand.
• Add a concise description of who you are and what you do. Just be careful not to exceed the limit of 80 characters.
• Add emojis to your bio to show your personality.

Source: @annaxsitar on TikTok

5. The “For You” Page

TikTok personalizes a “For You” page for every user based on their activity and interests. It can include content from creators you follow and those you’d likely want to.Users love browsing the For You page and consuming new content from accounts they don’t yet follow. This presents an opportunity for your target audience to find you and for you to gain massive exposure – even if your following is currently tiny and your videos haven’t gone viral.For You will evolve as you follow new accounts. The page should reveal relevant trends like challenges and hashtags that you may want to use to grow your profile.To boost your video’s exposure, follow these tips:

• If your video gets lots of likes, shares, and comments, TikTok will consider it highly engaging. You could ask your audience to comment or share your content to boost your reach and engagement.
• Ask people to share your TikTok content on other social platforms.
• Create content people will genuinely enjoy – so they naturally want to share it with others.
• Shorter videos can go viral because they often replay multiple times for the same person, boosting your total number of views and increasing exposure.
• For longer videos, engage and excite your viewers from beginning to end to ensure they watch for the entire duration.

6. Post Time

To optimize your posting time, try publishing new videos when your audience is most active. But don’t overthink it, either. The best time to publish is when you have time to engage with your followers immediately afterward. Replying quickly to comments and being on the ball so you can actively engage in conversations is key to building relationships and boosting engagement.

7. Location

On TikTok, your location may be more influential than you think. If you’re a small, local business or entrepreneur, this can give you a leg up on competitors in different countries.For example, if you live in Spain and offer the same products or services as someone in France, you may become more well known locally by speaking the same language as your target audience. Having the proper accent, understanding a specific culture, or participating in a local practice can give you an advantage over those outside your locality.

8. Measure Analytics

TikTok users can upgrade to a Pro Account for free to access analytics tools. You’ll find various data: demographic information on your followers, when your audience is most active on TikTok, and popular songs and sounds.You can also learn how long users watch your videos. Paying attention to average watch time can help you create more engaging videos in the future.Use these metrics to optimize your content and ads strategies. They can help you boost exposure and resonate better with your target audience.

Need Help Growing Your Business Presence on TikTok?

Kubbco would love to help. We have our own TikTok growth hacks and strategies we use to help our clients win outstanding results. Our team is made up of social media wizards specializing in strategy, campaigns, and content.Our standards are high, and our outlook is bold. We love working at the frontier of digital and social media, using our knowledge and expertise to take on complex challenges. Our well-tuned processes and talented team are what make us who we are. Our clients come first, and we do everything we can to ensure they get the best results possible. If you’re interested in learning more, we’d love to chat with you.Contact us anytime to discuss your needs.