8 Ways to Create and Build Sustainable Growth on TikTok

TikTok has continued to be a social platform to be reckoned with whether you’re a teenager, influencer, or audience member. While the most popular demographic tends to be Gen Z, the variety of insatiable content that runs the gambit of dance challenge to music clips has proved to be a lucrative endeavor for businesses everywhere. The increasing exposure to creators has the ability to increase your brand awareness, email list, and grow your social pages. However TikTok is more than just an app for viral videos, a business can leverage and build sustainable growth using a few of the tactics we’ve outlined below.

Understand How TikTok Works

Before we can talk about how you can use TikTok to build growth, you first need to understand how TikTok works. This viral video app is a much different social tool than its predecessors for several reasons. TikTok uses the “For You” page to help users find content that is tailored to their interests and previous content engagement. TikTok has become popular for focusing on user growth and giving content creators an organic reach that isn’t matched by the other apps. We encourage that you invest in learning the TikTok algorithm, which can help make it easier for your business to create viral content. Study and do your homework before throwing money at paid campaigns or influencers in a quick attempt to go viral.

Be Authentic & Identify Your Audience

Business persona and brand presence do not always translate online if you are not authentic. It can be tempting to hop onto the latest buzz-worthy content or do a dancing video to get familiar with TikTok culture, but there’s more than virality to a video’s success. There is a niche for every platform whether it’s education, travel, parenthood, etc. Users are attracted to authenticity even in a paid ad or campaign. Be authentic and allow your brand voice, personality, and humor to shine through your content. In doing so, you’ll allow the TikTok audience to get to know another aspect of your products, services, and business they wouldn’t ordinarily get from an Instagram post or Facebook ad.

Write Out a Content Strategy

Content is king, even on TikTok. Developing a unique content strategy can help make or break your TikTok presence because you want to leverage the power of organic reach before spending money on a campaign. The lifeblood of TikTok content is trend-driven, which means that one viral video will be recreated several times over. Not every trend will align with your brand or be able to effectively sell products, so choosing the right trends to follow can help your business become more discoverable on the “For You” page. In addition to developing an effective content strategy, you want to develop a cadence for posting frequency to measure performance, impressions, and engagement. Most content creators post frequently throughout the day in order to increase their chances of going viral. But as a business, you want to have a manageable posting schedule that won’t leave you running empty on content.

Don’t Just Monitor, Engage With Your Followers

It is widely known that the primary demographic for TikTok is Gen Z users who tend to use the app around the clock. The key to building an audience is to engage and do so with the intent to showcase your brand voice and persona. Remember that TikTok is all about personality and the more of it you show, the better chances your account has to grow. Creating a relationship with your followers is an essential component to building an authentic TikTok following that will be clamoring for your content. Big businesses and brands are notorious for not engaging with their followers, which can leave their comments and messages stagnant. Keep your content fresh and your personality shining by replying to comments on videos or even going live to directly engage with your audience.

Never Forget The Hashtags

If there’s one aspect of social media that remains the same across all the platforms, it’s using hashtags. Hashtags are the pride and joy in helping your business get discovered, and TikTok is no exception. TikTok’s “Discover” section can help you find hashtags that TikTok is promoting and gives your content the chance to be seen widely by new audiences. When you use hashtags and keywords that are related to the video within your post, it is easily seen by people who organically engage with that type of content. For example, if you’re creating a TikTok about marketing tips then you would use #marketing or #tipsformarketingsuccess so that it gets seen by your target audience. Create a running list of branded hashtags that is easily accessible so when you post content, you already have a plethora of hashtags at your disposal.

Read Your Analytics

Analytics is the oil that helps the social machine continue to run in tip-top shape. As a business, if you don’t already have the “Pro Account” version of TikTok, you’ll want to upgrade your account quickly. The “Pro Account” can help you find your analytics and develop a strategy for TikTok success. TikTok analytics include vital information like your audience demographic, the songs your followers are listening to, video views, top territories, and more. Measuring the performance of your TikTok content is contingent on being able to understand your audience and what’s working. While reading all the analytics can be overwhelming for some, start with the video watch time to learn the average watch time of your current content. Are users sticking around to see your video or are they swiping away?

Take Advantage of Your Bio

While TikTok is the main attraction of social media right now, you still have the ability to promote additional content, social media, and websites within the app. Every creator profile has an Instagram icon and weblink option that you can attach to your profile. Let’s say you have a viral video that shares 5 reasons why a potential customer should buy your product; you can direct them to click the link in your bio from within the app. This provides an excellent opportunity to drive engaged users to purchase a product or service from your website. These small but effective features on TikTok give you the chance to optimize your bio and drive traffic directly to your products or services. Long gone are the clever one-liners that introduce your business, who you are, what you sell, etc. Your content will do the talking, then you can use the limited space to create a call to action to embed links that will drive sales!

Find What’s Trending On The Platform

We discussed how TikTok is successful because of the trending content created by millions of users all over the world. When a user opens the app they are introduced to hundreds of videos they can watch in a matter of minutes. This is even more prevalent when there is a viral video or trending topic blossoming on the platform. You can find trending hashtags through the discovery page and then start creating content around those topics. Incorporating trending songs into your videos can also increase the chances of your video being viewed. A great way to also identify trends that work best for your content strategy is to monitor competitors, industry influencers, and examine what trending topic exists within your hashtags.