5 Ways to Boost Your TikTok Video Engagement

When it comes to organic growth, no social media platform currently beats the reach you can get on Tiktok. Instagram and Facebook have both become “pay-to-play” games, prioritizing only the users who use their built-in ad function to boost their content. While Tiktok has added advertisements, it’s not quite as money-motivated yet. That said, the algorithm isn’t quite as generous as it was in 2020. It’s more common than ever for a video that you’ve worked hard on to level out at around two hundred views, which can be really discouraging for creators on the platform.

If you find this happening to your videos, you’re likely asking yourself what you can do to increase the performance of your videos. When this happens, it’s time to sit down and audit your own content. Take a look at the following five organic growth tips and compare them to your current content to see where you might be able to improve! 

Tiktok Growth Tip #1 – Niche Down 

When you search for how to grow on Tiktok, you will get one resounding answer, and that is to niche down. It may be redundant, but it is genuinely the fastest way to grow on the platform. The days of doing a dance to a popular song are long gone unless you’re coming to Tiktok with an existing following. Most of us aren’t going to be Charlie D’Amelio, so we have to find something a little more interesting to do or talk about to entice Tiktok’s growing audience. However, I’m going to put a spin on this tip to make it a little more attainable. 

Being told that you have to choose one single topic to post about for the rest of your content-creating career is a big ask, and can absolutely lead to burnout. When you choose your niche, whatever that may be, find 2-3 subtopics that relate back to your niche. For instance, if you’re a creator on mental health Tiktok, some subcategories of the niche could be healthy habits to improve your mental health and what you personally do to keep your brain healthy. That way when you’re burnt out on being purely educational, you can make some lifestyle content that your following will still benefit from. 

Tiktok Growth Tip # 2 – Use Relevant Hashtags 

Once upon a time, hashtags were used in the hopes that your video would rank highly under that hashtag when a Tiktok user searched for it. Now, in the current age of SEO, Tiktok hashtags serve a new purpose. When you put hashtags on your video, what you’re actually doing is telling Tiktok who is going to be interested in it. If you’re a sports psychologist and you don’t use hashtags on your video, Tiktok’s algorithm is going to show that video to a random set of people who may not be your target audience. When you add #sportspsychology to the video description, however, Tiktok now knows to show that video to people who have searched for similar topics and your video has a much higher chance of being shown to users who will engage with it. There are many theories on how many hashtags to use on Tiktok, but everyone has agreed that at least three to five is preferable. 

Tiktok Growth Tip #3 – Stay Consistent 

If Tiktok has its way, you would be posting upwards of five times a day. The algorithm values high quantity, and if you’re able to do this, you’ll be rewarded. But if you’re not a content-pumping machine, five is probably not an attainable number. Instead, enforce a schedule that you can actually be consistent with, and try to aim for once a day, or every two days max. Not only will a consistent schedule build trust in your audience, but it’ll also show the algorithm that you’re more than a casual viewer who posts to Tiktok at random. Lack of consistency is an easy way to get yourself stuck at 200 views per video. 

Tiktok Growth Tip #4 – Improve Your Video and Sound Quality 

There’s something to be said for content that feels organic. We’ve all seen videos hit one million views when it’s just a girl telling a story from her bed with only her cell phone as lighting. Generally speaking, however, better lighting and sound quality will help your video performance. Tiktok can tell when your video is grainy, and users who can’t hear you over the background noise will skip past your video in just a few seconds. Invest in a ring light and a tiny microphone, or film in front of a window when your house isn’t at its noisiest. 

Tiktok Growth Tip #5 – Relate Current Trends Back To Your Niche 

While Tiktok is starting to compete with Youtube, similarly valuing long-form videos, short trending sounds are still very relevant on the platform. The trick is to figure out how you can spin a trend to fit your specific niche. I’ve seen business pages completely flop because they were too nervous to use trends, deciding that it was inappropriate for their culture. I would encourage everyone, companies included, to go a little outside their comfort zone and use trending sounds when possible. If you start seeing a sound on your page more than twice, check the number of videos that are under that sound. If it’s less than twenty thousand or so, then you’re still early and could potentially rank highly under that sound. 

If you consistently utilize all of the above tips, you should absolutely see an increase in your engagement in just a few weeks. But above all else, try to have fun! Tiktok users can tell when you yourself are a user of the platform, and they like to see people simply enjoying themselves.