Photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash

Yes, TikTok, like most social media platforms, is for engagement. But it is possible to organically grow a following without any engagement whatsoever. A month and a half ago, I made a profile on the app as an experiment to test this theory. The profile I made had to follow a few strict rules for this experiment: no voice-overs, no on-camera appearances, no comment sections, and could not follow any other profiles. That profile, as of right now, has over 13,300 followers and 450,000 likes. I understand that this does not mean that I’ve gone viral, but it is a significant following in a short amount of time. These are the tips I used to gain this following:

1.) Pick a niche and stick with it

Picking a niche isn’t quite as simple as creating content about what you like. You should also consider your talents and topics that will interest others on TikTok. Some examples could be:

• time-lapse videos of drawings of celebrities if they were dogs
• presentations made in Canva (It’s free!) with unique dog facts on them

2.) Use relevant hashtags

Now, people need to find you! Of course, give a short title to your video, but do this with as few letters as you can spare. It’s better to use the caption space for relevant keywords. Also, you do not need to include #fyp or #foryoupage or anything like that. Your video will show up on the For You pages of the people who have shown interest in the topic you present.

As you type out these keywords, keep an eye on the view count. It’s good to vary the view count between the high and moderately high view counts. Don’t create hashtags that very few people will look for. 

Make sure the hashtags are relevant. If they aren’t, your video will not be shown to your target audience on the For You page.

3.) Use trending sounds

It’s important to use trending sounds because videos can be browsed by sound. This is where you can extend your reach outside of the For You page. Sounds can, for the most part, go on any video. This means that anyone can see your content while looking through videos associated with your chosen sound and be entertained. Now you have your targeted audience and an area that could expand that audience that may not have been part of the original targeted audience.

4.) Post content often

Most social media platforms reward posting consistently. They are not shown in order of creation, so the more you post, within reason, the more exposure your content will receive. TikTok seems to be unique in that it will show older content instead of just the fresh videos. I’ve seen the best growth on my page from posting daily to every other day.

5.) Post useful information for your audience

Last but not least, post useful content. Useful doesn’t mean that you have to teach something, though I’ve found it much easier to be faceless that way. It just needs to be entertaining.

Ultimately, engagement would be the best way to grow a profile. This would allow you to answer questions from the comment section as new content. So, it is possible to develop an account on TikTok without any interaction, but that isn’t what the app was designed for.

So, let me know what you think! What are some tips that you have to draw in new followers and likes on TikTok?