How to Gain Followers on TikTok: 7 Tips That Actually Work (No Dance Skills Required)

While it was a bit touch-and-go there for a bit, the TikTok ban has been lifted. And, for now, TikTok appears to be here to stay once again.

Yet, despite a small exodus of creators fleeing TikTok for other social short-form video platforms like Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat, and others, TikTok is still very much the top option for those looking to create viral-ready, vertical-format, short-form video content.

If you’re a brand or creator launching a TikTok channel for the first time or simply looking to boost your numbers and get TikTok followers for your standing channel, let’s go over some helpful tips and tricks exploring how to gain followers on TikTok.

These tips will help put you in the best position to grow, diversify, and eventually monetize your TikTok channels. So, without further ado, let’s dive in.

The current state of TikTok

As mentioned above, a potential TikTok ban threatened the app's ability to operate in the United States. The issue isn’t completely resolved, either. ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, must still work towards a deal that would give a U.S. company a 50% ownership position in a joint venture—a deal still in the works.

However, TikTok appears safe for now, and brands and creators alike can still use the platform to develop their channels and grow their audiences. With that being said, if you’re a brand or creator worried about the future of TikTok, there are plenty of great TikTok alternatives to consider.

It also never hurts to consider expanding your efforts to include launching channels and brands on competing short-form video social apps, such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Reels.

How do Followers on TikTok work?

Similar to other mainstream social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X, TikTok has a traditional follower format. Users can easily create an account and follow channels they’re interested in.

However, unlike other platforms, which are more focused on users building out their following lists with accounts they know from family and friends or professional connections, TikTok combines these elements with its unique TikTok algorithm and preference for entertaining content.

Powered largely by its For You Page (FYP), TikTok brands and creators can create short-form video content that can go viral. Sometimes, this content garners hundreds of thousands of views and new followers in a day, quickly launching brands, channels, and careers overnight.

How many followers do you need to get paid on TikTok?

While the reasons to gain TikTok followers on your account might seem clear, besides the obvious reasons of building an audience ready to view your content and engage with your channel, if you can reach a certain number of followers, TikTok does allow creators to monetize their channels.

TikTok currently requires a 10,000 follower threshold for full monetization benefits to be unlocked as part of the TikTok Creator Rewards program. In addition to this 10,000-follower threshold, users will need at least 100,000 views over the past month.

Once unlocked, TikTok channels with access to the TikTok Creator Rewards program can monetize any video content for over a minute. While the rate at which TikTok pays creators per view is subject to change due to various factors, creators can expect to earn anywhere from $0.02 to $0.04 per 1,000 views for their content. Check out this article for more information on how to make money on social media.

7 tips for how to gain followers on TikTok

Gaining followers on TikTok is always a good goal. Not only will it potentially unlock monetization directly through TikTok, but building a large and loyal follower list will also help you grow your brand reputation, give you more leverage for sponsored content, and drive traffic to your other channels, social accounts, or web pages.

To help you learn how to get more followers on TikTok, let’s review some helpful tips to increase your audience.

1. Make sure you’re using the right audio and music

Our first tip concerns the most important element in any TikTok video: the audio and music. TikTok’s meteoric rise in popularity is in part due to its audio-based content format, which allows creators to create videos based on viral audio clips and songs.

Understanding how to use copyrighted music on TikTok is a huge part of learning the platform and gaining followers. While popular music and audio clips might be a great way to quickly create viral content for brands or commercial accounts, you’ll want to be very wary about what audio you’re using and if you’re properly licensing and protecting yourself from copyright infringements.

2. Identify your niche and target audience

Our second tip is good advice, not just for TikTok but for all social channels and platforms. Before you start creating content, do your research and try to identify your niche and target audience.

This will help you understand the current landscape for similar brands and content and help you come up with content ideas, plans, and formulas to explore. For some inspiration for your niche selection, check out this article on the most profitable YouTube niches.

3. Include the right hashtags

This should be common knowledge by this point, but hashtags are still very much an important part of any social media platform’s algorithm. Adding hashtags will always help, and researching what hashtags to add and why will be even more helpful in getting your content in front of more viewers.

4. Add close caption text for accessibility

Another easy way to help brands and creators increase TikTok followers is to add close caption text for accessibility. There are several ways to do this, but the best option is to add captions and text to your content yourself using your video editing software of choice.

However, for those looking for a quick and easy solution, TikTok allows creators to turn on and add captions to their videos.

5. Create a content series with multiple videos

Similar to YouTube playlists, TikTok allows brands and creators to create content series with multiple videos. This is a helpful way to string together videos that might be part of a longer series of content or simply as a way to give your viewers something you’d recommend for them to watch next—a great way to build familiarity and loyalty with your channel.

6. Share user-generated content

As a tip for brands but also for creators, if your channel encourages your followers to create content about your channel or brand independently, giving this user-generated content a boost can be an easy yet super impactful way to grow your channel, empower your followers, and grow your audience overall.

7. Monitor your analytics to track your results

Finally, similar to most legacy social media platforms, TikTok offers robust analytics for users to track their results. You can use these analytics to inform your content plans by tracking what types of videos work and—perhaps more importantly—what content doesn’t.

More resources and tips for TikTok

At the end of the day, gaining followers on TikTok will always require effort and enthusiasm. If you can create content that feels sincere and meaningful and captures the interest of your target audience and niche, your follower count will grow naturally.

If you’d like more tips, tricks, and resources to help you on your TikTok content creation journey, check out these additional articles on the Soundstripe blog here.