Without question, TikTok continues to be one of the trendiest social media platforms today.
The problem is that it's never been more challenging to make a name for yourself on TikTok. And that’s due to the steady influx of new content every day.
However, boosting your engagement rate can be one of the finest strategies to expand your account so that the TikTok algorithm can help you become more visible.
So if you're ready for TikTok fame, you'll need to step up your game!
How to hack the TikTok algorithm to boost engagement?
-
TikTok engagement tips
2.1. Get inspired from successful brands on TikTok
2.2. Plan your keyword strategy
2.3. Know your audience & keep the posts coming
2.4. Partner up with influencers
2.5. Cross-promote your videos
2.6. Leverage the TikTok Q&A feature
2.7. Use the TikTok Video Reply feature
2.8. Try TikTok Live Streams
2.9. Engage with content yourself
2.10.Remember to stay relatable to your community -
TikTok hacks and resources for measuring your content performance
1. How to calculate your engagement rate on TikTok?
The key to understanding social media is through engagement rate.
Calculating your engagement rate is a method for assessing how visitors respond to published content; it shows how viewers interact actively through shares, saves, comments, likes, or other reactions.
To see how well you’re performing, you can calculate your average engagement rate on TikTok per video by views.
All you need to do is take the total number of engagements (likes, comments, and saves and shares) and divide the sum by the number of videos on the profile. Then, divide the result by the number of video views and multiply everything by 100.
2. TikTok engagement tips
What is it that drives everyone, from independent creators to well-known brands, to seek more user engagement?
To put it as simply as possible, the TikTok algorithm heavily depends on engagement.
When deciding which videos to push onto your viewers' For You page, TikTok's algorithm considers several factors. These variables include user engagements such as video likes, shares, and account follows.
The TikTok algorithm may also take into account the video's metadata—including the caption, audio, and hashtags.
And according to our social media industry benchmarks study, TikTok is currently the most engaging social media platform.
With an average engagement rate of 5.96%, TikTok has by far the highest engagement rate out of all popular social media networks.
So what can you do to increase your TikTok engagement organically?
2.1 Get inspired from successful brands on TikTok
As you surely know already, peeking at what your competitors are doing on social media is one of the best ways to get inspired and stay on top of trends.
To provide our readers with resources and examples of what works on TikTok, we studied the content strategies of four well-known brands. So, if you're interested in learning how these brands ace the TikTok game, you might want to check out their successful tactics and take notes:
- Ryanair’s TikTok Strategy—How a TikTok Filter Gave the Brand a Voice Within the App
- Duolingo’s TikTok Strategy—How the Brand Succeeded in Becoming a TikTok Icon
- Zoom’s Marketing Strategy—Fan-Centric Content Is the Key to Having an Engaging Social Community
- Grammarly’s Marketing Strategy—How the Brand Succeeded in Becoming a Leader in Its Market
What do these brands have in common?
They all have their own identity on social media.
On TikTok, personality takes the lead. As it is mainly a community of creators that shares authentic content, being human on TikTok is necessary for brands to fit in on the app.
2.2 Plan your keyword strategy
Planning your SEO for written content to rank on Google is similar to designing the one for your social media.
Using particular keywords and hashtags will help you get selected by the algorithm, thus, allowing your films to be seen by more people.
To help the TikTok algorithm understand your video, it is best to use the caption space to describe your video and add keywords to your post. Leaving all that potential space blank might reduce your chance of reaching your target audience.
2.3 Know your audience & keep the posts coming
Even if you don’t have to post everyday, growing on TikTok requires constant content publishing, just like on any other social network.
The more content you publish, the more likely it is that people will find your clips and interact with them.
But don't assume that your work is done just because you posted lots of content.
You need to understand your audience and when they are most active. Sharing your content when your audience is most active will ensure that you get the most views and engagement.
To learn what is the best time to post, you can check the video analytics after publishing your content. These insights can help you spot a pattern in user engagements and establish a posting schedule.
Generally speaking, TikTok’s audience is most active early in the morning and during evening peaks, as opposed to the ideal posting times for Instagram—which fall throughout the regular 9 to 5 workday.
And if you ever get stuck for ideas on what to post, you might want to check out these 11 TikTok Content Ideas for All Businesses.
2.4 Partner up with influencers
Including industry-relevant key opinion leaders in your TikTok videos is an easy way to expand your audience. Their fans might also enjoy your content and choose to interact with it.
You may reach out to a few TikTok stars and ask them to collaborate on a viral challenge. This strategy is popular among creators since it allows both sides to gain from the followers of the other.
Additionally, you may leverage TikTok's Stitch and Duet features. These highly engaging tools can go a long way in boosting engagement rates on TikTok.
While Duet allows you to broadcast your video alongside the original one so you may synchronize the actions or respond in real-time, Stitch simply enables you to add a part of another person's video to your own.
This way, you can get the best of influencer partnerships without even leaving your chair.
2.5 Cross-promote your videos
Although this TikTok hack may seem obvious, you'd be astonished at how few marketers implement it.
If you want to increase your video views and engagement on TikTok and your audience, you must draw attention to your account.
How can you do that?
By letting your followers on other social media platforms know that you are also active on TikTok.
A post with the simple caption "Hey, I'm on TikTok! Check out my cool content!" can encourage more engagement from devoted followers.
By doing so, you'll avoid making people search for you and instead link your TikTok where your audience is already present.
2.6 Leverage the TikTok Q&A feature
Leveraging TikTok's new Q&A feature can help provide relevant content to your followers and raise interaction.
Through a submission box, users can ask questions; those questions will subsequently be shown on the creator's page. The author can respond to submitted questions by posting a video.
Simply visit your settings page and select the "Creator tools" option to enable this feature. The Q&A option can then be activated by tapping the Q&A button.
2.7 Use the TikTok Video Reply feature
Replying to comments is a great way to interact directly with your audience and pick up genuine followers to your TikTok account.
By using this feature, you can quickly identify the interests of your audience and create content based on their feedback.
Simply select a video from your library and click the comment button. Then, choose the comment to which you want to respond.
When you tap the red video camera symbol that appears in the left corner, your response will be immediately recorded or uploaded.
To increase engagement with your content after finishing your video, you can adjust the comment box and display it on the screen.
2.8 Try TikTok Live Streams
TikTok offers a live broadcast option similar to other social media sites so users may interact with their fans immediately.
Going live on TikTok is a terrific way to increase your audience interaction, video visibility, and credibility.
With the TikTok live stream feature, creators may interact with their followers by answering their queries, sharing information, and encouraging them to follow their profiles.
Most users make a feed post before going live on TikTok to invite their followers to watch their stream.
2.9 Engage with content yourself
Naturally, one way to make yourself seen and increase engagement is to interact with content yourself.
Users love to feel valued and heard. People are more inclined to revisit your account for new content if you frequently communicate and engage with them.
TikTokers reported that they engage with brands more when they leave comments on other people's posts. Moreover, staying on top of your videos' comments is equally as important.
Additionally, you can also put out a call for ideas for content that might interest your audience. Therefore working with their suggestions can also ensure that your marketing efforts align with your audience's expectations.
2.10 Remember to stay relatable to your community
Finding existing communities to interact with on all social media is crucial, but the TikTok algorithm makes it even more so.
TikTokers spend most of their time on the For You tab discovering relatable content, as opposed to other social networks where users spend a lot of time interacting with profiles they already follow.
Artificial and scripted content might not increase TikTok engagement rates as users are no longer merely excited and interested in regular ads. A standard lip-syncing video won't just do the trick anymore.
Your audience expects you to act as an authority in your field.
You are less likely to see an increase in interaction if your videos won't bring any value or entertain your viewers.
To boost your engagement rate on TikTok, you'll need to publish original, authentic, and worthwhile information. If users are attracted to your true face and genuine personality, the interaction rates will increase in no time.
3. TikTok hacks and resources for measuring your content performance
Undertaking a TikTok audit is an excellent method to see whether or not you are on pace to meet your company objectives.
And engagement is undoubtedly one of the TikTok metrics you should include in your monthly TikTok performance report. This way, you can assess growth and identify whether your content works.
And there are two ways of measuring your engagement.
For starters, you can use TikTok Analytics to evaluate the success of your social media strategy and identify the type of content that can get you the greatest results.
However, suppose you're seeking analytics tools that are more comprehensive and inclusive than the one provided by the app. In that case, you may want to examine these 9 TikTok Analytics Tools for a Successful Social Media Strategy.
Once you begin posting content to TikTok, be consistent.
For excellent content performance, ensure your TikTok videos are entertaining and of the highest quality possible. This way, you can quickly become a featured user on the TikTok For You page and increase your overall engagement.
Final thoughts
TikTok is a content-first platform.
You don't always need to try to gain fans on TikTok to get your work seen. The user interface's focus on content discovery leads to high engagement and video views.
Thus, the quality of your content and the value that it brings to your community are the things that will ultimately increase your engagement and help raise brand awareness.
And, if progress seems slower than anticipated, keep in mind that everyone has a crowd waiting to relate and interact with their content. It's just a matter of time until you find yours.
