Tips to boost your reach on TikTok

Sahail Ashraf posted on 16 December 2022

Getting noticed on TikTok is not that easy. You need to constantly work on pushing your brand out there. This post walks you through it.

Boosting your reach on TikTok is not necessarily an exact science, but with a few pointers in mind, you should be able to gain real momentum on the platform. Essentially, it’s all about making sure you show up on the For You pages of people who use the platform. Use the following tips to make sure you build your reach in the months ahead.

Get verified

Cutting to the chase, verification is a true goal on TikTok. Unlike Twitter (probably, things change daily on Twitter) though, you can’t purchase your ‘blue tick’. You have to earn it.

There is only one way to earn the verified mark. Building up to a stage where you have more views of your videos every day will eventually get you in front of the team at TikTok that is responsible for awarding the blue mark.

A word of warning here. It is not easy to receive a verified badge. The reason why you should is obvious. People will be more likely to see your content and follow you if you have the mark. There is still kudos attached to it, in other words. For that reason, gaining the mark should be a big part of your strategy.

Hashtags

Like pretty much every other social media platform you can think of, TikTok has an algorithm that places a high value on hashtags.

Search TikTok for hashtags that are popular and then think about how you can integrate those hashtags into your own work. It’s best to use no more than three hashtags per post (the hashtags count towards your character count, and you don’t want to look like you are spamming people) and always make sure the hashtags are relevant to your brand.

Using hashtags and creating great content around them is an easy way to boost your reach on the platform.

The sounds

TikTok has always been about sounds and music. If you’re serious about building your reach on the platform, you need to get into the sounds that are trending.

One way to do this is to search for the trending songs on TikTok. While you may not necessarily want to create your own dance (or copy a trending dance) around the song, you can definitely create videos that have those songs as the soundtrack. 

There are always trending catchphrases from movie stars or reality shows, so if you can find them and include them in some ways in your videos, this helps. 

Another word of warning here. You can just work hard to find trending sounds and include them in your content, but it’s not always a good idea. Sometimes it can create a disconnect. Think of your brand and its message and see if the sounds you choose are aligned. There is no point picking a throwaway pop song when your brand is all about tradition and sophistication. Think carefully before you choose a sound or piece of music.

Keep your content ‘snackable’

This one is a key part of your strategy. Your content needs to be short and effective if it is to help you gain reach. 

There are many experts online that will offer advice on how long your videos should be. It’s important to make sure you have a video between 20-30 seconds but there is an even more important factor to consider.

You have to make sure that you are grabbing the attention of your viewers in the first 3 seconds. If they aren’t hooked immediately, they probably won’t stick around for long.

Cross-market

You will most likely have a number of followers on other platforms. Every now and then, drop a link to your TikTok on your other platforms. 

Doing this taps into an already significant audience and makes sure that you leverage it to increase your reach on TikTok. Don’t overdo it, obviously, but it is a good habit to get into to make sure your reach grows.

These tips should help you build your reach on the platform. As with any strategy, build it into your day so you have regular reach-building work going on.

Are you a social media professional? Why not try Locowise, which has tons of useful data and tools to help you get the most out of your work. Locowise also has dedicated tools for TikTok as well.