Do you feel like NO ONE is watching your TikTok's? 😒
That’s not a fun place to be–whether your goal is to become an influencer or promote a brand.
Thankfully, there are things you can do to change that. And we’re not just talking about “posting every day.”
Nope. In this article, we’ll teach you how to gain followers on TikTok FOR REALSIES, whether you’re hoping to build a brand or a personal following. Not every method applies to everyone, so we’ll specify what works for brands vs. influencers vs. UGC content creators.
But first, let’s start with an important question: is buying followers a good idea? Will it get you out of TikTok anonymity jail?
Is it a good idea to buy TikTok followers?
Short answer? No. It’s a terrible idea to buy TikTok followers.
It is a common practice, true, and there are tons of products selling followers. But it’s not a smart business move. Here’s why:
Fake followers are easy to spot and will damage your profile
Whether you’re running a brand or influencer/content creator account, this holds. If someone wants to see who follows you, they’ll check your follower list. The fake profiles will be easy to spot because they’ll usually have zero activity, no profile picture, and won’t be following anyone else. They’ll look suspicious, and that suspicion might damage the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build.
If you’re a brand–do you want dead accounts following you? What’s the benefit of having many followers if none engage with your posts or buy your products? It’s not worth the risk–if potential clients notice the fake followers, they might avoid purchasing from you because they don’t trust you.
If you’re a content creator or influencer, buying TikTok followers is even worse. The whole point of what you’re doing is to build a genuine community around your passions and niche to whom you can eventually advertise. If you buy followers, brands will spot this–and you won’t get many deals.
They’re from random spots in the world
Most of the time, these “followers” you buy are just dead accounts from random countries on the other side of the world. This won’t benefit you in any meaningful way, and sometimes, buying these accounts involves doing random transactions with random people on the internet.
Can you say identity theft?
Don’t fall for the trap of wanting to boost your follower counts by buying them. There are many ways (which we’ll discuss later in this article) to get TikTok followers organically, with real people.
They might be gone in a few weeks or months
Meta, TikTok, and other social media platforms have been cracking down on fake accounts. So, you might buy followers only to have them disappear overnight because TikTok took them down. Guess what? Your money AND the followers you bought are gone. Good job. 🤨
Now, some of these products sell followers who seem genuine and have occasional spurts of activity. But even then, these are fake accounts being operated for profit. They aren’t going to bring the same value as a real follower would.
Buying followers ignores the whole POINT of building a following in the first place… Creating a community. Your goal shouldn’t be to get X number of followers in a week. It should be to build a small community–that’s where the real value is in social media marketing. If you artificially inflate your numbers, you’re set up for failure because no one will *actually* care about your posts, and you won’t get good engagement.
… Oh, and in case you were wondering, buying followers is an even WORSE idea on Instagram than on TikTok. It’s even easier to spot.
5 Proven, non-sketchy ways to get more TikTok followers in 2024
In this section, we’ll show you how to get TikTok followers who are REAL and interested in you as a brand, influencer, or creator.
Advertising
Works for: brands, influencers, and content creators.
Are you surprised to see advertising on the list? You shouldn’t be! TikTok (and most social media platforms) allows you to run ads for awareness, engagement, or more followers. Running ads is a MUCH better investment than buying TikTok followers. There are many advantages; and you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to get them.
Here’s how to get followers on TikTok using advertising:
- Start with a small investment–around $100 should do the trick initially.
- Experiment with running ads: learn how to set them up and play around with targeting and tracking metrics to see what generates the most engagement and followers.
- Take what you’ve learned, and try again with more ad spend.
Now, we get it: budgeting for ad spend might be tricky, especially if things are tight. But think of this as an investment that will pay DIVIDENDS in the long run. Plus, you don’t have to spend a TON on ads to see the benefits.
After running ads, you will:
- Gain real followers who are interested in following YOU or your brand.
- Spread awareness and spark conversations about your brand.
- Learn how to run ads (this is beneficial for brands)
- Understand more about how your industry works and how to sell online.
Bottom line: it’s worth the investment.
Work with influencers
This works for brands. You can make it work if you’re an influencer or content creator, but most of what we’ll cover in this section applies to brands.
The benefits are apparent: working with influencers grows your social media accounts.
For example, if your brand sells fishing products and you partner up with a fishing micro-influencer, your brand will end up in front of potential customers. Their followers might not be ready to buy from you yet, but many ARE prepared to follow you. After all, following you is free!
From there, it’s your job to convert them into customers with the quality of your products and the content you post on TikTok.
99% of the time, the people who work with influencers to gain followers on TikTok are brands. But occasionally, we’ll see influencers or content creators promoting each other via partnerships on TikTok or Instagram. This also works, but it happens less often–probably because getting your competition to promote you is a bit harder!
Jump on ongoing trends
Works for: brands, influencers, and content creators.
If you want free TikTok followers, jumping on trends is one great way to get them. (Plus, your chances of going viral on TikTok are better when you jump on trends.)
There is one catch, though. To hop on TikTok trends, you need to know what they are. 🤷
I’m sure you’ve noticed this on TikTok (and maybe even Instagram)--from time to time, there’s something that EVERYONE is discussing or quoting. And you’re wondering, “What the heck is that?”
The answer? It’s probably a trend. 🤪
If you need inspiration or trend hunters, here are two accounts to follow:
- @wavewyld. The self-proclaimed “Queen of Trend Alerts,” who frequently posts emerging trends.
- @jera.bean, who posts tutorials on how to use new trends and filters.
Here are some examples of TikTok trends you could use today:
- The chorus to “Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter–you can use it to keep someone from making a *big* mistake in your niche. If you’re a makeup influencer or brand, you can also take advantage of the trending before/after makeup transition that’s trending with this sound.
- It's a clip from “Call Me By Your Name” that you can use to tell people any random fact you *want* them to know, especially if it’s something they’d rather ignore.
- This 90s hit can help you highlight something cool about your brand that makes you feel super happy and like yourself. You can also use it to make some jokes–just remember to use the flying filter at the end!
Create or join TikTok challenges
This works for brands, influencers, and content creators.
TikTok is famous for video challenges–whether they’re dances or dares. As you scroll through your For You page, it’s impossible to miss them. So find one that fits!
There are two main types of challenges: Branded challenges and community challenges. Brands start branded challenges and often relate to what they sell. People in the TikTok community create community challenges–particular brands aren’t associated with them.
So, if you’re an influencer or content creator, you can participate in branded challenges or start community challenges. For brands, you’ll want to do the opposite.
An example of a branded challenge is the “Eyes Lips Face” challenge, e.l.f. Cosmetics started in 2019–one of the app's earliest and most lucrative challenges!
Example video: TikTok
A great example of a community challenge is the “cha cha slide challenge,” in which people put their spin on the cha cha slide.
Example video: TikTok
Use hashtags and trending music
This works for brands, influencers, and content creators
We know! Hashtags and trending sounds are SO overused. We’re tired of hearing about them, too–especially when there are SO MANY hashtags, and it’s hard to find the right ones.
To be honest, we don’t have a method to help you find the perfect hashtags for your account right away. But we do know that once you find them, using them works.
One way to determine if a hashtag is working for you on TikTok is to check the video performance and see where your views are coming from. If your views (overall or for a specific video) often come from hashtags, that’s a good sign you are on the right track. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to pinpoint which ones are bringing in the traffic, so there’s still a bit of guesswork involved.
Oh, and here’s more advice on using hashtags to get more TikTok followers: don’t go for SUPER popular hashtags. There’s too much competition for them, and getting ahead of more prominent brands and accounts will be hard. Instead, try to find less popular hashtags closer to your niche and use those!
Our thoughts
We ranked the options above according to effectiveness. From our perspective, if you’re wondering how to get more followers on TikTok, running ads and collaborating with influencers is your best bet.
Of course, if you look online, you’ll find plenty of articles telling you to post as often as possible, create good-quality content, or use engaging captions. While there’s nothing wrong with that advice, it’s more about “TikTok best practices” than how to get more TikTok followers ASAP.
So, yes, make good quality content and post it as often as possible. But if you want to grow your account, the tips in this article will *actually* help you get there. They’re practical enough that you can start using them today.
Speaking of which–what do you think? Is there anything you’re trying to get TikTok followers that’s working for you? Did we miss anything?
