How To Get More Engagement on TikTok: 10 Tips for Creators
In the nine years since its launch, it’s become a behemoth on social media and really exploded in 2020-2021.
TikTok is projected to have over 1.5 billion users by 2025, and with fresh content, engaging conversations, and viral moments popping up (and being shared!) on the platform every single day, its continued growth seems inevitable.
But TikTok’s appeal goes beyond just views. It’s also about TikTok engagement rates and interaction: likes, shares, comments, shares, and the connections you build with your followers.
TikTok has revolutionized the way its users interact with content online, and as the platform continues to grow, TikTok can be a real game changer for content creators, brands, influencers, and businesses.
Let’s dig into exactly what TikTok engagement is, how to understand it, and how to boost it so your account can stand out amidst billions of TikTok videos!
What is TikTok Engagement?
TikTok engagement refers to how TikTok users interact with your content, including likes, comments, shares, saves, follows, and the number of views your TikTok videos generate.
These interactions all signify how relatable and impactful your content is to your audience.
High engagement is key to getting your TikTok content featured on the coveted FYP (For You Page), where TikTok's algorithm amplifies and showcases content with strong viewer interaction.
Popping up on the FYP can greatly increase your numbers and bring a host of new viewers to your TikTok account.
But while those big numbers are fun to see, this engagement isn't just a vanity metric - it's a tool for building community on TikTok and across your socials, reaching new audiences, and constantly improving your content and your TikTok marketing strategies.
What’s a Good TikTok Engagement Rate?
Engagement rate, or ER, shows you the percentage of viewers interacting with your content. Engagements are all the ways viewers interact - viewing your posts, following your TikTok account, sharing or saving your TikTok posts, and commenting on them.
You can calculate your engagement rate by using the formula Engagements ÷ Followers, then multiply that result by 100 to get a percentage. (For instance, if you have 250 engagements on a post and your account has 1,000 followers, your engagement rate is 25%.)
Reasonable TikTok engagement rates can vary depending on your niche and follower count. Generally, a solid engagement rate on TikTok is above 5% - 6% (the average content engagement rate on TikTok in 2024 was 4.64 percent, according to Statista.)
Small accounts often see higher engagement rates because they interact with niche audiences (micro-influencers may see engagement rates around 10% or above), while much larger accounts may experience lower engagement rate percentages due to broader reach and a bigger, but not necessarily more interactive, audience.
Tracking engagement rates regularly helps you measure how your success is progressing and lets you identify areas where you can improve your content.
How to Track Your TikTok Engagement
Tracking and measuring your TikTok engagement is essential for improving your posts and performance on the platform.
TikTok does offer TikTok Analytics, a built-in tool that’s accessible via Pro or Business accounts; you can also use third-party platforms like SocialBlade or Hootsuite for even more engagement stats and insights.
Analyzing all of this data helps you spot trends and refine your content strategies to achieve better engagement rates and get more TikTok followers.
Regularly review your TikTok Analytics to assess your engagement metrics. Identifying what works (or doesn’t) allows you to refine your content strategy to aim at more engagement in the future. Key metrics to track via your TikTok Analytics include:
- Average Watch Time: Measures how long viewers stay engaged with your posts or within your account.
- Comments, Shares, and Saves: Indicate high interest, participation, engagement, and other active audience interactions.
- Follower Growth: Tracks how well you're expanding your audience and also how well you're retaining your follower base.
- Reach and Impressions: Determines how many TikTokers see your content and how many views the posts on your TikTok account are getting.
10 Pro Tips to Increase Your TikTok Engagement
1. Post Consistently
Consistency is critical for staying visible and cultivating engagement on TikTok. Regularly posting content keeps your TikTok account current, shows your followers that they can count on your posts, and signals the TikTok algorithm to potentially showcase your videos.
Use TikTok Analytics to identify when your followers are most active and most engaged, and then schedule posts during these peak times to help maximize your engagement rates.
2. Catch Their Attention
The first couple of seconds of a TikTok video are crucial for engagement. A second or two is longer than you might think, and you’ll only have that very small sliver of time to capture TikTok viewers’ attention, determining whether they’ll continue watching your post or scroll on past.
Plan your TikTok content ahead, keeping those first few seconds in mind and using bold visuals and colors, intriguing text overlays, or shocking hooks to catch your viewers’ eyes and keep them on your page.
3. Get Trendy!
As you’ve probably seen if you’ve spent time on the app, the TikTok algorithm favors trendy and viral content.
High-quality videos that follow popular trends are more likely to resonate with viewers. So, monitor trending music, visuals, and themes and incorporate them into your content.
These elements boost discoverability and engagement, allowing the TikTok algorithm to recommend your trending content to viewers and help keep your content fresh and relevant for your audience.
4. Try TikTok Challenges
TikTok challenges are a proven way to get more engagement and maybe even go viral on TikTok.
Participate in trending challenges, interactive trends like TikTok dances, and sound effects like lip-syncs to capitalize on the attention that TikTok trends get while they’re hot.
Challenges also encourage user-generated content - people reacting with their videos to your take on the challenge - which leads to organic growth, more engagement, and stronger community bonds.
You could even create your own TikTok challenge from scratch to inspire even more viewers to interact with your content!
5. Showcase Your Personality
TikTok also thrives on authenticity.
Showing your real personality and speaking to your viewers in an authentic and relatable way encourages followers to interact with your content and possibly become fans of your work.
Whether you're humorous, insightful, or creative, be genuine to really grow a TikTok audience that cares about and engages with your content.
6. Go Behind the Scenes
People love a sneak peek into the creative process!
Treat your audience to behind-the-scenes content that showcases how you create your videos, green screen secrets, your TikTok recording setup, and GRWM (get ready with me) videos—whatever you think might be interesting and engaging for your audience.
These transparent “insider looks” encourage viewer loyalty and comment engagement, giving your fans a type of content they may not get with other creators.
7. Collaborate!
Partnerships with TikTok creators, especially in your niche, can significantly expand your reach on the platform.
Collaborative content is fun, introduces your TikTok account (and your collaborators) to new followers, and opens both participants up to new audiences and a new range of brand, sponsorship, and TikTok marketing possibilities.
Do some brainstorming with your fellow creators to narrow in on collaborative content ideas that will really make an impact and ramp up those engagement rates.
If you prefer collaborating sight unseen, Duets and Stitches allow other TikTokers to engage creatively with your content, split-screen style.
Enable these features to invite viewers to interact with your videos, providing another type of interactive experience that boosts engagement rates.
8. Write Great Captions
Captions and hashtags on your TikTok videos help enhance discoverability and set the tone for engagement.
Use short, catchy captions on your content to encourage viewers to comment, interact or ask a specific question to start a chain of replies.
Trending and niche hashtags that align with your content are great for boosting visibility, reaching your target audience, and getting them to engage.
Adding CTAs in your captions or videos helps guide viewers on how to engage with your content.
Encourage them to like, comment, or share your content by using phrases like “Like if you agree!” or “Tag a friend who needs to see this!”
Simple prompts can make a big difference in boosting engagement.
9. Build Community
Engagement on your social media content is always a two-way street, perhaps even more so on TikTok, which moves fast - TikTok creators can zoom in and out of popularity seemingly overnight.
Make sure to reply to comments, thank followers, and acknowledge their contributions if they Duet, Stitch, or repost your content. This helps build a loyal community and encourages viewers to interact more often with your TikTok account.
Adding CTAs in your captions or videos helps guide viewers in engaging with your content.
Encourage them to like, comment, or share your content by using phrases like “Like if you agree!” or “Tag a friend who needs to see this!” Simple prompts can make a big difference in boosting engagement.
10. Promote Elsewhere
Share your TikTok videos outside of TikTok to extend their reach!
Posting links to your TikToks on Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube can encourage your audience on those other platforms to visit TikTok to see your content.
This kind of cross-promotion welcomes viewers who might not be active on TikTok, increasing your video's visibility and engagement rate and potentially even growing your TikTok audience with people who are already your fans.
Connect Fourthwall to TikTok for Double the Impact
Increasing engagement on TikTok requires a strategic approach that combines creativity, consistency, communication, authenticity, and quick responses to trends.
By understanding how TikTok works, defining clear content creation goals, trying the pro tips shown here, and monitoring your TikTok analytics, you can improve your engagement rates and connect your TikTok account with a broader audience.
TikTok’s fast-paced platform rewards those who adapt and innovate on the fly, so don’t hesitate to experiment and quickly refine your strategies as you grow!
Fourthwall can give you a great base to work from as you fine tune your TikTok account.
With Fourthwall, you can set up your own fully branded website, launch a merchandise store and design custom products, share your custom mobile app, offer exclusive memberships to your viewers, and connect your TikTok account all on one site!
Basically, Fourthwall has everything you need to turn your new TikTok followers into superfans!