How to Become Popular on TikTok

Co-authored by Brian Honigman and Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: November 8, 2022 References

Although TikTok began as a lip-syncing app, the platform is now one of the most popular places to find viral videos of all kinds. Becoming famous on TikTok translates to real-life success—just look at Lil Nas X, Charlie D'Amelio, and Olivia Rodrigo! All it takes is one or two great videos to become TikTok famous—no long list of followers necessary.^{[1]
X
Research source} Although there's no specific formula for going viral on TikTok, most TikTok-famous people combine their talents (or shortcomings) with the latest trends.

1

Make content you care about.

It can be hard to stay motivated and dedicated if you're making videos about things you don't care for. You should also try to make sure this content is something there's an active audience for, although there's most likely a niche audience for anything you're into! Here's some examples:
- Dancing
- Singing
- Acting
- Swimming
- Cleaning
- Life Hacks
- Chef/Cooking
- News/Crime

2

Post as often as you can.

Being consistent is the best way to get your videos seen.^{[2]
X
Research source} Unlike Facebook or Instagram, where posting too often can get on peoples' nerves, people expect a lot of content from each creator on TikTok. If you can get your average viewer count up, you’ll be more visible to a greater number of new users.^{[3]
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Research source}

3

Bring out your unique skills and stories.

Focus on what you know. What is something you know a lot about or can do well? Are you an avid record collector? A nurse working on a COVID-19 unit? A rapper? A mom who has nailed easy Instant Pot meals? Use the search field on the Discover page to check out what types of videos already exist for topics you know a lot about and think about how you could add value to those topics.^{[4]
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Research source}
- Having a focus doesn’t mean that you must only make a certain kind of video, but it does help to build a following.
- If you run a business, try promoting what you do. For instance, if you have a hair salon, you might post before-and-after transformations!^{[5]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Brian Honigman
  Marketing Consultant
  Expert Interview. 16 April 2021.}
- You could also try focusing on what you don't know, or things you're comedically bad at!

4

Put your signature spin on every trend.

Try stitching or duetting with popular videos to add your hot takes. TikTok is a platform that celebrates fresh and wacky ideas, so don’t hesitate to be bold and do something that hasn’t been done before.^{[6]
X
Research source} Remember to use the same hashtags in your video as the original creator so your video is easy to find.
- It’s fine to use another person's video as a template for your TikTok. This isn’t usually seen as copying so much as it is perceived to be a user participating in the format.

5

Use trending and relevant hashtags.

People click on hashtags to check out videos all the time. Look at popular TikToks to see how they use hashtags in their videos, and try to hop on a trend as early as possible.^{[7]
X
Research source} Never skip this step—hashtags are crucial, especially when doing challenges.
- Tap the Discover option at the bottom of the app to see the latest trending hashtags, sounds, and effects on TikTok. When you tap a trending hashtag, sound, or topic, you'll see popular videos that have used those features.
- If you can incorporate any combination of trending topics into one or more videos, you're more likely to wind up on peoples' For You pages.
- While you don't want to mirror someone's content exactly, you can gain inspiration from TikTokers who are already popular on the platform.
- As long as you're using at least one or two popular hashtags, you can add some goofy or ironic ones. For example, if you’re singing a love song to your cat, you could use #TrueLove, #HeHatesMe, or #We’rePurfect, to add a funny element to your video.

6

Use a popular song or sound.

Add the same songs or sounds like the most popular videos on the platform. Music is a massive part of TikTok and videos with popular songs can get billions of views!^{[8]
X
Research source} Sometimes doing your cool, creative, or funny performance to a trending song is enough to make you go viral.
- For example, #FakeTravel was a popular hashtag that used foreign-language songs and weird costumes to make it seem like the user was in a different part of the world.
- Children’s songs like “Baby Shark” or "Castaways" from The Backyardigans are always trending and can make for some funny videos.

7

Participate in meme trends and make remixes.

Use your editing skills to produce disruptive, exciting new content. From Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” to the surprising time traveler, there is no shortage of memes that originated on TikTok. TikTok also makes it easy to add your take to someone else's video by stitching or duetting your spin on someone else's video, which is essentially how viral memes are created—a video takes off, and other TikTokers "remix" the original song or punchline to add their jokes, hot takes, lyrics, dances, or stunts.^{[9]
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Research source}
- Making people laugh is a great way to get views. Rather than telling straight-up jokes, most comedic TikTok creators tell funny or embarrassing anecdotes, record goofy missteps, and dig into the most hilarious aspects of day-to-day life.

8

Jump in on a TikTok challenge.

Challenges are more likely to be seen than your normal videos. Since they use the same hashtag for all videos in the challenge, they have a built-in audience! Challenges can be dances, lip-syncing, hilarious stitches, or even stunts. To make a challenge video, study a few examples and try to put your spin on the format.^{[10]
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Research source}
- Take your time when crafting challenge videos, since they’re more likely to be seen than your normal videos.
- Some popular challenges are the "Waking up in the morning" challenge, "Tell me (insert topic here) without tell me you (insert topic here)," #InMyFeelingsChallenge, and #UnMakeupChallenge.

9

Collaborate with friends and influencers who have larger fanbases.

Get noticed by making videos with more popular users and having them tag you in the videos. Let your friends know that you’re trying to get more followers and politely ask to be in one of their videos. As long as you aren’t hurting anyone or damaging anyone’s property, pulling pranks on friends or family members can make for excellent TikTok content too!
- Duets and stitches are great ways to collaborate with popular TikTokers.
- If you’re focusing on comedic skits, come up with an idea together and act it out over a funny song.

10

Leave insightful or hilarious comments on other videos.

You can gain visibility on TikTok by interacting with other users. Follow popular influencers and TikTok creators.^{[11]
X
Research source} You can comment on how funny or relatable a video is, or you can crack a joke. If your comment gets a lot of likes, it will be more visible to other people checking the comments section of the video.
- Avoid getting into public arguments in comment threads. People won’t want to click on your profile if they think you’re rude or aggressive.

11

Make the kind of quality content you'd like to see.

Put thought into filming, and try and boost your production quality. Yes, your videos don't always have to be giant productions, but setting up a video with good lighting, clean editing, and crisp audio can make a difference.^{[12]
X
Research source} Consider things like:
- Location: Consider filming in weird or funny locations or switching up the lighting in your room.
- Lighting: Natural light is best, but if it's nighttime, you'll want to make sure people can see you. Consider investing in a good ring light if you don't have a location bright enough to film in.
- Volume: If people can't hear you over the music, why would they want to see more of your videos? Listen to your video before sharing it to make sure it sounds the way you want.

12

Get inspiration from your For You page.

The For You page can give you ideas that resonate with what you already like. The For You page is the seemingly random assortment of videos that appear when you open TikTok. Winding up on peoples' For You pages is central to becoming famous on TikTok—this is why it's important to pay attention to what shows up on your For You page, as many of these videos have already been liked or shared a bunch.
- TikTok tailors each user's For You page to their interests, which means that no two For You pages are alike.^{[13]
  X
  Research source}
- In general, people react to things they recognize. If you can capitalize on a popular trend, you can easily increase your number of followers.

13

Share your videos on social media and link your profile.

This is one of the easiest ways to gain more views quickly! Some of your friends or followers on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook may not know that you’re on TikTok. Link the videos to your other social media accounts to share your material with a wider audience. Include a link to your TikTok profile in the description so that people can quickly click it to follow your account.^{[14]
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Research source}

14

Participate in dance challenges.

Tons of TikTokers have gained fame creating and performing dances to new songs. Just think of the dance videos with audio from Megan Thee Stallion, Drake, The Weeknd, and other artists.^{[15]
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Research source} And many of the most popular dance videos are just funny takes on the originals—you don't even have to be a particularly good dancer to take part in a dance challenge!
- If dancing isn’t your strongest quality, simply have fun and use goofy moves to draw your audience in.
- Have you noticed more than one video that contains a particular dance routine? It's probably a challenge. Try learning it, or at least film yourself stumbling through the process.

15

Go viral with recipes and food preparation.

Food prep makes it easy to get a following, as long as you create aesthetically-pleasing content. Since the lockdown days of early 2020, videos focusing on cooking particular dishes have exploded in popularity.^{[16]
X
Research source} Easy but delicious recipes, budget bites, plant-based meals, and creative fusions are all massively popular on the app.

16

Try out lip-syncing and dialog reenactments.

TikTok was originally geared toward lip-syncing, and it's still pretty popular on the app. But lip-syncing to a popular song isn't enough to go viral—some of the most popular videos on TikTok are of people lip-syncing to other people's TikTok videos, scenes from movies, and other non-musical sounds. Get creative with the audio you choose, and you’re more likely to gain a following.

17

Know your audience.

Your audience is important because they define how you create and target your videos, what you wear, what you're doing etc.
- If your audience is Gen Z you might include some trendy songs, emoji's, crazy colors or slang.
- If your audience is Generation X, you might want use less slang, mature colors to appear serious and respectful.

18

Have a unique style.

Many people on TikTok are trying to do the same thing you are, so having some unique style to your videos can make you stand out. Think of ways you can use the latest trends to entertain your audience with your personality.
- For example, if you talk in your videos have a unique way of saying hello. Like: "What's up my ________!" or "Hey _______! How yall doing?"
- Have a way of saying bye. "That's it for today! See y'all later!" or "We're done! See ya'll ______ later!"

19

Make an uploading schedule.

We all have lives outside of TikTok, so keeping a schedule to still live your regular life and upload to TikTok is important. If you have a team, set up schedules for them to do their jobs.
- Write to-do list and online schedules to use.

20

Come from another platform.

If you started doing social media on a different platform and you want to expand to TikTok too, keep the same content as before. This is so people will know you for what you do.
- For example if you posted swimming pictures on Instagram. Post videos of swimming on TikTok, or tutorials on swimming.
- Another example is if you posted dishes that you cooked on another platform, show how you cook it on TikTok.
- Attract followers from the other platform. Let your followers know that you are now expanding to TikTok and they can now find you there. You will start getting more followers on TikTok from the other.
  - Put the link to your TikTok on your other platform for easy and simple clicks.
- Keep the same uploading schedule. Sticking to the same uploading schedule is important so you won't be overwhelmed. It doesn't make sense to upload on Wednesdays and the other on Fridays. If you think you can handle it, sure, but this is just to keep it simple.
  - Give reminders like, "Just posted _____ on _______. Check it out!"

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Community Q&A

Question

How do I go live on TikTok?

Aasim

Top Answerer

Tap on the "+," choose the "Go Live" tab, then choose the red "Go Live" button. You need 1,000 fans to do this.
Question

How do I know if my video is on the "For you" page?

Aasim

Top Answerer

Some users comment "For you" when your video makes it on the for you page. Also, watch the view count; a video with several thousand views or tens of thousands of views might have made it on the for you page. The view count can be viewed on your profile page.
Question

How do I become popular on TikTok in a few days?

Aasim

Top Answerer

To become popular in a few days, you need to post excellent quality content. Note, however, that people popular for one thing are known as "one-hit wonders" and these people may not seek the same level of growth as people who post good content regularly.

Warnings

Never start or encourage dangerous challenges that could seriously harm, injure, or even kill people. These include the skull breaker challenge, the crate challenge, the Benadryl challenge, and the cereal challenge.

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Never give your personal information out online.

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There may be some unpleasant people out there commenting on videos. Don’t get upset if your video doesn’t go over well. Some people get a kick out of being mean, but you can’t let that ruin your goal!

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