How I Grew My Enterprise’ TikTok Accounts to Over 40K Followers in a Few Months

Like so many founders who’re going through the daunting job of studying one more new social media platform, I used to be overwhelmed by the concept of beginning a TikTok for my enterprise.

Coming from the world of finance, I don’t have a background in content material creation, and I wouldn’t even contemplate myself a very inventive particular person. The considered developing with recent and fascinating content material day after day that may compete with individuals who actually do that for a dwelling felt unattainable.

And but, I had a hunch that my firm—Tandem, an app that helps {couples} handle their shared funds—may join with new customers on the platform. As a D2C cellular app, we’ve seen that one of the best ways to amass customers is once they’re already on their telephones and due to this fact have the best intent. And with a goal market of 25-35 12 months olds, I knew {that a} good chunk of that cellphone time was now spent on TikTok. (For some context, TikTok customers within the U.S. spent a mean of 25.6 hours per thirty days on the app as of January 2022, and the vast majority of these customers are 34 or youthful.)

So, I took the leap and launched Tandem’s TikTok account in August 2022. Inside just some weeks, the account had amassed over 13,000 followers and over 1 million natural impressions and, months later, that quantity retains on rising. It’s been so profitable that I lately added a second account—@missmoneymichelle—to grow to be a finance influencer in my very own proper and bypass costly influencer advertising and marketing for my model. In just some weeks, I gained over 17,000 followers.

Higher than followers, although, are the enterprise outcomes. Whereas I’ve been aware of not pushing Tandem too exhausting within the early days, as a substitute opting to carry worth and construct a trusting relationship with my followers earlier than I begin promoting to them, I’ve already seen some movies translate into new web site guests and app customers. I additionally know that in the long term, having our personal viewers is essential in a world the place digital promoting is more and more costly. Plus, studying from the content material that the majority connects with individuals will inform Tandem’s product roadmap as we contemplate new choices to assist {couples} grasp their funds collectively.

After all, I’ve been doing all of this whereas additionally working my enterprise. For every other founders who really feel like TikTok is a thriller or that they merely don’t have time for it, right here’s the precise schedule and technique I’ve used to construct up our accounts so rapidly.

I realized from different profitable TikTokers

I ought to begin by saying I didn’t plot out a profitable technique all by myself. To kick off my TikTok journey, I spent a number of weeks immersed within the Secret Socials course, which helped me be taught the ins and outs of the algorithm and greatest practices for making partaking brief type video.

One in every of my key learnings was that every video must have an preliminary “hook.” Basically, the TikTok algorithm pays consideration to engagement metrics like how lengthy customers are watching your movies, likes, feedback, and shares to find out what to share extra broadly.

However you’re not going to get traction on any of these metrics if individuals don’t watch your video lengthy sufficient to even work out what it’s about. These first few seconds are essential, and I realized to speak rapidly, add a headline with textual content on display, and be a bit dramatic with my titles to essentially catch a viewer’s consideration. (As an example, “three issues that saved me $1,000 that nobody is aware of about,” is far more eye-catching than “three money-saving ideas.”)

I additionally realized how one can use TikTok’s information to tell my content material. Utilizing the app’s search bar, you may browse subjects associated to your area of interest, after which filter by current, most preferred movies. I’ll lookup the whole lot from generic “finance” movies to extra particular subjects like “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday,” scroll via what’s working for different creators, after which contemplate how I can put my very own spin on that subject to leap on a pattern and create one thing priceless for my viewers.

I used a collection to assist me experiment and achieve traction

Along with following TikTok greatest practices, the technique that’s most helped my profiles develop is hanging a fragile steadiness between amount, consistency, and high quality.

Amount is necessary as a result of, as a way to develop a following rapidly, you might want to give your self as many possibilities to go viral as attainable. I made a decision to purpose for posting thrice a day, seven days every week, so I may quickly perceive what’s working and what flops.

Consistency, in each kind of content material and frequency, is necessary so that individuals know what to anticipate from you. If somebody lands in your profile and sees 20-30 movies on a subject they’re concerned about, versus a number of disjointed posts, they’re more likely to observe your profile. I discovered that launching with a collection—in my case, monetary ideas for {couples} beneath the umbrella of “Issues Energy {Couples} Do”—helped me hold that consistency early on.

Lastly, to develop an engaged following, it’s important to place out high quality content material that gives actual worth. I’ve had a number of purely humorous or entertaining movies go viral, however they’ve hardly ever translated to followers or new customers. In the meantime, I’ve discovered that probably the most profitable movies are after I share distinctive ideas which have made an actual affect in my relationship, akin to making a shared e-mail handle or getting on every others’ insurance coverage as home companions.

Now that my accounts are extra established, I exploit a five-video collection to experiment with new subjects, particularly ones which are extra time sure. As an example, I created a brief collection about successful the lottery when the key Powerball was occurring, and one about Journey Tuesday offers throughout Black Friday weekend. Creating a number of movies for every subject permits me to strive barely completely different hooks and canopy extra info with none one video getting too lengthy. Often no less than one or two inside a collection will go viral, however I can hardly ever predict which, so it’s essential to strive a number of approaches.

I created a schedule and seemed for shortcuts

Content material creation can take up loads of your time should you let it—and as a founder, I don’t have loads of it. I’ve discovered one of the best ways to persistently submit at my best frequency is to batch my content material creation efforts.

Sometimes, I reserve Monday afternoons for brainstorming and ideation. I’ll take a look at trending TikTok information and metrics from my very own posts to see what kind of content material is performing effectively. I’ll additionally take into consideration upcoming holidays or present occasions. Then, I’ll listing out all the subjects I wish to cowl that week and what the hooks will likely be. Generally I’ll loosely script out a video, and different occasions I’ll plan on simply speaking on the fly, relying on the subject.

Then, on Tuesdays, I spend 4-5 hours doing my filming for the week. That is doable as a result of I’ve discovered a number of key shortcuts to be extra environment friendly. For one, I’ll all the time use the inexperienced display function, which permits me to drop in any background I’d like. This helps create some selection even when I’m filming all of my movies in the identical place, and likewise means I can create from anyplace if I should be out and about on filming day. (I’ve undoubtedly recorded movies from my automobile!.) I additionally invested in a mini microphone to make sure high-quality sound regardless of the place I’m filming. And a last bizarre hack: I put on huge sun shades in all my movies so I don’t really feel strain to do my make-up. It saves me time and has grow to be a part of the model look. I additionally attempt to edit on Tuesdays so I’ll have a full lineup of finalized movies to submit all through the week. I sometimes spend no less than a number of hours making edits to make sure the posts are partaking, together with issues like chopping out lifeless house and including in captions.

I’m not going to lie—TikTok continues to be overwhelming to me generally. Persistently placing out new content material isn’t straightforward, and it requires displaying up even after I’m not feeling it. Plus, since TikTok is all the time altering, I can’t simply discover what works and keep it up. I’ve to continuously be being attentive to the info together with what’s working for different creators, experimenting, and iterating.

However, with some easy methods and a schedule I can observe week after week, I’ve discovered a option to make TikTok work for me. And the end result—a deep, ongoing connection to my viewers—makes the hassle greater than value it.