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

Like so many founders who’re going through the daunting activity of studying yet 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 think about myself a very inventive individual. The considered arising with recent and attention-grabbing content material day after day that may compete with individuals who actually do that for a residing felt inconceivable.

And but, I had a hunch that my firm—Tandem, an app that helps {couples} handle their shared funds—might join with new customers on the platform. As a D2C cell 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 telephone 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 nearly all 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 not too long ago added a second account—@missmoneymichelle—to develop into a finance influencer in my very own proper and bypass costly influencer advertising 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 conscious of not pushing Tandem too laborious within the early days, as an alternative opting to deliver 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 think about new choices to assist {couples} grasp their funds collectively.

In fact, I’ve been doing all of this whereas additionally operating my enterprise. For some 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 discovered 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 just a few weeks immersed within the Secret Socials course, which helped me study the ins and outs of the algorithm and finest practices for making participating brief kind video.

One in all my key learnings was that every video must have an preliminary “hook.” Primarily, 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 extensively.

However you’re not going to get traction on any of these metrics if individuals don’t watch your video lengthy sufficient to even determine what it’s about. These first few seconds are essential, and I discovered 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 way more eye-catching than “three money-saving ideas.”)

I additionally discovered tips on how to use TikTok’s information to tell my content material. Utilizing the app’s search bar, you possibly can browse matters associated to your area of interest, after which filter by current, most favored movies. I’ll lookup every thing from generic “finance” movies to extra particular matters like “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday,” scroll by what’s working for different creators, after which think about how I can put my very own spin on that subject to leap on a development and create one thing worthwhile for my viewers.

I used a collection to assist me experiment and acquire traction

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

Amount is essential as a result of, as a way to develop a following rapidly, you want to give your self as many probabilities to go viral as attainable. I made a decision to intention for posting 3 times a day, seven days per week, so I might quickly perceive what’s working and what flops.

Consistency, in each kind of content material and frequency, is essential so that folks know what to anticipate from you. If somebody lands in your profile and sees 20-30 movies on a subject they’re thinking about, versus just a few 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 preserve 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 just a few purely humorous or entertaining movies go viral, however they’ve not often 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 impression in my relationship, corresponding 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 take advantage of a five-video collection to experiment with new matters, particularly ones which might be extra time certain. As an example, I created a brief collection about successful the lottery when the foremost Powerball was taking place, and one about Journey Tuesday offers throughout Black Friday weekend. Creating just a few movies for every subject permits me to strive barely completely different hooks and canopy extra data with none one video getting too lengthy. Normally not less than one or two inside a collection will go viral, however I can not often predict which, so it’s essential to strive a number of approaches.

I created a schedule and regarded for shortcuts

Content material creation can take up a number of your time for those who let it—and as a founder, I don’t have a number of it. I’ve discovered one of the best ways to constantly put up at my very best frequency is to batch my content material creation efforts.

Usually, 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 properly. I’ll additionally take into consideration upcoming holidays or present occasions. Then, I’ll checklist out all the matters I wish to cowl that week and what the hooks will likely be. Generally I’ll loosely script out a video, and different instances 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 just a few key shortcuts to be extra environment friendly. For one, I’ll all the time use the inexperienced display characteristic, 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 wherever if I have to 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 irrespective of the place I’m filming. And a closing bizarre hack: I put on massive sun shades in all my movies so I don’t really feel stress to do my make-up. It saves me time and has develop into a part of the model look. I additionally attempt to edit on Tuesdays so I’ll have a full lineup of finalized movies to put up all through the week. I sometimes spend not less than just a few hours making edits to make sure the posts are participating, together with issues like chopping out lifeless house and including in captions.

I’m not going to lie—TikTok remains to be overwhelming to me typically. Persistently placing out new content material isn’t straightforward, and it requires exhibiting 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 always be being attentive to the information 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 method to make TikTok work for me. And the end result—a deep, ongoing connection to my viewers—makes the hassle greater than value it.