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 process 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 take into account myself a very artistic individual. The considered developing with recent and fascinating content material day after day that might compete with individuals who actually do that for a residing felt unimaginable.

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 simplest ways to amass customers is once they’re already on their telephones and subsequently have the best intent. And with a goal market of 25-35 yr 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 median 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 turn out 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 laborious within the early days, as a substitute opting to convey 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 take into account new choices to assist {couples} grasp their funds collectively.

In fact, 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 shortly.

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 couple 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 participating brief type video.

One in all 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 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 realized to speak shortly, 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 suggestions.”)

I additionally realized easy methods to use TikTok’s information to tell my content material. Utilizing the app’s search bar, you possibly can browse subjects associated to your area of interest, after which filter by latest, most preferred movies. I’ll lookup all the pieces from generic “finance” movies to extra particular subjects like “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday,” scroll by what’s working for different creators, after which take into account how I can put my very own spin on that matter to leap on a pattern and create one thing helpful for my viewers.

I used a collection to assist me experiment and acquire traction

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

Amount is vital as a result of, in an effort to develop a following shortly, it’s essential to give your self as many probabilities to go viral as potential. I made a decision to goal for posting 3 times a day, seven days every week, so I may quickly perceive what’s working and what flops.

Consistency, in each sort of content material and frequency, is vital 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 concerned with, versus a couple of disjointed posts, they’re more likely to comply with your profile. I discovered that launching with a collection—in my case, monetary suggestions for {couples} below 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 a couple of 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 essentially the most profitable movies are after I share distinctive suggestions which have made an actual influence 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 profitable the lottery when the foremost Powerball was occurring, and one about Journey Tuesday offers throughout Black Friday weekend. Creating a couple of movies for every matter permits me to strive barely totally different hooks and canopy extra info with none one video getting too lengthy. Often at the least 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 quite a lot of your time when you let it—and as a founder, I don’t have quite a lot of it. I’ve discovered one of the simplest ways to persistently put up at my best frequency is to batch my content material creation efforts.

Usually, I reserve Monday afternoons for brainstorming and ideation. I’ll have a look at trending TikTok information and metrics from my very own posts to see what sort of content material is performing nicely. I’ll additionally take into consideration upcoming holidays or present occasions. Then, I’ll listing out all the subjects I need to cowl that week and what the hooks shall 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 a couple of key shortcuts to be extra environment friendly. For one, I’ll at all times 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 in addition means I can create from anyplace if I have to be out and about on filming day. (I’ve undoubtedly recorded movies from my automotive!.) I additionally invested in a mini microphone to make sure high-quality sound irrespective of the place I’m filming. And a last bizarre hack: I put on large sun shades in all my movies so I don’t really feel strain to do my make-up. It saves me time and has turn out 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 put up all through the week. I usually spend at the least a couple of hours making edits to make sure the posts are participating, together with issues like chopping out useless area and including in captions.

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

However, with some easy methods and a schedule I can comply with week after week, I’ve discovered a method to make TikTok work for me. And the consequence—a deep, ongoing connection to my viewers—makes the trouble greater than price it.