Want to grow on TikTok? 4 ways to get more followers & grow on TikTok.

A lot has happened on TikTok recently... There was a significant change that shook the TikTok community on January 30, 2024. TikTok announced that their partnership with Universal Music Group (UMG) would be terminated starting from February 1, 2024. This meant that much of the popular music on the platform would disappear, and creators had to adapt to a new reality.

On TikTok, creators often incorporate short music clips into their videos to participate in viral trends and make the content more engaging. Imagine creating a dance video to your favorite BTS song, only to wake up and find it muted! That's the reality for countless TikTok users after UMG withdrew its music. The question that follows now is... Can TikTok users and creators adapt, or will the platform lose its musical spark?

I have to admit... my TikTok feed wasn't the same after this change. It was disappointing... I really love music memes, cool people dancing, and I use UMG music to create new trends and fun videos myself. TikTok might not be the same without UMG music, but there are other ways to market your business and yourself on this platform.

In this post, we will explore 4 new ways to market your business on TikTok, even as the music landscape changes. Let's dive in and discover how you can continue to grow and reach your audience on this rapidly growing platform.

Content:

1. Tiktok Landscape Videos

2. Audience Engagement

3. The 4-week Rule

4. Longer Videos = Increased Exposure

Start Using TikTok Landscape Videos

TikTok's latest algorithm change emphasizes the importance of landscape videos. TikTok encourages creators to post videos in landscape format more often. We're all accustomed to TikTok videos being very short and in portrait format. It seems like TikTok wants to challenge YouTube's dominance over long-form content, so they're moving away from short-form content a bit. By transitioning to this new format, you can reach a broader audience and increase your visibility on the platform.

The guidelines are simple:

• Create relevant, interesting content and ensure your videos are in landscape mode.

Embracing landscape videos is the first step to increasing engagement and attracting new followers. TikTok will push for creators who adapt to their new algorithm, so join the trend and start creating landscape videos!

Master Audience Engagement on TikTok

To retain TikTok's algorithmic advantage, it's crucial to understand and optimize audience engagement. The TikTok platform now provides insights into how many followers versus non-followers engage with your content. To ensure maximum reach, you should aim to have at least 80% of your views from non-followers.

You might be thinking, how do I achieve this? Well, to achieve this, you need to follow the 30% rule.
What's that rule? The rule states that no more than 30% of viewers should leave your content within the first three seconds. You need to work on ensuring that your content is interesting enough right at the beginning of the video so they stay for at least 3 seconds or longer!

Use strategies such as:

• Clip Changes: Create dynamic videos with frequent clip changes to capture viewers' attention.
  
  
• Text on Screen: Add text that reinforces your message or tells a story. Text requires a bit more attention and clarifies what you're talking about in the video, which can make the viewer linger a little longer.
  
  
• Sound Selection: Choose music and sound effects that resonate with your target audience. Even though the trendy music from UMG recently disappeared from TikTok, there's still some left to work with. Now that UMG music is gone, creators are forced to use other music or older trends to create entirely new trends and remain relevant.

By mastering audience engagement, you'll enhance your content's discoverability and attract a broader audience. It's just a matter of starting to experiment!

Utilize the 4-Week Rule

To maintain TikTok's algorithmic advantage, it's important to remain hyper-relevant to your audience's interests. You really need to focus on creating content that is current, interesting, adds value, and evokes emotions specifically for your target audience. But it might not be easy to keep track of what your audience likes, and you might release new TikTok videos for 1-2 weeks and then give up because you're not getting the response you desire. Let me introduce the 4-week rule!

The 4-week rule emphasizes creating content that remains current and engaging for at least four weeks. Take some time to explore the app and see what's trending RIGHT NOW, as well as trending topics within your niche. Also, make sure to analyze competitors' content and monitor audience preferences to stay ahead.

By consistently creating relevant and engaging content, you increase the chance to:

• Appear on users' For You pages.
• Attract new followers.
• Build a strong and loyal audience.

Once you have a better idea of the type of content you should focus on, it's time to start filming a lot of material, editing, and publishing regularly. Remember: TikTok's algorithm rewards content that creates long-term engagement. By implementing the 4-week rule, you can master the algorithm and reach a broader audience

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Create Longer Videos for Increased Exposure

TikTok's latest algorithm changes haven't just emphasized the importance of landscape videos, but also of longer videos in terms of duration. Many TikTok creators are talking about how they've started creating longer videos, especially videos over 1 minute, and the great results that change has brought them. But why is that?

Apparently, it has to do with how the TikTok algorithm caps their videos at a maximum of 200 views. The creators call it the "200-view jail."

The creators discussing this conducted a small experiment to prove their point. They compared two videos with exactly the same content, where the only difference was the length: the first video was under 1 minute long, while the second was at least 1 minute and 1 second long.

The results: the longer video got more views! So, just by creating 1-minute videos or longer, the creators say they've managed to break free from the 200-view jail.

So, what can you take from this? Creating longer videos is the first step to increase engagement and attract new followers. By creating content that is over a minute long, you can increase your visibility and reach a broader audience on the platform.

Do you want to learn more about marketing and Tiktok?

Then you should:

1. Follow us on social media. We post updates on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook when we have a new blog post. You can also get valuable tips and learn something new from other posts we share on social media, so you lose nothing by following us!

2. If you want additional knowledge about marketing, maybe even a little help on how to start your marketing journey, don't hesitate to contact us!

3. Want to connect on LinkedIn? You can find me here! I'm here to support you and want to help you through this exciting new marketing journey! Let's do this! 🌟🌟

/ Sofia Johansson - Digital Growth Marketing Specialist 🥰