Any successful social media influencer will tell you that engagement is absolutely crucial to a good social media strategy. Without engagement, you can’t take the figurative pulse of your audience; you can’t know what they want from you or whether they’re enjoying the kind of content you’re creating. Nowhere is this more true than on TikTok, a platform that centralises authenticity and fosters a sense of community in all of its users. If you want to engage with other TikTok users, though, there are a number of best practices you need to make sure you’re following. Here are our best tips and tricks to help you engage with other TikTok users.
Reply to comments
One of the simplest, yet most effective tools in your arsenal as a TikTok user is the ability to reply to comments. When you receive a comment – whether it’s a simple compliment, a helpful suggestion, or a good joke – make sure to reply to it. If you can’t spare the time to type out a full reply, then just thank the user for leaving the comment. Last year, TikTok also introduced a feature whereby you can reply to comments with a video response, and if you think a comment is particularly special or noteworthy, then you should definitely give that function a try!
Make engaging content
Your desire to engage with other TikTok users should be shot through your content strategy from day one. That means holding your viewers’ attention with well-thought-out, well-crafted videos that are relatable or engaging. Why not include calls to action in the content itself if it’s appropriate? Ask your followers to comment on your content or leave likes and you’d be surprised how many will do just that. If people feel like you’re communicating with them when you make videos, they’ll be spurred on to engage with you after watching them.
Go live
TikTok has a built-in feature that allows you to live stream whatever you’re doing to your followers. If you want to engage with them, it’s best to use this feature whenever you can. You’d be amazed at the things your followers are interested in seeing you do, so even if you feel like what you’re doing is inconsequential or mundane, try live streaming it. Your followers will be more likely to engage with you on TikTok if they see that you’re live streaming, because they know there’s a good chance you will see and respond to their comment.
Collaborate with other users
One great way to increase your engagement – both with your followers and with the wider TikTok community around you – is to collaborate with other users on new, original content. Try to aim for users who occupy the same niche as you, because that way, you’re more likely to gain permanent followers from the collaboration. Creating collaborative content increases engagement because you’re doubling the chances of people seeing your video and responding to it, and also because many of your followers – and your collaborator’s followers – like to see work crafted in tandem with other users.
Engage with other people’s content
By participating in the TikTok community yourself – by commenting on others’ videos, throwing likes their way, and Dueting or Stitching their work – you’re naturally increasing the chances that they will reciprocate. It makes sense – after all, how can you expect other people to want to engage with your work if you aren’t willing to show them the same courtesy? When you see a TikTok video you like, don’t leave without commenting on it or at least liking it. This helps the video’s visibility for the purposes of the TikTok algorithm, and you never know – it just might make someone’s day!
Ask questions
It’s said that we should all be asking more questions. While that’s certainly true in the worlds of science and business, it’s doubly true in the social media sphere, because asking questions is a great way to increase engagement. If you’re asking your viewers about their lives and their day, they’ll feel like you’re personally reaching out to them and will almost certainly be more likely to engage with your content again in the future. During your videos, try to think of a question you can ask your audience. Put that question either directly in the video itself or in the description.
Make videos that are easy to Duet or Stitch
TikTok’s built-in Duet and Stitch features are excellent ways to collaborate indirectly with other users and thus increase engagement. Dueting is adding your own video alongside another user’s, while Stitching involves interspersing clips and elements of your own work throughout another video. Choose the most appropriate approach for a video you like and try to add a Duet or Stitch to it. If you’re feeling brave, then send that video to the original creator and see what their response is. You never know – this might be the beginning of a long, fruitful collaborative partnership!
Don’t be defensive
Your followers will be less likely to engage with you in future if you enter every exchange in defensive mode. That means if a follower has a grievance with content you’ve created or a position you’ve espoused in the past, you need to enter that conversation as neutrally as possible. When you get defensive in internet discussions, other people will see that as your natural approach to conversations and will be less likely to approach you with their own suggestions or comments. Being a TikTok influencer isn’t easy, but mastering your emotions is a large part of the process.