How To Get Big on TikTok (And Other Digital Platforms)

Want to know how to get big on TikTok and other digital platforms? Here’s a 2-step guide. 

Step 1: Join early

If you’re one of the first few users on a digital platform, you have an advantage over people who join later, after it’s cool. There’s less competition for those who join early. Charli D’Amelio joined TikTok in May 2019, only nine months after its rebrand from Musical.ly I joined TikTok in November 2019, only a few short months after Charli. 

Charli has 110 million followers on TikTok. I have 30 (not 30 million, just 30). I could make the case that because Charli joined earlier than me, she was able to grow her following bigger than mine. But that would be a poor case. Why? Because of Step 2. 

Step 2: Be consistent

Charli doesn’t have 109,999,970 more followers than me because she joined 5 months before I did. She has more followers because she posts more consistently than I do. She posts multiple times daily. I’ve posted 9 times total. 

I always preach against modeling your strategy after celebrities and big influencers, because their popularity makes them exempt from the rules. But in this case, Charli is spot on. By nature of being in high school, Charli had more time to make videos than most working folks. Her environment was conducive to consistent creativity. And while you may not have 7 hours every afternoon to dance in your room, you can design your schedule in a way that enables your consistent creative endeavors. In fact, revamping your schedule is the only way to be consistent over the long term.

Ok, I know you’re dying for more steps because 2 steps seems too easy. It is this easy, but here are some bonus steps. 

Step 3: Stay in-tune with trends

Charli dances to all of the trending songs and stays in touch with current events. Social media moves so quickly that if you aren’t in-tune with the current trends, your content will be boring at best. Learn the language of the platform and the current moment, then create with that tone. 

Step 4: Be yourself 

There’s no use in doing something that you hate just to grow an audience. You’ll just end up hating your life. You can be more creative than that. Look at finance TikTok. These young CPAs didn’t table their educations and start dancing–they simply packaged up their expertise in a style suitable for TikTok. If something as stale as finance advice can become a major sector on TikTok, your hobby can too. Be yourself and create content that interests you. You’ll find others who enjoy it too.

Step 5: Lower your expectations

For some reason, people think that since anyone can be a digital creator, everyone deserves the massive level of success that top digital creators have. This isn’t true. There are outliers in every field. Just because you’ll never be as good at basketball as Steph Curry doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy playing basketball. You absolutely can. You might not be as big as Charli, but you can grow an audience, connect with a community, and have fun while you’re doing it. 

Good luck out there! 

P.S. Here is a campaign shoot I produced with Charli D’Amelio and Pura Vida that was featured in Adweek. Check it out!