20 Top Tactics On How to Get More Engagement on TikTok

TikTok isn’t just a stage—it’s a full-blown spotlight, and everyone’s vying for a chance to shine.

But going viral isn’t about luck; it’s about knowing the rules of the game.

From understanding TikTok metrics that matter to crafting a TikTok marketing plan that hooks your audience, it’s time to rethink your social media strategy and turn scrolls into stops.

Read on to learn hot to get more engagement on TikTok and make your next post the post.

What is TikTok engagement?

In 2025, TikTok engagement takes into account all these interactions and more, with some metrics carrying extra weight:

• Likes and comments: The classics. These quick taps and typed-out thoughts show immediate reactions but don’t always tell the full story.
• Shares: It’s one of the highest forms of endorsement. When someone sends your TikTok to a friend or reposts it, they’re saying, “This is too good to keep to myself.”
• Video views and watch time: Did they stay for the whole clip or scroll away halfway? How long someone sticks around matters just as much as how many hit play.

Why does this matter?

Strong engagement on TikTok directly influences how often the algorithm shows your videos to others. TikTok’s For You Page is built around engagement signals, meaning the more people interact with your posts, the bigger your audience can grow.

Whether you’re chasing virality or building a loyal audience, understanding your metrics is the first step to making your TikTok strategy pop.

How to get more engagement on TikTok

Ready to level up your social media marketing?

Here’s how to increase engagement on TikTok with easy, effective tips to make your content shine.

#1. Understand your target audience

Understanding your target persona is pivotal for improving your engagement rate on TikTok—and Semrush’s success exemplifies this strategy.

By leveraging relatable and authentic content, such as asking an employee what his job position is and tailoring it to their digital marketing audience, they created a viral video that generated nearly 900K views, as reflected in Socialinsider’s analytics dashboard.

The platform shows a massive spike in views on the day of the video, with detailed social media metrics highlighting its impact: 89K likes, 19K shares, and 917K total views.

Moreover, our social media analysis underscores how a single well-targeted video can significantly boost visibility and interaction, emphasizing that brands must stay consistent and creative rather than abandoning their efforts.

Essentially, these social media insights demonstrate that when your content aligns with your audience’s world, the results speak for themselves.

#2. Focus on authenticity

Focusing on authenticity is a proven way to increase your TikTok’s engagement, primarily because the platform thrives on real, relatable, and unscripted content.

TikTok users value genuine interactions and creative spontaneity over highly polished, corporate-style videos.

For example, in Booking.com's celebration of reaching 1 million TikTok followers, they shared a playful, authentic moment of their team dancing and taping confetti to the office ceiling.

This approach highlighted their team’s humor and personality, making their followers feel like they were part of the milestone celebration.

For brands looking for TikTok video ideas, this example emphasizes that showing behind-the-scenes celebrations or everyday moments can be part of the narrative.

#3. Engage with other accounts

One of the best social media practices you can follow to boost TikTok interactions is actively engaging with other accounts.

When a brand interacts with other accounts—through witty comments, timely responses, or creative banter—it not only humanizes the brand but also attracts attention to its profile.

This approach is a key part of what a social media manager does: building relationships with the audience and other accounts to foster a sense of community.

Ultimately, thoughtful TikTok interactions create a ripple effect, driving both organic engagement and brand loyalty.

#4. Leverage UGC

Another amazing idea on how to boost engagement on TikTok is leveraging user-generated content (UGC) to create relatable and authentic posts.

Because UGC feels more personal and less sales-driven, this type of social media content not only boosts engagement but also inspires others to share their experiences with your brand.

#5. Deconstruct how top brands are doing it

Deconstructing how top brands succeed on TikTok is a proven method for driving higher engagement rates.

Let’s take Aldi UK as an example and perform a TikTok audit for its profile.

To analyze how Aldi UK or any other brand drives engagement and views on TikTok, you may leverage competitive analysis tools to evaluate the following benchmarks:

Views: what drives visibility

Start by identifying the types of video content that generate the highest view counts. You can do so by analyzing your views evolution within the Socialinsider dashboard, and easily identify the posts that led to significant views spikes.

Once you’ve done that, understand patterns: what’s working?

• Does the video focus on trending products or seasonal relevance?
• Are humorous elements or relatable situations involved?
• Is there a clear call to action, such as urgency or exclusivity?
• Are trending audios or hashtags used effectively?

Engagement: what generates interactions

Engagement on TikTok, consisting of metrics like views, likes, shares, and comments, reflects how well content resonates with the audience.

For example, their parody of a Moschino ad gained 1.7 million views and over 122K likes, showcasing how humor and cultural references can capture audience attention.

Aldi UK's use of relevant hashtags, such as #AldiTikTok and #OnShift, also extends their reach to a broader audience.

Their captions are another critical engagement driver, often striking a balance between wit, relatability, and trend relevance.

These elements work together to create a formula for engaging content that appeals to their followers.

Essentially, to analyze engagement metrics effectively and identify what drives interactions, follow these steps:

Look for high-performing posts

Look for posts with high engagement. For example, Aldi UK’s parody posts and timely references to holidays or pop culture performed exceptionally well.

Analyze key elements of successful posts:

• Captions: Creative, witty, and relatable captions play a significant role in engaging viewers.
• Hashtags: Using trending or relevant hashtags, such as #AldiFinds or #MerryCuthmas, ensures content reaches a broader audience.
• Format and tone: Posts featuring humor, challenges, or timely cultural references resonate more with audiences.
• Refine your TikTok strategy: Use insights from top-performing posts to adapt your own content strategy.

Content pillars: defining what works

Establishing content pillars is essential for creating a cohesive social media strategy.

They act as the foundation of your content, ensuring that your posts consistently align with your brand's goals, audience interests, and overall identity.

By defining these pillars, you can maintain a balanced mix of content types, cater to different audience segments, and keep your messaging focused while leaving room for creativity.

In the case of Aldi's TikTok strategy, over a month, 13% of their posts are promotions, leveraging humor and relatable scenarios to showcase products.

Additionally, 9% of posts focus on special events and announcements, creating buzz around seasonal or holiday-specific campaigns.

This blend ensures that Aldi stays relevant, entertaining, and aligned with audience expectations.

To apply this to your own brand, use Socialinsider’s Content Pillars section to analyze the types of content you're sharing.

Videos: format, hooks, length

A successful TikTok strategy requires a thoughtful blend of format, hooks, and performance analysis to ensure content resonates with the audience.

Here's how you can optimize these elements.

Start by breaking down the video formats.

Are your videos product-focused, highlighting features and benefits in a sleek, attention-grabbing way? Or do they feature personas or influencers, leveraging their relatability to connect with the audience on a deeper level?

Both formats have unique strengths, and striking the right balance is key.

Next, evaluate your hooks. The first few seconds are critical to capturing attention—whether it's a striking visual, a relatable statement, or a surprising question, your hook should make viewers want to keep watching.

Captions and hashtags also play a significant role in engagement. Craft captions that are catchy, relatable, and tied to current trends.

Pair them with hashtags that amplify reach, aligning with both the content’s tone and audience interests.

Experiment with video types to keep your content dynamic:

• Behind-the-scenes clips build authenticity and transparency
• Funny skits entertain while encouraging shares
• Edutainment offers value through an engaging mix of education and fun

And when it comes to your TikTok’s video length, let the data guide you.

Shorter videos often excel in capturing attention quickly, while longer ones provide space for storytelling. Identify which performs better for your brand.

Historical post data: spotting trends

Analyzing past engagement patterns highlights what works and when.

For instance, Aldi UK sees interaction spikes during festive or promotional posts.

By reviewing trends over months, you can pinpoint high-performing periods and strategically schedule posts to maximize impact.

Why it works

A social media competitor analysis reveals what drives engagement. Learning from top performers helps brands adapt winning tactics while staying unique.

In Aldi UK’s case, humorous campaigns succeed by embracing TikTok’s preference for authentic, creative content.

#6. Join TikTok trends

If you want to gain more views and engagement on TikTok, it's all about jumping onto TikTok trends and adapting them to your brand’s style.

Take this example of a charming 880-year-old bed & breakfast embracing the wildly popular "Gen Z Tour Guide" trend.

Instead of sticking to traditional marketing, they used humor and relatable language that resonates with TikTok's younger audience.

Describing their medieval dining room as having "so much rizz" or their serene garden as "giving relaxation" not only pokes fun at generational slang but also makes their content approachable and fun.

It’s a brilliant move because it humanizes the brand, making Fyfield Manor feel fresh and modern, and invites users to engage and share.

#7. Use trending hashtags or create your own

To improve your TikTok engagement rate, leverage the power of trending hashtags—or even better, create your own—and transform them into cultural moments.

Hashtags aren’t just search tools; they’re conversation starters that invite audiences into your world.

Atlético de Madrid demonstrated this flawlessly with their use of #ChillGuy, blending humor and trend-savvy marketing to create a post that felt organic.

By aligning with a viral moment, they didn’t just attract attention—they solidified their place in the platform’s ever-evolving narrative, turning a simple training video into shareable, high-impact content that resonated with audiences.

#8. Integrate TikTok carousels into your strategy

We’ll let you in on a little secret: one of the best TikTok tips you can leverage to get more engagement on your TikTok videos is to embrace carousels.

Our study shows that TikTok carousels outperform videos, driving 12% more engagement.

Why is that?

Because they let you share multiple visuals in a single post, keeping your audience swiping and engaged for longer. So, if you haven’t tried carousels yet, now’s the time to test them out!

#9. Run contests & giveaways

If you want to make your TikTok engagement skyrocket, running contests and giveaways is a proven strategy to boost social media interactions.

A great example of this is Booking.com’s giveaway campaign, where they offered $10,000 in travel credits.

Their TikTok post clearly highlighted the prize and included simple instructions and a sense of urgency to participate.

The result?

Over 165K, thousands of comments, and shares—demonstrating how an enticing reward paired with effective promotion can generate significant buzz, drive social media engagement, and enhance brand visibility on TikTok.

#10. Go live

Going live on TikTok is like hosting a backstage party for your audience—exclusive, unfiltered, and insanely interactive.

It’s about creating a space where your followers feel like VIP insiders to your brand’s world.

TikTok Lives give brands the golden ticket to connect on a human level—answering burning questions, cracking jokes, and creating moments that are as authentic as they are memorable.

Take Scrub Daddy, for example: they turn their live sessions into mini events packed with giveaways, quirky product demos, and real-time banter.

It’s entertainment that builds loyalty, keeps fans coming back, and skyrockets engagement.

By letting your community feel seen, heard, and part of the action, you’re not just boosting numbers—you’re building a movement.

#11. Team up with relevant influencers

TikTok influencer marketing allows you to collaborate with creators who are already experts in the platform’s trends and proved they can to engage their audience effectively.

These influencers know how to craft content that resonates, making your social media campaigns more effective.

By partnering with the right creators, your brand becomes part of their authentic narrative, which can dramatically increase TikTok engagement rates.

That’s because influencers bring their established followings to the table, allowing your brand to reach a larger, more targeted audience.

For example, Funday Sweets teamed up with olympian Nikki Webster on TikTok, using nostalgic storytelling to promote their products.

And if you’re struggling to find new video marketing ideas, teaming up with influencers not only helps you gain visibility, but also saves time and ensures you have a steady stream of content.

#12. Share your POV

Sharing your POV on TikTok taps into the platform’s core appeal: connection through relatability and originality.

When you share your perspective, it makes viewers feel understood, informed, or even inspired to share their own stories.

A well-executed POV sparks curiosity and invites interaction, whether through comments, stitches, or duets, creating a ripple effect of engagement.

This kind of genuine, interactive storytelling is what fuels TikTok’s algorithm and makes your content unforgettable.

#13. Track analytics to identify patterns

One of the most common social media marketing challenges brands face is assessing the performance of their content over time and determining if it’s sustainable for long-term growth.

This is where social media analytics come into play—providing insights that allow you to track patterns and optimize your strategy for higher engagement on the long run.

Once you’ve identified your best-performing content pillars, you can focus on creating content that consistently resonates with your audience.

Content pillars are the foundation of your video marketing strategy on TikTok, representing the main themes or topics your brand revolves around.

By using social media analytics tools, you can pinpoint which pillars drive the most interactions—whether it’s educational posts, trend-driven videos, or product showcases—and refine your efforts toward these areas.

Essentially, a data-driven strategy turns guesswork into sustained engagement.

By tracking patterns like posting times and trends, analytics can aslo provide a blueprint for lasting impact on TikTok.

#14. Use eye-catching thumbnails

Every social media team knows that first impressions are everything, and on TikTok, it all starts with the thumbnail.

A well-designed thumbnail draws viewers in before they even hit play, giving a sneak peek of the content and signaling that your video is worth their time.

This not only boosts click-through rates but also encourages users to binge-watch your content, keeping them engaged with your profile longer.

Semrush nails it with bold, clear thumbnails that instantly hook their audience.

Relatable text like “Life-saving digital marketing hack” grabs attention and sets clear expectations, boosting TikTok engagement effortlessly.

#15. Find your unique style and stick with it

Learning how to create content for social media to maximize your TikTok engagement starts with defining your unique style and consistently sticking to it.

The key is understanding what makes your brand stand out and ensuring that your tone, visuals, and messaging reflect that consistently across platforms.

For example, Monzo has perfected a casual and approachable style on TikTok, making their content relatable and engaging for their audience.

By staying true to your brand’s identity, you can build trust, stand out from competitors, and create content that your audience will love to engage with.

#16. Use Q&As to encourage engagement

Using the Q&A feature is an excellent way to supercharge your engagement rate on TikTok—and it's the perfect chance to settle any questions people might have about your brand.

By addressing their questions, like Asul Lipcare PH does with frequently asked queries about their lip plumper, you show that you’re listening, approachable, and genuinely interested in providing value.

This not only fosters trust but also creates a two-way communication loop, inviting more people to join the conversation in your comments section.

#17. Post regularly

Your TikTok engagement success depends on posting regularly, as the TikTok algorithm rewards consistent, fresh content that keeps users engaged.

Our study on TikTok benchmarks reveals a 33% year-over-year increase in posting frequency among brands, rising from 10 to 20 posts per month between January 2023 and August 2024.

This trend shows how brands are leveraging TikTok's demand for frequent activity to boost visibility and drive engagement, proving that consistent posting is essential for staying relevant and maximizing reach.

#18. Take advantage of the TikTok SEO

TikTok SEO is a game-changer for boosting engagement by aligning your content with how users search and discover trends on the platform.

By optimizing captions, hashtags, and video descriptions with relevant keywords, you make it easier for TikTok’s algorithm to categorize and promote your videos to the right audience.

This not only increases visibility but also enhances the likelihood of your content appearing on the For You Page.

Basically, leveraging TikTok SEO helps your content stand out in a fragmented search landscape and builds a stronger, more engaged community.

#19. Be creative

Getting creative on TikTok isn’t just a strategy—it’s the strategy.

In a sea of endless scrolling, creativity is your golden ticket to stop thumbs mid-swipe.

So if you’re looking for social media video tips, look no further than Karo Crafts.

The creator of the brand cracked the code for turning creativity into viral engagement: building cinematic journeys where her audience becomes part of the process.

Her mix of digital and traditional art, blending painting, photography, and Photoshop, creates scroll-stopping visuals, but it’s her storytelling that seals the deal.

Hooks like “it started as an accident” pull viewers into a narrative that’s equal parts suspenseful and inspiring.

And her branding? Spot-on.

Every color and detail in her collections carries a vibe that resonates deeply with her community, making her TikToks unforgettable.

Karo Crafts proves that creativity paired with intentional storytelling and design can turn social media videos into a masterclass in engagement.

#20. Leverage the TikTok Creator tools

TikTok offers a range of powerful Creator Tools designed to elevate your content, connect with your audience, and enhance your engagement rates.

These tools provide advanced features and actionable insights that help you craft a winning content strategy. Here's how they can work for you:

• Analytics
  Gain access to detailed metrics about your videos, including views, likes, shares, follower growth, and more. Use these insights to identify what resonates with your audience and optimize future content.

• Creator Portal
  A hub of expert tips and tutorials that help you refine your content creation skills, grow your audience, and stay ahead of TikTok trends.

• Promote
  A built-in advertising feature to expand your reach, attract more followers, and drive traffic directly to your website.

• TikTok Creator Next
  Join TikTok’s monetization program, which rewards you for building a strong community and growing your follower base.

• Q&A Feature
  Foster deeper connections with your audience by inviting them to ask questions directly on your profile. Answering these questions not only boosts engagement but also strengthens your authenticity and credibility.

How to get started

1. Go to your TikTok profile.
2. Tap the Menu button in the top right corner.
3. Select Creator Tools from the menu.
4. Explore the tools available and start leveraging them to enhance your content strategy.

By making the most of TikTok’s Creator Tools, you’ll be better equipped to grow your audience, increase engagement rates, and create content that stands out.

Final thoughts

Now that you've learned how to get engagement on TikTok, it's time to make it happen.

The platform rewards bold creativity, real connections, and consistency—so don’t just dip your toes in, dive in headfirst.

Test, tweak, and own your style because your next video could be the one that hooks thousands!

FAQs on how to get more engagement on TikTok

How to make TikTok videos more engaging?

To make TikTok videos more engaging, focus on quality by using sharp visuals and clear audio. Start with a strong hook to grab attention in the first few seconds. Keep the content dynamic—use quick cuts, trendy sounds, and varied angles to maintain interest. Always match your video style to your audience and message.

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