Learn the TikTok tricks that will help you stand out on the For You page with unique and engaging content.
If you’ve got a funny sketch to share, a knack for dance moves, or just want to impress your cool teen cousin Vanessa, it’s time to familiarize yourself with some TikTok tricks. Because if you’re going to start a TikTok account, you may as well do it right.
At this point, it’s clear TikTok is no passing fad in social networking. The app has more than 1.65 billion downloads to date and currently boasts 689 million active users. This. Is. Happening. Vanessa wasn’t lying (for once).
So, if you feel overwhelmed every time you open the TikTok app, read on to get schooled in all the essential TikTok skills you need to make the most of social media’s hottest platform.
Download our Social Trends report to get data from over 10,000 marketers that you can use to plan a viral-worthy social strategy in 2023.
Ready to tap into current trends on TikTok and stand out on the #fyp (TikTok’s “For You” page)?
Master these TikTok tips and tricks and you’ll be ready to create the content of your dreams.
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes even that’s not enough. If you need multiple images to fully tell a story, pull them together into a quick slideshow on TikTok.
Think your video would be best narrated by a chipmunk or a robot? Join the club. TikTok’s voice effects will transform your chatter into comedy gold.
Meanwhile, if you would prefer your video be narrated by a confused robot, watch our TikTok text-to-speech tutorial to learn how to make your dreams come true:
The green screen is the chef’s knife of the TikTok world: indispensable. With this tool, you can instantly transform your backdrop — no fancy video studio required.
1. Hit the plus sign on the main feed to create a new video.
2. Tap Effects on the bottom left-hand side to view the effects menu.
3. You’ve got two options with the green screen:
4. Choose the image or video you’d like to use, then hit the record button to record yourself overlaid on this background.
5. To add additional clips with new backgrounds, simply repeat the process — apply the effect and record. TikTok will stitch these together.
6. When you’re done filming, hit the checkmark to move to the editing screen.
7. Apply any additional filters, voice effects or voiceovers here and hit Next to go to the posting screen.
Fun video idea: You can “clone” yourself using the green-screen effect! Record yourself and then use that as the background and “interact” with video-you.
TikTok has built-in transitions you can use in the editing stage to visually connect one clip or scene to another.
But TikTok is also full of people who have come up with creative visual tricks to blend video together: the “snap,” the “cover the camera,” and so on. It’s easier than it looks!
@mctiktocklan
The trick to this is to record clips that begin where the other one left off.
Pro tip: You may also want to use the timer and a tripod or ring light, so you can record hands-free.
Adding captions isn’t just great to capture your audience who may be watching with the sound off — it also makes your content accessible for those who may have hearing impairments.
Pro tip: There are some third-party options to automatically generate closed captions, but we like Instagram Threads… though obviously, you need to use it in Instagram first and then re-upload to TikTok.
See the steps for adding captions above and use the Set duration feature to make text boxes appear and disappear at the exact right moment in your video.
This is a popular trick used by TikTok users who do that thing where they just point and words appear and they nod. (What is that? What are we calling that?)
@jennyannhelms All the feels 🙂🙃 – you’re not alone! #mentalhealthawareness #feelings #tiktoktherapist #covid19
Make some beautiful music together with TikTok’s duet feature.
This is just a variation of a duet. The only difference is that the layout is more of a “picture-in-picture” style.
Heard a song you just have to include in your next video? Well, good news: that’s almost entirely the point of TikTok, so it’s super easy.
If you want to use the magic of editing to create a multi-scene video accompanied by one single audio clip, you can! It takes a little stopping and starting, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be blasting our lip-sync video masterpieces like nobody’s business.
1. Hit the plus sign on the main feed to create a new video.
2. Select the sound you’d like to use.
3. Tap the timer icon on the right hand side to see a visual representation of the audio.
4. Drag the time markers on the audio timeline to mark where you’d like the song to stop recording for your first clip.
5. Tap Start countdown; when the countdown ends, you’ll be recording, accompanied by the selection of the clip you’ve just marked out.
6. Now hit the timer icon again. You’ll notice the sliders are now starting the recording from where the last clip ended. Adjust where you’d like the next song to end, hit Start countdown, and record your next clip.
7. Repeat.
8. When you’re happy with your video, hit the checkmark to view it all together and apply any further edits or filters.
TikTok’s native scheduler only allows users to schedule TikToks up to 10 days in advance. But what if we told you there was a tool you could use to schedule your TikToks for any time in the future?
*drum roll*
That tool is Hootsuite! The same tool you can use to schedule all your other social media posts with recommended best times to post for your unique audience.
To create and schedule a TikTok using Hootsuite, follow these steps:
And that’s it! Your TikToks will show up in the Planner, alongside all of your other scheduled social media posts. custom best times to post for maximum engagement.
Schedule posts, analyze them, and respond to comments from one easy-to-use dashboard.
Try HootsuiteAnother thing the TikTok app won’t let you do is schedule videos from your mobile phone. But Hootsuite can help with that too.
It is shockingly simple. If you have a TikTok and Hootsuite account, great. If not, go grab your free Hootsuite trial and come back. We’ll wait.
You did it! You can view your scheduled post in the Publisher tab.
If you’re more of a visual learner, follow along with the steps above in our video on how to schedule TikTok posts on mobile.
So there you have it: your toolkit for producing all the TikTok content of your dreams. If you’re looking for further inspiration, check out these nine creative TikTok video ideas.
And whatever you put out there onto the ‘Tok, be sure to monitor your engagement, so you can tweak, adapt, and run the best marketing campaign possible… and get your teen cousin Vanessa to finally start watching your videos.
Grow your TikTok presence alongside your other social channels using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts for the best times, engage your audience, and measure performance. Try it free today.
Schedule posts for the best times, view performance stats, and comment on videos in Hootsuite.
Try it free for 30 days
Considering TikTok marketing for your business or organization? You’re not alone. Find out how to make the most of this new social network.
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What is TikTok in three words? Real short videos. The app is taking the digital world by storm, and marketers are taking note.
While there’s no magic recipe, coming to grips with the TikTok algorithm can help you work with it and improve your odds of success.
You can now grow on TikTok FASTER with Hootsuite! Schedule posts for the best times alongside your other social media channels.
Try Hootsuite risk-free for 60 days. (That’s 30 days more than people who don’t read popups get.)
