Growing your audience on TikTok Live can be a game-changer for expanding your reach and engagement. Many creators start with little to no viewers, but with the right strategies, you can quickly build a loyal and engaged following.
From optimizing your profile to using creative content, promoting your streams, and interacting with your audience, there are several proven tactics to attract more viewers. By leveraging TikTok’s algorithm, going live on TikTok at the right time, collaborating with others, and maintaining a consistent streaming schedule, you can gradually boost your visibility and viewer count.
How to get more views on TikTok Live
In this guide, we’ll share the strategies we’ve successfully used to grow from zero to over 1,000 viewers, helping you maximize the potential of your TikTok Live broadcasts. Let’s look at some of the strategies right here.
Look and sound good on stream
At the base instinct of humans lies the desire to be in the company of people who look and/or sound good. That premise doesn’t change at all when you shift to digital video streams, no matter the platform, and sounding and looking your best while on stream will help drive and keep people there.
You want to create an environment that people want to be involved in.
To do that, you want the following things to really shine through:
- Audio
- Video
- Lighting
- Background
These four things will augment your livestream in a way that your character and personality simply can’t. If people can’t see you well, hear you right, or keep their attention on you because of your background, they won’t stick around, and they probably won’t come back.
Stream consistently and on a schedule
Being consistent is underrated when you’re a live streamer. By understanding the virtue of consistency, your viewers will similarly understand when they can expect you and plan their own schedules around it, which brings you returning viewers, one of the best signs of growth.
Doing things like adding to your platform biography your typical stream schedule, communicating with them any schedule changes or missed days, and making sure you stick to that schedule are great ways to get more viewers on a TikTok Live, given that you have a better chance of getting your current viewers to tell other people and driving more traffic to your streams.
Create content that drives people to engage
Okay, so we have the accessories and the schedule down. Surely that’s all you need in order to drive more traffic to your TikTok Lives, right? Wrong.
You have to put forth content that pushes viewers to NEED to engage with it. Your goal should be to get them so invested in your livestream that they go and tell their friends about it.
For example: If you’re running an NFL stream, make sure you ask the viewers who they think wins the Super Bowl. Not only does this make them want to reply with who their pick would be, but it can also spark conversations between them and other chat members who want to debate or talk about the choice.
Doing this is not easy, but it is definitely achievable.
Some ways that you can drive the feeling that makes consumers want to engage with your content are:
- Tailoring content that addresses their needs
- Using clear calls to action
- Incorporate good storytelling elements
One of the key things on live streams is support, and TikTok Live is no different. Viewers show support by tapping the screen and following, and streamers should make a conscious effort to share vocal CTAs (calls to action) that ask viewers to do that small favor to the streamer.
Stream length
Let’s jump back to two sections ago, where we talked about stream schedules.
Not only is when you stream and post on TikTok important (which you can find in this article about when the best times to post on TikTok are), but how long you stream for is too.
Your goal should be to find the perfect medium when it comes to stream length, taking into account things like how long you can speak for, how long your viewers stay engaged, and when you’re going live.
Most people should not go below 30 minutes in their streams. You have to stream for a long enough period that your viewers can depend that they’ll get their time’s worth out of the stream.
In my own experience, finding the right length was about figuring out how long I felt comfortable staying on a topic before we switched to another and slowing down my speaking enough that I wasn’t coming off as rushed or in a hurry.
Keeping viewers engaged on a live stream is very key as well. I found a happy medium by being willing to jump around in my content, as long as I was making sure to answer as many questions as possible, even going back to some. Viewers appreciate that, and we had plenty to acknowledge it.
Keep in mind that even if you’re consistent with your timing, if you aren’t getting any viewers despite streaming for a solid length of time, it may be time to change something in your process.
Promote your stream
All of the things that you do while on your stream are important, of course. However, the one thing that you absolutely have to do BEFORE you start streaming might be more important than any of them: promotion.
Whether it’s a promotional video, a post on the social media platform of your choice, or even a TikTok post saying that you’re live soon, promotion is key to alert followers and viewers that you’ll be live soon, and to mark time off!
Promoting a live stream on TikTok might be the biggest key. If you post a video on TikTok 15-30 minutes before you go live, viewers and followers will gravitate to an emotionally-grabbing piece that tells them, “Hey, make sure you go check this out soon.”
Ways that you can promote your stream include putting out social media posts or posting on the platform that you are going to be live on prior to the live stream..
By doing this, you’re keeping them on the app and allowing them to switch right over to watching your live stream whenever it starts.
Posts on social media sites are good, too! You should create a tweet or a post that tells people exactly why they need to be in attendance. Don’t just say, “Hey, I’m live at [insert time].” You have to give them a reason to show up. That can be any number of things, like maybe there’s a giveaway at the end of the show, or there’s a special announcement you’ll be making.
Plan content for your stream
Make sure you plan our your stream! You don’t want to completely wing it, because then you’re much more likely to ramble or go off on a tangent that your viewers aren’t going to watch to listen to, which obviously is not good for retention or click-through rate.
Use a show sheet/podcast rundown if you need one! At Creator Clinic, we created a podcast script specifically for situations like this one, which you can download for FREE if you’re interested.
Do keep in mind: live streams are supposed to be personable! If everything sounds too scripted, your viewers might not react favorably and duck out early, so make sure your stream is a healthy blend of prepared and go-with-the-flow.
Also, rundowns are there just in case you need them. If you get lost or run out of things to say, you can quickly jump back to where you need to be.
Bonus stream ideas
If you go through all of the above tips and you’re still thinking of ways that you can drive more traffic to your live streams, try out some of these ideas!
Show yourself behind the scenes
Giving followers and viewers a chance to see behind the curtains is always a fun idea. As long as you don’t show too much of your personal life (there should be a limit to what you reveal online), showing what you do for work or creating something is a fun activity for livestreams!
Challenges
Challenges are a great way to build camaraderie with your viewer base! When you assign something to yourself or your viewers, each side gets to hold the other accountable and show how they’re accomplishing the task.
For example, a weight loss challenge is cool because you are bettering yourself and may inspire a follower to do the same for themselves, which can only help!
Product or service demo
Partnerships and paid advertising are a key part of streaming, so allowing your followers to see why you showcase a certain product or service is a good plan to fill a livestream.
While plenty of people advertise for products they don’t use, advertising one that you DO use is arguably more efficient because people want to use products that work for other people. Showing how that product works is a great way to try and entice them to support you, both by watching and by buying that product or service.
Final thoughts
Growing your live streams can and will be tough but rewarding. Make sure you appreciate yourself and your efforts at all levels, from low amounts of viewers to strong numbers. The reason for this is that it helps you appreciate where you’re at and how far you’ve come, and it also helps keep you grounded.
The best live streams come from dedication to the craft and putting the most effort possible into them. Even if you aren’t getting the numbers you desire, keep at it. People will appreciate the effort you put in, and if your content is good, people will eventually show up. If not, just keep working to improve the concept!
