How to Use TikTok: A Step-by-Step Guide

I was one of those Zillennials who avoided getting started on TikTok for as long as possible. It’s not that I don’t love social media — trust me, I do. It just took me a long time to accept that TikTok, unlike Vine, was here to stay.

Unfortunately, my opinion has changed, and it has therefore taken me double the usual time to write this post because I’ve had to spend so much of it on TikTok, which inherently leads to distraction (don’t worry, I got there in the end).

TikTok had 1.5 billion monthly active users in 2023 and is anticipated to have 1.8 billion users by the end of 2024.

For comparison, according to data from a 2024 Kepios study, TikTok is the 4th largest social media platform by monthly active users. Facebook has more than 3 billion, YouTube has more than 2.5 billion, and Instagram has 2 billion.

To state the obvious, TikTok is dominating the social media landscape as a gold mine of short, snackable content. While that sounds exciting — how can you get started?

I’ve included a few steps, with photos, to walk you through setting up your profile, filming your first video, adding special effects, and using challenges or duets to engage with other users.

You’ll also get a crash course on growing your audience and tracking analytics to ensure you’re creating content that reaches and resonates with the right people.

Table of Contents

After watching four TikToks, I settled on Alfalfa, as it had the most positive reviews and was the closest to my hotel. Within 20 minutes, I had a delicious Ancho Potato breakfast burrito in hand and a smile on my face.

This is a perfect example of how you can use TikTok to quickly gain information about a niche topic. I could have searched “best breakfast burrito Santa Monica” on Google, but I’d probably have been met with several sponsored ads and conflicting professional opinions.

Sometimes, you just want advice from a regular, local person whom you can wholeheartedly trust.

2. Keep up with current trends.

As a 27-year-old woman, I’m told I should always be “in the know.” However, I still find myself, at times, behind on the latest trend.

Whether it be that viral overnight Korean face mask or U.S. women’s rugby player Ilona Maher’s hilarious Olympics content, social media allows for a constant turnover in content that can make it feel impossible to stay informed.

However, one of the best parts about TikTok is how easy it is to discover what’s trending. Your “For You Page” (also known as FYP) easily analyzes what you’re interested in and targets you with relevant content. While this may be worrisome for some people, it does make it a lot easier to curate the content you view.

You can also easily search for trends by name in TikTok if you hear or see something mentioned that you are unfamiliar with. This can help you discover videos featuring or describing the trend.

3. Create content to help grow your following.

While TikTok has many helpful uses simply as a user, you can gain even more opportunities as a creator. I will dive more deeply into this later, but one of the best ways to use TikTok is to create content that can reach your target audience and help grow your following.

Participating in trends and challenges is a great way to make engaging content, but there are other strategies you can employ, such as consistently posting and using the correct hashtags and collaborating with other creators or brands.

For instance, one of my favorite recipe developer creators, Justine Doironm, recently posted a greeny tahini egg salad sandwich recipe on TikTok that was a paid partnership with Vital Farms, a company that ethically sources eggs, butter, and ghee.

Now that you’ve read three ways you can use TikTok — beyond mindless scrolling — you may be ready to finally give the popular social media platform a shot. If so, read on for a step-by-step guide on setting up an account.

This is a smart idea since 61% of marketers use TikTok for influencer marketing initiatives.

To do this, go to your profile and tap the horizontal lines at the top right corner of the screen. Then tap Setting and Privacy, tap Account, and tap Switch to Business Account.

You‘ll have access to TikTok’s full range of downloadable analytics with a business account. With a personal profile, you’ll only have in-app access.

You cannot set your business profile to private. However, I have the option to set my personal account to private. After tapping Settings and Privacy, I would tap Privacy and toggle the Private account tab.

When I’m done, I can press Next, which directs me to a page similar to Instagram’s post page, where I can add a caption, relevant hashtags, location, links, and more.

This is also where I would set the video’s privacy, turn comments on or off, edit the cover photo, and allow duets or reactions.

If I’m not ready to post yet, I can press the Drafts button at the bottom left to save it for later.

12. Duet with other users.

Sometimes, I’ll see a musical post that I love so much, I want to join in with the person who made it. After all, I’ve been a trained singer since age 7!

Luckily, TikTok allows users to reply with a Duet video. Many users nowadays even create videos that are specifically meant to be duetted.

Duets aren’t just for songs anymore, though. I can duet any type of video I like if I want to comment on it or infuse my own humor and personality into it.

To use this former Musical.ly feature, I would find a video I want to duet with, press the Share button to see sharing options, then press the “Duet” option on the bottom row in the center.

My camera screen will then appear next to the video. I can change the positioning of my camera in the duet by clicking different templates. From there, I would press record and sing along, dance, comment on, or mimic the video I’m duetting.

To show you what a finished product looks like, here’s a great example from Gordon Ramsay.

If I post a video and don’t want anyone to duet with me, I can tap the “Duet/React Off” button on the Post page before publishing.

Best for: The Duet feature is an excellent way to participate in viral challenges, encourage audiences to interact with your brand, partner with influencers, or answer questions about your product or service.

13. Participate in a challenge.

Like other social media platforms, I occasionally see videos with hashtags for “challenges.”

A challenge is when a video post, company, or person encourages users to film themselves doing something oddly specific — like the 12345678 challenge.

Participants then film themselves doing the action and hashtag the challenge name in their post captions.

There usually are no winners in a TikTok challenge, but hashtagging it could help me get more followers or views as people might find my video when searching the hashtag.

I also think it’s an easy way for brands to show they’re culturally relevant and have a playful side, which can be refreshing for consumers to see.

Pro tip: You can consult the TikTok for Business Starter Guide, which is a personalized guide that can help your brand produce the strongest custom content for your goals and audience.

15. Use an external analytics tool.

If I want to double-check my numbers on a second platform, I could also use a tool outside of TikTok to track analytics.

I personally prefer Sprout Social, which is a powerful social media management tool that allows users to automate engagement tactics, plan social publishing, track analytics, perform social listening, expand reach, and manage influencer marketing campaigns.

Other popular tools include Socialinsider, Pentos, and Exolyt.

I would recommend these tools more for businesses who want to manage their TikTok posts, campaigns, and influencer strategies, rather than for individual creators wanting to track their own insights.

For creators, TikTok Analytics will likely be the easiest and best option.

In such a crowded marketplace, it’s vital you’re posting content that resonates with your audience and leads to higher engagement from them. Which is already more possible on TikTok, since it’s the social platform with the highest engagement at a rate of 2.65% per follower count.

For instance, one of the main types of brands I follow on TikTok are skincare brands, including Laneige.

Back in 2020, Laneige wanted to reach Gen Z customers in a highly competitive skincare market. After all, as of 2024, 43.7% of all TikTok users are between ages 18-24, and current Gen Z individuals are between ages 12-27.

The brand used a Branded Hashtag Challenge on TikTok to build product awareness and share its skin hydration values.

The Branded Effect allowed users to see on TikTok what their skin could look like before — dull and dry — and after applying Laneige — radiant and hydrated.

This helped pave the way for the #ThirstForLife Branded Hashtag Challenge campaign, which resulted in 25 million video views across 9.5K video submissions, including this one.

Laneige understood who their target audience was and created a filter and challenge on TikTok that they knew would appeal to that Gen Z audience in a natural way. After all, there’s nothing I hate more than dry skin!

17. Partner with influencers or celebrities.

A great way to grow your brand’s audience on TikTok is by collaborating with people who already have a bigger audience.

While you’ll likely need to invest a pretty penny into the collaboration — the exact amount will depend on their level of celebrity — it can be an investment worth spending.

Returning to my Laneige example, the brand announced Sydney Sweeney as its official global ambassador in January 2024. Julien Bouzitat, brand general manager for Laneige US, explained how influential the partnership was in a press release:

“A great example of the magnitude of our partnership with Sydney would be our social follower growth. Since the first announcement of Sydney as our U.S. ambassador in spring 2022, we experienced an immediate 227% surge in TikTok followers and 53% growth in Instagram followers.”

According to the press release, one behind-the-scenes video of Sydney on a LANEIGE production set went viral “three times over, accumulating 72 million views across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. That’s the type of influence and reach Sydney has.”

18. Collaborate with other brands.

Partnering with other brands is a great way to make money on social media, as well as grow your following.

You could consider partnering with brands within the same industry, which would likely ensure you’re targeting the right audience while building a strong relationship with an otherwise competitor.

Alternatively, you could partner with a brand in a different industry and come together for a special collab product or service that would help bridge your audiences and produce a surprise-and-delight effect.

Two of my absolute favorite brands recently partnered for a fun summer collaboration that had the comments section in buzz.

Fishwife, a woman-owned premium tinned fish brand, and Lisa Says Gah, a woman-owned independent clothing boutique collaborated on a limited-edition tinned fish, Fishwife-inspired t-shirt, nail sticker sheet, and jewelry.

While it may seem strange how a tinned fish company and a clothing boutique could possibly come together, the comments included sentiments such as “The most incredible collab,” “WHAT A COLLABBBB,” and “OBSESSED.”

92% of TikTok users take action after watching a video on the platform, which means there is a lot of actionable value in creating the right content for the right audience.

• Use TikTok to build brand awareness and introduce your business to users thanks to TikTok Shop. After all, 30% of daily TikTok users have engaged with TikTok Shop, and 71.2% of TikTop Shop users have made a purchase after viewing a product in their feed.
• Have fun with special effects. There are many ways to spice up your video, and audiences on TikTok expect it. So, play around and experiment with them.
• Embrace the music. Most videos on the platform have a song or sound effect in the background.
• Film a few videos with multiple shots at different angles. This will make the video feel more active and engaging.
• Feel free to show a lighter side or a sense of humor. People come to this platform to be entertained, and comedy can go a long way.
• Use trendy hashtags and try out a challenge video. Then, include relevant hashtags in your post caption so your video shows up when people search for it.
• Remember that users’ attention spans are short, and stick to multiple shorter videos rather than a couple longer ones.
• Continue to watch videos on your FYP and search for new videos. This can help you see what other brands and creators are doing and spark inspiration for your strategy.

Most of all, be open to change. TikTok is a constantly evolving platform, and the best way to use it is to be willing to follow the changes.

That shows your audience you’re willing to continuously adapt to their interests and stay relevant, which is the best thing you can hope for from a business you trust.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.