Who Am I?
Twitch Streamer, TikToker, and Podcast host of TwitchTok where I interview a different streamer each week who has found success on TikTok to share their juicy secrets about how to succeed on the platform and grow an audience.
If you want to see examples of what worked for me specifically, you can check me out over on Twitch or my socials @skylerguns.
I’m just a guy who had a dream of streaming. Ever since I was younger, I always wanted to become a streamer but always felt like I missed the train. I was too young for YouTube and too young for Justin.TV at the time. Now, at age 24, TikTok fell into my lap and I saw how easy it was for other creators to blow up and I thought to myself…”I think I can make something happen here.” Now, I didn’t necessarily “blow up”. I slowly grew my account from 0 -> to 80,000+ plus followers in a short 6 months.
I’ve been funnelling that traffic to my Twitch and have grown that to 1.9k+ and over 20 average viewers. I wouldn’t be where I was without TikTok and it’s brought me closer and closer to achieving that goal.
Why am I sharing and writing all this? Well, I’ve always wanted to help people and if I can help other like-minded people achieve their goals I will have felt successful in this endeavor. Anybody can become someone on TikTok, but not everyone can.
Oh, and obviously I want people to listen to my educational podcast about Streaming and TikTok. If you’re just starting out, there is a lot of valuable knowledge to learn where other successful TikTokers will share their formula for a viral video.
Why Tik Tok?
TikTok has long been put aside as “just a dancing app” but those outside haters may not know that there is a thriving scene for all different types of niches. TikTok is the only platform that will actively push your content to a random group of people no matter what. If it’s good content, it will continue to get pushed.
TikTok has an extraordinarily smart algorithm that knows what its users want to see and will continue to push your videos to people who want to see it. However, there are downsides to this algorithm which we will get into later.
To sum it up: TikTok has an unmatched organic growth opportunity that doesn’t take years to master or to grow a following
How To Start On Tik Tok For Twitch Growth
The first thing you should do is download the app and start actively using it. You need to be a consumer before you become a creator. This may sound silly, but using TikTok is literally research to me.
I find trends, I see what other people are doing, I research other accounts that are growing. Download the app, choose a username (which should match your socials) and begin following accounts related to your interests. Gaming, of course, but go further than that. Like Minecraft? Find Minecraft creators. Warzone? TikTok’s Warzone scene is THRIVING.
Niche Down: Now that you have a general idea of the TikTok landscape you need to decide what niche you want to place yourself into. The sooner you choose a niche, the sooner the algorithm will continue to push your videos the right group of people. TikTok likes consistency so it can learn who it should be sending your videos to.
Gaming is of course a niche, but you have to go further than that. Do you want to be a creator for your favorite game? Do you want to be a streamer tips account? Maybe you want to be a technology account (TechTokers). If you don’t know what niche you want to be in, you can start by posting whatever ideas you do have and find what works for you – but as I said before, the sooner the better. Once you choose a niche we can move into next step – my favorite part – CONTENT.
What Content Should You Post On Tik Tok?
Now this is the meat and bones of this entire post. If you are going to skim through everything else, THIS is the post you should be reading thoroughly. We will talk about what content is, what TikTok likes, and some basic DO’s and DON’T’s of your content. Things that some creators had to learn themselves, but you will get an upper hand by reading this first.
DO: Keep it short
TikTok allows you to upload a max of 60 seconds, however I would never advise posting a TikTok that long ESPECIALLY just starting out. TikTok has morphed the attention span of its users to be extremely short. The app is specifically built for one to mindlessly scroll from video to video and if you are not keeping your audience engaged they are going to scroll off your video. Every. Second. Counts. And this is crucial because watch time is a key factor when it comes to the algorithm. If you have a 60 second video and users are only watching on average for 12 seconds, it’s going to underperform. I would advise posting videos between 12-45 seconds.
Don’t: Obnoxiously plug socials
The algorithm is smart. TikTok wants to keep its users on it’s platform because that is how it makes money so things that pull away from their platform they are not going to want to push. I would advise not putting your social medias in giant text bubbles across the screen or making it a core focus of your video. This is different then Call to Actions (CTA) and there is a right and wrong way to do it. If you are just starting out with little to no content and all of your content is trying to get people to follow you to twitch, it’s not going to work. Make people enjoy the content you’ll make so they will WANT to follow your twitch.
DO: Use CTA
As mentioned before, CTA’s are crucial just like they are on YouTube. Keep it them relatively unobtrusive and I would also advise only using them every few videos. Keep it simple like “Follow for more” or “link in bio”.
DO: Use a Hook
As mentioned in “keeping it short”, you only have about 1-3 seconds before someone will make the subconscious decision to scroll away from your video. Those first few frames ARE key to if people will continue to watch your video. Watch time is an important factor to the algorithm.
Don’t: Steal Content
This should be self-explanatory. Yeah, it might boost your account in the short term but people will catch on and that’s not how to grow a following. DO: Take inspiration from others It is entirely okay to take a look at trends or what other people are doing outside your niche and change it/morph it to fit into your niche.
DON’T: Leave Clips in a 1920×1080 ratio
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not leave the “black bars” in the video. This is not youtube, don’t upload on 1920×1080 – TiKTok is a strictly mobile app. Change resolution in editing to 1080×1920 – zoom into gameplay and overlay facecam.
There is a super easy way to turn Twitch clips into Tik Tok Videos using an app called Streamladder.
DO: Creatively Farm Engagement/Watch Time
Find strategic ways to get people to comment or rewatch. Put a secret message causing people to rewatch, have a funny object slightly out of frame that people may want to comment on, etc.
DO: Use Hashtags
This one is meh. Hashtags really aren’t as important as people make it out to be – but it’s ok to use them from time to time but also experiment with no hashtags on a few videos. I am also a big believer in posting anything and everything that comes to mind even if YOU don’t think it’s good. A lot of the times the videos I post as a “throwaway” for when I don’t have anything good to post will pop off way more than a video that takes me hours to edit.
1000+ Followers
Once you reach 1000+ followers on TiKTok the whole game changes and this is where you really elevate to the next level. However, that is a whole separate post. If you follow this advice I can guarantee you’ll see some growth in your streams. If you aren’t seeing any change or your videos aren’t doing well, it’s quite possible your content is just not good.
However, the only way you’ll get better at something is by doing. You have to put in the effort to first recognize your content is bad and then put in the effort to change it. It took me about 20+ videos before I really found my flow and style that helped me grow. I hope this helps any of you and feel free to ask me any questions in the comments!
Wrapping
Hopefully you have enjoyed this article and are now motivated to get out there and start your Tik Tok account. The first step is to get started. Get out there and post your first Tik Tok today.
If you have any questions feel free to ask them down in the comments.
Also feel free to pop in to my stream at any time and say hello. Check out my stream
