When I started on TikTok, I made a classic rookie mistake: I'd post a video, then immediately close the app and go about my day.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t want to see my videos bomb. Out of sight, out of mind!

I couldn't figure out why some of my videos would take off while others—which I thought were better—would barely get any views. It felt completely random, like playing the lottery.

Then I noticed something. On days when I (for whatever reason) stuck around after posting, responding to comments and engaging with other creators' content, my videos performed significantly better. I'm not talking about a small difference—I'm talking 3-5x the views.

That's when I realised I'd been missing half the equation. Creating content is only 50% of the battle. The other 50% is engagement—both generating it and participating in it.

The trick is to do this efficiently so you aren’t pulled into consuming social media. Icky.

Let's get started:

The Engagement-Algorithm Connection

If anyone says they know for sure how social media algorithms works run for the hills. It’s black magic. Chances are they are seeing patterns that don’t exist.

That said… every social platform algorithm factors engagement heavily into their distribution decisions.

When you post a piece of content, the platforms initially show it to a small test audience. How that test audience engages with your content determines whether the algorithm will show it to more people.

High engagement = wider distribution

Low engagement = limited reach

We don’t know exactly how the algo works. But we don’t need to. We just need to understand that people watching, liking, sharing, bookmarking and commenting all positively affects our reach.

And the critical insight: you can actively influence that initial engagement. You don't have to passively wait and hope like I used to.

Jumpstarting Engagement

The first 30-60 minutes after posting are crucial. This is your window to convince the algorithm that your content deserves wider distribution.

Here are the strategies I use to jumpstart engagement on every post:

1. Post When Your Audience Is Active Timing does matter. As you post more your platform’s analytics will tell you when your audience are most active. Initially you are in the dark - but keep posting and that data will fill in. On TikTok, I've found that posting between 7-9pm UK time gives me the best initial engagement. But what works for me has zero bearing on what will work for you and your audience!

2. Ask a Question in Your First Comment Immediately after posting, be the first to comment with a thoughtful question related to your content. It could be as simple as “what do you think?” This gives viewers an easy way to engage—they just have to answer your question rather than coming up with something to say. Also, often no-one wants to be the first to comment. So you need to kick it off.

3. Respond to Every Comment (Initially!) In the early stage of building your audience, respond to every single comment you receive. This doubles your comment count instantly and (more importantly) encourages further conversation. People are much more likely to comment when they see the creator actively responding. It’s time consuming initially but well worth the investment. LATER commenters will chat amongst themselves - but you need to kickstart that early days.

4. Use Video Replies Many platforms now allow you to respond to comments with video. This is gold for two reasons i ) It creates a new piece of content ii) It drives the commenter back to your profile, likely resulting in a follow. On TikTok, some of my video replies have outperformed the original content! It shows you actually are listening and give a damn.

5. Engage with Similar Content Right after posting, spend 10-15 minutes engaging with content similar to yours. Comment thoughtfully on 5-10 posts in your niche. Don’t just comment “nice” or dumb emojis. Properly engage. This puts you in the algorithm's "conversation" around your topic and can drive relevant viewers to your profile. I recommend having a “watchlist” of genuinely useful accounts and using this time to also build relationships with those creators.

This is a bit of a smorgasbord but that’s because there’s no silver bullet. You need to spread your effort and work on being visible. These will get you started and you can adjust your approach as you see what works with your audience specifically.

Community Building Through Comments

As your content starts to gain traction, something magical happens: your comments section becomes a community unto itself.

At first, it's just you and individual commenters. But eventually, commenters start responding to each other, having full conversations in your comments section. This is algorithm gold.

For better or worse this works best with controversial topics.

Case in point my first viral Instagram post:

Because it was about the rivalry between Elon Musk and Sam Altman people had “Opinions”. Capital O “Opinions”. And they continued to argue in the comments for weeks.

This does absolute wonders for the algorithm as you can imagine. But it also has the added benefit of allowing you to disengage. Remember, you are an entrepreneur not an influencer! We aren’t going to spend our lives in the comment sections on social!

Analysing What Works: Follow the Data

While you're creating content consistently and driving engagement, you also need to be constantly analysing what's working—and doing more of it.

This sounds obvious, but it's surprising how many creators ignore their own data and continue creating content that their audience has shown little interest in.

Most tools have basic Analytics. That’s sufficient for a basic analysis. Basically look for which posts are doing well and … do more of them! I’m not joking - it’s that simple.

IDEALLY though you can get a data dump of your posts. Then we can run a proper data driven analysis.

Most social platforms support this. You can also scrape your own profile data using Apify if the platform doesn’t support direct data download. Particularly powerful as it can grab your subtitles (ie. what you said in each video!).

Here for example is the TikTok scraper.

Here's an AI prompt to help analyse your content performance:

You are an expert content strategist and data analyst. Help me analyse my recent content performance to identify patterns and optimise my strategy.

For these recent posts, help me identify patterns in my top vs. bottom performers:

TOP PERFORMING CONTENT:
[List 3-5 of your best posts with brief descriptions and metrics]

BOTTOM PERFORMING CONTENT:
[List 3-5 of your worst posts with brief descriptions and metrics]

Please analyse:
1. Topic patterns (what subjects performed best/worst)
2. Format patterns (how I structured the content)
3. Hook patterns (how I opened the content)
4. Length patterns
5. Time/day patterns if available

Then provide:
1. 3 specific recommendations for content themes/topics to double down on
2. 2 content types I should reduce or stop creating
3. A suggested testing plan for my next 5-10 posts to verify these patterns
4. Ideas for how to repurpose my top-performing content into new formats

Be brutally honest in your assessment - I need clear direction on what's working and what's not.

This data-driven approach ensures you're not just creating content in the dark. You're systematically learning what your specific audience responds to, and optimising accordingly. Do this religiously.

The 1,000 Follower Inflection Point

There's something magical about reaching 1,000 followers. It's not just a psychological milestone—though that's certainly part of it! It's an actual inflection point in your growth journey.

At 1,000 followers, several things happen:

1. Algorithm Trust: Platforms start to trust your content more, giving you better initial distribution

2. Social Proof: New viewers see your follower count and perceive you as established

3. Engagement Compounding: With more followers, you get more initial engagement, creating a virtuous cycle

4. Collaboration Opportunities: Other creators become more open to collaborating

5. Voice Clarity: After creating enough content to reach 1,000 followers, you've found your voice .

That last point is particularly important. By the time you reach 1,000 followers, you'll have published enough content to develop a clear style, tone, and approach. You’ve got the groundwork done. You'll know what topics you enjoy covering and which ones your audience responds to.

The journey to 1,000 followers is as much about discovering yourself as a creator as it is about building an audience.

Also it’s a pretty cool number - not going to lie!

From there everything speeds up. 1,000 to 10,000 will (likely) take about the same time as 0 to 1,000. And 10,000 to 100,000 the same again. It begins to compound, faster and faster. And feels great!

But first…get that first 1,000 in the bag!