15 TikTok ideas to boost engagement on your videos

If you’ve spent any time scrolling through TikTok, you’re likely impressed by the seemingly endless video ideas brands and content creators alike are able to produce. So if you’re hitting a bit of a dead spot in your brainstorming, we’ve put together 15 TikTok ideas that will boost engagement and get your audience tapping that heart button.

We’ve included an example for each TikTok video idea so you can see it in action and find inspiration for your own TikTok feed.

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1. Give short tutorials

While TikTok has just increased the maximum video length to 10 minutes, the majority of users scroll the platform to quickly digest bite-sized video content. Short tutorials are one of the best ways to use this platform for educational content.

Take a look at this great example of a quick, 20-second Microsoft Excel tutorial:

How can you emulate this for your own brand?

If you’re a SaaS organization, create quick video tutorials showcasing cool shortcuts or smart tips in your tool that users may not know about. This TikTok video type can also be great for showing how to make the most out of your brand’s products or services.

Get creative, and don’t bother with voiceovers. Let the video do all the talking so you can add a catchy sound bite to engage your audience even more.

2. Try popular recipes

Another popular TikTok idea revolves around trying viral recipes. With so many food content creators on TikTok, a recipe or food hack will go viral on the platform and it seems like everyone on and off the app is trying it.

So why can’t your brand? (As long as it’s still somehow relevant to your overall product or marketing strategy, of course.)

Here’s this great example from PureWow, a women’s lifestyle brand:

Content like this makes sense for PureWow’s strategy, and it’s definitely making us salivate. Keep your eyes peeled for more TikTok food trends to see which makes sense to replicate. There have been many in the past, from the viral baked feta pasta to tortilla folding hacks.

3. Prove if viral TikTok hacks work

The last one was about viral food hacks and recipes. Now we’re talking about life hacks. And again, consider how these can be related back to your brand.

For example, Elf Cosmetics tried a viral TikTok hack for applying eyeliner using one of their eyeliner pencils:

Have someone on your team try out the viral hack with your products. Or create a “reaction video” of your team reacting to others on TikTok trying these viral hacks—whether they were successful or not.

If accompanied by catchy music, funny commentaries and authentic results, this type of TikTok video can become very addictive and fun to watch.

4. Work with TikTok influencers and content creators

Many TikTok users with large audiences work with brands to create sponsored or collaborative content. Consider expanding your marketing strategy and allocating some of your budget for TikTok influencer marketing.

You can post these videos from your own TikTok feed, like Chipotle did here:

If you find videos that are mentioning your brand (lucky you!), you can also get permission to re-share that onto your own channel. However, the best way to work this into your strategy is to start researching and reaching out to influencers that have a similar audience to your own and working together on a partnership.

5. Show your product in action

Another great TikTok idea is to show off your product. Make it look fun or irresistible. That’s exactly what TikTok is about—creative bite-sized video content that engages and entertains your audience.

Check out how Spikeball shows off their product in action:

This TikTok shows a group of people having a blast playing their game (think volleyball meets four-square). This unique game will pique viewers’ interest to learn more or buy the game for themselves.

Find creative ways to show off your products and how other avid fans are using them.

6. Find inspiration with lip-sync videos

Lip-syncing videos are likely one of the most popular TikTok video types. Many people will reuse funny sound clips in a number of different ways by lip-syncing to the audio and placing captions on the screen to change up the context in a way that fits their channel or voice.

Check out this example from Vessi:

They used a trending sound clip and recorded themselves lip-syncing to it while repurposing it to fit their brand.

There are endless possibilities with this TikTok idea. To get some more inspiration, we recommend scrolling until you find a sound bite you like. Then, you can tap on the sound’s name at the bottom of the screen to view other videos that have used the same sound. This will help you generate more TikTok ideas on how you can repurpose it for your brand’s messaging.

7. Participate in TikTok challenges

Challenges are another big part of TikTok’s video types. People love to hop on different trending challenges, and finding some that relate to your brand can be just another way to resonate with your audience.

Look at the “Pen and Cup Challenge.” People say they’re going to do something, throw a pen at a cup, and if the pen lands inside the cup, the person has to follow through on the action they said.

Reebok posted a creative version of this challenge on their own TikTok:

Other options are the “Tell Me Without Telling Me” challenge or the “Put a Finger Down” challenge. See if there are different versions of these that you can recreate for your own brand.

8. Host a livestream on TikTok

Just like nearly every other social media platform, TikTok offers the ability for its creators to live stream in front of their audience. This allows you to connect with your audience and build authentic relationships in real-time. Plus, creators over the age of 18 can receive gift points that can be exchanged for funds, adding another fun element to going live on TikTok.

Livestreams can be up to 60 minutes in one session, but we recommend sticking around 30 minutes. Think about what your brand has to bring to the table and add livestreaming to your regular TikTok marketing strategy.

9. Duet or stitch popular TikTok videos

One type of content unique to TikTok is duets or stitches. With this, you can take a video from another TikTok creator and create a sort of “response video” or interact with the video with your own.

Here’s a fun example from The Washington Post:

The video on the right with the baby on the phone went viral. Many people created a duet or stitched themselves next to it, and the WaPo decided to put their own spin on it. A big part of seeing success on TikTok will be to actually consume TikTok content so that you know what people are interacting with most. This way, you can add moments like this into your own strategy and further engage your audience.

10. Create playful or funny videos

This is a pretty generalized TikTok idea, but there are so many ways you can take it. The key is to just be funny, playful or satirical.

Gymshark pokes fun at workout names in one of their videos:

https://www.tiktok.com/@gymshark/video/7087272810380299525?_t=8Rd8sq8txhD&_r=1

By poking fun at the gym—something their brand obviously is a big advocate for—they’re becoming much more relatable, especially to people who may be intimidated by big gym buffs but still want to work out.

Think about how you can bring humor into your own brand voice, especially on TikTok.

11. Produce educational content for your audience

You can also use your TikTok channel to teach your audience about a topic. While we don’t recommend sticking exclusively to educational content, adding it into your TikTok strategy is a fun way to engage your audience.

Look at this example from the San Diego Zoo:

While much of their content is humorous, they balance it out nicely by sharing animal facts as well.

As long as you’re pairing the content with engaging video clips, educational videos can absolutely be a winner on TikTok. Brainstorm ways to add this into your own strategy, but remember—find a balance between entertaining and educational videos in your TikTok strategy.

12. Share quick tips

Educational content is likely a bit more long-form, leaning towards the 1-minute (or even 3 or 10-minute mark). Quick tips are designed to be bite-sized, using that short-video format we all know and love. With this, the idea is to break down a seemingly complex subject into small, easy-to-memorize portions.

Her First $100K has a great example of this below:

By adding captions, you make it easier for your audience to read, digest and memorize what you’re trying to teach them. These quick tip videos can be done in a number of ways, making them really versatile for nearly any brand.

13. Use trending sound clips

We’ve already mentioned using popular sound bites for lip-syncing videos. But there are a number of sound bites that don’t have words or anything to lip-sync. Instead, they’re used to create a different type of video.

Because there are so many different ways this could present, we’ve pulled a couple different examples of this.

Here’s an example from Duolingo using a song clip from the movie Encanto. Content creators – and now Duolingo – use this clip to recreate a specific type of TikTok video idea.

San Diego Zoo jumped in on a sound bite trend of a finding an object to use as a mini wizard wand:

While the San Diego Zoo used a porcupine quill, you could redo this with one of your products (if the shoe fits).

14. Support a cause through TikTok videos

Brands and creators can take to TikTok to discuss a topic they’re passionate about. Using social media is a great way to advocate for a positive change and raise awareness through entertainment, whether it’s for climate change, medical conditions, human rights, equality, etc.

Gushers created a campaign called #BlackVoicesCreateGems where they’re helping to amplify Black creators on TikTok in order to raise awareness and donations for the NAACP Youth and College Division:

 

Find a cause you want to support and use TikTok to bring awareness. Take it a step further like Gushers did and create an entire campaign around it, or you can regularly post TikTok videos talking about what the cause is and why it matters to your brand.

15. Create a sponsored hashtag

Our last idea involves creating a sponsored TikTok hashtag. This puts your brand name front and center on the TikTok Discover page, and often creators will use your hashtag to create their own content.

This is what HP did, alongside working with influencers to create some branded content. HP created hashtag #HPRadicalReuse to promote sustainability and reducing and reusing ocean-bound plastics.

 

TikTok has a number of ways to promote your business, both organically and through paid means. Get creative with both to make the most of the platform.

Get inspired with these TikTok ideas

Ready to start creating your own awesome TikTok content? Use these ideas to gather inspiration and come up with your own TikTok videos. Learn more about how to effectively use TikTok for business so you can get even more out of the platform.