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Here are the 10 biggest TikTok mistakes I see creators make, which are resulting in slow growth or no growth at all.

And at the end, I’ll include a bonus mistake, which I believe is the number one reason creators don’t grow.

TikTok Mistake #1: Posting Videos With a Watermark

If you’re repurposing your videos from another platform like Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts and there’s a watermark on it, that could be resulting in little to no growth for your account.

TikTok has stated that they prefer you to post videos without a watermark from any competitive app.

If this is you, you can correct that mistake by using apps like snapinsta.app to remove the Reels watermark or you can try videoconverter.wondershare.net to remove any watermark. For Wondershare, you can start with a trial and if you like it, you can subscribe once the trial is finished.

TikTok Mistake #2: Not Being Intentional With Your Hooks

By hook, I mean the first three seconds of your video.

A lot of Creators are casual creators. They make a video here and another video there and that’s great for them.

But if your intention is to grow rapidly and you’re not being intentional with your hooks, that could be why you’re not seeing more increased views or growth.

Use Text on Your Hook

Text is a great way to capture someone’s attention in the first one to three seconds of your TikTok. They can read the text and see what your video is about before you even say anything.

If I turned this post into a TikTok (which I probably will), my text would say, “DEADLIEST MISTAKES CREATORS ARE MAKING!”

That text alone is captivating and intriguing to my audience and it tells them exactly what they will learn by watching the entire video.

Avoid the Millennial Pause

The “Millennial Pause” or “Millennial Breath” is when a Creator pauses or takes a breath at the very beginning of their video before they start speaking.

That’s what I call the “Breath of Death.”

You want to cut that out.

To avoid this, there are a couple of things you can do. The first is you can press record as you start talking. Don’t press record, check that it’s actually recording and then start talking.

Press and talk at the same time.

Secondly, you can do what you usually do and then edit your video. Press record and start whenever you want. Then there’s an edit option so when you’re done recording, you can trim the beginning of your recording to the moment you start talking.

You want to get right into it! Cut out any pause or breath in the beginning!

Otherwise, it could ruin the retention rate of your videos.

Before posting any video, ask yourself:

“If I was anyone else scrolling on TikTok, would the beginning of this video be intriguing enough for me to keep watching?”

The answer better be yes before you post. Your hook is that important.

TikTok Mistake #3: Not Posting Consistently

Let me reiterate that these tips are specifically for Creators who are looking to grow on TikTok.

If you’re a casual creator or user and your goal isn’t to grow or go viral or anything like that, then consistency isn’t a big worry for you.

But for the Creators who want to make TikTok or content creation their full-time job, posting consistently is vital.

And notice how I didn’t say posting every day.

I’m talking about consistency. Consistency is not measured against anybody else. Your consistency is only measured against you and your account.

Realistically, if you can only post every other day or Monday, Wednesday, Friday, then stick to that consistency.

Find a posting cadence that works for you and your posting cadence that you can realistically keep up with for the next 60 – 90 days.

If your goal is to be a full-time content creator, you’ll likely be keeping the same consistency for over a year. Or two years. Maybe five years. What can you keep up with for five years consistently?

A lot of creators make the mistake of posting every day or multiple times a day to see quick growth. Once they see quick growth they experience burnout and stop posting for a few months. TikTok sees this and stops pushing their videos out.

The growth will completely stop, if not decline if you do this. It’s a hamster wheel you do not want to be on.

Find a cadence that works for you, stick to it and be patient.

The Best Time to Post

And I’m sure that the top of posting has sparked some questions for you like, “I’ll post consistently, but when is the best time to post?”

If you’re asking that or any other question like that, after reading this checkout Metricool’s study. In their 2023 TikTok Study, they go over just about any question you have and provide hard, definitive answers for you.

Alright, on to the next mistake.

TikTok Mistake #4: Using Irrelevant Hashtags

Why does using irrelevant hashtags matter? Because you’re confusing the algorithm.

It can be tempting to always use trending hashtags or hashtags other Creators use to help their videos go viral. But if those hashtags are not relevant to your video, none of that matters.

It can actually hurt you in the long run.

You need a solid hashtag strategy for TikTok. TikTok uses hashtags to help categorize your videos and know who to push your content to.

For example, if you make a video of you making coffee and you use #PedroPascal because he’s been trending lately, your videos will be pushed to people who love Pedro Pascal content and memes.

But they don’t necessarily care about your coffee videos, so they’ll scroll right past it. That will end up hurting your video and account performance and TikTok will show your videos less and to fewer people.

TikTok Mistake #5: Putting Text Too High or Too Low

Putting your text too high or too low is a big no-no. It’s likely that your text will get covered up either by the suggest-search terms at the top, your caption at the bottom or the icons on the side.

This doesn’t only block the text, but it makes the video’s appearance too messy in general.

Yes, I know, there is the “Clear mode” for users to clear all that to see the full video, undisturbed, but not a lot of Creators or users use that.

TikTok Mistake #6: Deleting Your Videos

You need to stop deleting your content. No matter what.

Your video isn’t performing well? Well, what do you do? You don’t delete it.

Remember, TikTok’s feed isn’t chronological. Just because your video doesn’t blow up immediately doesn’t mean it won’t gain traction two weeks from posting. Even two months or next year! You just don’t know how well it will perform and when.

What if You Receive a Violation Notice?

On top of that, let’s say you get a community guideline violation after posting your video.

Still, don’t delete your video right away.

You can appeal that violation and the video can stay up. And if TikTok insists your video violates their guidelines, they will remove it themselves.

This doesn’t hurt or delete your account. Just use the systems and processes that TikTok has in place for you to use.

As long as it’s not you removing the videos.

Why?

If TikTok sees you constantly deleting videos, they’ll think something is up and be less inclined to push out your content, especially if they’re under the impression you’ll end up deleting the video anyway.

Trust the process.

TikTok Mistake #7: Not Looking at Your Analytics

And I don’t mean posting and posting and being like, “Well this video has views… and this other one doesn’t… nice.”

You want to look at the analytics. Look at which of your videos has the biggest and longest view duration. What worked well? Where did people drop off in that video? How can you make that better?

Check which videos have the shortest view duration. Is there a big drop at the beginning? That’s because you need to work on your hooks!

A lot of creators make a successful video and don’t know what to do with it. They celebrate the victory, but keep posting as they always have, hoping to stumble on that same success by chance.

Don’t leave it to chance.

Study what made that video successful and do everything you can to replicate that.

When you double down on successes, you’re going to see the best and quickest results.

TikTok Mistake #8: Making Videos Longer Than Necessary

Okay, hear me out. I’m not saying your videos need to be a specific length or between 7 – 9 seconds.

Yes, I get there are gurus and coaches out there who teach that. And that might work for them, but everyone’s target audience is different.

Your audience might like videos that are five minutes long! Whereas someone else finds success with ten-second-long videos.

Test a bunch of durations and see what works well for you.

And for each individual video, only include what is needed in that video.

Let’s say you’re doing a “Leg Day Workout Routine” video where you go over 5 different exercises. Get straight to the exercises.

Don’t talk about what you ate that day or your stretches before and after. Those can be separate videos. But for that specific video, only include what’s necessary.

TikTok Mistake #9: Not Posting in Alignment With Your Goals

Envision your goals. Envision your success three years from and put yourself in those shoes.

If your goal is to be a full-time coffee reviewer and your dream is for popular coffee shops to invite you to try their coffee and post about it, speak that out. Post as if that’s what you’re doing now.

Don’t go to gas stations, try their coffee and hope that LA’s most popular coffee shop will love you and invite you over.

Post as if you’re being invited to where you’re trying coffee and be confident.

Obviously, this example is specific to coffee Creators, but this can go for anything and anyone. Act as if you’re that full-time Influencer and it will happen,

If you’re not sure what that looks like, look at other successful Influencers and Creators in the space you want to be in.

How do they act? What are they doing? What’s trending?

Create that content.

If people have proven success in a specific type of video or in a niche, you can adapt that into your current strategy and ride off that success.

I’m not saying copy them or rip them off, but use their success as inspiration and as a sign of what works.

And don’t lose sight of who you are as a Creator. You can utilize other strategies while still staying true to yourself.

TikTok Mistake #10: Only Posting About Yourself

This is a tough one to explain. There’s a healthy balance. You can absolutely make videos about yourself. What I’m talking about is 100% of your videos are 100% about you.

For example, “What I eat in a day,” “A day in my life, “How I make coffee,” etc.

Again, you can make those videos, but you also need to include videos for your audience.

Instead of posting, “How I Warmup Before My 5 Mile Run,” you can post, “Warmups You Should Do Before You Run 5 Miles.”

You see the flip?

Please, continue making the videos you enjoy making. Continue posting about yourself. But for true, sustained growth, post for your audience. They will feel so important if you’re posting for them.

Bonus Mistake #1: Giving Up

You will see success if you never stop posting.

If you are determined and you never stop posting, you will see success.

But if you put a timeframe on your consistency, saying you’ll post for three months and see what happens and then give up, you’re doing it wrong. You didn’t see success because you gave up.

For all you know, you would’ve seen success in month four.

Putting a deadline on your goals really snuffs out a lot of the potentially amazing Content Creators. Don’t be one of those people.

Don’t. Give. up.

Bonus Mistake #2: Platform-Hopping

A huge mistake I see a lot of Creators make is hopping over to another platform after they don’t see success on one.

If you’re constantly platform-hopping, you won’t see results.

Why?

You’re never 100% in. If you’re only hesitantly dipping your toes in to test the waters, you’re holding so much back. What you’re holding back could be what’s needed to see success.

So choose a platform and create a resolve to stick to it until you see success. Go all in and see what happens.

You’ll be so much more likely to see success.