Everyone and their mom, or mine at least, is on TikTok. Gamers around the world are using the platform to share their epic and funny in-game moments. For gaming content creators, the platform has become a space to ensure a bigger community is able to see the work they’re putting out. For aspiring TikTok Gamers, building your account on the platform can be overwhelming, which is why two of South Africa’s best gaming content creators have shared their tips to help grow your profile and become the next TikTok super star.
Rachel Kay and TheLemonsDidIt are two of South Africa’s most loved streamers. You can find them most days on their Twitch channels playing games live for their communities to enjoy. However, if you want your fix of their content after stream hours, their TikTok accounts are a plethora of funny clips, feel good moments and bite sized pieces of what you can usually find in stream.
Rachel has 62.2k followers on TikTok and one of her most recent videos around a new game title garnered more than two million views.
@iamrachelkay Arrived in Hogwarts Legacy on a broomstick 🪄✨ #hogwartslegacy #rpg #harrypotter #hogwarts #cosplay #twitchstreamer #twitchclips #harrypotterhead ♬ original sound – Rachel Kay
TheLemonsDidIt focuses his profile on Apex Legends content, with 225.3K followers and videos that have also surpassed one million views.
@thelemonsdidit Horizon nerf isn’t gonna stop this #apex #apexlegends #apexclipsdaily #apexseason15 #thelemonsdidit #apexmovement #horizonapex #apexdaily #apexfyp ♬ original sound – TheLemons
Here are their 5 tips to grow your Gaming TikTok Account.
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Tip 1: Your streaming community can help kickstart your TikTok account, while TikTok can help grow your other platforms. Never think of them as completely separate entities.
The LemonsDidIt: “All social media outside of your live streaming platform is as important if not more important than actually streaming, if you want to become a successful streamer and gaming content creator. At my peak of posting content on TikTok and other media, I would probably get around 25 to 50 followers a day for months on Twitch. It might not seem like a lot but to put it in perspective, in my first year I was streaming 2000 hours and averaging 5 viewers, I had totalled about 800 followers that first year which works out to about 2.19 per day.”
Rachel Kay: “So many of my most loyal and dedicated community members on Twitch originally found me on TikTok. My TikTok content gets made from clips of my Twitch streams, which are made by my viewers. TikTok is a fun way for them to see their fun moments shared. There are people who come to my streams saying they found me on TikTok, I don’t know the actual numbers. But every person who joins my streams matters and brings so much value. ”
Tip 2: Make sure you have a posting plan!
Rachel Kay: “I don’t have a set posting plan, usually when I see comments on TikTok saying the community has missed my content, I know I haven’t been posting enough! I try to post at least twice a week. Posting after my streams seems to be the best solution for me, since I can let everyone know that a post is coming.”
TheLemonsDidIt: “In terms of scheduling content, it all depends on the content. It especially depends on the game you play or the content you create as often at times it can change. The best times to post your content will be more likely in the evening as you then reach a larger international audience (especially if you are appealing to an English speaking audience). As an example, I’ll usually post between 4pm and 4am (SAST) as that way it can be more accessible to the African, European and North American audience. Depending on the content you’re producing or game you’re playing you might have to alter your posting schedule outside of these times. If you play Valorant, look at the largest, smallest and any in between Valorant creators you enjoy watching and try to notice any trends. Look for the highest viewed clips from those creators: see what time they’ve been posted and try to schedule your content around that time.
Tip 3: Be sure to make content that speaks to your audience (or the one you want to reach)!
The LemonsDidIt: “With the current streaming environment being so competitive, the only way to really grow and become a successful streamer is utilising external media. I’ve been streaming for 4 years now, in my first year I streamed about 2000 hours and averaged 5 viewers. I was not utilising social media like TikTok by posting short clips of my best or funny moments that happened during the stream and that showed in my progress in streaming. I decided to do tons of research and every video had a similar conclusion, “If you want to grow as a streamer, you need to post your content on other social media and invest your time in evergreen content”. Evergreen content means content that can be watched at any time or any place over many years, short TikTok clips are the perfect example.
I focus on short 15-30 second clips containing either a funny or clutch moment which happened during a stream or work on longer content which can be up to four minutes and is usually intense, non-stop, minimally edited gameplay – which rarely happens in games but when it does the clip has a much higher chance of becoming viral. Your content needs to be organic, too many edits or forced moments will hinder your growth.”
RachelKay: “I find the content that performs the best on TikTok, for me, is specifically iconic or relatable gaming moments. If I have a reaction to anything in the game, and others had their own experience with that same thing, it gives everyone a chance to share their experience in the comments.”
Tip 4: Growing a community on TikTok takes time!
RachelKay: “The following and growth on TikTok is something I will never understand. I started on TikTok to share stream moments that I thought my community and other people who love the same games I play would enjoy. The following grew pretty steadily over time, cultivating a strong community with a specifica common interest.”
TheLemonsDidIt: “In my journey I found it strenuous to grow all of the followings I have now but I was resilient and never gave up. As an example, I posted daily on TikTok for about two years before I even reached 10 000 followers. Then in 2022 I grew from 10 000 followers to 220 000 followers. I did this by learning how to edit and identifying trends – which was probably the most difficult part of my journey. Anyone can post a short video, but is the video worth watching? Are you spending time identifying what makes your content special and why it relates to people? Are you putting in the hours of research to identify social media trends, practising your game, learning how to edit etc. These are questions I had to ask myself constantly and still do today to consistently improve.”
Tip 5: Community first, always.
TheLemonsDidIt: “I feel like in life we worry too much about the outcome, when it comes to streaming, gaming or content creation. It’s essential to enjoy the journey in everything we do and to fully experience the wins and losses that life gives to us. Instead of losses, I think it’s important to perceive that every loss comes with a lesson, so instead of losing, we are learning. Setting goals is a must, but when setting goals it’s important to stop focusing on the number of the goal and rather what is behind the scenes of the goal. To achieve 10 000 followers on TikTok, for example, you need to cut your highlights from your stream, then edit those highlights to fit in TikTok appropriately and then upload at least x amount of those per week with relatable hashtags and good scheduling based on research you do. So the goal would be to focus on the uploads rather than worrying about how many years it might take to reach 10 000 followers. When you channel your focus on the clip you’re uploading and not the views or likes or followers you gain from it, your content is going to flourish. It might take some time but patience is the key to success in anything in life. I think it’s also important to know that you should do your best in anything, give 100%, and most importantly enjoy the process. When you do this and if unfortunately it still doesn’t work out, then at least you tried your best and there’s nothing more you could have done, be content with yourself for giving it your all!
RachelKay: “I think it is important to really focus on one niche or a specific community of people and content. If someone follows you from a video you posted, and you start posting other videos which are not of the same interest, it would do more damage than good. Also, try to always think about the viewers and their experiences when scrolling. You are just a blip in the timeline of someone else’s day so try to bring some sort of value to their lives every time you post something.”
