A Step by Step Guide on How to go Live on TikTok

TikTok has millions of users and creators worldwide, and many of them are live on the app daily. How do you do that? Do you need to be verified first? Once you can go live, how do you actually turn on the live setting? New and relatively inexperienced users have lots of questions. Fortunately, it’s not as difficult as you might expect. In fact, plenty of people have boosted their website engagement or gotten other content out to a massive audience by engaging them with fun, interactive live streaming. You can do it too with the proper knowledge. We’ll give you a step-by-step guide on how to go live on TikTok.

Who Can Go Live On TikTok

If you’re new to TikTok or haven’t strayed far from the main pages with big stars like Charlie D’Amelio, then it’s easy to assume you need one of those coveted blue checkmarks next to your name to go live. Happily, that’s not the case. You don’t need a hundred million followers or even a hundred thousand followers to go live. Once you have a thousand followers, this feature unlocks for you. However, it’s probably best if you don’t hit that button right away. If you have a thousand followers, then you’ve probably at least started to find your niche. Once you know what type of content you want to make and what other people will watch, getting to a thousand is reasonably quick and straightforward. That said, the ‘follow trains’ people post to ‘get famous on TikTok and help each other out’ are scams. Please don’t fall for it. You need to earn your engagement by producing regular daily content and catering to a group of people who enjoy and interact with your recorded content. Otherwise, no one will want to come to your live streaming event, and it won’t matter that you figured out how to make it happen. As Dexerto points out, “To go live on TikTok, users must be at least 16 years old in order to enable the feature… Users who are 18 and above can also earn gift points in the process, while those younger cannot.”

What Can You Do Live On TikTok

You should think carefully about what you plan to do in your live before you get there. Prepare for a fast-running stream of commentary and be ready to answer questions, greet people and thank them at the very least. Creators have literally slept or challenged people to tell jokes until they laugh and end the stream, but those are extremely niche. It would be best if you did something related to your content. If you are a comedian, do a live set from your living room, bathroom, or somewhere else that amuses you and has good light. Likewise, f you’re a crafter, plan to craft live, and if you are a dancer, you should dance. Whatever you usually do to get followers and engagement, you need to be ready to do that in real-time, without edits.

What You Can’t Do Live On TikTok

Some things will get you reported and banned. For example, telling someone, even jokingly, to end their life will get you booted. Likewise, any form of hate speech or sexually inappropriate content can get you kicked out of your live. If your live is stopped, you can appeal it if you didn’t break the rules, but if you did, then you probably won’t be allowed to go live again for a while. You could even face account suspension if you do something especially heinous, so make sure you’re not going to have a wardrobe malfunction or accidentally reveal something else that violates the TOS or community guidelines.

Step By Step Guide To Go Live On TikTok

In order to go live, stay live, and keep your audience engaged, follow the steps we’ve outlined below. Any user over sixteen with a thousand followers should have access to this feature. Make sure you read your terms of service and plan some content before going live, so your event doesn’t flop. You will get a notification when you can go live, and after that, it’s up to you to decide when and if you will use that feature. If you don’t get the notification, check your message center. After that, make sure there are no updates you might need to install. You can also try turning your phone off and back on, or logging out for five minutes and then coming back. Be careful about uninstalling TikTok, as it can have consequences. Once you are allowed to go live and have a plan, make sure you post about it. If you want followers to join your live, they need to know when you plan for it to happen and what they can look forward to seeing if they attend. The marketing for a live is entirely up to you. Send out DMs (Direct Messages) from your inbox to let your followers know you are going live. Don’t just expect them to notice you’re on and show up. Plan for a thirty-minute stream. Most people can handle that much engagement, but a longer show on a short video platform could be too much. As Business Insider said, “Prepare what you’ll do during the live stream to avoid long stretches of dead air.” Before you go live make sure you set your phone up somewhere stable. You want good lighting and sound quality. No one wants to watch a live they can’t hear where the creator is barely visible.

• Now it’s time to log in.
• Once you’re in the app, you need to hit the record button. You’re probably familiar with this by now. It is the plus sign at the bottom center of your screen.
• There’s a “Live” option on the recording screen next to your record button.
• Give your live stream a title and go live p by pressing the button.

You are now on the air in real-time. Have fun, stay within the community guidelines, and always remember to interact with your audience. A simple hello acknowledging that you saw someone makes them feel welcome. Use their screen names and remember to stop so you can read and answer questions.

Final Thoughts

Before going live, make sure you pick a time when your audience is likely to be online. Take extra steps to ensure you’ll have a pleasant, quiet environment for your stream unless that’s off-brand for you. It pays to take the time to come up with some visually stimulating backgrounds, whether it’s heading outdoors or setting up a colorful sheet behind you. Most of all, relax and enjoy it. People will want to come back and watch you again if they had a good time.