If you’ve been trying to fine-tune your career as a TikTok creator, you probably already know the importance of choosing a niche. For example, a huge crazy on the platform are TikTok challenges. TikTok has countless options to choose from; some of them have universal appeal, while others are barely recognized outside of a small group of die-hard fans. When deciding which one you’re going to occupy, your first consideration should be picking one you’re truly enthusiastic about. After all, who wants to become a TikTok creator if they aren’t going to have fun? That being said, there are some practical considerations as well. For example, are you going to be in the entertainment or music niches, which have millions of views and are incredibly popular? Or will you join a less well-known niche like cottage-core or renovation TikTok, where videos have a smaller chance of going viral? Here are a few things to consider when choosing between popular and obscure niches.
If you want to go viral, a popular niche is a safer bet
Many TikTok creators think that going viral will be their quick ticket to stardom, and that’s not far from the truth. This is how many TikTok influencers got their start – through a single piece of content that got seen by millions of people, and possibly even began their own trends on the platform. Niches like entertainment, music, dancing, and so on are massively popular, with millions of views and plenty of trending hashtags. This makes it easier for videos in these niches to go viral, since the potential audience is already huge.
However, the drawback is that there’s also a ton of competition from other creators. These niches are pretty well saturated with content already, which makes it that much more difficult to stand out from everyone else with a viral video. All things considered, the most popular niches are still the best places to go viral; it’s just that you’ll also be dealing with stiff competition.
If you want a loyal, dedicated fanbase, an obscure niche might be the best choice
Think about how TikTok creators with millions of fans interact with their followers, compared to the dynamic with creators who have thousands of fans. In the first case, they try to keep that parasocial relationship alive, but they often feel pretty aloof. In the second case, the creator can still potentially have their finger on the pulse of their fanbase. They know what gets people going, what motivates them to keep watching, and what fans hope to see in the future. There’s often more loyalty as well, since the creator is better able to interact with their fans under some circumstances.
This is also influenced by the fact that smaller niches often have more dedicated followings, regardless of the size of individual creators. For example, FrogTok has more quirky humor, inside jokes, and original lore compared to DanceTok, which is too large to support such a unique online culture.
Popular niches are more likely to stay popular over the long-term
On TikTok, trends come and go faster than you can blink. The platform is all about what’s happening here and now, and if people lose interest in something, it’s gone pretty much immediately. How does this affect which niche you choose? Well, if you’re concerned about the longevity of your TikTok career, you should choose a niche that you know will be around for the long haul. The ones that have been popular since the platform began, such as entertainment or dancing, are essentially too big to fail at this point. If you want to make sure that you’ll never have to switch gears and reinvent yourself as a TikTok creator, a popular niche would be the one for you.
It’s easier to get to the front of the pack in an obscure niche
Along with going viral, becoming a household name is one of the goals of up-and-coming TikTok stars. This has happened with plenty of creators on TikTok, many of them from the same huge niches that have been mentioned above. However, it’s getting harder and harder to become one of the top creators in these niches. There are just too many other people trying to do the same thing, which makes it that much harder for any of them to succeed.
In a more obscure niche, though, the numbers could be in your favor. Even though there will already be creators who’ve made it to the top, there won’t be as many of them – and there won’t be as many who aspire to do the same thing. This means a lot less competition for you, and a lot less pressure to be absolutely perfect in order to quickly grow your following.
Obscure niches may provide more room for you to express your individuality
Whether you end up performing dance challenges or demonstrating your homesteading skills, there will always be room for you to make your page your own. However, many of the popular niches are all about jumping on board viral trends, which means that a lot of the content will center on that instead of original videos. In an obscure niche, there’s often more opportunity for you to come up with unique ideas, put your personality into your videos, etc. This could be more appealing for creators who want to focus on the video-making aspect of TikTok, rather than on simply going viral and getting a following as quickly as possible.
Of course, this won’t always be the case. There are plenty of creators in massively popular niches that are famous for putting their own stamp on their videos, and you could end up doing the same as well. It’s just that the focus on viral content in larger niches does automatically decide that a lot of your content will be similar to what other creators are doing.
The right TikTok niche exists for everyone; you just have to find it
Hopefully this sheds some light on which type of Tiktok niche might work best for you. Make sure you take your time and explore all your options; when you find the right one, you’ll know it!