How to Get PR on TikTok

Generating buzz on TikTok isn't about sending press releases into the void, it’s about earning a spot in the cultural conversation. Getting creators, communities, and trends to talk about you organically is the new PR, and it’s more powerful than any traditional media hit. This guide breaks down the actionable steps to build a TikTok presence that gets people talking, from setting up your profile for success to building real relationships that drive results.

What Does "PR" Even Mean on TikTok?

Forget everything you know about traditional public relations. On TikTok, PR isn’t about landing a feature in a magazine or scoring a news segment. It’s about achieving a level of cultural relevance where your brand becomes part of the platform's native language. It's user-generated content, creator endorsements that feel like a friend’s recommendation, and viral moments that stem from authentic engagement, not a media buy.

Successful TikTok PR looks like:

• Organic Conversation: People talking about your product in the comments of a completely unrelated video.
• User-Generated Content (UGC): Customers creating videos featuring your product without being asked or paid.
• Creator Advocacy: Influencers mentioning your brand because they genuinely use and love it, not because they’re fulfilling a contract.
• Trend Participation: Your brand successfully joining - or better yet, starting - a trend that goes beyond your immediate following.

Brands like CeraVe became household names on the platform because dermatologists organically started recommending their products, creating a wave of trustworthy content. Duolingo turned their owl mascot into a weird, unhinged icon, making their brand a meme people wanted to engage with. The goal is simple: become the brand people want to talk about.

Step 1: Get Your Own House in Order

Before you can expect creators and communities to talk about you, your own TikTok presence must be a place people want to visit. Pitching for PR with a neglected, corporate-feeling profile is like trying to host a party in an empty warehouse. No one's going to show up.

Define Your TikTok Persona

Who is your brand on TikTok? A stuffy corporate voice won’t cut it. You need a distinct personality. Are you the hilarious chaos-bringer like Ryanair? The helpful, slightly nerdy expert? The aesthetic, calming voice of reason? Your persona dictates the tone of your videos, comments, and interactions. This isn't just about what you post, it's about how you show up across the entire platform. Your persona should feel authentic to your brand while also being native to TikTok's culture.

Pick a lane and own it. This humanizes your brand and gives creators and followers a "person" to connect with, not just a logo.

Master Your Content Pillars

You can't be everything to everyone. Your content needs a clear focus. Identify three to five content pillars - core themes or topics you will build your videos around. This gives your audience a reason to follow you, as they know what to expect. Consistency in your messaging helps the algorithm understand who to show your content to and establishes you as an authority or go-to source in your niche.

For example, a sustainable clothing brand might have these pillars:

1. Behind-the-scenes looks at ethical production.
2. Styling tips for their core pieces.
3. Educational content about fast fashion vs. slow fashion.
4. Replying to customer questions on video.

These pillars provide a framework for creating a steady stream of relevant content that reinforces your brand values and keeps your audience engaged.

Post Consistently. Seriously.

The TikTok algorithm favors activity. If you post sporadically, you’ll never gain momentum. Showing up regularly proves that you're a committed member of the community, not just a brand dropping in to advertise. Aim to post at least three to five times a week. This regular cadence keeps you top of mind, gives you more chances to go viral, and provides a rich library of content for potential collaborators to see when they visit your profile.

Step 2: The Action Plan for Generating Buzz

Once your foundation is solid, you can actively start generating organic PR. These strategies are all about building relationships and providing value, not just asking for shoutouts.

Strategy 1: Product Seeding & Gifting (The Right Way)

Product seeding is one of the most effective ways to generate authentic content, but most brands do it wrong. Ditch the transactional "we'll send you this if you post that" emails. Focus instead on finding nano- and micro-creators (typically under 50,000 followers) who genuinely align with your brand and already seem to appreciate products like yours.

How to do it:

• Find the Right People: Search for hashtags relevant to your niche or product. Look at who your target customers are following and engaging with. Find creators whose personality and aesthetic genuinely match your brand.
• The No-Strings-Attached Approach: Reach out with a personalized DM or email. Start by telling them what you like about their content. Then, offer to send them a product as a gift, with absolutely no obligation to post. Say something like, "We love your videos on iced coffee recipes and think you'd really enjoy our new cold brew blend. We'd love to send you some, no strings attached."
• Focus on Delight: When you remove the pressure, creators are more likely to share their experience organically if they love the product. The resulting content feels like a genuine recommendation from a friend, which is far more valuable than a stiff, forced ad.

Strategy 2: Engage Like a Human, Not a Corporation

Your "for you" page is a PR opportunity. The comments section of a viral video is a PR opportunity. TikTok is a social platform - be social on it.

• Leave Meaningful Comments: Don't just post fire emojis. Leave funny, witty, or surprisingly insightful comments on videos from creators and even other brands in your space. A top comment can get more visibility than one of your own videos, bringing thousands of curious people to your profile.
• Use Stitch and Duet: These features are designed for conversation. Stitch a video to add a funny reaction, a valuable insight, or a counterpoint. Duet a video to show your product solving a problem in real-time. This inserts your brand directly into an existing conversation, exposing you to that creator’s entire audience. For example, a cleaning product brand could Duet a viral "messy house" video to show their product in action.

Strategy 3: Create Shareable Audio & Trends

Making your own original sound is the ultimate PR move on TikTok. When other people use your sound, they are effectively becoming voluntary advertisers for your brand. A "sound" doesn't have to be a professionally produced song. It's often more effective when it's just a funny or relatable snippet of audio from one of your videos.

Think about creating sounds that are:

• Easy to lip-sync to.
• Relatable in many different contexts.
• Funny, surprising, or satisfying.

If a quote from one of your videos is particularly catchy, you might find hundreds of other creators making it their own. This creates a spiderweb effect, leading countless new viewers back to the original source: you.

Strategy 4: The Direct Pitch (For When It's a Perfect Match)

Direct outreach still has its place, but it must be done with care. Reserve direct pitches for creators who are a perfect, obvious-win-for-both-sides fit for a specific campaign. Your pitch should be about them, not you.

A good pitch looks like this:

1. Start with Real Praise: "Hi [Creator Name], I really loved your recent video reviewing plant-based milk alternatives. The way you broke down the oat vs. almond debate was genuinely helpful."
2. Connect It to Value for Them: "It made me think of our new barley milk, which has a creamier texture without any of the gums you mentioned. I think your audience would be really interested in seeing how it froths for lattes."
3. Make a Clear (and Easy) Ask: "Would you be open to me sending some over for you to try? Again, love what you're doing."

Keep it short, personalized, and focused on providing value to their audience. Make it incredibly easy for them to say "yes."

Step 3: How to Know if Your TikTok PR is Working

Success on TikTok isn't just about views and likes. Real PR success shows up in deeper, more meaningful metrics.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Track:

• Organic Mentions & Tags: Are people randomly tagging your brand in comments or in their own videos? This is a sign of true top-of-mind awareness.
• Shares & Saves: These are more valuable than likes. A share means someone found your content so good they evangelized it to others. A save means it was so valuable they want to return to it later. High saves are a strong indicator of content-market fit.
• User-Generated Content (UGC): Monitor your branded hashtags and tagged videos. Are customers organically creating tutorials, reviews, or lifestyle videos that feature your product? That's the holy grail of TikTok PR.
• Comment Sentiment: What’s the general vibe in your comments section? Are people excited, intrigued, and positive? This qualitative data can tell you more about brand health than almost any quantitative chart.

Final Thoughts

TikTok PR boils down to being a valuable and entertaining member of the community. It's playing the long game of building authentic relationships and earning attention by creating great content, engaging like a real person, and generously collaborating with creators who align with your brand. Do that consistently, and the buzz will follow.

Staying on top of all this - consistent posting, engaging with comments, tracking trends, and analyzing what's working - can easily feel like a full-time job. I've found that using a visual content calendar is a game-changer for planning content consistently and spotting opportunities ahead of time. For our team, Postbase has been indispensable because it was built from the ground up for the chaos of modern, video-first platforms like TikTok. Being able to schedule our videos, manage all comments and DMs in one unified inbox, and track our metrics without wrestling with a clunky, outdated tool helps us focus on what actually matters: the creative work that drives real brand conversation.