It doesn’t matter if you’re just creating TikTok videos for fun or if you have bigger aspirations of building a successful brand. Anybody can become famous on TikTok! Numerous social media personalities and brands have proven this time and again. We have collected notable TikTok case studies illustrating the platform’s mighty influence on popular culture and the shaping of celebrated careers.
Keep reading!
TikTok Success Story: Top TikTok Creators
Perhaps nothing best describes TikTok’s power to launch virtual nobodies into stardom than the stories of its most popular creators.
Each TikTok success story often describes a familiar narrative of hitting the social media jackpot and becoming a household name. Here are the most inspiring tales of howling successes on the platform.
Charli D’Amelio: TikTok’s Biggest Star
Charli D’Amelio was a competitive dancer way before she danced her way to people’s hearts and became a TikTok legend. She began her social media career on the video-sharing platform in 2019 when she began posting her dance videos.
Charli’s rise to fame was nothing short of meteoric. And eventually put her on the path towards becoming a cultural icon both on and off TikTok. Fans all over the world love her because of her down-to-earth personality and fun and relatable content.
She became the most followed TikTok creator in March 2020 and until June 2022, when Khaby Lame surpassed her numbers. Currently, @charlidamelio has more than 155 million TikTok followers and is the second most followed person on the platform.
Here’s a short list of her achievements:
- She was the first person on TikTok to surpass both 50 million and 100 million followers.
- Forbes named her the highest-earning female personality in 2019 and the highest-earning personality, both on TikTok, in 2022.
- She was one of the voices in the 2020 animated feature film StarDog and TurboCat, marking her debut.
- Dunkin’ Donuts named a drink after Charli in September 2020 as part of a product campaign on TikTok.
- She began the reality series The D’Amelio Show on Hulu in 2021. She also co-created Charli vs. Dixie (2021–2022) on Snap Original with her sister.
- Charli won the 31st season of Dancing with the Stars in 2022 with her dance partner, Mark Ballas.
- Charli has also published two books and launched a nail polish collection, makeup line, clothing line, and mattress line. She also hosts a podcast.
Khabane Lame: For Your Daily Dose of TikTok Laughs
Fondly known as Khaby, his is a classic rags-to-riches TikTok case study. A former factory worker, Khaby’s rise to social media stardom perfectly illustrates TikTok’s power to make anybody famous.
As of 2024, he has become the most followed person on TikTok, with close to 163 million followers — dethroning Charli D’Amelio.
The New York Times described @khaby.lame’s “entirely organic,” inspiring, and colossal success as his “universal exasperated everyman quality.” The description refers to Lame’s signature wordless and deadpan reactions to ridiculous life hacks, which he features in his videos.
The Senegalese-Italian creator’s comedic strategy involves his completely relatable, incredulous facial expressions combined with his now well-known hand gestures. His silent antics transcend language barriers and are a distinct and essential element of the universal appeal of his entertaining videos.
Here’s a quick summary of Khaby’s accomplishments:
- In 2021, he became the most followed Italian on TikTok after surpassing Gianluca Vacchi. This also made him the second most followed TikTok personality worldwide, surpassing Addison Rae.
- In January 2022, Hugo Boss signed Lame for a multi-year partnership. The brand featured the TikTok star in their #BeYourOwnBoss campaign.
- In 2022, Lame was the face of Forbes Under 30 Europe Art & Culture list. He also made the list of Fortune’s 40 Under 40 in the same year.
- In June 2022, he finally reached the pinnacle of TikTok fame. He outperformed Charli D’Amelio in terms of number of followers and became the most followed person on TikTok.
- His other major brand collaborations include campaigns with Samsung and P&G.
Addison Rae: From Cheerleader to Multi-Media Sensation
With almost 90 million TikTok followers, Addison Rae (@addisonre) currently holds the fifth spot on the platform’s list of most followed personalities.
Rae’s trendy dance and lip-sync videos helped her amass over one million followers within a few months of joining the platform.
Here are her major accomplishments:
- In January 2020, she signed up with the talent agency WME and released a weekly podcast on Spotify called “Mama Knows Best.”
- She launched her cosmetics line, Item Beauty, and also founded a fragrance line called “Addison Rae Fragrance.”
- A Forbes 2020 report revealed that Rae was the highest-earning TikTok star in 2019.
- In 2021, she released her debut single, “Obsessed,” under Sandlot Records.
- In 2024, Rae released her first major label single, “Diet Pepsi,” after signing with Columbia Records.
- Her movie roles include Netflix’s “He’s All That” (2021), Eli Roth’s “Thanksgiving” (2023), and the live-action Animal Friends with Ryan Reynolds (2025).
- Her most notable brand collaborations include campaigns with Reebok, L’Oréal, Hollister, and American Eagle.
Bella Poarch: TikTok Lip-Sync Legend
Bella Poarch’s TikTok success gained momentum in 2020 with her viral video lip-syncing to Millie B’s song, “M to the B.”
It became the most-liked TikTok video of all time, with over 67 million likes and still counting. @bellapoarch also holds the third spot for most followed personalities on TikTok, with more than 94 million fans.
@bellapoarch has since used her popularity to advocate for mental health. Her sweet demeanor and edgy aesthetic belies her struggles with childhood abuse, racial discrimination, depression, and PTSD.
She’s a US Navy veteran, enlisting in 2017 and serving for three years as an aviation ordnanceman in Japan and Hawaii.
Poarch has since built a notable career in the music industry. Her major accomplishments are as follows:
- In May 2021, Poarch signed a music record deal with Warner Records and released her debut single, “Build a Bitch.” Her experiences of being bullied as a child inspired the song.
- In August 2022, she released her first EP, “Dolls.” The record includes her previous singles, “Build a Bitch,” “Inferno,” and “Dolls.” It also features the new tracks “Villain,” “No Man’s Land,” and “Living Hell.”
- In September 2023, she released the song and music video “Crush” with Lauv.
TikTok Case Studies: Successful TikTok Campaigns
Successful TikTok campaigns also serve as perfect examples of why the platform is the best option for brands of all sizes. The following marketing case studies describe how various TikTok strategies help brands achieve digital marketing objectives.
Dorsal Bracelets: TikTok Hashtag Targeting Success With 5M+ Users
A sustainable jewelry brand, Dorsal Bracelets promotes ocean conservation and encourages consumers to end the consumption of single-use plastics. Every Dorsal Bracelets purchase equals the removal of one pound of plastics from the ocean.
Leveraging what they learned from their organic TikTok creatives, Dorsal Bracelets developed a creative video strategy that helped them boost mission awareness. The strategy incorporated the following elements into their ad creatives:
- Beginning with a strong hook, such as “Things I Wish I Knew About Sooner.”
- Keeping their videos under 25 seconds.
- Stating their unique value proposition in their videos.
- Including educational content about ocean conservation in their content.
- TikTok’s hashtag targeting feature uses hashtags #jewelry, #ocean, and #bracelets to target a broad audience.
They supplemented their TikTok campaign with Shopify Pixel Integration to collect additional data and enhance campaign optimization.
Here are the results:
- Dorsal Bracelets reached more than five million users.
- Their videos raked in more than 15 million video views.
- Their posts also had a 91% click-through rate.
Laundry Sauce: TikTok-First Offerings To Attract New Customers
Laundry Sauce produces handcrafted laundry pods with bold and soulful scents to elevate the laundry experience.
The brand discovered that 20% of its customers were discovering its products through TikTok, which convinced it to use the platform to reach new customers.
Laundry Sauce’s successful TikTok marketing campaign included the following key features:
- A seamless and engaging user experience via TikTok’s Instant Pages. An exclusive landing page allowed users to access product information and make purchases conveniently.
- TikTok-exclusive offers to incentivize purchases and promote a sense of urgency.
- Video Shopping Ads and Value-Based Optimization to accelerate ad performance.
Their campaign delivered the following results:
- A 20% increase in new customer acquisition.
- A 1.3 increase in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
- A month-on-month growth of 7% in sales volume.
- A 5% monthly increase in post-purchase survey responses.
- Increased brand recognition overall.
Trident: Building Product Awareness and Driving Authentic Engagement With a Hashtag Challenge
The popular gum brand used TikTok’s highly effective hashtag challenge to launch its new Sour Patch Kids gum.
The campaign had two primary objectives:
- Promote the gum’s unique flavors and crunchy, candy-like shell and how it transforms into a smooth chew that’s sour and then sweet.
- Encourage authentic audience engagement via user-generated content.
Trident’s TikTok marketing campaign took the form of the #ChewTheVibes challenge. The brand also leveraged influencer marketing and teamed up with Chlöe Bailey (@chloebaileywashere), a popular singer and creator.
Chlöe created a video of herself chewing to the beat of the campaign’s “Chew the Vibes” song and asked her 3.7M followers to participate in the challenge.
The campaign also offered exciting prizes to participants, which included cash and headphones.
Here are the results:
- The #ChewTheVibes hashtag generated more than 9.5 billion impressions within the campaign’s seven-day run.
- The “Chew the Vibes” song earned 115.5 million impressions.
Write Your Own TikTok Success Story
The most well-known TikTok success stories serve as blueprints for lasting social media triumph. It’s relatively easy to go viral on TikTok overnight; sustaining one’s newfound fame is another story.
Whether you’re a creator or brand, these noteworthy TikTok case studies can help you level-up your game. And if you need expert help reaching a wider audience, you should sign up for a High Social plan now!
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