What makes people want to follow?

I would say you need to get a compelling reason to be followed because going viral doesn't necessarily equate to more followers.

Followers are currency so you need to sell that angle

I wonder if maybe some of it relates to how you view having followers. I haven't posted anything on either of my accounts for a few years, and didn't even post videos when I first started Tik Tok, only used it to watch.

On my main account when I decided to try getting followers after I started making videos, I found it really hard work yet on the other account I wasn't that bothered about when I made videos I was getting double the amount of followers.

Both accounts are on the same theme but the second account has a specific niche that I would have assumed would have less followers than the main account that would have appealed to more people.

That's why i always said going viral or chasing just views is not going to bring a quality audience that will want to stay. you should focus on original niche content that can be found only in your page. it will get you much less views but much higher like to follow ratio.