With over one billion active users, TikTok has become one of the most popular and prominent social media platforms today. Millions of content creators are using it to publish video content consistently. Like the old yet iconic app Vine and Instagram’s Reels, TikTok allows people to upload and share short-form videos online.
Since its launch in 2016, the viral app has shown steady growth, with many of its large tech competitors racing to create their versions. TikTok’s success also paved the way for an online cultural reset that is now shaping a generation.
Viral videos from the app helped individuals and organizations promote themselves, their products, and their services. Like other social media platforms, TikTok became an excellent channel for businesses to drive sales and for creators to earn money by making fun and creative content.
Can You Earn Money on TikTok?
Yes. You can make money on TikTok through brand partnerships, selling your products or services, collaborating with other creators, and collecting tips or donations from viewers. Another way to earn is by joining the TikTok Creator Fund.
Although the app does not directly pay its creators to produce and upload videos, they offer to fund them instead. The amount that you can get depends on the number of your video views, engagement, and authentic users interacting with your post. So, it would be best to have a solid organic viewership and followers to accomplish this.
How Many Followers Do You Need to Monetize TikTok?
You need at least 10,000 followers to monetize TikTok through the TikTok Creator Fund. You must be 18 years or older and have a minimum of 100,000 content views in the last 30 days. Your account should also follow TikTok’s Community Guidelines and terms of service.
Because there is a required count of followers to make money on TikTok, it’s essential to grow your following organically. It would be best to have real people who can interact with your posts and increase your engagement. Your follower count determines your reach and influence, not to mention that it shows the number of people interested in your content.
However, there are other creative ways to earn via TikTok even without having 10,000 followers such as affiliate marketing, selling your account, and more.
How Much Can You Potentially Earn on TikTok?
For the TikTok Creator Fund, you can make around two to four cents for every 1,000 views of your posts. If you reach a million views, you can earn about $20 to $40. Creators with over 100,000 followers can make $200 to $1,000 monthly, while those with over a million followers can earn $1,000 to $5,000.
Meanwhile, TikTok star Charlie D’Amelio with over 149.4 million followers, earns approximately $105,770 per post based on Hopper HQ’s 2022’s TikTok Rich List. Charlie secured solid brand deals and partnerships from Dunkin’ Donuts, Morphe Cosmetics, Invisalign, and The D’Amelio Show, her own Hulu series, through her viral dance videos on the app.
However, these statements are only estimates. The final amount you can earn depends on several factors like video views, engagement, affiliate links, brand deals, merchandise sales, and more.
Suppose you believe you’re an influencer based on your reach and engagement rate; you can try a TikTok Money Calculator to measure your estimated earnings. Enter your TikTok username and the total number of likes, followers, and videos to get an idea of how much you can earn.
How to Monetize TikTok
Create engaging and helpful short-form videos that speak directly to your audience. Turn your passion into profit by learning these strategies to monetize TikTok.
1. Join the TikTok Creator Fund
To support and reward creators, TikTok launched the TikTok Creator Fund. They aim to celebrate the creative and incredible creators making the platform fun, entertaining, and inspiring.
To apply for the program and earn, you must meet the following TikTok monetization requirements:
- You must be 18 years or older.
- A legal citizen in one of the 50 states in the U.S., UK, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain.
- You have minimum organic followers of about 10,000.
- You met the 100,000 required views before the application in the last 30 days.
- You must upload original videos that follow TikTok’s Community Guidelines.
Once approved, your Term of Agreement starts on the Effective Date until a year. It will automatically renew the following year unless terminated earlier. TikTok will pay the creators based on their unique and legitimate video views. Creators can transfer and withdraw their funds of at least $10 from the Creator Fund Dashboard to their preferred payment method.
Like any other application, you can get denied. But don’t lose hope. Upon receiving your rejection letter, you can still re-apply to the program after a month. Ensure that you meet all eligibility requirements and comply with TikTok’s policy and terms.
2. Collaborate with brands
TikTok Creator Marketplace is the app’s official collaboration channel where creators and brands can connect, and it is currently available in 24 countries. Expect TikTok’s support on campaigns, receive access to partnership materials, and get tips on making advertiser-friendly content when you join the platform.
To be eligible, you must be on a Personal or Creator account. When you decide to participate, TikTok will review your application and notify you of the results. If declined, you can still reapply after 30 days.
Approved creators can receive notifications, emails, and SMS whenever brands send a collaboration invitation. All notifications will be at the top of the inbox under Creator Monetization.
Meanwhile, TikTok Creator Marketplace allows brands to search for creators they want to partner with. Through the platform, they can see each influencer’s profile, engagement metrics, audience demographics, and more. This information makes it easier for brands to decide if the creators and their content satisfy their criteria.
TikTok brand collaborations can either be in paid or reward-based campaigns. Make sure that, as creators, you connect and partner with brands close to your heart, beliefs, and values. Work only with brands you trust since you’re inviting your audience to check out their products or services.
Learn from Duolingo, a language learning app, and Scrub Daddy, a smiling face-shaped dish scrubber’s fun and “unhinged” TikTok video collaboration. Although their brands could not be more similar, their content style does.
Their content left everyone speechless, especially today’s Generation, which the brands seem to target with their style and humor. The original video on Scrub Daddy’s page has 1.4 million views, while Duolingo’s repost has reached 3.6 million views.
3. Collaborate with influencers
Collaborating with influencers with large followings can increase a brand’s engagement and drive actual results. They can even improve branding for any company and reach new audiences.
One great example is Dunkin’ Donuts and Charli D’Amelio’s collaboration. Although Dunkin’ Donuts is already a household name and a successful coffee and donut chain, they are still in constant competition with other brands like Starbucks when it comes to dominating younger audiences.
Meanwhile, Charli is the biggest TikTok superstar and the most followed account, with over 149.5 million followers. She is a Gen Z content creator who expressed her love for the brand without an established agreement or partnership.
Later on, Dunkin’ Donuts launched a multi-layered partnership with D’Amelio. They created a drink called “The Charli,” the mega-influencer’s favorite. They also set up a “Charli x Dunkin” contest for fans where winners virtually meet D’Amelio and a second drink with a merchandise line.
The coffee and donut chain had already sold hundreds of thousands of cups within the first five days of “The Charli” drink. They also saw a 57% increase in the Dunkin’ Donuts app download, which they have been trying to push, a 20% boost in overall sales for cold brews the day they released the drink, and a 45% increase the next day. The collaboration with Charli was a massive success for Dunkin’.
There is no doubt that Charli influenced the vast sales, helped the brand reach younger audiences, and drove traffic to its social media accounts. Such brand and influencer collaborations show the power creators can have if used correctly and how they hold a significant impact on successful campaigns.
4. Advertise your products or services
Selling your products on TikTok is one great way to monetize any content. Any creator can create and sell merchandise to their loyal fans. Brands can also drive sales by making videos showing off their products, including the details that make them stand out.
Get inspiration from Fenty Beauty by Rihanna.
In the TikTok video, they showed off one of the shades on their Eaze Drop blurring skin tint line. Fans were amazed by yet another of the brand’s advocacy to be inclusive to all skin types and colors.
You can also run TikTok ads to promote your services or products. Some popular types of TikTok ads are video ads, in-feed ads, image ads, carousel ads, and more. You can set up these ad campaigns through the TikTok Ads Manager.
5. Showcase your products on TikTok Shop
TikTok Shop is a new shopping feature where brands, merchants, and creators can showcase and sell their products directly on the app. They do this via in-feed videos, LIVEs, and product showcase tabs. TikTok calls this innovative idea “Shoppertainment,” where they bring entertainment into commerce.
- Search for the TikTok Shop Seller Center based in your country.
- Sign up for TikTok Shop Seller Center with your phone number or email.
- Set up your shop by adding your information like postal code, warehouse or pickup address, contact person, and phone number.
- Set up your shipping template. This section includes your shipping rates and available delivery areas.
- Add products to your shop.
- Verify your TikTok Shop.
- Link your bank account.
After setting up your shop, you can now create an affiliate program and make sales and promotions.
6. Post videos designed to generate sales inquiries
Compared to other social media platforms, TikTok has less competition, considering it is still in a growth stage. It is also a great way to advertise to younger consumers, as the app’s users are below 30.
Create and upload videos designed to generate sales inquiries, like engaging your audience about your brand’s origin, brand statement, and advocacies. Allow them to understand and learn about you and your brand more personally.
Take a look at this video from @browniegod:
Notice that they provide authenticity to their audience by showing their flawed products and getting over 3.8 million views.
7. Explore affiliate marketing on TikTok
Affiliate marketing is another excellent way to earn passive income on TikTok. Make a commission for every purchase made through your link. Because you can only have one link on your profile, many creators use the free LinkTr.ee platform to put all their affiliate and website links.
Since you need people to click on your link and purchase the product you’re promoting, you must have solid and relevant followers to earn more. Creating content that will subtly and naturally promote and market the products to your viewers is also vital. Gen Z, most of TikTok’s users, are notorious for disliking or “canceling” content formed in a hard-selling and traditional way.
For marketers, you can create an affiliate marketing program with clear guidelines and instructions on participating. Invite TikTok content creators that align with your brand values and target audience to join.
8. Collect gifts, tips, and donations
Tips, video gifts, and LIVE gifting are other ways for TikTok creators to make money. Viewers can show their appreciation and support for their favorite creators through tips. Although they can receive the total tips, a processing fee may apply.
Because TikTok wants to help creators make the platform special, they create video gifts. This feature gives creators another chance to receive Diamonds by letting their viewers send them virtual gifts in the comments section of their videos. Consequently, TikTok awards Diamonds to creators based on their video’s popularity and other vital metrics.
Hosting a LIVE session can also help creators make money. When you go LIVE, your viewers can send you Gifts, and you’ll see them appear on your video. At the end of your broadcast, you’ll see the total number of Gifters in your LIVE summary.
Viewers 18 years or older can show appreciation by sending Gifts. But first, they must purchase Coins found in the Balance tab. After purchasing, viewers can use these Coins to send Gifts displayed as fun stickers and animations.
9. Create, grow, and sell your TikTok account
By now, you have understood the importance of organic following on TikTok, its impact on monetization, and how challenging it can be to accomplish. Brands and other businesses are also aware of this. So, take advantage of this opportunity by selling your TikTok account and turning it into a profit.
To effectively make money by selling TikTok accounts, you must focus on niche topics that can sustain or go through the buyer. This process makes it easier for the buyer to continue posting similar videos and maintain engagement.
Perform due diligence for brands looking into buying your accounts. It’s best to have a list of your targeted businesses to ensure that your content aligns with their brands’ goals and can serve their target audience. A high and consistent engagement rate can also increase the chances of your account selling successfully.
Frequently Asked Questions About Making Money on TikTok
How to make money on TikTok without followers?
You can’t make money on TikTok without followers. You need to have followers to create engagement and then you’ll be able to earn.
How to make money on TikTok with 1,000 followers?
You can make money on TikTok with 1,000 followers by selling merch, affiliate marketing, going LIVE, and selling your account.
How to make money on TikTok with 5,000 followers?
You can make money on TikTok with 5,000 by selling merch, affiliate marketing, going LIVE, and selling your account.
How to make money on TikTok with 10,000 followers?
You can make money on TikTok with 10,000 followers by joining the TikTok Creator Fund. You can also earn by selling merch, brand partnerships, selling merch, going LIVE, and receiving Gifts.
How to monetize TikTok live?
You can monetize TikTok LIVE by receiving Gifts from viewers. These gifts are convertible to Diamonds and then into actual money.
How does TikTok pay you?
TikTok does not directly pay you. Instead, they fund you through their TikTok Creator Fund.
Conclusion
TikTok is no longer the platform where users can post their dance and singing videos. It is now a channel where creators can earn money and generate passive income. The short-form app also became an alternative medium for brands to reach younger audiences.
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