Scrolling through the feeds of top influencers on TikTok will make your head spin. How do these people afford their lavish lifestyle? Lambos, cash, and jewelry, it’s all on display to catch your attention. Many influencers make a full-time living from social media, and you don’t have to be Addison Rae to make some decent cash out of putting your life on display.
Monetizing your social media accounts gives you access to many income streams online. TikTok is the world’s fastest-growing social media site, and millions of people are making money by monetizing their posts. There’s no reason you can’t do the same.
You need a strategy to make it big on social media and rake in the dollars. When you understand how the platform works and how to monetize your account, you’re only a few steps away from reaching influencer status.
This guide shows you how to make money on TikTok. We’ll walk you through a few basic strategies you can implement today to grow your account and monetize your content. Are you ready to kill it on TikTok? Let’s dive in!
Can Anyone Make Money on TikTok?
Yes and no. TikTok is one of the easiest platforms to go viral with your video content. If you can generate views on TikTok, you can make money from your account, provided you meet a few caveats.
Many users assume they can just wing it on TikTok, drop videos they like, and get paid, but that’s not the case. The top performers on the site have one thing in common – a content strategy.
Plan your work, and work you plan. We’re not saying you should treat your TikTok account as a job. We’re telling you to treat it as a business. If you have a solid strategy, work it and adjust it as you go, tweaking it to improve results.
Eventually, you’ll start gaining traction on the platform, positioning you to monetize your account and content. Sounds easier said than done, right? Relax, we have you covered. This post unpacks everything you need to know about how to make money on TikTok.
4 Strategies for Making Money on TikTok
The Creator Fund is a great way to monetize your TikTok, but it’s not the only strategy available to you. If you don’t meet the eligibility criteria, you can still monetize your account through other techniques. Let’s unpack four proven methods to help create multiple income streams from your TikTok.
Strategy 1 – Get Pad By the TikTok Creator Fund
The “TikTok Creator Fund” is the most popular way to monetize your account. It’s similar to the “YouTube Partner Program,” where you receive cash for the number of views you receive. Unlike YouTube, you don’t have to wait 30-seconds of view time to count it as a view. As soon as a viewer opens your TikTok video, it counts as a view.
TikTok started the Creator Fund in 2020, with $200 million earmarked for qualifying creators. The platform recently upped its investment in the Creator Fund, increasing it to $1 billion. You can get yourself a piece of the pie with the right strategy.
To get your hands on some of the billion dollars available, you can join the ‘TikTok Creator Fund.” Can anyone join? Sadly, no. You’ll need to meet the following criteria if you want access to the Creator Fund.
- You must be 18 or older.
- Your account must have a minimum of 10,000 followers.
- Your video library must amass more than 100,000 video views per month.
- You must reside in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, or Spain.
- Your content must comply with the TikTok Terms of Service and community guidelines.
If you meet these eligibility requirements, you can apply to join the TikTok Creator Fund directly through the app. The TikTok Creator Fund pays between two and four cents for every 1,000 views on your videos. So a million views on a video could land you a paycheck between $20 to $40 per video.
Strategy 2 – Partner with an Established Influencer
If you’re not eligible to join the Creator Fund, you have other options for monetizing your TikTok. If you’re struggling to grow your audience, reach out to other influencers in your niche for help. Collaborating with influencers helps you leverage their audience to grow your following.
It’s important to choose the right influencer for the task. Reaching out to Kourtney Kardashian to strike a collaboration is not feasible. She has millions of followers. She’s not interested in working with you unless you can afford her appearance fee, which is several hundred thousand dollars per post.
Look for influencers with a following under 25k. These accounts are willing to work with you, sometimes on a “Shoutout for Shoutout” basis. If they charge a fee, it’s likely to be far more affordable and worth the investment to grow your following.
Strategy 3 – Reach Out to Brands that Resonate with You
When you’re closing in on the 10k followers mark, you have a decent amount of clout on the platform. Brands and companies will realize you’re account is blowing up. They’ll want to jump on your bandwagon to TikTok success to leverage your audience.
Reach out to brands you find inspiring that resonate with your values. For instance, if you’re into health, you could get a sponsorship from a supplement company like Liquid IV or Athletic Greens. If you like clothing, reach out to a niche brand you enjoy.
The key is to choose a brand sponsor that resonates with your content strategy and theme. Promoting crypto trading courses if you’re into spirituality and health will make you seem authentic to your followers. If you’re pitching crypto trading platforms, your audience will realize what you’re doing and won’t like it. Don’t ruin your reputation.
Authenticity sells. Promoting a product or service you believe in makes you more appealing to your fans, making it more likely for them to click your product links. Consider making a few unsponsored videos if you’re striking out with your outreach.
If you’re chasing a brand as a sponsor, create a video about them and post it. If you can prove engagement to your sponsor, they’re more likely to see your potential as a prospective partner. Here’s one important piece of advice on sponsored content. Use the ‘Branded Content’ toggle.
This transparency tool helps keep you honest with your fans and prevents TikTok from taking down your sponsored videos. You don’t have to mention your sponsors in every video. Each brand has different requirements from the creators they work with on the platform.
Create a “press kit” for prospective sponsors. The press kit is like a visual business card and presentation. Use it to present value to the sponsor, and use it to make your account seem irresistible. Hype up the reasons to work with you. Include your contact information, achievements, and a link to your account.
Strategy 4 – Use TikTok to Promote your Merch
TikTok, like YouTube and Instagram, allows you to sell merch through the platform. Open an account with a Print-On-Demand company, like Teespring. Create an account and upload designs to merch like coffee cups, t-shirts, and hoodies.
The POD provider receives the orders directly from your fans. They print and ship the merch to the fan and charge you a fee for the service. You don’t have to worry about inventory, warehousing, or logistics. You just collect checks.
Five Tips for Making Bank on TikTok
Now you have the strategy to make money on TikTok, let’s look at other methods for optimizing your financial performance on the platform.
Tip 1 – Review Top Creator Accounts in Your Niche
Don’t know where to start with your monetization strategy? Look at what the top influencers in your niche are doing. Are they selling merch? Which brands sponsor their content? Look and learn, and emulate those strategies.
Tip 2 – Treat It As a Business
Your TikTok and social media accounts offer a way to escape the rat race and earn a living doing something you love. So, treat it like a business, not a ‘fun thing to do.’ We’re not saying you can’t have loads of fun with your content, but you need a strategic approach to using your account.
Tip 3 – Maintain Your Regular Posting Schedule
Unlike Instagram, posting several times on TikTok as a new user doesn’t come off as ‘spammy.’ The key is to publish high-quality content that adds value to your audience. Don’t promote your sponsored content with every video, or you’ll start losing followers.
People will see through your effort to optimize your earnings, and they’ll find it irritating. For instance, “Jake Tran” publishes content on YouTube and TikTok. However, he’s receiving bad press for trying to scam his fans with his videos.
Jake will produce a video discussing crypto scams. In the same video, he’ll offer a similar crypto scam in the hopes his fans will use his reputation as collateral, taking the offer. This approach makes him seem inauthentic to fans. It’s costing him as fans realize his strategy and stop following his account.
Tip 4 – Don’t Be Shady with Your Followers
By now, you should understand that authenticity sells. Remember to use the ‘Branded Content” toggle when publishing posts with sponsored content. The last thing you need is for TikTok to ban your account because you didn’t hit the toggle.
Tip 5 – Persistence Pays Off
There are thousands of failures for each person who makes it as an influencer on TikTok. In most cases, people decide to quit their dreams of making money on TikTok as they approach the inflection point that would send their account to the moon.
Don’t get discouraged if you’re not seeing thousands of followers join your account daily. It takes time and effort to make it on TikTok. You’re on the right track if your follower count and engagement are rising. Stick it out and never give up.
How Much Can I Make On TikTok in 2022?
Making money on TikTok is easier than you think. It’s always intimidating starting a new business, but with persistence and passion, you’ll succeed with your dreams. When you finally land that big sponsor, you can earn thousands of dollars every time you mention them in a video. Couple that with your revenue from the Creator Fund and merch sales, and you’re on your way to experiencing financial success with your TikTok account. All it takes is a single viral video, and your following will explode to the stratosphere.
