What is the best way to generate money on TikTok? Is this even possible?
That is TikTok, whether you are a TikTok user or just a casual witness of the phenomenon. You may have asked yourself these questions in that situation.
In response, Forbes magazine just produced an article on the highest-earning TikTok influencers, and the results aren’t surprising:
- $5 million Addison Rae Easterling (84.3M TikTok followers)
- Charli D’Amelio has a net worth of $4 million (124.3M TikTok followers)
- $2.9 million, Dixie D’Amelio (55M TikTok followers)
- Loren Gray has a net worth of $2.6 million (54M TikTok followers)
- Josh Richards has a net worth of $1.5 million (25.5M TikTok followers)
TikTok creators with a lot of fame are making a lot of money. Not only that, but TikTok’s popularity has skyrocketed in the last year. All examples are the rise of the sea shanty, lip-sync challenges, and the “Tell me without telling me”Challenge.
These and other popular TikTok trends have positioned the platform as a one-of-a-kind video creation tool beginning to edge away from its competitors. In fact, according to App Annie, Americans now spend more time on TikTok than they do on Facebook or Instagram each month.
All evidence point to TikTok’s long-term viability, but the issue remains: how are people profiting from the platform?
The Basics
To begin with, the ordinary TikTok creator is not paid directly for creating and posting TikTok videos.
TikTok does, however, provide financing through its Creator fund. To be eligible, your TikTok profile must have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 video views in the last 30 days. Not to add, these payouts are based on the number of views and the engagement percentage of your audience.
Even if you’re lucky enough to be eligible for TikTok’s Creator Fund, most TikTok creators don’t rely on it exclusively. TikTok’s highest-paid customers are more likely to monetize their accounts through numerous income streams (more on that in a sec).
However, there are a few things you should know before getting into the nitty-gritty of how to make money on TikTok. So, to assist you in establishing the groundwork for your TikTok monetization plan, we’ve shared some sound recommendations below:
Audience
Did you know that as of 2021, TikTok has surpassed competitors like Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest in terms of monthly active users?
With 62 per cent of TikTok users in the United States aged 10 to 29, it is said to be “the platform” for Gen Z and millennials. Gen Z, in particular, has received a lot of media attention, and rightfully so. They already account for 40% of all consumers on the planet.
But, more importantly for us as aspiring entrepreneurs, research reveals that this generation spends more time online than any other in history. It’s little surprise, then, that TikTok has become extremely popular among this cohort, with claims claiming that it kept more than 100 million people interested during lockdowns.
What sets TikTok apart from other social media platforms?
One of the main reasons for TikTok’s appeal, according to HTG, is its unique algorithm. TikTok employs AI and machine learning to deliver content that viewers want to see based on user interactions and larger patterns. TikTok has also created a sense of community among users and content creators.
You’ll be in a better position to create TikTok-friendly content if you understand some of the unique features TikTok has to offer, as well as the primary demographics who use it. Of course, finding an audience is an essential element of making money on TikTok, but how do we do it?
As a maker, TikTok encourages spending the time to get to know your surroundings. If you’re just getting started, see if any other creators are doing similar stuff to you.
Next, decide on the type of speciality for which you’ll create content. Again, it’s best to experiment with different materials in the beginning to get a sense of what your audience is interested in. Then, after some of your videos start to acquire traction, you can focus on the material that’s doing the best and expand in that area.
It’s time to start creating a community place once you’ve gained greater confidence in your expertise. It’s kind of like a selected gallery. You’re putting on a show, and all of the pieces are seamlessly integrated. But it’s not as simple as showing there and leaving. Instead, it would help if you interact with your audience. It’s one thing to respond to comments, but your goal should be to develop long-term relationships with your audience so that they return for more.
One option to answer your viewers’ queries and comments are to go live. You may also give shoutouts to your most devoted fans and react to growing trends in real-time. Not to mention, with Tiktok’s built-in analytics capabilities, ‘lives’ are a great way to discover more about your audience. For example, let’s pretend you have a TikTok Pro account. In that situation, you can get information about your viewers’ gender, location, and activities. This information can then make your content more appealing to your target audience.
Finally, while sticking to your expertise is vital, keep in mind that TikTok is all about trends. Whatever your specialization, you must be adaptable enough to respond to changing trends while keeping your own identity. Your material will be more likely to be seen by a larger audience, potentially resulting in additional followers.
The Creator Economy
Now that you know who TikTok’s primary audience is and how popular the site is, what about the industry that keeps it all together?
The creative economy is now in full swing.
The term “creator economy” refers to the ecosystem where creators can profit from their passions and creativity. When someone had an idea, whether it was for a whole business, a service, or just a product, they had to go through multiple third parties to reach their customers in the past. This is no longer the case.
Instead, with a few mouse clicks, you can get your ideas in front of your target audience.
Creative revenues on more than 50 social media platforms totalled more than $10 billion over the last ten years. Furthermore, the number of creators on these platforms has risen by 48 per cent year over year.
What is the story’s moral? Content creation has evolved into its industry.
More and more people are quitting their 9-to-5 jobs and relying only on the internet to supplement their income.
However, becoming a creator – whether on TikTok or elsewhere online – isn’t only about making money. It’s also a chance to learn more about creation. It’s about putting money into a cause you believe in and finding people who believe the same way you do. As a result, business structures must adapt to match the needs of this market.
People are now marketing their authenticity rather than relying on conglomerates to advertise specific products or services. As Stanford University forecaster Paul Saffo so aptly put it:
“Participation in large groups has become the new normal.” Stuff is inexpensive; status is earned through creation. Engagement is what creates value.”
What Does This Mean for Creators on TikTok?
So, what does this mean for you as a TikTok creator, and how can you generate money by using the creator economy?
For starters, don’t think of your audience as consumers when you’re trying to generate money on any social media platform, including TikTok. Instead, keep in mind that these are people with whom you’re attempting to form a bond. The importance of audience interaction in how you advertise, monetize, and grow as a creative cannot be overstated.
Instead of concentrating on securing one-time transactions (which is often a result of traditional marketing approaches), focus on developing long-term relationships with your audience.
Keep in mind what your audience wants:
Authenticity
Use your genuine interest, talents, and hobbies to attract a crowd. On TikTok, there’s a place for everyone. Find your area of expertise and share it with your audience. According to studies, 60 per cent of TikTok users reported a sense of camaraderie while using the app. They were also more motivated, confident, and entertained due to the experience. Users desire a location where they can be themselves and feel appreciated. That’s the kind of atmosphere you want to create with your material.
Engagement
Consider new ways to interact with your audience. Surprisingly, 79 per cent of users referenced in a remark read the comments on videos. So, of course, responding to comments and inquiries is an excellent place to start. Adding a personal touch to your communications, on the other hand, is even more effective at building rapport and a sense of connection with your audience.
Maybe make an inside joke or respond with the commenter’s name? These are just a few of the many ways you may personalize your comments to make them appear more genuine.
Value
It’s not enough to share stuff that you enjoy. You must provide your audience with what they desire regularly! As we’ve already stated, it’s essential to keep up with TikTok trends. Remember that while using TikTok, 88 per cent of users find new material they appreciate. Consider your postings as an opportunity to add content and gain new followers.
Monetization
Let’s get to the part you’ve been looking forward to monetization with that in mind.
You might be wondering why we didn’t start here. This is because it’s critical to remember the game’s overall regulations. First and foremost, as we’ve already stated, content creation isn’t only about making money; it’s also about utilizing your ideas and enthusiasm.
Three monetization tactics that work particularly well on TikTok are as follows:
- Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing in which you
- Marketing with influencers
- Selling your products
- Donations/subscriptions from subscribers
- TikTok marketing
- Affiliate Marketing is a great way to make money on TikTok.
- There’s affiliate marketing, for starters.
In its most basic form, Affiliate marketing is when you encourage others to buy third-party items and services using your ‘affiliate link.’ Then, if you make a sale, you’ll get paid a commission.
According to entrepreneur and influencer Neil Patel, Affiliate marketing can be a successful way to produce a passive income. By passive, we mean that all you have to do is set the groundwork, and after you’ve done that, you’ll be able to get rewarded again and again with minimal effort on your part.
Joining an affiliate network or contacting your favourite company to check if they have an affiliate programme is the first step in affiliate marketing. If you choose the first option, the network acts as a go-between for the affiliate (in this case, you) and the company you’re marketing. Clickbank, Amazon Associates, and the eBay Partner Network are popular affiliate networks (EBN).
When it comes to TikTok affiliate marketing, you can advertise affiliate products/services by promoting them to your subscribers, reviewing them, including them naturally in your videos, and so on.
Influencer Campaigns
When firms and solopreneurs collaborate with creators to endorse or mention their items to their following, this is known as influencer marketing.
As a result, for this marketing approach to be practical, the author must have many followers. TikTok, fortunately, provides a creative marketplace where companies and creators can collaborate on projects. This could lead to profitable cooperation with payment for sponsored posts or other sponsorship deals for the TikTok developer.
Whether you post a straight commercial, a product review, or a natural integration into one of your regular posts, keep in mind that your audience comes first.
Consider whether your collaborations are consistent with your brand. Also, consider whether it will add value to your audience’s experience. You don’t want your audience to think you’re trying to sell them something they don’t want because that would only hurt your relationship with them.
Selling Your Merch
Consider selling your items if you’re having trouble finding a third party to partner with or if you want to diversify your TikTok revenue streams. While some designers go so far as to design their product from the ground up, merchandising may be as simple as creating t-shirts with your name on them utilizing print-on-demand services like Printful, Printify, and Lulu Express. The advantage of print on demand is that you don’t have to spend money on inventory or storage.
Audience members may be eager to buy one of your masterpieces if you have a creative streak and use TikTok to exhibit your talents. For many TikTok makers, resale apps like Poshmark and Depop and online markets like Etsy have become lucrative avenues.
When it comes to items you can manufacture yourself, there’s a lot of money to be made selling things like online courses and ebooks if you make instructional TikToks. Or any other instructional products that your target audience might be interested in.
Sites like Udemy, Skillshare, and Coursera are good places to start if you want to build and launch a full-fledged online course and sell it on a marketplace.
You might live stream bits of your course content on TikTok to give visitors a taste of what’s on offer to sell your course. Not only is this a great lead magnet, but you’ll almost certainly get some response from your audience as well — it’s a win-win!
TikTok Advertising
Consider running a paid TikTok ad if you have a product, you know your audience will enjoy. Advertising on Tiktok isn’t just about generating interest in a product; it’s also about growing your brand by reaching out to new individuals and forming connections based on mutual trust.
Given this, it’s no surprise that TikTok saw a 500% surge in advertising executing campaigns in the United States last year. Brands have found that participating in “hashtag challenges”, and a range of ad formats are particularly appealing. TikTok has recently experimented with different video lengths to diversify its offers and grow into eCommerce. In addition, TikTok teamed with Shopify earlier this year to introduce live shopping and product catalogues to the app. As a result, users will soon be able to make in-app purchases without leaving the stream!
You may create paid ad campaigns with TikTok’s ad management feature.
However, before developing a campaign, you must first create a TikTok account.
After that, you’re free to start writing your ad, starting with describing its goal.
Then, TikTok’s ad manager will give you options for optimization. You’ll also need to indicate your budget and the format of your ad, such as video, photo, and so on. Then, to ensure that your ad is seen by your intended demographic, you can drill down on your audience of choice.
Here are some pointers on how to make the most of TikTok’s paid advertising:
To combat viewer fatigue, TikTok recommends refreshing your ad every seven days rather than airing the same ad all the time.
If you choose to use a video, make sure the resolution is at least 720p.
You should also include an audio track in your video. You want to draw people’s attention to yourself.
Short videos perform best; one out of every four top-performing videos is between 21 and 34 seconds long.
Finally, make sure that any videos you use are full screen. Vertical videos are also the most effective.
According to TikTok, 61 per cent of users believe TikTok’s sponsored advertising is different from other popular social and video sites. Because TikTok advertising is more genuine and entertaining than other social media platforms. People are also more likely to buy from firms that include advertising in their other content. So people won’t feel like they’re being sold this way.
Subscriber Donations/Subscriptions
We’ll explore the final monetization approach based on your audience’s relationship with you. Patreon is a company you may have heard of. For those unfamiliar, this is a subscription service that allows fans/subscribers to tip their favourite producers or subscribe/pay a set amount to access more content.
TikTok also includes a live gifting option where users can express their gratitude in real-time by sending virtual gifts that can be redeemed for money. In addition, tipping systems like Tippee and Kofi can also redirect dedicated followers who want to express their support.
Alternatively, let’s say you’re working on a project and need some help. Consider crowdsourcing sites like Kickstarter or Fund Me in such instances.
Always be completely transparent with your audience when using this monetization method. Please don’t take advantage of their kindness; instead, make sure you always provide the best service in exchange for their money.
Are You Prepared to Make Money on TikTok?
To summarise, you must understand TikTok as a platform and what makes it unique, and the type of audience it attracts. Then, with this information at your fingertips, you’ll be in a lot better position to create a business plan that fits your needs.
Let’s take a look at some of the most critical lessons from this article:
It would help if you were cautious when using any monetization approach on TikTok because you don’t want to overwhelm your audience with promotional content. TikTok is designed to help people connect. As a result, you must adopt a content-first mindset that allows you to build authentic and individualized interactions in which you may explore your shared interests. This is critical for securing your place in the burgeoning creator economy.
A solid awareness of the creator economy will only help you, whether you’re a rookie Tiktoker or one of the many full-time TikTok stars with a large following. Monetizing your content should be a natural extension of the area you’ve created for yourself on the platform. After that, once you’ve built a following, you can experiment with different ideas and hobbies.
If you’re still not convinced, take a peek for yourself and see what all the hype is about. What are the chances? Maybe you’ll make some actual money in the process.
