How to Make Money on TikTok?
In a world dominated by short videos, mastering the art of making money on TikTok can be a game-changer for content creators, enabling you to earn money while doing what you love. Some of the platform’s top users earn millions of dollars in income thanks to their presence on TikTok. With so many ways to make money on TikTok, choosing the right path can be challenging. This article aims to explain how to make money on TikTok.
Can You Make Money on TikTok?
You can make money on TikTok in several ways, and the approach you take depends on factors such as your audience engagement, the type of content you create, and the size of your following. If you have a large, active follower base, you can earn money on TikTok through the Creator Fund, a program that compensates creators financially for highly engaging content (likes, comments, and shares). You can also receive virtual gifts from your followers, which TikTok allows you to convert into cash.These methods require a minimum follower count and rely on audience engagement, either through interaction or paying for products and services, making them suitable for larger accounts. You can also make money on TikTok through affiliate marketing, whether you have a new or old account or a large or small following.
Affiliate marketing works similarly to earning a commission for recommending products: you share a link, and when people click on it and purchase the product, you earn a percentage of the sale. Although affiliate marketing does not have a minimum follower requirement, the more people watch your videos, click on the affiliate link, and make purchases, the more revenue you generate. Another option for making money on TikTok is the TikTok Referral Program.
Once you join the program, you get paid for referring new users to TikTok. There is no minimum follower count, so anyone can participate and start earning.
Ways to Make Money on TikTok
As mentioned earlier, there are various ways to start earning money from TikTok. Here, we’ll explain some of these methods.Creator Program/Creator Fund
Since July 2020, TikTok has been paying creators whose content receives substantial likes and comments through the Creator Fund to monetize their content. In November 2023, TikTok announced changes to how this program works, depending on your location, for users in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and France, the Creator Fund was replaced with the Creator Program. According to TikTok, the new fund allows creators in these countries to earn money for uploading videos longer than one minute.Unlike other platforms, TikTok’s Creator Fund doesn’t rely on ads. Instead, your earnings grow alongside your channel and content. The amount is also influenced by factors like views from real accounts, the viewers’ location, and more. As TikTok engagement is dynamic and changes daily, your earnings will fluctuate as well.
However, not everyone qualifies to join the Creator Fund. You must be in a supported country, have at least 10,000 followers, a total of 100,000 genuine video views in the last 30 days before applying, and have a personal or professional account that complies with TikTok's Community Guidelines and Terms of Service. Earnings depend on views and other engagement metrics. Once you receive a payment, it appears in the Creator Fund dashboard approximately three days after video views accumulate. You can transfer your earnings 30 days after the end of each month.
TikTok Ads
Approximately 67% of TikTok users are between 18 and 19 years old, and 56% are between 20 and 29, making TikTok marketing a strong advertising option for brands aiming to promote their products. TikTok ads have simple, powerful tools to help you advertise to millions of users. Ad formats vary by region but allow you to customize targeting by age, location, interests, and other factors. You can choose one or several formats that suit your brand best.The most common TikTok ad types include:
- In-Feed Video – Appears on the “For You” page for TikTok users who meet targeting criteria.
- Brand Takeover – This allows you to expand your ad to a full-screen view for a few seconds before becoming an in-feed video ad.
Partnering with Sponsors and Brands
Due to its popularity, brands and advertisers are willing to pay creators generously to promote products on TikTok. Most brands reach out to creators through their agents. One way creators can earn money directly from advertisers is through the Creator Marketplace, an official collaboration platform for brands and creators on TikTok. This platform enables content creators to partner with brands for paid campaigns.Creator Marketplace allows brands to search for creators, and view their profiles, follower counts, audience demographics, core engagement metrics, and more. While it’s hard to predict potential earnings, popular creators earn between $500 and $20,000 per video. However, keep in mind that TikTok does not allow you to receive brand payments through its platform; you must receive payments directly from the brands.
Collaborating with Other Creators
Collaborating on TikTok involves partnering with other creators to produce and promote content, which helps generate revenue while increasing your audience's reach and engagement. If the content resonates with the audience, they may be motivated to follow you. Collaborating with other creators to make TikTok videos lets you connect with their followers, boosting visibility and reaching new audiences. The more likes and shares you receive, the more earnings you can gain from the Creator Fund.Affiliate Marketing
You can promote different products or services and earn a commission for each sale or action that occurs through your unique link, known as affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is a strategy where you promote products and services for brands in exchange for a commission whenever someone registers or makes a purchase. Commissions are usually monetary and are provided as a percentage of the sale. Sometimes, the reward could be a discount on a future purchase or a free month of a subscription. Depending on the affiliate program, you can earn a percentage of each product sold or a fixed amount per purchase made through your link.You can use a bio-link tool like Linktree to create a landing page and promote multiple affiliate links simultaneously.
Collecting Tips
If you have loyal followers who love your content, they can show their appreciation by giving you tips whenever they like. The benefit of this option is convenience. If you’re eligible, your audience can pay you directly through your profile anytime. TikTok automatically transfers your tips to your bank account each week. However, you need at least 100,000 followers to qualify for this feature. Once it’s activated, TikTok will add a tips link to your profile, allowing users to see previous tips and leave new ones. You can also encourage viewers to tip if they enjoy your content.Live Gifts
Live Gifts allow creators to earn Diamonds (virtual credits) based on their live stream’s reception, with each Diamond worth $0.05. When Live Gifts are enabled, your audience can send virtual gifts that appear on the screen as various stickers and animations. Through gifts, viewers can show real-time appreciation for your content, and TikTok compensates eligible creators based on the value of their gifts. At the end of a live session, you’ll see the total accumulated Diamonds in the live summary, which you can convert to cash or virtual rewards from TikTok. Many creators have shared how they use live streaming on TikTok to make money. Some earn between $20 and $300 per live session, and others make up to $34,000 in a month from live streaming.Video Gifts
Similar to Live Gifts, Video Gifts are another way for viewers to interact and show appreciation for your content. Through Video Gifts, you can collect Diamonds for videos and convert them into cash or virtual rewards. To enable Video Gifts, you need at least 10,000 followers, your account must be at least 30 days old, and you must have posted a public video in the past 30 days. Videos that include “Stitch,” “Duet,” ads, sponsored content, promotional posts, or content violating TikTok’s Community Guidelines do not qualify for Video Gifts.Live Subscription
Last year, TikTok launched the Live Subscription service, a monthly subscription option for creators to increase their earnings and offer additional perks to loyal followers. Followers can pay to join the monthly subscription, gaining access to exclusive content, subscriber badges, custom emojis, subscriber-only live streams, chats, and videos. There is no fixed subscription fee, but subscribers can expect to pay between $5 and $25. TikTok pays creators through revenue sharing, so earnings depend on the number of subscribers. To qualify, you need at least 1,000 followers and must have hosted at least 30 minutes of live streaming in the last 28 days.TikTok Referral Rewards
TikTok Rewards is a referral program that lets you earn money by inviting friends and family to join the platform. As long as you have a TikTok account and meet the age requirements, you can start inviting users and earning money. Users from certain countries can invite up to 100 new users daily, though other regions may not have a limit. However, to qualify for the reward, the referred user must not have previously downloaded TikTok or created an account.TikTok Shop
You can monetize your TikTok channel by selling products through a dedicated store to showcase and sell products directly within the app. The TikTok Shop allows you to tag products in videos and live streams to increase sales. There are three ways to sell through TikTok Shop:- Live Shopping: TikTok users can shop directly from a live video by tapping on pinned products or browsing the shopping bag icon during the video.
- Shoppable Videos: Users can shop directly from videos in their feed by clicking on product links or the shopping cart icon.
- Product Showcase: Users can shop directly from your profile, accessing in-app products and making purchases without being redirected to third-party apps or websites, keeping the focus on your content.
Exclusive Content
In June 2023, TikTok introduced a new feature called “TikTok Series,” a way to create paid subscription content. Series can range in price from $1 to $190 and can contain up to 80 videos, each lasting up to 20 minutes. You can use a Series to share educational or entertaining content. Multiple Series can be created, providing additional revenue from premium content. You can set the price based on what you believe the content is worth and start promoting it. Interested creators can apply to access this new feature, but there are other eligibility criteria: the account must be at least 30 days old, have at least 10,000 followers, and have posted three or more public videos within the past 30 days, with at least 1,000 views in the past 30 days.Content creators with fewer than 10,000 followers may still qualify if they can provide a link to premium content they’ve successfully sold on other platforms.
How to Maximize Earnings on TikTok
To maximize earnings on TikTok, there are various methods, but they all rely on high-quality content. Trends come and go quickly on TikTok, so to stay on top, you need to create distinctive videos that capture users’ attention and motivate them to engage with and share the content.You can't use TikTok to make money without a loyal audience that interacts with you. This means engaging with your followers by commenting on videos, sending likes, following others, and being active on TikTok daily. High-quality content is essential to becoming a leading TikTok creator, as it's a key way to earn money on the platform. Major brands and advertisers prefer sponsoring creators with high engagement (likes and comments) on their videos.
High-quality content also helps you stand out among other active users and assists influencers in building personal connections with their audiences.
One of the common questions regarding earning on TikTok is: "How much does TikTok pay per thousand views?"
The Creator Fund pays between $0.02 and $0.03 for every thousand eligible views (views lasting over 5 seconds) on a TikTok video that’s 60 seconds or longer. Therefore, a video with 10,000 views should generate between $20 and $30.
However, the Creator Fund should not be your sole source of income. Don’t rely solely on video views for revenue—collect tips, sell your products, become a partner, and explore many other options.