More than an app to watch life hacks, trendy recipes, and random people dancing or lip-syncing to pop songs, TikTok has been a source of revenue for some. According to Forbes, the highest earners on the platform include Addison Rae Easterling, Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, and Loren Gray who have generated at least $1 million from their videos. But how can you actually make money from Tiktok?
Authentic Content
Anna O’Brien (@glittersandlazers) has almost 8 million followers on TikTok and posts fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and travel content. Although she already had a following on Instagram and YouTube, she advises those who want to reach a bigger audience to be “authentically versatile”. As one of the fastest-growing social media, it’s important to be able to keep up with current trends to be noticed by the algorithm. But that doesn’t mean all your videos need to be exactly like everyone else’s.
Influencer Marketing
Similar to other social media platforms, you can be an affiliate and promote brands on your account. Watch the income slowly trickle in each time someone makes a purchase through your link. You don’t need to have a certain number of followers, but it does help to have a large following to have more clicks. It’s best to promote brands that you genuinely support to increase your chance of getting noticed by them and maybe eventually scoring a sponsorship.
Creator Fund
In an update released on March 25, 2021, TikTok launched the Creator Fund to show their appreciation to the creator community and reward them for their creativity. “We Want all creators to have the opportunity to earn money doing what they love and turn their passion into a livelihood.” Those who are eligible to join must meet certain criteria, including having at least 100,000 followers and at least 100,000 video views in the last 30 days.
Your videos might not gain as much traction overnight but it’s nice to know it could turn into a side hustle if you’re constantly using the app anyway. For an estimate of how much TikTok influencers earn through their content, you can check out this calculator.
