Are you wondering how to make money with Tik Tok?
I get it, with over TikTok has 800 million active users worldwide, the platform is busting with opportunities and those who jump on it soon will be ones reaping the most rewards.
Not too long ago, TikTok was a ‘lame’ platform teenagers didn’t want to be in because most of its audience was 8-12 year olds.
But, as it happens in the Social Media world, teenagers decided to get on it, everyone followed them and it started to grow at exponential rates.
Not too long after, companies and celebrities wanted in on the potentially more than a billion eyeballs scrolling through the app.
By the fall of 2019, major campaigns from brands like Chipotle, ELF Cosmetics, and MAC became commonplace at the same time as A-listers like Will Smith hopped on board. Meanwhile, TikTok stars were landing lucrative talent deals and topping the music charts.
So, is it too late to get on TikTok now?
Definitely not! While growing on TikTok is is not as easy as it was back then, it is still possible to get millions (millions!) of followers in months if not weeks.
Something every influencer of digital marketers knows is impossible to do in a more stablished platform like Instagram or Youtube (at this point) .
So those who are creating content are seeing crazy views and some people are going viral literally overnight.
But you don’t even need millions of followers to make money on TikTok. The opportunities are abundant but you have to get on it soon to start can capitalizing on them today.
If you’re interested in making money check out some of the best (and many) ways to start making money with TikTok asap!
How to make money on TikTok?
In today’s day and age, an audience is probably the most valuable asset a brand, influencer or entrepreneur can have.
And TikTok’ content-hungry user base is one of the best opportunities to build (or grow) one.
Knowing how to create content that users want to see is the basis to grow a following and capitalize on the many ways of making money with TikTok.
For order purposes, I am going to split up the ways you can make money on TikTok into two categories:
- Making Money on TikTok as a content creator. Meaning as an influencer, artist, or entrepreneur, you want to have your own account, be the protagonist, and build a following for yourself.
- Making Money on TikTok behind the scenes. Meaning you don’t really care about being TikTok famous and you’ll rather profit from this platform in other ways.
Whether you want to be an influencer or artists or prefer being behind the scenes, these are some of the best ways you can get started today.
I. Making money on TikTok as a content creator
Making money as a content creator
1. Go Live and Collect Donations
Making money on TikTok doesn’t require a lot of creativity since the platform has a built-in monetization feature.
In a similar way to other platforms like Twitch, TikTok allows users to go live and collect donations from viewers, plain and simply.
How does it work?
TikTok users, can access their ‘wallets’ and purchase something called coins.
For $1.29. they can get 100 coins and, as far as i saw, there is no limit to how many coins an user can buy.
So now, when their favorite content creators go Liv they can send their preicous coins as an incentive and to show support and appreciation.
On the other side, the creator can turn those coins into diamonds and cash them via Paypal.
It’s basically a money exchange with a little gamification added
If you already have a lot of followers or you are working toward that, then you can use this moentization strategy to make money in a simple way.
TikTok users are already familiar with this method and if you are creating content they like, they’ll be happy to see your lives and send you coins.
Dancers and artists also get together to go live as a group and create a bigger buzz around it.
On Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, there is a similar feature that allows creators that go live, to add a link to a product. viewers can then buy it through the shopping cart feature. Seems like something TikTok will implement eventually to all account.
2. Sponsorships
Brands of all sizes have their eyes on TikTok and its 8 million users. If you have a significant and engaged following, you have something they want and can make money from.
Artists have always been able to monetize their fans through sponsorships and partnerships with brands.
The difference is that now, a ‘regular’ person can have a following bigger than a Hollywood star allowing them to land lucrative deals with mainstream brands.
According to social-media experts, content creators like Loren Gray, a 17-year old lip-syncher-turned TikTok royalty can be making around $200,000 a post. They also estimate that number will turn into one million dollars a post by 2021.
But don’t need to have 2 Billion followers like Loren to monetize your account.
Cosette Rinab, a College junior, with 1.6 million followers has landed sponsorships with brands like Bumble, Hollister, and Universal.
She said she generally charges “a couple thousand dollars” for a brand sponsorship, and according to other creators she’s spoken with, the average rate for a sponsorship on TikTok is between $1,000 and $2,000 per 100,000 views.
TikTok clearly realizes that the creators make the platform, and as the new kid in town, it wants creators and brands alike to feel supported.
One example of this is the TikTok Marketplace: a new database for deep-pocketed folk to shop for creators to work with.
The marketplace is currently in beta, so only invited brands, agencies, and creators are currently in it, but soon it will be a place for brands to search creators by follower count, engagement, type of TikTok, and a number of other parameters.
If you are wondering how to land a sponsorship, focus on growing your followers and keeping them engaged and brands will come to you.
3. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing works in almost any platform and it can certainly work on TikTok.
If you are unfamiliar with Affiliate Marketing, it basically means you promote a product or service and receive a commission in exchange for every sale.
Differently to sponsorship, will only pay you when there is a purchase made thanks to your referral. But on the other side, you don’t need to wait to grow your account to a certain number of followers or for a brand to come to you.
Over 75% of brands have affiliate marketing programs so you can easily find one that you want to promote and works for your audience with a quick google search. e.g. “best gaming affiliate programs“. (Gaming is just an example).
One if the biggest affiliate programs is Amazon’s so if you want something fast to start with, they have a pretty easy application process.
When you join an affiliate program, you’ll receive the affiliate links you need to promote it and you can start right away.
Then all you have to do is create some content related to a product or service and redirect viewers to the link in your bio.
In the video above for example, the content creator made a video about a collagen brand and place the affiliate link in her bio. If someone bought through her link she received a commission.
Even if you have 10K followers and 1% of them buys it, you can still make a significant income from just one 15 second video. It just keeps getting better as you learn what type of content works better for your audience and keep growing it.
4. Selling your own products
Another way to make money on TikTok is by selling your own products. Whether it is a paid course or merchandise, your account is the best platform to engage with your followers and offer them a product you know they’ll want.
If your account is focused on an specific niche like fitness, health or social media (among many others) then you can use your TikTok to promote a course or guide related to that subject. For example, lot of content creators in the health niche use their accounts to promote a workout program or meal plan.
Others with more personal accounts and fan-level-followers have also created their own merchandising or clothing line.
5. Sending traffic to other platforms
If you have other platforms like a Youtube channel or a blog, where you have monetization methods in place, you can also use TikTok to help you generate traffic and grow your followers.
Platforms like Youtube or websites can be monetized by placing ads on them, something that is not possible on TikTok (at the moment). So, at the same time that you grow your audience on TikTok, you send the same viewers to your other media and gain some extra dollars.
If you are just getting started with TikTok and do not have other channels, it is always a good idea to diversify your platforms.
TikTok seems to be here to stay but it can also be gone as fast as it came so you never want to rely solely in one media for your money-making endeavors.
Finally, if you are serious about making money online, you should consider growing your email list. It might seem a bit far out but is the best asset you can create if you want a long-term business.
If you want to learn more about growing an email list make sure to check out this article later.
6. Offline events
Yes, apparently there is still a world outside our phones and TikTokers are also making money on it.
TikTok fandoms are real and they are dying to meet their favorite TikTokers in person, and willing to pay for it.
This is why it is not uncommon for the most famous TikTokers to host meet-and-greets or shows if they are dancers or singers.
For some who had already started a carreer before TikTok or have landed deals thanks to it, the platform is still a great channel to continue to grow their fans and increase the sales of their music or events.
Check out the interview below with one of TikTok’s famous dancer on how she went viral overnight.
II. Making money on TikTok behind the scenes
If you are looking for ways to make money with TikTok but you don’t want to be a camera, there are many others ways that you can take advantage of this platform to make some revenue.
1. Growing and Selling Accounts
Social Media profiles are like internet real state and TikTok is not the exception.
That’s why one of the ways people are making money with TikTok is by growing accounts and then selling them.
The best way to do this is by choosing a mainstream niche where you know there is a lot of interest from users and also lots of brands who want to reach that audience. Ideally brands that don’t have a TikTok account yet.
You’ll then need to spend some time creating content for that account and growing the followers.
Once you hit a certain number, you can go ahead and reach out to brands in the niche to see if they’re interested in buying the account.
Try going for small or medium businesses since brands like Nike or Mac probably have a whole team devoted to their TikTok strategy.
The good part is once you become an expert you can repeat the process with several accounts and build your own account-trading empire.
2. Managing account for content-creators
If you don’t care about being in the spotlight, you can help content-creators who do like it to manage their accounts.
The growth of content-creators in TikTok can be very sudden and some of them end up with millions of followers overnight and without a strategy or knowledge and how to handle it and leverage it.
You could step in and offer services to help them with their strategy, maybe managing offers and deals that come their way and actually boost their content so their videos get seen by hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people.
Social media managing is also not a new service but each platform requires a specialized set of skills. If you can position yourself as an expert in TikTok, you can get a head start and take advantage of lots of opportunities.
Of course, you need to have the know-how and the expertise in order to offer this as a service. But once you’re there, people will be happy to pay to leverage your experience to their success.
3. Consulting or managing for brands
It wasn’t until the fall of 2019 that brands began to descend en masse to TikTok lands. At that point major campaigns from brands like Chipotle, ELF Cosmetics, and MAC became common, creating an opportunity for the TikTok experts.
If you can call yourself a TikTok pro, and understand how someone could take a video that maybe gets a hundred views and help them get 100,000 views, then you can become a TikTok consultant for brands by doing what you already know.
This is a really great way to leverage your expertise from the platform and help brands connect with their audiences through their own accounts and through campaigns with content creators.
Sean Young is a 26-year-old who is already making $10/month this way. He’d already been big on Vine, and his TikTok @seansaucetv immediately went viral with his signature highly produced “prank” videos.
Sean acts as a consultant for companies and celebs looking to build a presence on TikTok, while also running high-profile accounts like America’s Funniest Home Videos.
“People were kind of unsure about TikTok, but everyone is up on it now and everyone wants to do it right. They’re actually reaching out to creators. It’s really taking off now.”
“I was getting referred to really big YouTubers, people on Facebook, and even A-list celebrities to help them with their TikTok launch. People who were established in other places, they might have a team that helps them on other platforms, but when it came to TikTok, they wanted someone who specialized in that.”
4. Using TikTok Ads
Lat but not least, you can make money from TikTok is by using their ads platform.
Just like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, and Google, TikTok has a bidding-based ad platform where anyone can pay to advertise their products.
There is no much data yet about the behavior of the users of the app when it comes to ads. Snapchat for example has a lower conversion rate than Facebook or Instagram which might be because of the viewer’s demographic or the app’ user experience.
If you have a budget to test with and your market’s on TikTok, it might be worth it to give it and try and see if you can make more money than you put in
.
How to Be Successful on TikTok
Even consider its previous life as Muscial.ly. TikTok is still farly new, so people are still discovering the best ways to succeed on the platform.
Here are some of the key factors to consider if you want to become a TikTok expert.
1. Know Your Audience
The first step to being successful on TikTok is to know who is watching your content and what are they expecting to see.
What makes your content different from the other millions of accounts? Are you a good singer, musician or dancer, or comedian? Do you come up with pranks that no one else has done before? Do you share valuable tips?
Defining your audience will also help you with your content strategy. You’re not making videos for yourself and you shouldn’t try to make all sorts of content to make every user happy. Successful TikTokers make videos that they know their audience will love. It is much easier to devote your attention to a particular group of people, rather than just making random content.
2. Optimize Your Profile
Your profile is your first impression and should be nothing but the best. This is where you can show off yourself and establish your identity as a content creator catering to the audience you want to attract.
If someone finds your videos on the discover page and comes to your profile, you want to make sure it is attractive and clear enough so they choose to follow you. The type of content you make should be obvious to anybody looking at your profile.
If you are beginning from scratch, you have the chance to create the perfect username. You want it to be easy for people to say and spell, and preferably relevant to you and your niche.
Ideally, you should have the same username on all your social profiles, so your TikTok fans will know when they have found your YouTube, Twitch, and Instagram channels.
Additionally, be careful that nothing in the background of your images/videos gives too much information about where you live, especially if you are younger since there are always some creeps around.
3. Be Consistent With Your Content
The biggest growing TikToker are posting once or even more timesa day but no matter the frequency you decided to post on, make sure is one you can maintain.
You do not want to upload 10 videos in the first weeks and 1 in the following one. Consistency helps people know when to expect a specific type of video from you and they will be returning to TikTok on those days to watch your latest video.
You might consider adding short “slice of life”-type videos between your main videos. This helps your audience know and understand you better. Alternatively, you might make Vlogs alongside your more niche-specific ones.
Ideally, you want all your niche-themed videos to have the same look and feel about them so viewers can recognize you instantly.
4. Engage with Your Audience
Taking time to interact with your followers and replying to their comments is essential to keep your audience engaged and happy. After all, they are the reason you can achieve whatever your goals with TikTok are.
It may seem like hard work to you, but it makes your followers believe you care and take notice of them.
Consider going live at times, interacting with your fans and tell them about the parts of your life you are comfortable sharing .The more they believe they know you, the better they will feel about you and your videos.
If you are a singer, you can perform live or if not, you can use your live sessions to discuss topics of interest to your fans, run Q&A session, and partner with other content creators to appears on each other’s streams
5. Use other platforms to promote your TikTok Videos
A very successful method is to use TikTok, along with other channels like Youtube or Instagram. Some of the top TikTok influencers create “Best of TikTok” type compilations that perform well on Youtube .
That way they get to get some profits from Youtube ads as well as gaining a different audience that otherwise might not have found them. .
When people start seeing you everywhere, your reputation will expand from being considered a TikToker to being an influencer.
Not that there is anything worn with being a TikToker but you want to cover all your bases and use the momentum to build a bigger social media presence.
6. Make High Quality Content
Users on todays’ social media expect high quality content both in what your videos are about and in the technical aspect of your content.
If you are just beginning you’ll probably be filming with your phone but as you grow, develop your skills, and hopefully, generate money, you can improve your budget and equipment as well.
As a content creator, you should spend some time learning improving your skills and trying to make each video better than the previous one.
Making Money With TikTok Takeaway
If you are waiting for a sign to start your TikTok money-making journey, this is it!
There is no better time to get started with TikTok that now, except for 2019 but still, today is the second best time.
Right now there is an overwhelming demand for content and not enough content creators so Influencers are growing at never-seen incredible speeds and that won’t keep happening for long.
I fact, there’s no other app or platform that can give you those kinds of results right now.
As I hope you have learn with this artciles, the opportunities to make money with TikTok are many and they will probably continue to expand.
When you first start focus on growing your account and amke the best video possible since then it’ll be a lot easier to monetize it any way you choose.
