Everything you need to know about TikTok monetization

As a TikToker with an established following, you are probably aware that TikTok is currently one of the top sites when it comes to earning megabucks. People everywhere are turning their hobbies into businesses and having fun while doing so.

With 2.05 billion TikTok users in early 2024, perhaps it’s time for you to join the many successful TikTok entrepreneurs and convert your creative work into a lucrative business?

Your first steps towards monetization

Essentially, you need a strong following, and you can get this with high-quality, engaging content that is posted on a regular basis. Be consistent. Whether you commit to posting daily or weekly, don’t let your audience down by skipping a post or two.

When shooting videos, it pays to use reasonable-quality tech equipment. A good camera and the use of an external microphone and a light or two, will boost the quality of your material (see our guide to creator tech equipment for more ideas).

As your content grows, check your profile periodically to make sure that it includes your latest achievements.

Familiarize yourself with the rules and etiquette of posting videos online with the TikTok Community Guidelines.

Using TikTok analytics

TikTok gives you a full suite of analytics so that you can watch your followers increase in numbers.

It helps you to monitor your individual videos and focus your advertising efforts and costs on your most successful material.

You can also analyze your audience preferences so that you can work on a marketing strategy or two.

Here’s how to access your creator tools:

Activate Analytics in your profile. (Note that you will only be able to see the analytics on new videos after 24 hours.)

On your profile screen:

· Click on the three parallel bars in the top right-hand corner.

· Click on Creator Tools.

· Click on Analytics.

Engage with your fans and your TikTok community

Enable the comments on your video and respond to your viewers’ comments.

Follow other creators in a similar genre. In this way, you can swap notes and learn from others’ experiences, ultimately building friendships and communities. It can also lay the foundation for future collaboration and partnerships.

Live streaming

TikTok LIVE has made it possible for you to set up live sessions with your audience so that you can engage with them in real-time settings.

You can:

· Create tutorials with Q&A sessions afterwards.

· Set up sessions for like-minded audiences, providing an interactive, spontaneous experience as you discuss your common interests and goals.

· Entertain and captivate your audience so that they come back for more.

· Send virtual gifts to a follower to show your appreciation.

· Accept virtual diamonds from your followers.

How to monetize your TikTok audience

There are many ways that a TikTok account can be used for side hustles or even a full-time income.

Brand partnerships and TikTok’s Creator Marketplace

You may be approached by brands that want to collaborate with you based on your awesome content. Or, you can seek out companies that align with your content and approach them with a proposal to sponsor you in return for advertising their brands.

But that’s not all.

TikTok’s Creator Marketplace matches brands and creators, linking them up and providing the tools to collaborate on successful campaigns.

To be elligible, you must be over 18 and have 100,000 followers. You need to have posted at least three videos in the last 28 days and received at least 100,000 likes in that period.

TikTok Creator Fund

The creator fund shares a portion of its ad revenue with the people who make it all possible—the creators.

Roughly, you earn between $0.02 and $0.04 per 1,000 views. This means that you would need a substantial following for you to realize significant payouts.

Does TikTok pay for likes? Yes, your payouts will increase if you encourage likes, comments, and shares on your videos.

Eligibility: To join the Creator Fund you will need to have at least 10,000 followers, and 100,000 views in the last month.

TikTok Creator Rewards Program

Unlike the Creator Fund, TikTok’s creator rewards program has been created to encourage videos that are one minute and longer. The program comes with a free dashboard for performance and reward analysis. There are some rules around eligibility for this program, however, such as country of residence and age. Click here to check your eligibility on TikTok and see how you can reap the rewards.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing on TikTok is not as straightforward as on other platforms.

Affiliate marketers sign a deal with a supplier whereby they undertake to advertise the supplier’s products, usually by placing links in their creative content that take the prospective buyer through to the supplier’s website.

TikTok does not allow links in video content, however, nor does it allow links in the comments section below.

To add your affiliate link to your TikTok business account, you can add an affiliate link, or a link to your website, to your TikTok bio.

· Click on “Me” in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

· Select “Edit profile.”

· Click on “Add your website” and add your affiliate link.

TikTok allows only one link, so if you are selling multiple products, you can create a landing page on your website that contains all of your links, and your customers can choose the products they are interested in from your landing page.

TikTok’s ad platform

TikTok has come up with some smart advertising moves. With a bit of initial work, you can optimize your ads and automate a strategy that will provide you with easy maintenance options for increased ROI.

But first, you need to have a budget. And you need to understand how it all works.

TikTok has different advertising structures, but generally, as an ad campaigner, your minimum budget will be $500.

Campaign models include options such as:

· CPM (cost per mile, or cost per 1,000 views) - $10 per CPM

· CPC (cost per click) - $1.00 per click

Other options include CPA (cost per action) and CPI (cost per install). Prices also vary depending on the audience or geographical area.

TikTok’s Business Help Center is a mine of information, with explanations that range from how to advertise, to creating and linking accounts, and all you need to know about their advertising policies.

They provide you with the tools to create video ads and optimize them with Smart Creative.

TikTok Ads Manager and A/B testing

With TikTok’s Ad Manager, you can set up separate ad campaigns. You can split test your ad by creating two alternate copies, A and B, and changing a variable for testing purposes. Test variables include targeting, creative, or bidding and optimization.

· Create your ad campaign and click on the ‘Create split test’ option.

· Split your audience into two separate groups, with each group seeing one particular ad.

· Allow the test to run over a week or so as TikTok runs copy A and copy B separately to determine the outcomes.

· Analyze the results to see which version of your copy worked best.

This method helps you learn what works best and enables you to optimize your ads to your best advantage.

TikTok Ads Manager and Smart Creative

TikTok’s Smart Creative combines your creatives, such as videos, ads, texts, and calls-to-action. It provides your audience with a creative mix of material while monitoring ad fatigue and taking into account your ad budget.

To turn on Smart Creative, go to Ads Manager, click on Ad Group, and select Creative Selections.

Final word

In addition to the above, you can also cross-promote your TikTok material on your other social media sites for increased revenue. You can sell your skills or create training courses that can be conducted on TikTok LIVE.

With your creative talent and a bit of imagination, the opportunities for making money on TikTok are endless.

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FAQs - TikTok Monetization

Q: How does TikTok Creator Fund pay?

A: Funds are calculated on the previous month’s views and engagement, with a minimum payment threshold of $10.

Q: What is a blue check on TikTok?

A: When you are watching a video, a blue check mark next to the creator’s username means that they are a verified user on TikTok. This helps you to make informed choices as it excludes fraud views, paid and promoted views, and views with less than 5 seconds watched time.

Q: How much money does it cost to get 1000 followers on TikTok?

A: You can pay for followers with social media growth services that you can find on platforms like Fiverr. UseViral is one such service that offers to improve your presence on many social media networks.