How Do TikTok Influencers Make Money by Making Content?

You scroll endlessly on TikTok. There never seems to be an end to the videos you can watch. You wonder who incentivizes creators to put out this content. How do TikTok influences make money? And more importantly, can you make that money, too?

The landscape of the TikTok app is very interesting. It becomes even more intriguing when we consider it a workplace of sorts. It is a great platform brimming with potential for viewers and creators alike.

How much does TikTok pay? What are the ways that you can earn money on TikTok? Do I have to amass a huge following before I earn from views? Is earning potential available in remote countries? 

And there is so much to understand about this new income-making method. And who couldn’t use a new stream of income? Especially if it involves creating content that you already make for free.

We want to answer all your questions, so this article is particularly long. Grab some snacks. 

Read this article for everything you need to know about making money on TikTok!

Do People Make Money on TikTok? What Do They Do?

Yes, many active users on TikTok earn a living from creating content on the platform.

TikTok is a workplace just like the ones people drive to every day. It is a platform where people offer the service of creating content. In return, other people pay for these videos.

You may understand the general concept of making money on TikTok. But you want the details on the content creator economy. Here are six popular ways to make money on TikTok.

1. Brand Partnerships

Brands understand that they need to improve how they relate to their consumers. They can’t access them using the traditional means of advertisement. Having a social media presence is how they meet them halfway. 

Merely existing on social media platforms isn’t enough to access the target audience. They have to join forces with a content creator. Brands find creators that have a good command of their target audience. They choose a creator that people trust and emulate. 

Then, this creator promotes their content to their followers. They act as the middleman between the brand and the consumer. Of course, they don’t do this for free. They charge the brand for the service of being a brand ambassador. 

Creators have to post content at an agreed rate. They may also have to avoid promoting competing brands.

2. Sponsored Content 

Think of your favorite TikTok creator who raves about a particular brand. They act like it is life-changing (their words exactly). Most of them are not that passionate for no reason. They don’t rave about this product because they want you to enjoy it.

The brand heavily compensated them to sing the praises of their product. They sponsored the video that they made for their TikTok. The hope is that association with the product will also boost consumers’ buying it. 

Brands benefit from consumers’ fixation with content creators. Followers may purchase the product because they trust what that influencer says. Some creators accept free products to promote products. Others receive monetary compensation.

3. TikTok’s Creator Fund

TikTok pays you for the video views you generate. If you are in the right country, you can benefit from attracting a large viewership. The TikTok Creator Fund pays content creators for their content. It is TikTok’s way of incentivizing content creation for the platform.

Content creators still have to make a lot of videos with many views to earn a reasonable income. For this reason, it is not the only means of income generation on this platform. 

Creators likely dabble in income generation tactics on TikTok. Furthermore, this feature is not accessible in many countries. You may not even have this option as a creator if you live in a certain place. Fortunately, there are other ways for creatives to earn on the platform.

4. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is popular among influencers. You may be familiar with the movement against gatekeeping on the Internet. Gatekeeping is essentially when a person refuses to share useful information with others. 

This could be information on where to find a particular item on sale. Or, it could be information on an easier way to do a popular task. Creators realized that they were responsible for many sales on the Internet. They wanted to earn from this influence. 

Affiliate marketing on TikTok allows them to earn from every sale they influence. Some may refer viewers to an Amazon storefront. If the viewers choose an item from the storefront, the influencer earns when they buy. 

Some content creators offer viewers discounts on items. The discount allows stores to track how many sales the influencer generated. It is a mechanism that benefits everyone. It’s important to use the affiliate link that the influencer provides. That is the only way they earn from advertising products. 

5. Merchandise Sales

Some creators sell products online. TikTok Shop is popular. People buy things because they are scrolling the app anyway. Setting up a shop and detailing items can be tedious. However, it costs nothing for a creator to do so.

And they may not take the TikTok Shop route. They made a user TikTok account to advertise an online store. They may model the clothes and promote it using their lifestyle. Ultimately, followers will ask about their products. They will direct them to an external website where they sell the products.

The same applies to digital products. Many creators make e-books and offer them for sale on a separate website. They use their TikTok account to show off their amazing life. Eventually, they announce that followers can achieve the lifestyle as well.

However, to achieve this lifestyle, they must absorb the information in a book they wrote. This book is available for download on another website. TikTok is just a platform for advertising. Creators technically don’t earn directly from the platform with this method.

Of course, TikTok allows a limited amount of adult content. Some creators give a preview. Then, they direct followers to a website they can subscribe to for exclusive content.

6. Live Gifts

You’ve heard of the NPC trend on TikTok Live. You know that people behave that way because they get virtual gifts. Their followers send them to see them act like video game characters. 

Did you know those gifts translate to dollars? This is how to make money on TikTok Live.

Yes, these influencers earn from the gifts that their followers give them. So, who pays for these gifts? The followers ultimately pay for these gifts. TikTok does not foot the bill. Ultimately, these gifts add up.

Some content creators go live routinely. There, they ask for gifts from their followers. They may earn them by performing in some way. Creators can go live with other creators on the platform. Sometimes, they enter competitions.

So, do people make money on TikTok? Yes, they do. You could make money on the platform, too.

Can You Make Money on TikTok as a Small Creator?

Yes, you can earn from TikTok as a small creator. It is a popular misconception that you need a huge following to make money on this platform. 

The truth is that small creators are in a unique position to earn from TikTok. What you consider to be a weakness could be a strength. These features of being a small creator make you more marketable.

1. You Have a Better Engagement Rate

Engagement rates depend on how much your followers interact with your content. If you have many followers, you need a lot of engagement for your rate to be healthy. Keeping a high engagement rate is more difficult when you have a lot of followers. 

It’s harder to interact with all of your followers when you have too many. You can’t respond to comments at the rate you would as a smaller creator. You may not respond to messages often enough, either. 

The smaller creator, however, can maintain interactions a lot easier. When people see that you respond, they are more likely to leave comments. 

A good engagement rate is attractive to brands. It gives the impression that you have people who care about your content. They are more likely to trust you when promoting their products. The evidence shows that your following is already active.

2. You Have a Closer Relationship With Fans

Smaller followings are typically much more tight-knit than bigger ones. You may still have enough followers to notice recurring names. This visibility helps you get to know people on a personal level. Your followers like this. They like fostering a relationship with the creators that they follow on TikTok.

With a relationship, they are more likely to trust you. This way, you can promote products to them without seeming like a salesperson. Instead, you sound like a friend recommending a product to another friend. 

You ultimately stand to gain. Brands may see a higher return on investment from you than they would a bigger creator. There is automatically a presumption that big creators want to sell things to followers. Smaller creators benefit from being more relatable and accessible.

3. Brands Find You More Affordable

Brands that collaborate with you will negotiate prices. They will consider the size of your following. If you are a micro-influencer, they may find you more affordable than the mega-influencer.

Don’t consider this an insult. If more brands want to save money, the potential collaborations for your brand increase. You may secure more brand deals because you’re cheaper.

Big creators will admit that they just have numbers. They don’t necessarily make a lot of money. So, can you make money on TikTok as a small creator? Yes, you definitely can!

To earn from the Creator Fund, you need at least 10,000 followers. There is no minimum requirement to earn using other means.

How To Increase Your Chances of Making Money on TikTok

Let’s work on making your TikTok account the best it can be. You have the potential to make so much money there. You just need to know how to manipulate the algorithm.

You can make simple changes to your content. If you start incorporating them, they will become second nature quickly.

1. Engage With Your Audience

This is one of those times when you can’t wait for someone to make the first move. You need to set the tone on your TikTok page. 

Do you want people to comment on your content? Do you want them to engage in conversation? Well, you need to start it. Acknowledge even the few comments you do get. Give small replies where you can. 

Other followers will notice that you are the type of creator who engages. They will want to engage as well. Ultimately, you feed your engagement rate.

Potential brands looking for collaborations will notice your engagement as well. Answering followers’ questions will be a good look, and they will think you will answer questions about their products as well.

If you keep this habit up, you have an active TikTok page. You increase your marketability and attract more followers.

2. Post Consistently

It’s almost impossible to overload TikTok with content. People go on there expecting to scroll for hours. Why not have them scroll through your videos? 

Do you have a fear of posting too much? Do you think that you annoy your followers? Avoid thinking these thoughts. They limit the attention you can bring to your page. You could be missing out on visibility with a potential brand partner. You could miss out on an opportunity to increase your target audience. 

Post as consistently as you can reasonably manage. The more videos you upload, the more opportunities for engagement. You can upload technical videos or simple ones. You could even re-purpose video clips that you’ve used before. 

Using a different audio clip may land your video in front of a different audience. You could even reply to comments on your videos with another video. 

Just put content out there for people to see. This is how you get more views and increase the possibility of making money. How do influencers make money on TikTok? They stay consistent. 

3. Hop on TikTok Trends

TikTok is the Mecca for Internet trends. Every dance, prank, or story challenge starts on TikTok. Hopping on trending TikTok challenges might be a great opportunity for viewers to find your content. 

Perhaps a particular trend is going viral on the platform. Viewers may want to see content on it. They may not know that your page exists. But they know about the trend. They will look up the trend, and your content will show up. 

Then, they may go to your profile and look through your other videos. You may earn yourself a follower like that. 

The idea applies to using trending audio clips as well. TikTok might be pushing content that uses particular audio clips. Use these clips to increase your chances of landing on the For You page (FYP). Use these clips as well.

How Much Money Do TikTok Influencers Make for Video Views?

According to Exploding Topics, influencers earn between $0.02 and $0.04 for every 1,000 views. The applicable rate may vary from creator to creator. Some creatives report difficulty gaining access to the Creator’s Fund. TikTok also reserves the right to withhold funds for some reason.

For these reasons, most creators do not depend on TikTok for a check. They delve into other income streams to supplement these payments. Even earning millions of views could result in a pittance of a payout.

So, how much money do TikTok influencers make from video views? It could be around $20-$40 for every million views. The real income generation lies in some of the methods we list in this article. 

Direct your attention here to learn how to make money on TikTok. Consider all the ways you can make money from TikTok and make an informed decision.

How Much Does TikTok Pay? Frequently Asked Questions

It is common knowledge that TikTok is a place to earn money from your creativity. Unfortunately, some people still don’t know how to do that. We have the answers to some of the more confusing questions surrounding earning from content creation here.

How Do TikTok Influencers Make Money? They Secure Strong Followers With Us!

Are you ready for TikTok to be your new workplace? You have a very strong creative side, and you can monetize it. Well, you increase your chances of earning by having a strong following. 

No, it doesn’t necessarily mean a huge following. It could be a reasonable size of quality followers.

It’s easy to bring random people to a TikTok page. People who don’t engage in your content won’t spend their money. Those aren’t the people we want to get you. We want your followers to be genuine fans of what you create.

We will have to take a scientific approach to getting these people for you and use our sophisticated AI technology to grow your following. We can do it for you if you let us. 

How do TikTok influencers make money? They leverage their very dedicated followers.

The team at High Social knows how to bring those dedicated followers to you. Sign up with us and start growing your following today!

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