If you are using the tremendously popular social media app, TikTok, you may wonder exactly how much your favorite creator makes. TikTok is the fastest growing platform in the world right now, and it is showing no signs of slowing down at all. These days, everyone from celebrities to everyday people are using the booming social platform for social media marketing. But, how much money do TikTokers make and how are they doing it? Here we will answer those questions.
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What is TikTok?
TikTok was launched in 2017 by the Chinese company ByteDance. It was the most downloaded app in the U.S. in 2020. Younger adults are by far the most frequent users of TikTok with 41% of users between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four. This generation, also known as Generation Z, tends to offer a lot of engagement since they are constantly using social media. If your company is looking for the best social media platform to reach this specific demographic, this is a great place to post content.
TikTok allows its creators to make short, 30-60 second videos of themselves dancing, lip-syncing, doing comedy, and performing music. Brands even realize that they can use TikTok as a way to advertise. It has truly become a multifaceted app with a variety of opportunities. But how much do TikTok creators make?
Like many social media apps, there are influencers and popular creators, otherwise known as “TikTokers”. These TikTokers may be young, but in answer to, “How much do TikTokers make?,” they make much more than your everyday teenager. There are many online calculators that calculate TikTok estimated earnings from popular creators’ accounts. How does TikTok figure out how much TikTok creators make? And how much do TikTokers get paid? The short answer is – outside of TikTok.
How Much Money Do TikTokers Make?
It can be hard to answer, “How much do TikTok creators make for their work?” Much of their earnings depend on where they live and also where their followers live. Unlike YouTube and other platforms, TikTok doesn’t pay their creators from ads. Even still, content creators who have about 100,000 followers or more can get paid $200 to $1,000 a month. Creators who have 1 million or more followers can get paid $1,000 to $5,000+ a month. But those who are under 1 million followers are usually not making any money at all unfortunately.
When it comes to how much viral TikTokers make, researchers say that TikTok stars could make up to $1M per post. Some of TikTok’s most successful users are based in the USA, with Addison Rae, Charli D’Amelio, and Dixie D’Amelio taking the top spots for money makers.
How Do TikTokers Make Money?
Here are some of the most common ways that your favorite creators are making money off of the TikTok platform.
Live Broadcasts
Beyond answering, “How much do TikTokers make?,” the easiest and most common way to make money on TikTok is by going on live broadcasts. When popular creators on TikTok broadcast live, followers can gift them what are called “coins”. When you are a TikTok user, you can purchase coins in your profile. Purchasing one hundred coins costs $1.39.
Then, when one of your favorite creators goes live, you can send them coins as a way of giving thanks for the content that they send out on TikTok. It is sort of like a virtual currency. A user can buy from 100 to 10,000 coins. Once a creator has received a certain amount of coins, they can exchange these coins for real money through PayPal.
In order to go live, a creator must have at least 1,000 followers. In further clarifying, “How much do TikTok creators make?,” or rather how much they can make, it’s not enough for creators to just go on live. They need to be active on the live, engaging with their fans by calling them by name and asking questions.
However, there is a limit to how much money TikTokers can make on their lives. For example, the max amount of money that is estimated to be earned by a TikToker on live is $2,000 to $4,000. Some creators will even go so far as to message their fans and ask them to donate to them. In exchange, the creator will give them a “shoutout” on their live. If the creator has a lot of followers and shouts out your username on their account, it is likely that you will also gain a lot of followers just because of the shoutout.
Brand Deals and Influencer Marketing
Many TikTok creators who are popular on the app will have brands reach out to them, asking them to partner with them for influencer promotions. Brands are always looking for people with large followings. So, how much do TikTokers make if they are a top creator? Estimated earnings are about $50,000-$100,000 per post for a successful brand partnership.
But in order to reach this amount of success, it is important that the type of content that the TikToker makes relates to the brand in some way. For example, popular TikToker Charli D’Amelio spoke frequently on her account about her love for Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee, even regularly dancing with a Dunkin cup in her hand. She soon received a brand partnership with Dunkin’ Donuts and even had a drink called “The Charli” created for her in her honor.
Additionally, Charli D’Amelio and her older sister, Dixie D’Amelio, who also has a large following, have a brand deal with cosmetics company, Morphe. They have their own line of makeup that has quickly become very popular. Morphe benefits from the deal because it increases their credibility as a company and helps reach their pre-teen fan base. Sometimes brands try to change the voice of the TikToker, and it becomes clear to the creator’s followers that it is a paid advertisement. This is why it is important for creators to have an authentic voice on TikTok and naturally advertise the brand. In fact, the creator can lose a lot of followers if they don’t advertise naturally.
TikTok Creator Program
Another way brands can reach out to creators is through a program called the TikTok Creator Program. This program is invitation only, and TikTok will only invite you if you have above 100,000 followers. You can make brand deals outside of this program, but this program is a great way for brands to figure out if they really want to work with you. Once you join the program, you get a “media kit” which shows the demographic that views your TikToks the most and how much engagement you get on your posts.
Attending Sponsored Events
A lot of brands create events for different product releases or just purely for promotion. This is a great way to get a lot of attention by having influencers attend them, post about the event, or represent them in some way. The brand will pay decent money for these events as well. Brands usually approach popular creators at events such as Beautycon or Comicon, events that both cater to a specific market.
Some TikTokers will even create their own meet and greets in order to have their followers have a chance to meet them. Charli D’Amelio had a meet and greet where she charged her followers $100 in order for a chance to meet her. She donated all of the proceeds to charity, but this was still a great way for her to build up her personal brand and get more followers.
A lot of brands also view TikTokers as the new bloggers. Lots of prestigious brands have invited Generation Z stars to their brand events. For example, Charli D’Amelio was invited to Milan Fashion Week, where she was asked to sit front row at Prada’s Fall 2020 fashion show. She documented a lot of the show which benefits both Charli and Prada. After the show, D’Amelio made TikToks with three models dancing to Avril Lavinge’s “What The Hell”, which ended up going viral.
Selling Merch
TikTokers also make money by selling merchandise, otherwise known as “merch.” TikTokers followed the trend that many popular YouTubers such as David Dobrik have used. They accomplish this by selling merchandise based on a brand. Also, TikTokers sell merchandise by adding the link to their store in their profile, as well as on all of their social media accounts.
Popular creator Addison ‘Rae’ Easterling collaborated with Fanjoy, a company that has worked with other social media creators. Her website has hoodies, sweaters, shirts, joggers, phone cases, all ranging from $10-$50. Many of the products that are sold as merchandise on these creator’s websites consist of items that teenagers love. Based on how many followers Addison Rae has, her estimated earnings from her merchandise store are believed to be around $25,000 a month.
Owning a company is arguably the best way to make money on any app. It is also really important to do what is called “cross-promoting.” A lot of TikTokers will also post their videos on Instagram or Youtube channel to get more followers and attention.
Content Creation Companies
If your goal is to make effective social media content creation to earn money for your brand on TikTok, reach out to a content creation company. An agency can help you figure out what kind of content you should put out to reach a large following. Contact us at SEO Design Chicago when you’re ready to get started on your TikTok journey!
FAQs about How Much Money TikTokers Make:
- What kind of merchandise do TikTokers sell?
- What kind of content should you put out on TikTok to get more followers?
- How much money can I earn from TikTok?
- What is the TikTok Creator Program?
- What is “cross-promoting”?
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