How To Make Money On TikTok: Some Easy Ideas

Despite only launching internationally in 2017, TikTok (together with its Chinese-market counterpart, Douyin) was the seventh most-downloaded app of the 2010s. For entrepreneurs and marketers, that’s a lot of marketing potential.

If you’re looking to leverage TikTok’s massive user base in building your audience, here’s a look at the strategies of the social media platform’s top creators and marketers.

1. Join the TikTok Creator Fund
2. Sell merch to your fans
3. Go live and collect virtual gifts
4. Partner with influencers or other brands in the TikTok creator marketplace
5. Create in-feed ads with the TikTok ads manager
6. Crowdfund projects by collecting donations from fans
7. Collect “tips” from your audience
8. Start a Patreon and offer fan subscriptions

• You must be at least 18 years of age.
• You must be based in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, or Italy.
• You must have a minimum of 10,000 followers.
• Your videos must have 100,000 video views in the last 30 days.
• Your account must adhere to the TikTok Community Guidelines and terms of service.

Deciding how to monetize TikTok users becomes easier once you’ve gained a deeper understanding of your target audience. There’s no single approach to monetization, but the highest earners usually maintain a number of complementary income streams. From sponsored content to organic marketing, the opportunities with TikTok are virtually endless.

Let’s go over some of the most common ways users make money on TikTok.

Users who’ve built up a substantial following might consider making money through the TikTok Creator Fund.

Revenue from the Creator Fund can vary from user to user, and is calculated based on factors like the size of your audience, the quality of your user engagement, and the frequency of your posts.

The Creator Fund is a great idea if you’ve already established a following, but it can be very exclusive, and steady payment is not always guaranteed.

If you’re just starting out, there are a lot of other ways to monetize your account. And even if you’ve joined the Creator Fund, it’s still a good idea to have additional streams of revenue.

Selling your own products on TikTok is great for monetizing nearly any type of content. Any creator⁠—whether they’re a dancer, singer, or comedian⁠—can make and sell merch to their most loyal fans.

And with a wide variety of print-on-demand companies, there’s a ton of merchandise to choose from. You might sell t-shirts, tote bags, pillow cases, hats, coffee mugs, stickers, notebooks⁠⁠—or any combination of products.

Selling print-on-demand products even has benefits beyond revenue. Owning branded merch gives your fans a more personal connection to your work, and every follower that wears your

Live gifting is one of TikTok’s most useful features for creators looking to monetize their content through livestreaming. Most social networks have a livestreaming feature, but what makes TikTok unique is that it allows followers to show their appreciation in real time by sending virtual gifts, which can be redeemed for payment.

Here are a few tips to help get the most out of going live on TikTok:

Here are a few tips to help get the most out of going live on TikTok:

• Pick the right time. You’ll want to go live when most of your followers are online. Check your audience insights by going to your profile settings and selecting the Analytics tab to see when your audience is most active.
• Stay live longer. Not every user will stick around for the full duration of your livestream, but staying live longer will give more users the chance to log on and catch a glimpse of your broadcast.
• Post during your livestream. When you post a short video while live, TikTok prompts users who see the video in their stream with a link to your live broadcast, helping to grow your live audience.
• Use TikTok hashtags. As with other social media networks, users frequently browse hashtag pages looking for new accounts to follow. Use TikTok’s hashtags to increase the reach of your videos.
• Test your internet connection and other equipment. Don’t overlook the technical aspects of going live. Make sure your internet connection, lighting, and sound equipment are capable of being used for prolonged periods of time.
• Stay safe. Remember that TikTok gives you the ability to filter comments, mute users, and block viewers. Don’t be afraid to use these features with users who aren’t contributing to the conversation in good faith. No one should have to put up with bullying or harassment.

Engaging with users in real time is great for building valuable relationships with your fans. Audiences that have a strong connection to a creator tend to develop a personal stake in their success, which means going live can help to boost other monetization streams as well.

TikTok has a ton of great organic marketing opportunities, but if you’re willing to spend a little to expand the reach of your content, you might consider creating your own in-feed ads with the TikTok ads manager.

TikTok ads appear in users’ “For you” feeds and auto-play like any other TikTok video. With paid ads, you can make sure your videos are reaching audiences that are most interested in your products.

But the best part? TikTok’s ad manager seamlessly integrates with Shopify. That means you can create TikTok ads, select a target audience, and track your ad’s performance⁠—all from your Shopify store. TikTok really can be one of the best online marketing tools at your disposal.

Crowdfunding works for big projects, and tipping is the simplest way to collect funds quickly. But what if you’re looking to secure a more regular stream of income? In that case, you might consider using a creator-based subscription platform, like Patreon.

Subscription-based models of income work great for content creators, because you can keep individual subscription costs low and focus on growing your number of subscribers.

A low-cost subscription of, say, one dollar a month is an easy sell to a single, dedicated fan. If you have a lot of dedicated fans, those dollars start to add up.

Patreon was the first large platform built to let creators and influencers generate revenue through paid memberships from their most loyal fans⁠. On Patreon, you can set up membership tiers that allow you to offer exclusive content to your biggest supporters.

Alternatives exist (most notably Ko-fi, which also includes a tipping feature), but Patreon has the added benefit of brand awareness, which adds a level of trust from prospective supporters.

If you’re thinking a subscription service might be the best way of monetizing your TikTok account, here are some best practices to keep in mind:

• Be transparent. Success on Patreon involves building a high level of trust with your audience, so be transparent about the amount you’re making and how your funds are being spent.
• Entice your fans with rewards. Audiences are likely to increase their donations if they’re getting something worthwhile in return. Reward your biggest supporters with alluring benefits, like exclusive content and free merchandise.
• Thank your supporters directly. Make your fans feel appreciated and they’ll be more likely to keep supporting your work. Reply to comments, tag users, and give video shout-outs to your supporters as frequently as you can.
• Promote your Patreon profile. Fans can’t donate if they don’t know you’re accepting donations. Link to your Patreon page from your TikTok profile and mention it in your videos, especially if you’ve recently gotten a lot of new followers.
• Keep subscription costs low. It’s easier to get $1 from 50 followers than it is to get $50 from one. Keep your subscription costs low and focus on growing your number of subscribers.
• Create new content consistently. Paying audiences have higher expectations when it comes to how frequently you release new content. Keep a content calendar and release new content regularly.

Creators are rarely driven by the prospect of making money. Creators are artists⁠—and as such, their fulfillment in creating doesn’t come from the money they make but from the creation itself.

But to be a creator in the year 2022 means a lot more than it used to. Creators aren’t just artists anymore. They’re artists, entrepreneurs, marketers, salespeople, accountants, founders, CEOs⁠—and everything in between.