How to Earn Money from TikTok as an Influencer (A Detailed Guide)

TikTok is a social media platform where you can upload short videos and share them online. Anyone can become a TikTok influencer and earn money on TikTok. You just need the right content, a large number of followers who will appreciate your content, and the right marketing tactics.

Recently this app has gained a lot of popularity and has become a source of earning for many TikTok influencers. Over 1.5 billion people all over the world are using TikTok, and the number is constantly growing.

Image via SensorTower

American people have spent over $23.1 million on TikTok’s virtual money since 2018. This statistic is only for the US, imagine it all over the world. That's the kind of money that this app promises.

Before we go on and talk about conquering TikTok, let’s first understand what it is and how it works.

How Does TikTok Work?

The TikTok algorithm is programmed to assess the videos you have liked and shared in the past and generate content using that knowledge. When a video is uploaded, TikTok shows it to some users in between viral videos. Then the algorithm calculates the hours watched, number of likes, and shares.

The algorithm is designed in such a way that if the user engagement on the video increases, then it will be circulated to more people. This increases the possibility of your video getting more shares and likes as compared to other social media accounts because the number of users is over a billion on TikTok.

Though TikTok is majorly an entertainment medium where you can post 15 to 60 seconds videos, with the right steps, you can become an influencer on this platform and start earning money from TikTok. The major source of earning money on TikTok is through ads and sponsorships.

You can seize the opportunity of this growing trend and make money on TikTok by becoming an influencer. In this post, we will share tips on how to start making money on TikTok and become a TikTok influencer.

How Can You Earn Money on TikTok?

Here are 9 tips on how to earn money from TikTok and become an influencer on the platform.

1. Be Unique

There is a lot of content on TikTok. If you want to strike a chord with your audience, then you need to be unique. Choose a niche for your videos that is offbeat and has not been attempted by other TikTok influencers.

However, even if your video content is not unique, your style of presenting it can be. People want to see something different from the usual. If you offer something new, then it will get noticed. Try to follow the latest trends in influencer marketing to find out what audiences are looking for.

2019 was the year of creativity for TikTok. Many influencers with great ideas made some awesome videos that went viral.

Want to know how?

Let’s find out with the help of some examples.

For example, @daviddobrik made a video of a giant toothpaste wave which went viral and collected around 18 million likes on TikTok. Another TikTok influencer @calebcutler made a cute and innovative video of banana surgery and got around 6 million likes.

Image via TikTok

2. Know Your Audience

You must know your audience and make videos keeping them in mind. They should gain some insights from watching these videos, either some useful tips or entertainment.

Ask yourself, “Who will watch my videos?” “Why will people watch my video?” “What element of entertainment am I offering?” It is important to know the answers to these questions to make a unique video.

TikTok’s worldwide users are 55.6% males and 44.4% females. If we look further into this data, we will see that more teenagers use this app and, males dominate this age group. Another interesting fact is that more males in their 40s use this app as compared to the 30s and 50s.

To get an idea as to what appeals to the audience in general, check out TikTok’s trending videos before you get started.

Image via ApeAppLab

3. Know Your Competitors

Want to make money on TikTok?

First, you need to understand how easy or tough it will be for you to do that by checking out your competition.

Once you decide what audience you want to target, you should check out all the influencers who are targeting a similar demographic.

Check out their videos. See what kind of content they are posting and how many likes or shares they are getting for each. You can always do something similar or take inspiration from their work and improvise.

Try to figure out what is missing that other influencers are not providing. Work on the missing link and develop your content, keeping that in mind.

For example, if most of the people are doing lip-sync videos and you want to do the same, then you can find some quirky songs which will be different from the existing ones.

4. Be Consistent

Try to be consistent with your video content and the times when you upload it. Fix a designated time for your video uploads. This way, your audience will know what to expect and when to expect it.

You can start with a trial and error method and try random stuff in the beginning. But when you get the maximum likes and shares from a particular video, then stick with similar content.

Your followers will start liking you for a specific type of video content and, they will check your profile whenever it is time for you to upload your video.

To add the element of surprise, post something about your daily life, travel, etc. in between the designated time of your regular updates. This will help you connect with your audience and break the monotony of doing the same stuff.

Tiktok influencer @kristenhancher is a social media star with around 23 million followers. She keeps the element of surprise by posting something different than her regular lip-sync videos, which shot her to fame.

Image via TikTok

5. Create Hashtags

We emphasized earlier, that to be a TikTok influencer, you need to be unique. One of the best ways to do that is to create your own hashtags. You need to get your creative juices flowing and come up with something different that will engage your target audience.

If you use hashtags correctly, then it will help you increase your follower count and your reach. And these are essential for you to be able to start making money on TikTok.

Hashtags can also help you increase audience engagement on your TikTok videos. There are many hashtag generator tools that you can use before publishing your videos.

The hashtags in TikTok show the trending challenges, jokes, and viral videos. Unlike Twitter, hashtags on TikTok do not show what is trending globally, but what is trending on the app.

6. Engage Your Audience

If you want to make money on TikTok as an influencer, then you need to be able to engage your audience and have sway over them.

You need to engage your audience regularly to start making money. Interact with them. Reply to their comments. Go live and interact with your followers while you stream live videos.

Occasionally grant their wishes and include the content that they want to see. This will show that you care about their opinions and suggestions.

People love to interact with influencers. This will help you gain their acceptance and help you develop stronger bonds with your audience.

Famous TikTok influencers engage their followers and interact with them regularly. @lorengray has the largest number of followers on TikTok, around 36 million, and she keeps doing videos that give people a look at her life and what she’s like as a person.

Image via TikTok

7. Promote Your Videos

Just uploading your videos on TikTok will not help you gain a large audience. You will have to promote your TikTok account through other social media platforms.

Attach a link to your TikTok profile on your blog and Facebook and Instagram accounts. Also, upload your videos on YouTube. The more you promote, the more followers you will gain and be one step closer to your goal of becoming a TikTok influencer.

You can engage in cross-promotions as well. If your other social media profiles like YouTube, Instagram, etc. are doing well, then you can use TikTok to drive your audience to your other accounts.

@babyariel has around 30 million followers and she keeps promoting her songs on her YouTube account as well.

Image via TikTok

8. Brand Endorsements

How much money can TikTok creators make?

Famous TikTok influencers can earn from $500 to $20,000 per video from brand promotion and follower engagement. The higher the engagement rate of the target audience, the better the conversion rate for the advertiser.

Once your TikTok account has followers in the thousands, then you can expect to make money on TikTok. You can approach brands with a proposal to collaborate.

You can pitch brands your level of influence. You can use your followers’ positive comments or their engagement through live video streaming to convince them.

But if you gain a huge number of followers in a short span of time, then you can be sure that brands will come to you. And that is how you make money on TikTok.

Image via TikTok

9. How to Increase Followers and Likes

To become a TikTok influencer, you will have to continue making a consistent effort. Here are some ways through which you can increase your followers, likes, and shares.

• Duets are a very important part of TikTok. It means adding something new to an already existing video by someone else. For example, if someone posted a video of themselves falling down the stairs, then you can add your response to that or anything that is in tune with the video.
• Like we mentioned earlier, hashtags on TikTok will show trending challenges. You can attempt trending challenges and make videos using those hashtags. To make fresh content every day, you can do daily challenges that will keep your audience engaged. For example, the bottle cap challenge, you can check out the video below for reference.

Image via TikTok

• For more ideas on TikTok video content, you can use Google search, YouTube, and Twitter. Keep checking the daily trending videos, news, and challenges. To leverage this tip effectively, you should immediately make a TikTok video when you see a trending hashtag.

Ready to Start Making Money on TikTok?

To become a TikTok influencer and earn money on TikTok, you must know what you are good at. Leverage your strengths and passions and create content that will attract attention. You could be good at dancing, singing, pulling pranks, or just simply being funny. But remember all of that is already available on TikTok.

Your style needs to be different for people to find and follow you in the crowd of TikTok influencers. Decide on your forte and go ahead with whatever you feel you can do differently. Do this and you will be all set to start earning money on TikTok.

Just make sure that you read all of the TikTok guidelines about content and follow them thoroughly. TikTok has zero tolerance for anything that promotes negativity or hatred.

So don’t wait. Download the app and get started. Just do your unique thing and people will love you.

We hope that we were able to help you. Do let us know through your comments and suggestions.