Are you curious about how to monetize TikTok? You’re not by yourself. Almost everyone who was born before 2004 has this same inquiry. But earning money on TikTok is as profitable as it is enigmatic.

Through TikTok’s Creator Fund, TikTokers with over 100,000 followers typically get $200–$1,000 per month, and those with over a million followers typically make $1,000–$5,000 (or more) per month. And a small number of people who work with well-known brands earn between $100,000 and $250,000 for a single post (yep, you read that right—a single post).

But since the beta version of TikTok’s new Creativity Program was released in early 2023, creators have reported that the program is more profitable, with TikTok claiming that creators can earn up to ten times as much. That’s mostly because the new program incentivizes creators to create videos longer than one minute.

How do people make money on TikTok? Well, through a few ways—we’re going to cover in this article.

Many of these tactics can be executed by a business, but others require you to make TikTok your business. For example, any brand can use TikTok ads to drive traffic to their ecommerce store, but you’ll need to invest more dedicated TikTok time into making money through TikTok’s Creativity Program Beta or by becoming a brand ambassador.

You either have a business you promote through TikTok—or you are the TikTok business.

How to Make Money on TikTok

Many of these methods may be done by a business, but others need you to make TikTok your business. Any firm, for instance, can utilize TikTok ads to increase traffic to their online store, but earning money through TikTok’s Creator Fund or by serving as a brand ambassador will require greater time commitment on your part.

You are the TikTok business, or you own a business that you advertise on the platform.

Without further ado, let’s look at how to make money on TikTok in 2024 and going forward.

1. Sell Products Through TikTok Shopping

TikTok introduced TikTok Shopping in 2021 to empower businesses to sell products directly on the platform—no more sending followers elsewhere to buy your goods. TikTok Shopping adds a shopping tab to your profile, letting users see products from your Shopify catalogs. You can also tag your products in organic content you publish to send viewers over to your store.

Don’t be shy. Mention your products to your audience. Try not to go overboard and be over promotional, but also remember to give your TikTok store a shoutout every now and then.

2. Drive Sales with TikTok Ads

Use TikTok ads to drive traffic back to your website, ecommerce store, or even your TikTok Shopping tab. You could run in-feed image ads promoting your products or get creative with TopView ads (fullscreen takeovers) to boost your TikTok following—both can help you make money on the platform.

You can also use TikTok as a top-of-funnel resource to get users to sign up to your email list or SMS campaigns. This technique can help keep your TikTok account appear less salesy while still being an influential revenue driver.

3. Participate in Affiliate Programs

You don’t need your own products and services to make money on TikTok. Instead, use affiliate marketing to link out to other goods and make a percentage of every sale when a user clicks through and makes a purchase. Here’s how:

• Place an affiliate link in your profile—then direct traffic from your organic views to click the link.
• Redirect traffic to your Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest account where you can more generously place affiliate links.
• Paste coupons codes and URLs in your video descriptions. Users will have to copy/paste the link into their browser.

4. Promote Songs

Get paid to add songs to your videos. Nearly every video on TikTok has an accompanying background song for creators to lip-sync and dance to—and artists recognize this value. If you have a large enough following and engagement, musicians will pay to have you promote their music in your songs.

They know if your video goes viral, their song goes viral—and that means more downloads, concert tickets, and merch.

If you’re a musician (or aspiring musician), you can use TikTok to promote your own music. TikTok is a place to sing and dance, so it only makes sense to publish your own beats on the platform.

5. Join TikTok’s Creativity Program Beta

The TikTok Creativity Program Beta (formerly known as the Creator Fund) is TikTok’s program that pays users for creating engaging content. The more engagement your videos get, the more TikTok pays you. TikTok wants users to stick around (to make advertising money), and they’ll pay creators who help in that mission.

Read Also: Getting Noticed on TikTok: 8 Tips to Increase Your Likes and Followers

You need at least 100K video views in the last 30 days to join the Creativity Program Beta. It’s still a relatively new idea for TikTok, so expect to see the program evolve and change over the coming months and years. TikTok says that the “Creativity Program Beta gives you the potential to earn up to 20 times the amount previously offered by the Creator Fund.”

6. Publish Sponsored Posts

Brands will pay you to feature their products and services—this is called sponsored content. You don’t need to be a monolithic influencer to get in on the action. Smaller brands will still pay good money to work with microinfluencers who have a robust and engaged community—even if it’s not very big (yet).

You can approach brands proactively or wait for them to reach out to you. If you have over 100,000 followers and 100,000 video likes in the last 28 days, you can apply to join the TikTok Creator Marketplace, a platform that connects high-paying brands with influential creators.

7. Become a Brand Ambassador

Brand ambassadors function similarly to sponsored content, but they help in more of a long-term capacity rather than a one-off post. As a brand ambassador, you’ll likely receive compensation and free product in exchange for a fixed number of videos every week or month. The better your content performs, the sweeter your brand ambassador deal becomes.

Look for brands you love. Ideally, you can find a brand that helps you expand your network, receive gear (you actually like), make money, and have fun. Most businesses have exclusive ambassador application pages on their website, so poke around your favorite brands to see if they have any enticing programs.

8. Start a Patreon

Offer free content through your TikTok account, but entice your followers to support you on Patreon to unlock premium content. This might be:

• Behind-the-scenes peeks
• Exclusive content
• SWAG
• Personal time with you
• Live chats and hangouts
• Community access
• Public shoutouts

Get creative. When you build a loyal following, they’ll want everything you can get. However, just ensure you put in the time to make your Patreon content valuable and worthwhile—you don’t want anyone to regret their purchase after signing up.

9. Find New Clients

TikTok can be an excellent platform to build your freelancing or consulting business. Publish engaging content to build your audience, and then promote your services. A follower might need your help, or word of mouth might lead you to another client.

If you build websites for a living, feature some of your projects on TikTok. If you’re an email marketing consultant, publish some of the cool campaigns you’ve created.

With enough creativity, you can make any business (from plumbing to accounting to software) exciting on TikTok. You just need to let your personality loose and have some fun—that’s what TikTok is all about.

10. Build and Sell TikTok Accounts

Have a knack for building audiences quickly? Do it for a living.

There are plenty of creators and businesses who’d love a headstart on TikTok. If you can rapidly build TikTok followings, you’ll have a list of potential buyers.

Think about potential industries that might want to purchase a lucrative TikTok account. You might struggle to sell an account focused on cat GIFs (or maybe not)—however, an unboxing profile or account focused on cars would likely sell much faster.

Steer away from making any of these accounts personal. You don’t want followers becoming attached to your face or name. Instead, focus your content on the subject material. This can sometimes make it challenging to grow an account, but that doesn’t stop people like 23-year-old Ramy Halloun from making $120,000 executing the same technique on Instagram.

11. Work with Influencers and Fellow Creators

You don’t need a massive following to make money on TikTok—you can just leverage the creative minds who’ve done the hard work of building loyal audiences. Partner with influencers to promote your TikTok account or sponsor your products.

A simple shoutout from the right person could make or break your business. Remember when Elon Musk skyrocketed Dogecoin’s value by 600% in a single week? That’s an example of accidental influencer marketing.

12. Receive Donations Through Live Gifting

When you live stream on TikTok, your followers can send you coin donations (which can be traded for cash). Create amazing live streams, attract a big audience, and watch the coins start pouring in.

However, be aware that actively soliciting gifts is a big no-no per TikTok’s community guidelines. The exchange needs to be natural and organic.

You need 1,000+ followers (and must be at least 16) to go live on TikTok, and you need to be 18 or older to earn gift points.

13. Raise Money Through Crowdfunding

People love to participate in crowdfunding campaigns—whether that’s financially backing your project on Kickstarter or supporting a cause on GoFundMe. Crowdfunding is projected to grow to $43.48 billion worldwide by 2028

And the success rate isn’t bad, either. The average success rate of crowdfunding campaigns is a whopping 22.4%, which isn’t bad when you consider that just 10% of startups succeed.

We recommend (when possible) launching a crowdfunding campaign related to your TikTok account’s content. It’s strange when a horse-loving profile tries to raise money for a revolutionary new board game on Kickstarter. However, just about any brand can raise money for those in need. For example, nobody will fault your brand for trying to raise funds for an orphanage, even if your account is focused on country music lip-syncing.

14. Collect Tips

If you don’t have projects or products in mind, consider asking for tips. It’s an excellent way for your audience to support your account and keep the content flowing.

Collecting tips on TikTok is similar to opening up your guitar case while you perform on the side of the street—or how Wikipedia asks you to donate every time you visit the website.

A few tipping platforms make the process quick and easy:

• Venmo: Just use someone’s Venmo link, username, or QR code to visit their profile and make a donation.
• Buy Me a Coffee: Buy Me a Coffee is a simple, fun way for your audience to say thanks. You can use the platform for one-time donations or ongoing memberships.
• Tipeee: Tipeee wins for being the most user-friendly and also offers a fair amount of features. You can create a page to showcase your profile, update tippers, display rewards, and let the community engage.

15. Consult for a Brand

In 2024, more and more brands are investing in TikTok as the next great social channel to market their products and campaigns. Why not spend their budget with you?

If you set yourself as a TikTok expert, you can consult businesses on everything from how to create content that will go viral to which types of influencers to partner with.

Growth and reach are going to be the primary outcomes for consulting clients dipping their toes in the TikTok world. Be their guide, so they don’t make silly mistakes and speak the right language for the platform’s audience.

16. Invest in TikTok Spark Ads

TikTok Spark Ads are a native ad format that allows advertisers to use organic TikTok posts for advertising. You can use your own posts or others’ posts (with their authorization) for these ads. The interactions gained during the promotion are credited to the original organic posts, which can enhance brand image and engagement rates.

Users can interact with Spark Ads by clicking on CTA buttons, ad captions, profile photos, nicknames, and more, driving them to various landing pages or profiles, which can potentially lead to monetization through increased visibility, followers, and engagement​​.

Yes, you can use the aforementioned tips to earn money on TikTok. But TikTok is primarily a medium for entertainment, and your audience can tell if you’re just trying to sell things quickly.

Consider TikTok as an alternative strategy for reaching a large audience and saturating your brand. Although it may not be as concrete as a one-time purchase made through a link in your bio, your main goal will be to build momentum rather than utilize it as a sales tactic.