Everything You Need to Know About the TikTok Creator Fund

With over a billion active users worldwide, TikTok is widely recognized as the fastest-growing social media app today.

Because of this, users that go viral can find themselves with millions of followers. Thanks to the TikTok creator fund, this can mean big money for them.

With global fame and lucrative incentives already enjoyed by the likes of Addison Rae, Bella Poarch, Charley D’Amelio, and Khaby Lame, many people wonder how they can get in on it.

Thankfully we are here to help you by explaining everything you need to know about the TikTok Creator Fund so you can start building your followers and making some money.

The rise of TikTok

You probably know a bit about the TikTok app, but you might not know how it all started. The app was launched in September 2017 by the Chinese company ByteDance. This came after the success of their app Douyin in China.

ByteDance went on to buy the Musical.ly service in 2017, a popular Chinese social media platform that featured short videos of people dancing and lip-syncing to their favorite songs. Sound familiar?

The following year TikTok and Musical.ly merged and enjoyed rapid success. This success saw videos viewed millions of times and users gaining huge followings. These users were able to monetize their newfound celebrity status with brand deals and sponsorships. But it wasn’t until July 2020 that TikTok launched its creator fund to reward creators.

What is the TikTok Creator Fund?

The TikTok Creator Fund allows users to start earning money based on the views and engagements their content receives. This supports the creator economy and encourages the biggest and best to begin collaborating and focus on producing regular high-quality content.

It is seen as a reward for users doing well and is a share of some of TikTok’s income. This is a win-win for both TikTok and creators. The benefit for creators is pretty obvious, they get a nice paycheck and have more financial security so they can focus on making content. The benefit for TikTok is that when creators make better content, it attracts more users and advertisers.

How much will the TikTok Creator Fund pay me?

How much you make from the TikTok Creator Fund depends on how well your content performs. Don’t expect to become a millionaire overnight, but you should be able to start making a bit of money when you are getting regular views.

There are no set facts and figures about what you will get paid by the TikTok Creator Fund, but you can expect to get between 2 to 4 cents for every 1,000 genuine views.

You won’t be able to ask your friends and family to leave your video replaying overnight to rack up the views. These kinds of tactics are easy to spot and any views earned this way won’t count.

Making between $20 and $40 for every one million views might not sound like much, but the most popular accounts can expect tens of millions of views for each post, so you can see how it adds up!

TikTok Creator Fund eligibility

So, who can join the TikTok Creator Fund? That is the all-important question. If you’re a TikTok user in the US, you are eligible to apply for the Fund provided that you meet certain criteria. These include:

You are over the age of 18
You post original content (not sharing content created by other users)
Your content must adhere to TikTok’s Terms of Service and its community guidelines
You must have a Pro account with at least 10,000 followers
Your videos must have gained a minimum of 100,000 views in the 30 days prior to your application

You don’t have to be in the United States to be eligible for the Creator Fund, though. UK users and those living in France, Spain, Germany, and Italy can all apply too, and TikTok has announced plans for other countries to be included as the program is rolled out.

Here it is in a handy visual cheatsheet:

Top tip: save/download the image above now so you can refer to it as you work towards becoming eligible to join!

How to join the TikTok Creator Fund

Applying for the Creator Fund is relatively straightforward, you just need to make sure that you meet all of the eligibility criteria covered in the previous section.

When you have a Pro account, head to your profile and click on the three lines in the top right corner.

You can then click on the Settings and Privacy section, click on Creator Tools, and select TikTok Creator Fund.

Before submitting your application, you should read the terms and conditions. If you are rejected, you will have to wait 30 days before applying again. You can take this time to create even more engaging content and rack up more views.

How to succeed with the TikTok Creator Fund

Succeeding with the TikTok Creator Fund is possible with a large following and great content. Now we ain’t gonna lie, it’s almost impossible to predict what will go viral, but understanding your audience and focusing on what they respond well to will help.

So what does it take to succeed? Patience and perseverance. Some people might get lucky and become an overnight success, but most content creators that earn money from their social media channels have worked long and hard to get there.

What type of content are you creating?

The first thing you should do is decide the type of content you want to focus on. This will help you understand your audience and find similar content that does well. Be sure to ride the wave of relevant trends to ensure you get views, and you might even open yourself up to a new audience. This can be a great way to get more people to see your incredible TikTok videos.

Jumping between niches can be confusing for followers and can make you spread yourself too thin. Consider the content you plan to put out and how you think your followers will receive it. Focus on growing a small but dedicated niche to start with a branch out from there, rather than tackling too many different topics from the start.

How are you going to widen the reach of your content?

A great way to improve the reach of your content is to share it on additional social media platforms outside of TikTok such as YouTube. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that there are different licensing requirements once you move away from TikTok, primarily relating to the use of music on your videos.

Whereas TikTok pays the music industry for the rights to use trending songs on its platform so that creators don’t have to worry about licensing or copyright issues, this isn’t the case on YouTube. If you want to enhance the quality of your content on YouTube or other social media platforms using trending tracks and popular songs, you can now do that with Lickd! Until now, it was virtually impossible to use popular, mainstream music from real artists in your videos and avoid getting a copyright claim. We thought that was bullshit. That’s why we’ve built relationships with record labels and publishers in the music industry and convinced them to give you access to their music. Now, we have over 1 million tracks that you can use in your content, from huge artists like Charlie Puth, Lizzo, Sam Smith, Sia, and David Guetta. Of course, this comes a license so you have protection from copyright claims. Try it out now with a 14-day free trial on stock music and 25% off your first mainstream track, because you deserve better music!

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How often are you going to post content?

Posting regularly to maintain visibility is essential but too many posts can be overkill and even seem spammy. Try to aim for no more than 4 posts per day to avoid losing subscribers and be sure to keep an eye on the analytics to find a posting schedule that keeps your fans and the platform’s algorithms as happy as possible.

How will you engage with your audience?

Finally, you should always try to engage with your followers. Getting back to them is important if they take the time to message or ask questions. Post interactions and engagements are also essential metrics that TikTok measures alongside views. Live videos with Q&As, encouraging people to stitch or duet your videos, and encouraging comments can all help.

Other ways to make money on TikTok

The TikTok Creator Fund is a great incentive to create and publish content regularly, but there are other ways to make money from TikTok.

Sponsorship

You will typically need around 50,000 followers before you can approach or expect to be approached about sponsorship deals. The bigger the following you have, the more you can command.

An example is the $17.5 million earned by Charli D’Amelio through sponsorship deals in 2021. However, she currently has more than 145 million followers, so it may take you a while to get to this level. Learn all about how to get brand sponsorships in this article.

Creator Marketplace

The Creator Marketplace, created by TikTok, is the offical platform for creator and brand collaborations. It connects you with brands and other creators, with who you can then choose to collaborate with or get paid to create content promoting them.

Creators with a following of around 50,000 could make as much as £100. Users with over a million can command upwards of £1,500 per post. Check out the TikTok Creator Marketplace here.

Tips & gifts

Followers can tip and gift money in the form of animated badges and stickers in comments and when they are on live streams. Users purchase virtual coins that can be used as these badges or stickers.

Popular live streams can be a great way to get tips, and many content creators see this as another great way to engage with their followers while making money.

This feature is available through Creator Next. Like the Creator Fund, users must be over 18, have a set minimum number of followers (this can differ by location), and have posted at least three videos with at least 1,000 views in the last 30 days.

Publicize business

Using TikTok to drive traffic to a website or publicize a YouTube channel, store, brand, or business can also make users money. This is a more roundabout way of making money rather than directly monetising an account, but it is still worthwhile.

A social media presence is an excellent way for businesses to reach their target audience. Anyone that has spent an hour or two on TikTok will have seen people advertising a business, selling sweets, or building their brand.

TikTok affiliate

Affiliate marketing on TikTok allows users to post links to products directly from their posts. This is a great feature for creators who have brand deals that include affiliate sponsorship.

You can also boost your reach by taking advantage of TikTok’s paid advertising to reach a specific audience. Affiliate marketing can be an excellent way for creators to make money, find out how in this article.

FAQs about creator funds

Is there a limit to how many people can participate in the TikTok Creator Fund programme?

No, the TikTok Creator Fund does not limit the number of people who can participate.

Does the TikTok Creator Fund limit the amount someone can earn?

No, there are no limits to how much you can earn from the TikTok Creator Fund.

Does the Creator Fund impact how many views videos get?

The TikTok Creator Fund does not impact the algorithm or how many views videos will get.

Let Lickd help you make the best content for the Creator Funds

Online content creators make good money by making the most of the various platforms available. There are multiple ways of making money, including sponsorship, advertising, and affiliate programs.

Using creator funds is another excellent way to make money from the work you are already doing. To secure money from the content you create, you will need to post regularly, build a strong following, and create good content.

Lickd’s music licensing for videos allows you to use mainstream music on your social media posts and YouTube videos without being demonetized. Sign up for a 14-day free trial today to start using the magic that Lickd can bring you.

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