Learning how to make money on TikTok means tapping into over 1 billion monthly users who are eager to discover new brands and shop unique products.
Ready to dive in and turn your creativity into cash?
Let’s break down the key monetization strategies and understand what are the requirements to make money on TikTok.
Key takeaways
- TikTok offers multiple ways to make more money, from selling custom merch to using monetization tools like live gifts, donation stickers, and shoppable videos.
- Joining the Creator Rewards Program improves your earnings based on engagement. Other factors like content quality and a large following also contribute to success.
- Printify helps you easily design and sell custom merch to TikTok followers with no upfront costs or inventory.
- Partnering with influencers and cross-posting on platforms like Instagram or YouTube can expand your reach and drive sales.
- Ad options, like In-Feed and Spark Ads, help promote products and reach new TikTok audiences without overwhelming viewers.
Sell custom merch to your followers
With a highly engaged customer base, TikTok is the perfect avenue for showcasing and selling custom promotional products.
Advertising your company’s merch using the latest trends, music, challenges, and video formats is key to understanding how to make money with TikTok.
Grow your brand by selling artwork, apparel, accessories, and other goods straight to your followers.
Create custom products with Print on Demand
Partner with Printify to take advantage of over 1,000 custom products and bring your unique ideas to life.
Effortlessly create and sell TikTok-ready products with no upfront costs or inventory.
Check out our analysis of the top-selling TikTok merch to find the right items for your store and learn how to sell on TikTok.
Make it happen today!
1. Set up a TikTok Shop
Start making money on TikTok by letting followers purchase merch directly from your page through TikTok Shop and shoppable videos.
You’ll benefit from an integrated in-app checkout that streamlines the shopping experience. Gain access to the TikTok Shop App Store’s range of powerful tools to advertise your own products.
This also opens opportunities to enter brand ambassador partnerships with thousands of creators through TikTok’s affiliate program.
Head to the TikTok Seller Center to register for TikTok Shop. Here are the requirements for individuals or businesses in the United States:
Individual sellers
- Must be at least 18 years old.
- Must have a valid government ID, such as a passport or US driver’s license.
- Cannot be a politician or affiliated with political entities.
- Must reside in the United States.
Business sellers
- The owners and representatives of your business must be at least 18 years old.
- Each owner and representative must have a valid US passport.
- Can’t be politicians or representatives of the government or a political party.
- Must have an established business address in the US.
2. Try affiliate marketing
Earn money with a TikTok account by promoting products from other brands to get commissions from affiliate links.
If you’re a registered seller, explore TikTok’s Affiliate Network for brand ambassador partnerships. Choose affiliates that align with your niche for best results.
Consider also becoming a TikTok Ads Affiliate and earning commissions from promoting TikTok’s advertising platform.
Expand your earnings further by joining third-party affiliate networks or referral programs.
As a Printify Affiliate, you’ll earn a 5% commission on every sale your referrals make. With monthly payouts, a 90-day cookie life, and no earnings cap, Printify is a top affiliate marketing choice for TikTok.
3. Join the Creator Rewards Program
Looking for more ideas about how people make money on TikTok? Try posting long-form videos with the Creator Rewards Program.
This initiative offers up to 20 times more in rewards than the TikTok Creator Fund to support high-quality content.
Requirements
- You must be at least 18 years old.
- You are registered and based in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, or Brazil.
- You have a personal instead of a business account.
- You have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in the past 30 days.
- You make high-quality videos that last over one minute and align with TikTok’s mission of inspiring joy and creativity.
4. Collect tips
Accepting tips from followers is one of the simplest ways how to make money off TikTok.
To receive tips on TikTok, you need a personal account and must be at least 18 years old. Additionally, you must:
- Have at least 100,000 followers,
- Be part of TikTok’s Creator Next program
- Have a Stripe account to process payments
TikTok doesn’t take a cut, so you receive 100% of each tip – however, Stripe may charge processing fees to the sender.
For more details, review TikTok’s tips requirements.
Other tipping platforms, such as Buy Me a Coffee, Tipeee, and Ko-fi, are great alternatives for monetization.
How to encourage TikTok users to tip you?
1. Create high-quality content
Create engaging videos that your followers can’t find anywhere else. The uniqueness of your content helps drive traffic to your channel and motivate viewers to send you money.
2. Reward engagement
Interact with your audience and give them shoutouts, personalized messages, or access to premium content.
3. Be transparent
Clearly communicate to your audience how their tips help you. Transparency is an excellent way to drive contributions, whether it’s funding for better equipment or allowing you to dedicate more time to creating content.
5. Collect donations
TikTok short videos can help you receive donations for nonprofits. To support a cause, add a Donation Sticker in your videos or link a nonprofit to your profile:
- Tap Profile at the bottom-right of the TikTok app.
- Select Edit profile.
- Choose Add nonprofit and select the organization you’d like to feature.
The donation link will appear on your TikTok bio, encouraging viewers to support a charitable cause directly from your profile or content.
Check out TikTok for Good to explore other global social impact initiatives on the platform.
6. Collect LIVE gifts during video streams
How do you get paid on TikTok instantly? By engaging your audience through TikTok LIVE streams, where followers can send virtual gifts to support their favorite creators.
With interactive features like polls and games, you can enhance engagement and earn Diamonds, a TikTok currency convertible to real money.
How to receive gifts during live streams?
To leverage this virtual gift system during LIVE streams on TikTok, creators must meet the following requirements:
- Be in a region where LIVE gifts are available.
- Be at least 18 years old (19 in South Korea).
- Have a minimum number of followers – 1,000 to 10,000, depending on the region.
- Have an account in good standing that adheres to TikTok’s Community Guidelines.
- Have posted a public video within the last 30 days.
- Operate a personal account (business or public interest accounts are ineligible).
Keep in mind that your videos are not eligible if they include:
- Duets and Stitches.
- Ads, sponsored content, or promoted TikTok posts.
7. Engage in influencer marketing
This popular advertising strategy connects brands with TikTok influencers to reach target audiences more authentically.
Join the TikTok Creator Marketplace to drive traffic and sales to your store or partner businesses.
Why do brands pay content creators?
Influencers have engaged followers and create content that resonates with specific audiences. This helps content creators direct potential customers to your store.
Influencer marketing often results in higher engagement rates and is more cost-effective and less intrusive than traditional ads. It’s also a great way to reach niche audiences through sponsored posts that follow TikTok’s Branded Content Policy.
8. Benefit from TikTok ads
TikTok marketing through ads is a powerful tool for growing your business.
Blend them naturally with authentic and engaging content to avoid overwhelming viewers with ads.
Let’s explore the different TikTok ad formats and find the best fit for you:
- In-Feed Ads: These are the standard ads on TikTok’s For You feed, appearing like regular posts, playing automatically, and can include CTA buttons. They’re great for blending into organic content but compete with user-generated posts.
- Automated Product Ads: Use this ad format to showcase products directly from your TikTok Shop. They display images and videos in locations like search results but limit your control since they’re fully automated.
- TopView Ads: This is the first video users see upon opening TikTok, which helps grab attention. TopView guarantees a ton of impressions, but users might skip them since they are conspicuous ads.
- Spark Ads: Perfect for giving organic posts a boost. Spark Ads connect with followers through real posts, driving engagement directly to existing original content.
- Branded Effects: Think custom filters, stickers, and fun AR elements, adding a fun twist to sponsored content. Pair them with influencers to maximize reach.
- TikTok Promote: A built-in tool that lets you amplify organic content, turning it into an ad for greater visibility.
9. Offer subscriptions
Monetize your TikTok audience’s interests by offering LIVE subscriptions, letting fans access exclusive content for a monthly fee.
Dedicated fans receive badges, digital products, custom emotes, and early access. They can also join subscriber-only chats during LIVE sessions, fostering a stronger community experience.
Make sure to keep your subscription costs low to entice subscribers.
Requirements
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Have a minimum of 1,000 followers.
- Follow TikTok’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.
- Have a personal account. Governments, politicians, political parties, and business accounts aren’t eligible.
10. Crosspost to other platforms
A great way to improve TikTok SEO is cross-posting videos from TikTok to other social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
For example, YouTube dominates long-form content, so share extended versions of your TikTok videos or exclusive access to behind-the-scenes footage.
This will help expand your reach on multiple platforms simultaneously. That way, you leverage the unique features of each channel to build a strong following.
Cross-posting is also an excellent strategy to tap into new audiences of different demographics. Plus, repurposing your TikTok content for other platforms saves you time and effort.
Start a POD business and sell on TikTok with Printify
Ready to launch a POD business and sell merch to your TikTok account followers?
Sign up to Printify for free and start selling custom products like t-shirts, phone cases, and shoes.
Benefit from TikTok’s massive user base and quickly integrate Printify with TikTok Shop. Setup is easy, so you can focus on creating content while we handle inventory, production, and fulfillment.
TikTok FAQ
TikTok accounts earn through multiple streams depending on how many followers they have.
Consider the Creator Rewards Program for high-performing content, affiliate marketing, or receiving virtual gifts during LIVE streams. Other options are selling custom merch with Printify, partnering with influencers, running TikTok Ads, or offering exclusive content and subscriptions.
TikTok’s Creator Rewards Program requires at least 100,000 video views within the past 30 days, among other criteria like follower count and age, to start earning directly through views.
Earn through virtual gifts during TikTok LIVE streams, which convert to cash, and enable the LIVE subscription feature for monthly income.
TikTok pays creators approximately $0.02 to $0.04 per 1,000 views through the Creator Fund.
However, TikTok’s new Creator Rewards Program offers higher payouts ranging from $0.40 to $1 per 1,000 views, depending on engagement, video quality, and target audience location.
To qualify for the Creator Rewards Program, you need to be at least 18 years old, have a minimum of 10,000 followers, and accumulate 100,000 video views in the last 30 days.
Additionally, your account must be in good standing, with content that aligns with TikTok’s guidelines.
To summarize
Whether you want to sell custom products, join a TikTok rewards program, enter brand partnerships, offer exclusive content, or run ads, there are various ways how to monetize TikTok.
Explore the options we’ve covered in this blog and partner with Printify to sell custom merchandise with your own designs to your most dedicated fans.
Combining different strategies on how to get monetized on TikTok is the best way to maximize your efforts and income.
