The Tiktok creator fund explained
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TikTok is now a major player in the social landscape and offers huge opportunities for brands to succeed in social advertising.
It was the 5th most used social media platform in 2024, with 1.69 billion users worldwide as of October 2024. On average, a user spends 95 minutes per day scrolling their For You Page. This creates a massive opportunity for both creators and advertisers alike to leverage this popularity and engaged audience and profit from it. You may think creators and influencers are only making money from paid ads, however, there’s another stream of income many creators are now benefitting from- the TikTok Creator Fund.
The TikTok Creator Fund has evolved over time and if you’ve not been directly involved with it, it can seem quite mysterious and hard to understand. What is it? What do you have to do to be a part of it? What does it mean for advertisers? Are people really making millions from social media? We’ve broken down everything there is to know about the TikTok Creator Fund.
What is the TikTok creator fund?
First of all what exactly is The TikTok Creator Fund?
TikTok relies solely on User Generated Content (UGC) made by its creators to feed the platform with content and keep it running- without creators, there would be no TikTok. TikTok creators are the driving force behind trends and concepts that are popular not only on TikTok but also infiltrate other platforms and pop culture as well. Creators are responsible for viral videos, creating niches such as #booktok and #foodtok, and driving sales for brands through both organic and paid content, across the platform and on TikTok shop.
So it only seems fair TikTok would reward their creators, right? That’s where the Creator Fund comes in.
You may have heard of it or people earning money through it, but do you know exactly what the Creator Fund is?
The Creator Fund is a way of creators being rewarded by TikTok for the amount of views their videos get. Creators upload content and TikTok pays them- simple. Or is it? The fund has evolved over time and it’s still hard to determine the exact figures creators are getting paid. As well as this, rules have changed over the years and creators now need to hit different criteria to qualify.
We’ve broken it down below:
A timeline of the TikTok Creator Fund
2020
When it was first introduced in 2020, the Creator Fund was criticised for low payouts. Although there’s no exact answers as to how much creators were paid at the start of the fund, reports estimate a few cents per 1000 views.
2023
In November 2023, TikTok announced the TikTok Creator Fund would be coming to an end and would instead be replaced with the ‘TikTok Creativity Program’.
2024
The TikTok Creativity Program came into effect in February 2024. It had the same qualifying criteria for profiles, but the videos eligible for rewards were determined differently. According to TikTok:
Creativity Program Beta rewards content that meets all these criteria:
- It must be one minute or longer;
- It must reach at least 1,000 qualified views (5 seconds or longer)
- It is not a Duet or Stitch video;
- It is not a Photo Mode video;
- It is not an advertisement, paid promotion, or sponsored content;
- It is original content and produced entirely by the creator and/or adds new ideas to preexisting content;
- It is high quality as determined by TikTok in its sole discretion; and
- It does not violate these Creativity Program Beta Terms, the Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, Copyright Policy and any other Platform terms and policies which may apply.
It’s reported that the new program offers increased payouts from ‘$4.00 to $8.00 per 1,000 views’
Requirements
To be eligible for the TikTok creator fund, a creator must:
- Have at least 10,000 authentic followers
- Have an active account that is in good standing and in compliance with TikTok’s policies
- Have at least 100,000 authentic total video views in the 30 days prior to the application
The benefits of the TikTok Creator Fund include:
- Incentivising creators to continue making organic content, rather than relying solely on money for paid ads- keeping the platform’s content authentic and balanced
- It rewards a diverse range of creators and encourages everyone to create content
- Increasing time spent on the app for both creators and users
How do you get on to the TikTok Creativity Programme?
Joining the Creativity Programme requires users to complete the following simple steps:
- Open the TikTok app
- Tap Profile at the bottom
- Tap the Menu ☰ button at the top
- Tap Creator tools
- Tap Creativity Program
- Follow the on-screen instructions
Who’s been successful on TikTok?
The fund has allowed people to make a living from TikTok, with creators amassing staggering net worths off the back of the platform. According to Neal Schaffer, these are the most successful creators and their net worth:
- Charli D’ Amelio: $17.5M with 133 million followers
- Dixie D’ Amelio: $10M with 57 million followers
- Addison Rae: $8.5M with 86 million followers
- Bella Poarch: $5M with 87 million followers
- Josh Richards: $5M with 26 million followers
- Kris Collins: $4.75M with 42 million followers
- Avani Gregg: $4.75M with 39 million followers
Although it’s likely the creators on this list will have multiple diverse streams of income, ‘it is estimated that 30% to 50% of their earnings still come from TikTok brand sponsorships.’
How does this impact marketing?
The developments to the TikTok Creator Fund/ Creativity Programme over the years are good news for creators, users, and advertisers alike. More authentic content on the app means more time users spend scrolling, giving advertisers more opportunity to get their ads in front of engaged audiences. It also means more opportunity for brands wanting to leverage organic social exposure, as there are more authentic creators on the platform who are organically using products and may be open to gifting opportunities. Not to mention, creators themselves can also diversify their income. It’s a win for everyone.
Explore this topic further
If you’d like to dive deeper into TikTok advertising, our experts have covered this topic in other blogs:
- Head of Paid Social, Harriet, wrote about what TikTok is and what it can do for you
- Senior Paid Social Executive, Emma, shared 13 ways to get more views on TikTok
- Brand Assistant, Hollie, broke down the price of a perfect TikTok
If you’re struggling to find success on TikTok, our Paid Social team are experts in TikTok marketing and can help your brand drive excellent results. They know the platform inside and out and can help you manage both your organic and paid TikTok marketing. If you’d like to learn more, you can contact us today.
