Do you want to make money through TikTok?

That’s a great idea especially now that TikTok is one of the hottest social media platforms out there — with the user count expected to get to 1.8 billion by the end of 2022.

In this article, you will find different methods to make money on TikTok in the Philippines and some tips in regards to the platform.

Let’s get started.

How to Make Money on TikTok

Here are your options if you want to earn with TikTok:

1. Create branded content

Have you seen content creators posting a video specifically about a certain brand or product?

Well, that’s branded content in a nutshell. Basically, you create sponsored content and promote a brand or product.

In exchange, you receive a reward — usually in a form of upfront payment or a commission from a third-party if your viewers purchase what you post about.

On the down side, not everyone in TikTok can earn the attention of businesses. At the very least, you need to have a respectable following.

For the pricing, an influencer platform compiled how much influencers in TikTok earn, which you can make as a reference for your own pricing:

●      Nano-influencers: 250 to 1,250 pesos per post

●      Micro-influencers: 1,250 to 6,250 pesos per post

●      Mid-tier influencers: 6,250 to 62,500 pesos per post

●      Macro-influencers: 62,500 to 125,000 pesos per post

●      Mega-influencers: 125,000+ pesos per post

It’s important to know that if you publish a branded content, you need to tag it as such in TikTok since all branded content must be reviewed by their moderation team.

On the bright side, they have a branded content toggle so you can easily inform both the brand (and tag it as well) and your audience that the video is branded content (for disclosure).

TikTok also has an official collaboration platform that could help you connect with brands for paid campaigns, which works in two ways:

●      Brands will find and invite you directly from the platform

●      Search for relevant open campaigns created by brands and submit an application

Note that unlike most in-platform methods of getting paid to create, the official collaboration platform is available in the Philippines.

You can read more about the Creator Marketplace in TikTok from here. Business accounts though are not eligible at this time.

2. Promote affiliate products

How about video creators promoting a brand or product low-key? Have you seen those?

That’s affiliate marketing for you. It’s a little bit related to creating brand content — though you don’t have to talk about a product in the whole video.

Basically, affiliate marketing works like this:

●      You mention or show the product in the video

●      Include an affiliate link in the video description

●      Receive commissions when a viewer buys through your affiliate link

What’s awesome about promoting affiliate products is that your earnings aren't one-time only. It can be a recurring one as long as viewers continue to buy a product through your link.

Unfortunately though, most brands in the Philippines don’t have an affiliate program. On the bright side, major ecommerce platforms have one.

Here are some places where you can sign for an affiliate program:

●      Lazada

●      Shopee

●      Involve Asia

●      Impact Partnership

In addition, if you want to promote tech products like hosting, VPN, or other software, you can easily do so and apply for their affiliate program.

3. Sell your own products or merch

How about selling your own products or merch instead?

The beauty of this is that you don’t just receive commissions, you get the whole revenue without having to share it with anyone else.

TikTok is one of the best places to promote your own custom-made merch — especially when you become an authority figure in your niche.

The easiest way to get started is by selling printables since you can use print-on-demand services to create your products for you:

●      PrintDrop

●      Merchiful

●      Gelato

More sophisticated products will require you to find your own supplier or a manufacturer to do the work for you.

Once you have your products, all that’s left is to create your own ecommerce site where you point your viewers to.

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4. License your content

What’s great about TikTok is that it’s one of the best places for you to promote your content — both video and audio (music).

Did you know that if you have a viral video or clip, and a news company wants to use it, you can license the video so you can get paid when the news company uses the video?

The same for music creators. You can get revenue from it if you license your music. In fact, many music creators use TikTok to promote their music.

There are platforms out there that you can easily use to license your content:

●      Jukin Media

●      DistroKid

●      AWAL

Unfortunately though, the platforms above are usually used outside the country. There are no similar services here in the Philippines.

What you can do though if you want to make it easier for those who want to buy your content is to update your contact details.

That way, interested parties can simply reach out to you for business inquiries. Make sure to update your contact details on all your social media platforms.

5. Receive gifts during live sessions

Have you seen the gift button when viewing a live video on TikTok?

Well, this feature is actually a native one in TikTok. This allows viewers to send gifts in the form of stickers and animations to creators.

Basically, the gifts you receive can be converted into diamonds, which can then convert to cash. Withdrawal though is a little troublesome and will require you to use PayPal.

This feature is amazing — though you shouldn’t rely on it if you want to make a career creating videos on TikTok.

However, making money from it, no matter how small, is already great. That’s why you should show appreciation every time you receive a gift.

The Deal with Creator Next and Creator Fund

You may have heard about the various ways of getting paid to create natively on TikTok. Unfortunately, most of them are not available yet in the Philippines.

These include methods like:

●      Creator Next

●      Creator Fund

●      Video Gifts (non-live videos)

●      Tips

These features usually require you to opt in to TikTok Creator Next. The eligibility of which requires the following:

●      18 years of age or older

●      Meet the minimum follower requirements (differ according to region)

●      Have at least 1,000 video views in the last 30 days

●      Have at least three posts in the last 30 days

●      Good standing with the community guidelines

●      Account based in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, or Spain (soon on Canada and Australia)

You may be able to pass through all the requirements except for the country requirements, which is a bummer. The good news is, you can expect it to roll out soon, though we’re not sure when.

Tips on Earning Money Through TikTok

If you want to leverage TikTok as a means to earn money, then take note of the following:

Ride the TikTok Trends

Going against the flow may sound nice. But in TikTok, riding the current trends may get you and your videos in the spotlight.

Social media platforms are a beast when it comes to trends. Once a trend starts to fire up, you will then see it all across the platforms for quite some time.

That’s why you must capitalize on the trends. It’s where the money’s at. Once you gain a huge following, you can then try your luck at becoming a trend setter yourself.

Prioritize creating great content

Whether on TikTok or on YouTube, what you always need to remember is that your followers found you because they like your content.

Even if you want to use TikTok to earn money, that’s not something that your followers necessarily share with you.

For this reason, you must avoid anything that could turn off your followers — things like shameless advertising or too salesy posts.

This is where you need to know how to balance authenticity and marketing. Consider what your followers want and take it from there.

Level up your videos

TikTok has some nice filters and effects. But once you get serious in using the platform as a means of earning money, you should consider investing more on your video quality.

This could come in various forms like:

●      Buying a great camera

●      Investing in good lighting

●      Learning video editing techniques

Naturally, you don’t have to do all these right away or even all at once. Again, the main point here is to consider the wants and needs of your followers.

In addition, putting out great quality videos is always a good idea. People will appreciate it better and you will look more like a pro.

Making Money from TikTok

TikTok is still a young social media platform. However, it quickly caught on fire and is super popular especially here in Asia.

On the other hand, because it’s still new, the monetization you can use is limited only to the following:

●      Creating branded content

●      Promoting affiliate products

●      Selling your own products or merch

●      Licensing your content

●      Receiving gifts during live sessions

TikTok has some nice native methods of earning money. Unfortunately, many of them are not available yet here in the country.

If you want to consider a side hustle, how about creating your own website and monetizing it? You can start with our affordable web hosting plans and take it from there.