TikTok Looks Like Money in the Bank for Creators

Is your big dream to make a living as a super TikToker?

Well, if the latest reports are accurate (and we assume they are), then this might be your time to shine on the social media platform that just keeps getting stronger every day.

So, what about the latest reports?


While TikTok has been struggling with getting its in-stream commerce off the ground, unlike its Chinese cousin, TikTok users are "increasingly spending in-stream, not on physical products, but on people." Some TikTok creators have reported that they're generating real incomes from their content in the app. "Real income," as in enough to make it a worthwhile living.

That's right. Those TikTok dreams might not be that unrealistic. Reports show that TikTok users doled out over $250 million in digital gifts to live-streamers in Q3 alone, which could foreshadow a trend that will see TikTok generating more income from in-app sales.

It's hard to tell if this is a trend that will go away as fast as it came or not, but TikTok isn't too worried about all that. They have bigger plans. The platform needs to acclimate viewers to spending in the app, which will ideally make them more open to "spending on other in-stream elements, like products offered through in-stream Shops."

That's the real goal for TikTok.

In the UK, TikTok has been displaying trending items in a new "Trendy Beat" eCommerce store activation, aiming to fulfill orders via lucrative partnerships with retailers to streamline the in-stream sales process.

TikTok feels that by giving users a better shopping experience, they can entice more of them to spend their cash on the platform, eventually letting TikTok expand its shopping functions into new areas, which will allow individual brands to operate in-stream stores without the platform's intervention.

Users in Asian countries have been cool with this approach for a while, but Western users are still slightly leery about social platforms as retail outlets. It's a mindset that TikTok is working hard to change.

And they aren't alone. Meta's has been working on this concept for years, and now X is trying to make a push in that direction.

Still, Western audiences are resisting integrated shopping within social apps. They still want to shop with retailers and sites they trust rather than handing over their credit card info via social apps. That mindset must be overcome for TikTok and others to snatch their share of online purchasing.

Bottom line: the more TikTok can entice people to spend via the app, the more likely the platform can convert those purchasing behaviors to more products and offerings.

For now, though, creators can enjoy the money users are willing to send them.

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