Where can I find sponsors on TikTok?
1) Grow your following
You can’t access the TikTok Creator Marketplace until you have at least 100,000 followers. You may be able to find sponsors before this follower count through outreach. But the amount you make per 1,000 impressions is smaller on TikTok than on other platforms (more on that later). So personally, I would focus on hitting the 100,000 follower mark via trending TikToks before shifting my energies to finding sponsors.
TikTok Creator Marketplace
You should be invited to the TikTok Creator Marketplace if you are over 18 years old, have 100,000 followers and have received 100,000 likes in the last 30 days. This is sort of the official place for brands and TikTok stars to pair up.
The cool thing about the marketplace is that once you join, you don’t even have to do anything. Brands get instant access to your metrics and contact you when they think it’s a good fit. You just get notified of offers from brands and accept what you think is worthwhile.
3) Marketplaces for Influencers / Brand Connection
Countless companies have popped up over the years promising to connect influencers with brands. While I do recommend TikTok’s official marketplace over these, it’s not much. These marketplaces can prove just as effective; The problem is that they will take part of the exchange (but so was the TikTok marketplace). That means it’s probably worth it if it allows you to get better deals for less hassle.
Here are a few examples of these types of marketplaces, but many more are popping up all the time. So it’s not even close to a complete list.
Brybe – I like this one because it’s a marketplace where you can openly set prices.
activate
Popular Pays
tribe
4) Reach
I usually list contacting companies directly as the #1 way to get sponsorship on other platforms (YouTube, podcasts, etc.).
Start Your Web/Blog & Earn Money Online
Unfortunately, TikTok is such a new platform (50 million users in 2018 versus over 1 BILLION in 2021) that many marketing departments simply don’t have a platform strategy yet. That means if you just blindly approach companies that are a good fit, you’re likely to face even more rejection than you would on other platforms.
However, some brands recognize that TikTok is the fastest growing social media platform in the world, and they want to be a part of it! They could just try it to test if they can get it to work. With a strong enough pitch, brands can be persuaded to sponsor you.
Normally, to find companies that do sponsorships, I would just google you for “company name TikTok partnership”. Unfortunately, TikTok is so new that it’s difficult to find these sites for a brand and even know who’s even open to doing something like this. For this reason I prefer (at the moment) influencer – brand connection services over direct contact.
How much TikTok sponsors pay
I’ve alluded to this before, but brands don’t pay as much per 1,000 impressions on TikTok as they do on other platforms. This happens for a variety of reasons specific to TikTok.
There is no place to place an affiliate link (other than your profile), so affiliate programs don’t pay you very well.
Videos are typically 15 seconds or less; There’s no time for a 30-second ad read.
A branded TikTok is less likely to go viral than regular content (so don’t pay for potential benefits).
Many big brands are still afraid of the platform. TikTok has a reputation as a shady Chinese company spying on you and promoting teens’ OnlyFans accounts. This leads to less competition and lower prices.