As TikTok continues to grow, it is also becoming a hotspot for aspiring content creators looking to showcase their talents, gain recognition and – monetize what they do on the platform. Recognizing the potential of its creator community, TikTok launched the Creator Marketplace, an innovative platform that connects brands and businesses with influential TikTok creators.
What Is TikTok Creator Marketplace?
The name “TikTok Creator Marketplace” is rather self-explanatory: it is a platform where advertisers can source creators to participate in their campaigns, create branded content and promote brands. It is also a place where TikTok creators who’ve already made a significant presence on the platform can earn money by creating content for brands.
The TikTok Creator Marketplace has revolutionized the way brands and creators collaborate, opening up a world of exciting opportunities for both parties. With this powerful tool, content creators can now monetize their skills, expand their reach, and build meaningful partnerships with brands seeking authentic and engaging content.
The platform streamlines the collaboration process between creators and brands. It allows brands to browse available creators and analyze their profiles to find the best match. It also gives them access to first-party data, as well as the ability to track campaign performance in real time. It minimizes the time needed to find the right creator to work with and provides tools for optimizing the collaboration.
How to join TikTok Creator Marketplace?
If you use TikTok for advertising, you already have an active TikTok Ad Manager account. You can use the same credentials to log into the Creator Marketplace. If not, a TikTok advertising agency can set up everything for you.
After completing the profile with the company logo, a brief description and links, you can start browsing the creator profiles and reaching out to those that seem like a good fit.
The procedure is a bit more complicated for creators as they need to meet certain eligibility criteria (age, follower count, engagement, video content, etc).
How to select and source the creators?
The TikTok Creator Marketplace offers a quick and simple overview of available creators, with basic information: typical response times, content category, the number of followers and top audience segments. If that sparks your interest, clicking on their username will give you access to first-party data:
- Core metrics
- Sample organic or branded content
- Audience age and gender
- Active/inactive users
- Audience device type
- Audience location
- Profile trends and
- Similar creators
The profile has a button that you can use to invite the creator to the campaign. It is highly advised to vet the creator before starting the collaboration, or even inviting them, as it saves time and prevents failed collaborations.
At this point you can also see the creator’s approximate rate which you can use in determining whether they’re the right fit for you.
As for the data, it is recommended to look for consistency and/or growth over time. Also, make sure to check out their content to see if it aligns with your brand and the sort of content you want to create.
4 types of collaboration through TikTok Creator Marketplace
There are four collaboration workflows or types of collaboration you can initiate with creators:
1. Direct invitation.
In this type, the brand invites the creator to collaborate. Negotiation and content reviews and approvals are handled directly through TikTok Creator Marketplace.
In this type, you start with a brief and negotiate a rate and partnership terms. These include the content guide, specific deliverables and their timeline. The notifications are sent to creators 72h before the deadline.
In the next step, creators submit a concept, a script or a video draft. The advertiser confirms or rejects the concept and confirms the posting schedule. If approved, when the post is ready, it will need to be approved in the Creator Marketplace platform, where the payment also takes place.
2. Open Application campaigns.
This type is something of a casting call for creators. Advertisers create a brief and specify creator criteria and then the creators apply with a pitch, their rate and sample videos. Advertisers then review the applications and accept the ones that work for them, after which they share the collaboration details with the selected creators.
One benefit of this type of collaboration is that it saves the time that would otherwise be spent on browsing the creators. It also allows advertisers to partner up with creators with specific and unique visions and unsearchable attributes. Plus, there are filters that can be applied to help find relevant creators faster.
Note that this type can be combined with Direct Invitation in order to maximize the chances to find the right creator.
3. Invite Links.
This is a brand new campaign type that’s not yet available to the general audience and has to be applied for. In this type, advertisers can invite creators to participate in campaigns outside of the TikTok Creator Marketplace by generating a public link for creators to upload videos.
With Invite Links, advertisers can work with any creator on TikTok (over 18), not just those within the Creator Marketplace platform. They can still leverage the platform’s reporting and performance tools and get first-party data on the creator they selected.
After you create a campaign, simply click on Invite Link. You can then send the link to the creator via offline channels. Since any creator with the link will be able to upload videos to the campaign, make sure to send the link only to those you really want to work with.
Insights about the Invite Links campaign are available in the Reporting menu.
4. Campaign Codes.
This is another way for advertisers to connect content posted outside of TikTok Creator Marketplace and still use the platform’s reporting and Ad Auth. With this tool, advertisers get TikTok Creator Marketplace reporting, authorization codes and campaign organization. Campaign Codes can only be used through Direct Invitation and Open Application campaigns.
The Campaign Code is found within an active Direct Invitation or Open Application campaign. Before or after a post has gone live, the creator links it to the TikTok Creator Marketplace reporting. The advertiser shares the code with the creator, and he or she then toggles the Branded Content toggle on within the Ad Manager, clicks on “Link Campaign,” enters the Campaign Code and clicks on “Sync.”
TikTok Creator Marketplace Add-ons
As we saw, the platform provides a lot of ways to simplify and streamline creator collaborations. First-party data and platform-specific reporting help optimize the campaigns, but that’s not all. The Creator Marketplace also features a couple of exclusive add-ons to further boost campaign performance.
Specifically, there are TikTok Creator Marketplace Anchors, solutions that help deliver a native in-app experience within ad campaigns and branded content.
So far, advertisers can leverage the Gaming Anchor and Comment Anchor.
Gaming Anchor is aimed at mobile gaming clients partnering up with creators. Creators add a link in their post leading to the partner’s landing page, from where users can be led to the app store and download the app. It is an excellent tool for driving brand awareness and boosting downloads using creator marketing.
Comment Anchor is a similar tool that generates a link that creators post in the comments below their branded content posts. Again, the link leads to a special landing page where users can take further action.
Tips for reaching out and creating the perfect brief
TikTok Creator Marketplace provides the necessary solutions but the success of a creator campaign will be depend on how healthy its foundation is. Essentially, on frank and clear negotiation, and on the good brief.
After finding the right creator, advertisers make the initial outreach. At this stage, it is important to state that it will be a paid partnership, to describe the brand, the goal and the offer.
The offer should include specifics, with all the important elements outlined as early as possible.
During the negotiating phase, it is vital to treat creators professionally and to find an equitable and fair deal. This will shorten the process and minimize the back-and-forth. Plus it will help create a strong relationship with the creator that can be repeated in the future for mutual benefit.
The creative brief sent out to select creators should include:
- Brand profile and overview
- Campaign messaging and creative
- Timeline
- Campaign CTA
- Elements you want to include
- Elements you explicitly want to avoid
It would also help to provide some sample posts as creative guidelines.
Remember that, while it’s your job to provide the general outline, goals and state the deliverables clearly, you really should just let the creators create. Allow for flexibility and freedom because, after all, creating content is what they do best and they know best what works and what doesn’t in their niche. Also, allow or even encourage them to deliver the brand message in their own voice and tone.
The TikTok Creator Marketplace is an excellent, feature-rich and expanding platform that can be of great benefit both for the creators and the advertisers alike. If you’d like to explore the advertising potential of TikTok or to learn more about the TikTok Creator Marketplace, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team of dedicated experts!
