Ask any savvy content creator and they will tell you that the secret to making big money in this profession is having multiple streams of income.
You can make a quick buck as an influencer signing a brand deal for a couple of hundred dollars. But if you want to hit six-figure status or even drop your full-time gig to go all in as a creator, you need different ways to earn cash from your content.
TikToker Spencer Barbosa, who has over nine million followers on the platform, told Buzzfeed she has multiple streams of income. She makes money through brand deals, content marketing, affiliate links, modeling, and more.
In addition to making money through brand partnerships, affiliate links, and selling your own products, another avenue to lean into is the passive income streams that come directly through the platforms you use the most.
What are creator platform payouts?
Over the years, platforms have spun out ways to pay creators directly. YouTube has a Partner Program that offers a variety of ways to earn money, from running ads on your videos to selling channel memberships. Meta and TikTok have similar programs where you can earn money by creating engaging content or using the platform’s live-streaming or shopping tools.
Social media platforms are infamous for rolling out new features and changes. This is why creator platform payouts have changed quite drastically at the start of 2024. Here’s what you need to know if you’re eager to make money directly from social media platforms as a content creator in 2024.
TikTok creator payouts for 2024
TikTok shared the news in 2020 that it was launching a $1 billion Creator Fund. Not only did creators flock to the platform, eager to get their cut of that cash, but it also led to a lot of backlash.
Over the past few years, creators have criticized the platform, saying that they practically received pennies for videos that got hundreds of thousands of views.
In 2023, TikTok announced the end of the Creativity Program—but they didn’t leave creators in the dark. Instead, they launched a new payout plan called the TikTok Creativity Program Beta. This program works differently than their old Creator Fund, where eligible creators received payment based on video views and engagement. The new program seems to have more restrictions.
For example, videos need to be over one minute long to qualify for eligibility, reach at least 1,000 views, and adhere to requirements and terms of service.
What is TikTok’s Creativity Program Beta?
TikTok’s new program rewards creators who invest time in making longer videos on the platform. Based on their data, users now spend 50% of their time watching content that’s a minute or longer.
Videos that are longer than a minute, reach at least 1,000 videos, and aren’t an advertisement, are eligible to be monetarily rewarded from TikTok.
How much can you earn through TikTok’s Creativity Program Beta?
According to their website, creators have the potential to earn 20 times the amount they previously would have made from the Creator Fund. While their explanation seems vague, TikTok states that their algorithm calculates views, video engagement, authenticity of the content, and a few other factors, to determine the amount a creator is paid for a piece of content.
Who is eligible for TikTok’s Creativity Program Beta?
Just like most platform payout programs, not everyone is eligible to be a part of this monetization source. To join TikTok’s Creativity Program Beta, you need to have a U.S.-based account, be 18 years old, have at least 10,000 followers, and at least 100,000 video views in the last 30 days.
Check out: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Making Money on TikTok
Meta creator payouts for 2024
In 2021, Meta launched a creators fund, similar to TikTok’s old creator fund. It incentivized creators to create and publish Reels and paid them for views and engagement.
They announced plans to invest $1 billion in payout programs to help creators earn money on Facebook and Instagram. A popular way creators were earning money through Meta came in from earnings off of Reels. The more views and engagement they received, the more they were eligible to earn.
But in March of last year, Meta put an end to their standard Creator Fund and cut its Reel’s bonus program, ending payouts for creators.
How to earn money through Meta in 2024
Meta has refined their system for creator payouts in 2024. They now offer a variety of different ways a creator can earn cash through content they publish on Facebook and Instagram.
- Stars (a virtual good)
- Ads on Facebook Reels
- In-stream ads
- Subscriptions
- Branded content
- Monetization tools application
- Bonuses
Who is eligible for Meta payout programs in 2024?
However, most of these opportunities are invite-only or have specific requirements that creators have to meet to be eligible.
For example, Meta Bonuses program allows creators to earn cash by creating engaging content and is invite-only. However, you can express interest if you’d like to be invited to the Facebook Bonuses program.
You can see the eligibility requirements for each of their earning offerings directly on their website.
YouTube’s Partner Program
One of the most consistent platform payout programs for creators over the years has been YouTube’s Partner Program.
A popular way creators have earned income from YouTube is by allowing the platform to run ads before or during their videos.
But the program has expanded over the years and has grown to offer new ways for creators to earn cash.
How to become eligible for YouTube’s Partner Program
YouTube is very transparent about how to become eligible for their monetization streams. You can even turn on a setting in your profile that allows them to notify you once you are eligible.
According to their website, you can become eligible for the program by getting 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months or by getting 1,000 subscribers with 10 million public views from their YouTube Shorts videos in the last 90 days.
Once you’ve hit YouTube’s eligibility standards, you can access different monetization features like Page Ads, Shorts Feed Ads, selling channel memberships, and using their shopping feature.
Keep an eye out for updates from each social media platform that you create content for regularly. These programs often change, update, and roll out new requirements or opportunities for you to snag more earnings. If 2024 is the year you want to up your income game as a creator, tap into payout programs from these platforms. It’ll add a passive income stream to your business strategy as a content creator.
