TikTok influencer marketing has proven to be hugely beneficial for brands big and small. You get incredible user-generated content that you can repurpose later, reach new audiences and social proof your brand in the process—plus the boost in sales. But before you start your partnership, you’ll want to make sure ambassadors know exactly how your program is set up. More specifically, how TikTok brand ambassadors will get paid or compensated for their valuable time.
Remember, content creation can be a full-time job. The work it takes to plan, execute, shoot and edit any content made for your brand should not be undervalued. Here’s how to pay TikTok brand ambassadors and cover all your bases in the process.
Gift cards are a great way to pay for the work done by a social media brand ambassador because you can give them exactly what they want without any hassle. Plus, you don’t even have to mail them a physical gift card. Most online shops provide digital gift cards that can be used at check out.
Many freelancers and creators have PayPal to make sending and receiving money for work simple. Not to mention the added bonus of financial protection through the service. Compensating brand ambassadors through PayPal is convenient because you can send their posting fee directly to their PayPal account. It’s also helpful for you as a brand because your accountant can log in and check that payments have been made and received.
If you have established an affiliate program, invite your TikTok ambassadors to join. They can market your products in return for a commission when a product sells. There is no up-front payment. The affiliates make money only when they convert a lead. All you have to do is provide trackable links to monitor sales and pay commissions.
Pro Tip: If any of these three are your chosen methods so far, you should include in your influencer contract when payments will be sent. Whether it’s before any content is created or after all of the content has been posted, it’s definitely something to discuss. This way, everyone is on the same page and influencers won’t have any apprehensions about receiving what they’re owed.
Some influencers don’t charge for posting at all. A lot of the time, being gifted products from a brand is enough compensation for them. It’s a win-win where a brand gets their product promoted to people in their target audience, and influencers get new products to make content with that they don’t have to go out and purchase themselves.
Depending on the amount of followers they have, some TikTokers will not accept free product as compensation. If this is your chosen method for now, be sure to research before reaching out to ambassadors you’d like to work with.
Influencers all have different skill sets, engagement rates, followings and experience levels. All of these factors should be considered when deciding on compensation. The length of the campaign should be taken into account as well—buying multiple mentions or posts at once usually leads to a discount.
Whether you’re compensating TikTok brand ambassadors with money or free product, ask yourself these questions:
Read this blog if you’re interested in learning more about FTC guidelines for gifted products.
While the above options are great, sometimes it’s better to let someone else handle it. Influencer marketing platforms can manage influencer communication and compensation so you don’t have to! Every platform deals with payments to ambassadors differently, so do research to see what works best for your brand. For example, at Statusphere, we generally compensate influencers with free products from the brands that run campaigns with us.