TikTok is already a popular social media platform. The only way to keep its pace, is to ensure that creators are happy.
And among the ways TikTok can make content creators feel welcome, is to make them part of the overall money-making business. And here, TikTok continues to explore more ways to share revenue with creators, and this time, it's announcing ‘Creativity Program’, which it’s launching in beta with selected creators only.
What makes Creativity Program different from TikTok's existing Creator Fund is that, the Creativity Program aims to reward creators for posting longer videos.
With the program, only content longer than a minute in length eligible for funding.
Content creators have to be 18 years old or older, meet the minimum follower and video view requirements, and have an account in good standing.
According to TikTok in a newsroom post:
This change is phenomenal and could indicate a shift in TikTok's tradition.
Since the beginning of its time, TikTok is known for its short-form approach. But with the Creativity Program, TikTok is like indirectly urging content creators to make contents that are longer.
The good thing for creators is that, the longer the video, the better the video can be monetized through the possible increased engagement.
TikTok said that creators should receive payouts based on "qualified views and RPM."
"Creators already enrolled in the TikTok Creator Fund can switch to the Creativity Program, and those that are not enrolled can apply to the new program once available. Creators currently enrolled in the TikTok Creator Fund can choose to switch to the Creativity Program Beta," said TikTok.
The bad thing however, comes from the fact that TikTok’s Creator Fund, which sees creators drawing from a set pool of funds, has been criticized for its fluctuating payouts, and even declining funding, despite creator view counts increasing.
Essentially, the static funding model doesn’t really work reliably on the platform.
TikTok isn't known for paying big money to creators, and this fact makes it look bad.
Among others reasons, this has made some creators to flee the platform, or seek other monetization options on competing platforms.
YouTube should be the clear winner here.
YouTube’s Partner Program is already a well-established system with a revenue sharing process that is reliable. YouTube is also experimenting with Shorts funding program, which should make YouTube a lot more appealing to those TikTok content creators who wish to have a change of heart.
TikTok argues that its Creativity Program doesn't divert advertisers' money from ads. And since Creativity program also introduces more tools and metrics that can be used to unlock real-world opportunities and improve video performance, the "more" should mean a good thing.
"The Creativity Program is currently available in the US, France and Brazil with plans to introduce it to more regions soon," said TikTok