How to make money on TikTok by watching videos:
- TikTok Rewards
- TikTok consulting
- Creating a reaction channel
The amount of time we’re spending on TikTok each day has grown substantially over the last few years, increasing from just 27.4 minutes on average in 2019 to 55.8 minutes in 2023, according to eMarketer. Although most people get stuck zombie scrolling on the platform with no real objective, some TikTok users actually use their TikTok video-watching time to make money. In fact, there are people making $100/hour just for watching TikTok videos!
However, watching videos on TikTok isn’t the only opportunity to make money online in 2024. Local lead generation is another money-making opportunity that allows you to make passive income online by creating websites that attract leads for local businesses. It’s not as easy as watching videos, but it can allow you to earn thousands of dollars online consistently each month by providing a valuable service.
1. Earn TikTok Rewards
TikTok Rewards is a program that incentivizes current TikTok users to refer new users to the platform, and for those new users to start using the platform. Current users can find their own custom referral link and invitation code by clicking the TikTok Rewards banner on their Profile, Discover, or For You page. After a new user receives an invite from a current user, they must download TikTok and enter the current user’s invitation code into a specified area of their TikTok profile within 24 hours to start earning TikTok Rewards.
New users can earn TikTok Rewards for both themself and the user that referred them by watching videos. The amount of videos a new user has to watch to earn TikTok Rewards depends on their region. Videos that are eligible to payout rewards are highlighted on the activities page. The activities page also displays video watching goals and the valid days a new user can continue earning rewards from their video watching activities. Once a user meets the minimum withdrawal threshold in their country, they can exchange their TikTok bonus rewards for money, coupons, or mobile top-ups.
Why do you not have TikTok rewards?
2. Sell your TikTok marketing expertise as a consultant
TikTok is a social media platform. Like any other social media platform, those with advanced knowledge on leveraging TikTok to drive revenue can monetize their expertise. Although you’ll have to do a bit more than just watching videos, working as a TikTok consultant can be an effective way to make money online. A TikTok consultant develops the skills and knowledge to create and promote successful video content on TikTok. They are responsible for keeping up with the latest TikTok trends and algorithm changes.
To become a TikTok consultant, you must spend considerable time watching and testing TikTok videos. Once you have a proven track record of success on TikTok, you can begin selling your TikTok consulting services through your own business website, or through a freelance platform like Fiverr. People and businesses will pay you to watch their videos and suggest improvements for their TikTok social media marketing strategy.
3. Create a reaction video TikTok channel
Reaction channels are extremely popular on TikTok. The concept of a reaction channel is for a TikTok influencer to watch videos “alongside” their audience and react to the contents of the video. Most of the reactions are actually planned because the content creator has to watch and find video material to react to ahead of time, but some reaction channels are spontaneous.
These channels can generate a tremendous amount of interest on TikTok, allowing content creators to earn a lot of money by just watching videos and giving their reaction. In fact, TikTok star Khaby Lame started by creating simple reaction videos. Now, he has more TikTok followers than any other creator on the platform at over 160 million!
TikTok pays money to users for posting videos through a range of monetization methods. Brand deals and the Creator Fund are the two most common ways that TikTok pays users for posting videos.
How to monetize a TikTok reaction channel?
4. Look for TikTok watching gigs
Occasionally, influencer marketing and social media research companies like Ubiquitous will post short-term jobs offers to watch TikTok videos. In fact, Ubiquitous recently hired multiple people for a TikTok watching gig and paid them $100 per hour for the role! Typically, TikTok watchers are tasked with watching videos to discover emerging trends. Then, they record their findings for TikTok marketing research purposes. You will probably need to have some experience and an active social media presence to get hired for this type of role. This is because companies want to ensure you have a deep understanding of the platform to provide them with actionable insights from an expert perspective.
5. Watch TikTok while working another job
The great thing about TikTok is that you can use easily use it anytime, anywhere. If you are bored, you can pull out your phone and watch a TikTok short video. You can even watch TikTok while you are working and making money through other tasks that have some downtime, like house sitting, babysitting, pet sitting, etc. There are many jobs that require a worker to be present, but not always actively working. Those types of jobs leave ample opportunity to watch TikTok and make money at the same time.
Do any apps pay you for watching TikTok videos?
Some apps, like ClipClaps, pay you for watching TikTok videos. However, these Tiktok paying app are renowned for very low payouts. Additionally, most of these apps usually don’t last very long and so are not viable to earn a long-term, stable online income. For example, the Zynn watch videos for money on TikTok app was the most popular option just a few years ago. Unfortunately, the get paid to watch TikTok videos app was removed from both the Google Play and Apple App Store because it was accused of copying content from other platforms.
Can you earn money by liking TikTok videos?
You can earn money by liking TikTok videos. However, TikTok does not pay you directly for liking videos. Instead, you need to go through a third-party service like Millionformula. Even so, it’s not recommended to use these kinds of third-party websites to make money by liking TikTok videos. None of these websites have very much information to verify their authenticity, and reviews online are often highly mixed. Use of these sites also opens you up to the risk of scams and even identity theft. For example, one user of Millionformula, whose internet alias is Sir Chike, noted that he was required to enter his government-issued ID in order to receive payment through the platform. Whether the site actually does pay for TikTok likes or not, you should never give your ID information to an unverified source because they can use it to steal your identity.
Furthermore, according to the Fake Engagement section of TikTok’s Community Guidelines:
“We do not allow the trade of services that attempt to artificially increase engagement or deceive TikTok’s recommendation system. If we become aware of accounts or content with unauthentically inflated metrics, we will remove the associated fake followers or likes.”
Therefore, liking TikTok videos for money is against their terms of service, and the companies that offer those services are putting their clients and even themselves at risk. It’s likely only a matter of time before they can no longer attract clients due to poor reviews from clients losing their accounts, at which point they'll probably disappear before you can even withdraw your earnings from their platform.
What are other common ways to make money on TikTok beyond watching videos?
What other platforms pay for watching videos?
Related Articles on TikTok
Can you get paid for watching TikTok?
You can get paid for watching TikTok and there are multiple strategies to do so. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the option you should choose. Unless you’re a reaction video content creator with millions of views and brand deal opportunities, you probably won’t make very much money watching videos on TikTok. A much more realistic option to make a stable income online is local lead generation.
A single local lead generation site can earn you between $500 and $3,000/month, and many people like myself run multiple of these sites to generate a 5 figure monthly income. This business model works by targeting a specific service in a specific geographic location and using SEO to get the website to rank on Google so that when customers in that area search for that service, they land on your website. You then sell the customer leads to a local business that can actually perform the service for the customer. The local business makes more money because of the leads that come through your website, so they usually stick with you for the long term because their business is better off using your website for its marketing needs.
