The TikTok Creator Marketplace is an in-app platform that allows brands to connect with TikTok creators. It streamlines the process of brand/creator collaboration by allowing brands to reach out directly to TikTok creators with advertisement proposals. Creators can also apply via application to campaign/ad opportunities. 

How does TikTok Creator Marketplace Work? 

Brands send out invitations that include: 

1. Information about the brand
2. The campaign/ad
3. Proposed payment 

Then, the creator has the option to accept or decline the brand deal. 

@issaokamoto

Staying hydrated & stocking up all of my favorite @Splash beverages! Check out the link in my bio to add these delicious drinks to your cart! #DrinkSplash #ad What’s your favorite flavor of Splash Blast & Splash Fizz?

♬ original sound – Issa Okamoto

Eligibility

For creators, eligibility requirements include: 

• Must be 18 years or older to participate  
• Must have a “creator account”, which can be easily updated within the TikTok app settings
• Must have over 100k followers 
• Posted at least 3 videos within the last 28 days 
• Garnered over 100k likes on their posts within the last 28 days 

Once requirements are met, creators may receive an invite from TikTok or can apply to join the Creator Marketplace. After the application is completed and processed by TikTok, creators are inducted into the Marketplace.

If you want to learn more about TikTok brands, check out our blog on viral TikTok brands here.

Pros and Cons For Creators 

Pros: 

• Greater networking options
• Easier for brands to connect with relevant creators 
• >$$$ financial opportunities 

Cons: 

• May be offered brand deals that you don’t want to accept 
• Brands have full licenses to your content and can use images and videos to advertise at their discretion  
• Can’t leave TikTok Creator Marketplace 

TikTok Creator Marketplace gives Creators access to greater networking opportunities, as brands can filter and seek out accounts relevant to their brand or campaign. By streamlining the process through the app, the Creator Marketplace greatly improves the ability for brands and creators to connect. 

This increases the likelihood of creators receiving brand deals that they want to accept. The Creator Marketplace, in theory, offers greater access to more financial opportunities as a creator. 

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However, many creators enrolled in the Creator Marketplace complain that they receive a plethora of brand deal offers they do not want to accept or are unclear in instruction. 

Accepting the terms and conditions of the Creator Marketplace includes granting full license of the video, which allows brands to use images from and the video itself in their own advertising capacity. 

Additionally, licenses allow brands to use the creator’s personal brand, image, likeness, and other information for their own independent advertising. Whether or not this is a good thing, it is important to note, especially when considering which brands to affiliate with or not. 

Here is the specific section directly from the Creator Marketplace Terms of Service for the United States and Canada [note for other available countries, terms and conditions may be worded differently]:

“You retain all of your ownership rights in your Content.  However, by submitting Content to TikTok, you hereby grant to TikTok and its affiliates a worldwide, non-exclusive, irrevocable, fully-sublicensable, fully paid, and royalty-free license, to reproduce, make derivative works of, distribute, publicly perform, and publicly display in any form or medium, whether now known or later developed, make, use, transfer, import, and exercise any and all such rights in any Content or information submitted by you to the Platforms, or collected from your use of the Platform for the purpose of internal analytics, reporting and external marketing.  You also agree that such license to TikTok extends to TikTok’s use of your brand, approved images, name, approved likeness, and associated information if submitted by you to the Platform.  To the extent that you have any moral rights in the licensed Content, you hereby waive such moral rights for the benefit of TikTok and its affiliates.”

The full terms and conditions for all countries can be found here.

Some users have reported that their views went down after declining an offer in the Creator Marketplace, although there is no way of measuring whether those declines are related to the platform or their content. 

Finally, for those that do not find success in the Creator Marketplace, according to users, there is no way to leave the Creator Marketplace once your account is in it. 

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Pros and Cons for Brands

Pros:

• Easier to find relevant content creators for advertising and campaigning 
• Access to relevant data, such as audience demographics, engagement metrics, etc. 
• Power to review the creator’s video before it gets uploaded 

Cons: 

• Can’t communicate directly through Creator Marketplace

For brands looking to advertise or campaign on one of the biggest social media platforms in the world, TikTok Creator Marketplace is a great option to find and collaborate with relevant creators. 

If you are a brand looking to advertise on TikTok, check out our blog on strategies for brands to succeed with sponsored content here. 

The Creator Marketplace has built-in filters based on important demographics like country, region, content type, and more. The creator qualifications also mean that brands are searching through higher trafficking accounts. And once potential creators have been identified, Creator Marketplace gives access to important information such as performance, demographics, and previous brand deal performance that allows brands to make smarter decisions. 

@wishbonekitchen

Spent the day at the New York Times Food Festival with @American Express and @Resy and I am STUFFED. Card members had access to the Contramar popup by world-famous chef Gabriela Camara, and now I’m itching to book a trip to Mexico City ASAP. Dining is better #WithAmex #AmexAmbassador #ad

♬ original sound – wishbonekitchen

TikTok Creator Marketplace does not have any integrated chat feature that allows brands and creators to further discuss details of a proposal beyond the initial templates. However, within its templates, brands can send information like an email that could streamline future communications. 

Other potential cons may be that the creator you want to collaborate with is not on Creator Marketplace or prefers other channels of communication. Besides that, the Creator Marketplace is a risk-free way of searching for brand opportunities through TikTok. 

So, Should I Use TikTok Creator Marketplace?

Ultimately, the TikTok Creator Marketplace is an effective, streamlined method of connecting brands and creators to their mutual benefit. 

Most of the cons for both brands and creators are inconveniences that the platform could improve on. However, the risk of getting involved is minimal, while offering financial opportunities for creators and business opportunities for brands. 

If you are a creator, read the fine lines, and understand licensing and its implications before beginning your journey. For brands, rest assured that the Creator Marketplace offers lucrative opportunities for collaboration.