TikTok Introduces LIVE Subscription, Its Latest Monetization Option For Creators
Source: TikTok
TikTok introduced LIVE Subscription, a monthly subscription service that allows creators to monetize with recurring payments from their fans. Subscribers receive perks such as subscriber badges, custom emotes, subscriber-only chat, and the ability to control the cameras on creators' live streams. In addition, creators can personalize their LIVE rooms.
Subscription prices haven't been revealed, but reports suggest they will be competitive with Twitch's packages, which start at $4.99 per month. A select group of creators will have access to LIVE Subscription at launch, but the service will be rolled out globally over the coming months to eligible creators 18 or older with 1,000 or more followers.
With LIVE Subscription, TikTok continues to provide creators with new monetization options. Along with the new feature, creators can also monetize directly through TikTok in the following ways:
Branded content (TikTok Creator Marketplace, Brand Mission)
Advertising revenue share (TikTok Pulse)
Tipping and virtual gifting (Tips, LIVE Gifts, Video Gifts)
As of late, social media platforms have focused on launching new or strengthening existing subscription offerings for creators and their fans. Why? The subscription model allows fans to support their favorite creators and, as a result, provides creators with more predictable revenue streams.
Most creators' revenue streams come from branded content and brand partnerships, but these revenue streams aren't always reliable due to factors like brands' influencer marketing budgets sometimes fluctuating. Through a subscription-style model, creators have a better idea of what their monthly revenue will look like and get additional benefits, such as creative freedom in the content they share and, most importantly, maintaining a relationship with their audience.
Both Patreon and Twitch have demonstrated the benefits of a subscription model for creators and their communities. In response, other platforms, like Instagram and Twitter, have recently launched Creator Subscriptions and Super Follows, respectively. Not to mention, YouTube and Facebook allow creators to monetize through subscriptions. As part of its efforts to strengthen its subscription offerings, YouTube recently launched a Channel Memberships Gifting feature that allows existing members to buy multiple memberships as gifts.
While LIVE Subscription expands TikTok's creator monetization options, it might not be the right option for everyone. But, that is the great thing about what seems like a marathon of new monetization options being rolled on TikTok and other social media platforms. The perfect way to monetize varies from creator to creator, making it less important to figure out the perfect way for creators to earn money. Instead, it is more important that creators have various options to choose from so that they can choose the options that work best for them, their content, and their audience.
