How Could TikTok Pulse Change Influencers’ Platforms of Choice?

TikTok is a ridiculously popular platform among my clients, so you can imagine the excitement at my performance marketing agency, Pixated, last year when the platform launched an ads tool set to expand its reach further than ever before. Introducing: TikTok Pulse.

What is TikTok Pulse?

TikTok Pulse is a contextual advertising platform, empowering marketers to get the best results on both their campaigns and their overall investments. Their ads are built into the platform’s For You page, so users see them primarily when they first open the app.

As a way of generating higher conversions, TikTok Pulse ads are placed strategically among the top 4% of videos on the platform. In turn, the most engaging original content on TikTok can also boost engagement for high-value ads. This placement in the highest echelons of TikTok content means these ads meld seamlessly into users’ feeds.

How does TikTok Pulse’s revenue-sharing tool work?

The rollout of TikTok Pulse marked the first time the platform had released a revenue-sharing tool. It’s designed to reward creators for profitable work while sharing this success with prosperous brands. Ads are placed in videos within 12 popular categories, including food, fashion and beauty. This diversity of categories helps businesses better contextualise their campaigns. Businesses can also see where their ads have been placed and which influencers are best associated with their brand.

What’s more, creators receive a 50/50 share of all the revenue generated by any brand partnerships. This approach has enabled TikTok to compete with the YouTube Partner Program, which offers a similar incentive. Alongside this monetisation feature, TikTok also regularly checks that creators’ content is still brand-safe and suitable for ads. Moreover, selected advertisers are even able to track and manage their campaigns using TikTok Ads Manager, meaning they take total control of ads to ensure success for their entire run.

How can marketers achieve success with TikTok Pulse?

The incredibly engaging content on TikTok means those brands whose ads get to be associated with it through TikTok Pulse have access to both a huge audience and a lucrative market. And because their ads are placed only within the 12 relevant categories, their brand’s message doesn’t risk being lost, diluted or miscommunicated. TikTok has also stressed the importance of online safety for both businesses and creators. That’s why the platform leverages a multitude of third-party brand suitability and viewability verification tools to help customers and advertisers alike understand the wider impact of their campaigns. This motivates creators to publish appropriate content to generate more revenue.

Who’s eligible for TikTok Pulse?

At present only influencers with at least 100k followers are eligible for TikTok Plus. This threshold also applies to brands and media publishers, and it was set by TikTok to ensure only the most engaging content is promoted to appease a broad variety of dedicated brand partners.

How can influencers benefit from TikTok Pulse?

With TikTok Pulse creators have access to a myriad of awesome features which can empower them to increase their profits. If an influencer creates content in an especially valuable niche and reaches a wide audience who love what they do, they have the potential to drive an incredible stream of additional revenue. What’s more, if a business continues to see success with TikTok Pulse they’re more likely to continue running their ad campaigns through it, resulting in more opportunities for brands and creators to collaborate and build accumulative sources of revenue.
It’s clear that TikTok seriously values the work of its influencers, given the 50/50 revenue split it’s implemented through TikTok Pulse. They’re not left with a disproportionate income after affiliating with a large business, and can therefore maintain financial stability, even work on multiple successful campaigns at once. In fact, TikTok Pulse represents a huge step toward a fairer and higher-value monetisation model for brands and influencers alike, and the new platform also means that moving forward we all have a blueprint for what truly engaging content looks like.