TikTok has rolled out a new “Creativity Program” that aims to empower creators to generate higher earnings potential on the platform. The program replaced the previous “Creator Fund” monetization offering.

TikTok Incentivizes Creators To Tap Into Higher Revenue Potential Through Creativity Program

As TikTok encroached on YouTube’s territory, it adopted some familiar features from its competitor. The former experimented with a horizontal format that resembled the YouTube player, and its video scrubbing thumbnails helped viewers navigate timestamps within longer uploads. 

These moves showed that TikTok – the app that became famous for its short-video content – had started increasingly supporting long-form content, reflecting a broader trend in the online video industry.

Over the past decade, the value of raw viewership and follower counts has diminished, with watch time and engagement emerging as key metrics. The widespread adoption of short-form video feeds has only accelerated this shift. 

Despite pioneering the short-form feed, TikTok began looking to add more long-form offerings to users’ For You pages. The financially incentivized Creativity Program aimed to boost watch time and engagement.

The Creativity Program Beta launched on May 3, 2023, for U.S.-based creators with at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 authentic video views over the prior 30 days. Eligible creators were able to join the program, which rewards them for making and publishing high-quality, original videos longer than one minute compliant with TikTok’s Community Guidelines.

“The Creativity Program is designed to help creators foster their creativity, generate higher revenue potential and unlock more exciting, real-world opportunities,” TikTok stated in the announcement. 

The company developed the new program based on learnings and feedback from creators utilizing its previous monetization tools like the Creator Fund. Creators already in it can choose to switch over to the new Creativity Program.

Once enrolled, creators gain access to an analytics dashboard displaying video eligibility, estimated revenue, and performance metrics. They earn money when users view their qualifying videos on the platform. Payment rates remained undisclosed.

On December 16, 2023, the Creativity Program fully replaced the Creator Fund in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany. TikTok said it would continue updating the system based on additional input from its community.

The Creativity Program represented the latest monetization solution TikTok had introduced to reward creators’ efforts on the platform at the time. Other such offerings included the LIVE Subscription for fans to purchase paid subscriptions supporting their favorite creators, and TikTok Pulse which allows brands to run ads adjacent to the top 4% of creator content.

“At TikTok, we are committed to fostering new ways for creators to feel valued and rewarded as they continue to inspire and engage our community,” the company pointed out. With over a billion monthly active users as of 2022, TikTok solidified its status as a powerful platform where creators can build audiences around their content and creative aspirations.