5 Social Media Platforms That Pay You to Create Content
Paid content creation is a great way to turn your passions into a business. Whether you’re an influencer, YouTuber or just starting out, there are many opportunities to monetize your content.
Influencer marketing can be lucrative if you’re the right fit for a brand. Creating platform-specific content can also be a great strategy to increase your earning potential.
1. YouTube
YouTube has a massive audience and is an affordable platform to use for video marketing. YouTube ads can be targeted to specific audiences like a demographic or a specific geographic area.
YouTubers can also earn income by participating in affiliate marketing. For example, review-type channels may include product links and a code in their video descriptions that earn them money when viewers click on the links and make a purchase.
It’s important to set a clear goal for each video, like increasing brand awareness or driving inbound website traffic, and to stick to that one objective throughout the production process. Tools like Social Blade can help you see how your video content compares to competitors’ videos and identify areas for improvement. Then, you can implement a strategy that will maximize results for your video marketing efforts.
2. TikTok
Khaby Lame, Miss Excel, Addison Rae—their names may have nothing in common, but they all earn millions through TikTok, a social video-sharing app. This Chinese-owned platform allows users to create 15-second videos jazzed up with filters, music, animation, and other effects.
Its booming popularity has caused many to wonder how to make money on TikTok. A growing number of micro and macro-influencers are leveraging their large followings to land lucrative brand deals.
Its creator funding program allows eligible creators to earn money for every video view their content receives. The app also offers a contextual advertising product, Pulse Premiere, for brands to place ads alongside relevant content. This is a significant departure from the monetization model of other US-based social media platforms.
3. Instagram
Instagram is the ultimate photo- and video-sharing social media platform. The app focuses on creating visual content and is ideal for fashion enthusiasts, travel junkies, fitness buffs, home decorators and more.
Instagram users can follow other people and topics by using hashtags (descriptive keywords that are clicked to reveal images) and geo-tagging. The social network also allows people to monetize their accounts by selling their pictures via online marketplaces.
Influencers can also make money on Instagram by collaborating with brands and businesses to promote their products or services through sponsored posts. Typically, these posts include a trackable link or promo code that leads to a product page that pays the influencer a percentage of revenue for each sale made. Instagram requires that users disclose when posts are sponsored, which you can do by adding a “Paid Partnership with” tag to your caption or using the #sponsored hashtag.
4. Facebook
Facebook allows users to connect with one another, sharing pictures, status updates and other information with friends and people they don’t know. Users can also create groups with similar interests and participate in online discussions.
Since its inception, Facebook has exploded in popularity and user base and is the leader among social media platforms, with more than 2 billion monthly active users. It has also accumulated a large amount of valuable data on users that is useful for businesses that advertise on the platform.
Facebook has been involved in a few controversies, including privacy concerns and data breaches. However, the company has taken steps to remedy these issues. It has also diversified its offerings, introducing a dating service, a version of Craigslist, multiple chat apps, live audio and video apps and software that office workers can use to communicate with one another.
5. LinkedIn
Aside from being the place where professionals look to find jobs, LinkedIn is now a hub for many influencers who specialize in careers, personal development and entrepreneurship. It’s also ground zero for what some have dubbed hustle culture – a community of ROI-obsessed go-getters.
In addition to LinkedIn Pulse, which lets you share long-form articles, the platform has other ways for creators to generate ad revenue. These include writing recommendations, endorsing others’ skills, commenting on posts and reposting content.
In terms of creating content for LinkedIn, a great place to start is with your company’s accomplishments. This can be anything from industry awards to a new product launch. Sharing this type of information shows your audience you’re serious about what you do. It will also boost engagement and humanize your brand.
