Matteo Rivellini was 18 when he started posting his jokes, then his hidden cameras and his sidewalk mics filmed in the streets of Lyon on TikTok.
It was in 2019, before the emergence of the coronavirus, before the confinements, and therefore before the explosion of this platform which now exceeds one billion users worldwide.
Matteo's TikTok account has followed the same exponential trajectory.
Her long silhouette and her patter allow her videos to “
break through
”, some more and more regularly exceeding the symbolic milestone of one million “
views
” (viewings).
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"
At the time of exceeding 500,000 subscribers to my account, I decided to devote myself to this full time
," he explains.
Now he has 1.8 million subscribers, founded a company in his name through which he promotes other content creators, and alternately employs his agent, who is finishing her communication studies.
Matteo's trajectory corresponds to the dream of some young people.
“
Behind the creation of content, there is the promise of earning a lot of money, quickly.
It has everything to please
, ”recognizes Poopi, 3 million subscribers on the counter, known for her tasting videos.
With her ultra-prolific account - she posts between 3 and 5 videos a day - she is one of the most followed creators in France.
But at the back of the comet, there are a large number of content creators which, despite a large number of subscribers, are far from living at 100% of this activity.
20 euros for 1 million "
views
"
"
It's an idealized environment, but with a lot of inequalities and precariousness
", explains a good connoisseur of the sector.
Because the first source of income that content creators generally access is low-paying.
It is the "
Creators' Fund
" (Creator Found), which offers videographers a remuneration according to the number of "
views
" of their videos.
Any creator who has more than 10,000 subscribers and can attest to significant "
views
" during the past month can claim this remuneration... Sometimes disappointing: creators are paid around 20 euros for 1 million "
views
" on their videos.
However, all creators share a “
Fund
” whose value is defined in advance.
The more they are, the less they earn, which several Americans denounced at the beginning of the year.
Which means that a creator who would only rely on this source of income would need to see his videos viewed 65 million times a month in total to generate a net minimum wage.
A mission already almost impossible, and which becomes more complicated over time.
To hope to live from this activity, or at least make the infinity time to find concepts and film, it is therefore necessary to diversify.
Sponsored publications are a common way to monetize an account, whatever the social network: a brand pays for a creator to promote his products.
With one obstacle: on this platform, brands generally invest smaller budgets than on Instagram, for example, because TikTok is newer and more uncertain.
The app's powerful algorithm, which sifts through videos and selects them from each user's personalized "
For You
" feed, can boost a video's visibility, or skip it altogether.
“
TikTok is much less predictable: the algorithm can be in a good mood, or not.
That's what we try to explain to brands
,” says Thomas Angerer, co-founder of the BeInfluence agency.
Keep your audiences
To obtain interesting contracts, content creators must be able to maintain their audience from one video to another, despite the whims of the algorithm.
A challenge, but it is this data that is decisive.
Thanks to a certain stability in his audience, Matteo Rivellini can thus ask for between 2,000 and 3,000 euros per promotional video.
But all creators do not leave with the same chances of financing themselves.
"
Creators who make lifestyle or fashion content have more opportunities to make this kind of partnership
," explains Antoine Godfroy, co-founder of the marketing agency Sleeq, specializing in TikTok campaigns.
For Astroniko, swimming coach and creator of astronomy videos with 600,000 subscribers, monetizing a channel is much more complex: “
when you are a popularizer, it is not easy.
We don't sell much
, ”he explains.
“
I could have partnerships with telescope manufacturers, eventually?
But they are already in short supply since the Covid crisis, they don't need more advertising.
And besides, I'm not legitimate enough to sell training
.
These are a common way of making money for creators who cultivate niche content.
Astroniko, devotes about 2 hours to the creation of a standard clip of 30 seconds.
His videos now earn him 20 euros a month.
Because after having made a daily video for weeks, he preferred to reduce his production.
Financing oneself with partnerships has "
nothing to do
" with its content, starting with
dropshipping
services (a form of sale without stock, by ordering products from a generally foreign supplier), including a generation of influencers mainly from reality TV has been used and abused.
Controversial practice due to the lack of guarantees for the buyer, but it legal.
Each creator must therefore draw his own ethical line - what does he agree to promote, or not to users, who are often young?
This question arises at every moment.
In their quest for revenue, some creators also call on their “followers” to give them “
gifts
,” an option available when streaming live video.
Each freebie pays for the user, and TikTok takes around 80% of that price.
“
Others, especially girls, create Onlyfans accounts, which makes them independent of advertisers
,” adds Antoine Godfroy, referring to the platform known for its erotic content.
A minority phenomenon, however, specifies the co-founder of Sleeq.
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Finally, on this platform, it is more difficult for creators to maintain a committed “
community
”: videos are consumed in a matter of seconds, at best a few minutes, and in sequence.
To hope to generate the median income, it is therefore necessary, according to several experts in the sector, to be able to rely on a base of at least 1 million followers.
“
And be very regular
,” adds a designer.
"
If you don't publish for a month, the algo forgets you
".
