Creators and brands want to connect, and TikTok wants to help. To that end, the social media platform just rolled out their updated Marketing Partners website. The platform helps brands find creators to partner with and offer different marketing opportunities they may have not allowed previously. To date, they have worked with partners in 35 different countries and regions, allowing for multiple languages and time zone support.

For brands wanting to partner with TikTok creators, the updated TikTok Marketing Partners program also offers a different level of creativity. Creatives are now allowed to express themselves, and partner with different brands. It also creates more commerce opportunities, as brands to try out the “TikTok Made Me Buy It” wave.

This new platform could inspire viewers to shop and purchase from a brand more frequently. TikTok’s previous findings indicate that creator content feels authentic to 64% of viewers. That authenticity helps drive the follow-through of a product purchase with 71% of viewers showing that authenticity motivates them to buy from the brand.

The Marketing Partner listing is separated into six different categories:

• Campaign management
• Measurement
• Creative
• Effect
• Commerce
• Sound

TikTok initially started the Marketing Partner Program in 2020, which provided brands and marketers different tools to help them engage with TikTok users. At that time, they had around 20 certified partners with different areas of expertise. The update expands on this offering and adds two more arenas of expertise.

Some of TikTok’s current partners, some of whom use a subscription model, include Sapphire Studios, Vimeo, Shopify, Salesforce, Poplar Studio, Bare Tree Media, Branch Metrics, AppsFlyer, Marmoset and Mugshot.

TikTok has become a major player in the realm of social media advertising, with more and more ads popping up as time goes on, helping them generate their fair share in revenue. They are currently on track to make $10 billion just in ad revenue this year, according to The New York Times. TikTok has shown they are resilient through an economic slowdown and are able to pass Twitter and Snap in ad revenue. Given the trend of advertisers leaving Elon Musk’s Twitter in drives, TikTok may be the recipient of some of those ad dollars.

TikTok wants to adapt and build to prepare for the future of advertising. In October, they hosted TikTok World, which allowed them to connect brands, and share what they’ve learned about advertising through the app. Notable findings were that 73% of TikTok viewers say they feel a deeper connection with brands they connect with on TikTok, and that 67% of viewers felt inspired to shop, even when they weren’t actively looking to shop. The new platform will continue to be mutually beneficial to both creators and brands, and will only continue to benefit TikTok further.

Insider Take

We applaud TikTok for their continued creativity in finding ways for brands and creators to connect. This is another example of them harnessing the energy of their audiences, while growing their own revenue base. The concern remains that the U.S. government is trying to regulate them, fearing how TikTok user data – and maybe brand data – is being used in China where parent company Bytedance is located. For now, they remain on an upward trajectory, and they’re the social media platform darling of the day. This is good news for brands and creators, but the federal government gets their way, their wall might come tumbling down.