By Anthony Lippa-Hardy
With restrictions against viewership monetization on platforms like TikTok in Canada, student content creators are turning to other creative methods of generating revenue from their online platforms.
According to the TikTok Rewards webpage, creators are only able to monetize their views if they meet specific content criteria and are located in the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Korea or France.
With restrictions on how Canadian creators can generate revenue through social media, Abdullah Zaidi, a third-year Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) student double majoring in English and history, said he doesn’t feel “too left out on the Canadian side” as many creators are steering away from monetized viewership through other income methods such as brand deals.
With over one million followers on TikTok and 396,000 followers on Instagram, Zaidi said his videos were designed to be a collection of funny ideas he originally had saved in his notes app, never having planned to gain such a large following.
“The idea was, ‘nobody’s going to see it anyway.’ And then my second video in July 2023 got 10 million views,” he said.
His online success has also allowed him to discover other opportunities to make an income. For Zaidi, his primary source of revenue on social media comes from brand deals.
He explained that 80 per cent of his brand deals come from people reaching out to him directly. However, through the help of his agency, their team is able to help source the other 20 per cent through a variety of industry connections and cold emailing potential companies.
“There are brands that I’ve worked with that, you know, at the beginning it was kind of difficult to get their attention, but now that I’m in that ecosystem, I’m always in discussions to work with them,” Zaidi said.
According to Jenna Jacobson, an assistant professor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) Ted Rogers School of Management, “attention is a commodity,” making it highly sought after by brands.
“Having a large audience means that an influencer—whether you’re talking macro, micro [or] nano—have opportunities to engage in paid sponsorships or collaborations with these brands,” said Jacobson.
According to Shopify, some brands have experienced growing success with influencers, as 84.8 per cent find influencer marketing effective and 36 per cent report that influencer content surpasses brand-created material.
Jacobson also said social media “affords two-way communication,” allowing for online audiences to feel a more genuine connection with content creators.
According to a study by the Journal of Marketing Innovation, two-way communication can be conveyed through a brand endorsing social media figures, ultimately allowing the brand to build a trustworthy connection and overall consumer satisfaction.
The study also stated, “companies that can concoct ways of communicating their brand with creative advertising promotions will build relationships with their consumers to create brand trust.”
Brand communication aims to establish the brand’s identity, strengthen recognition, influence purchasing decisions by staying memorable and maximize customer satisfaction.
Much like Zaidi, Kaitlyn Huynh, a fourth-year law and business student, and her twin sister Kristin Hyunh, have also seen success opening up their content creation platforms to brand deals.
The two sisters, known on TikTok as the Huynh Twins, have grown a following of over 28,000 followers and have worked with companies such as BMO and Moody Lenses.
Kaitlyn Huynh also said she and her sister aim to make “niche” content by centring their videos around food recommendations, even posting some TMU-related vlogs.
This hyper-specific approach from the Huynh sisters has allowed them to see direct success with both their brands and audiences.
According to Robert Clapperton, an associate professor in the School of Professional Communication at TMU, content creators position themselves outside of the capitalistic relationship between brands and consumers, allowing for a more authentic product delivery.
“It’s much more about creating an authentic representation. So it’s coming across as having a level of authenticity that makes people want to listen to you and to identify with you,” said Clapperton.
He also explained that effective content creators and influencers are ones that are “actually into whatever you like.”
Tricia Serdon, a third-year law and business student and content creator on TikTok, said she has found other ways to make money through social media outside of brand deals given their inconsistent nature.
“Even when you’re trying to relax, you’re always thinking about the next trend and the next video you’re going to make with it,” said Serdon. “In terms of getting paid, it’s definitely inconsistent.”
Although Serdon has worked with Canadian companies like Pizza Pizza to promote their collaboration with Crave TV, she has used the content she creates as a portfolio to land paid work for other social media-based companies.
While Serdon doesn’t consider social media as a part-time job, she currently creates content for Cambino & Co.—a Filipino jewelry brand. Through an extensive social media portfolio, she said her social media income stretches beyond just collaborating with companies on her personal account.
“I don’t really think I use my social media as a part-time job. I do have a part-time job for a Filipino jewelry business,” she said.
Similar to her work with brand deals, Serdon creates engaging product videos for Cambino and Co., promoting jewelry, showcasing behind the scenes of the store and modelling certain products.
However, with social media opening up a secondary source of income for Serdon, she said she doesn’t see herself pursuing content creation long-term as the “end goal” of her career.
Serdon is not the only one moving away from solely relying on social media as a future, similar to Zaidi and the Huynh sisters, who have plans to pursue graduate school upon completion of their undergraduate degrees.
“The goal [with social media] is to set myself up for retirement, or maybe get a jump start on life. I don’t know if I’ll be doing [content creation] when I’m 35,” said Zaidi.
Zaidi also said he would like to run with the success and see where it goes, but prioritizes his education and wants to focus on graduate school, as it will always be a stable and safe financial option in the long run.
Serdon explained income from social media is a nice addition but not enough to fully fund living expenses.
“[Social media] isn’t enough to sustain a full-time job. It’s not enough to kind of sustain the way you would live your life. It’s definitely a good bonus if you’re a student and you’re making that money,” she said.
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