Brands Partner with Older TikTok Creators as Their Popularity Grows

As older TikTok creators gain popularity on the platform, brands are taking notice and signing them up for partnerships. For instance, Jenny Krupa, a 91-year-old influencer living in a Canadian retirement home, has amassed over two million followers on the app. She has a sponsorship deal with Paramount Pictures, among other brands. Krupa is not the only older creator making ads on TikTok; she is part of a larger trend of older users attracting companies selling products such as clothing and beauty items.

Mae Karwowski, founder of Obviously, an influencer marketing agency, stated that TikTok is gaining traction with older users, and as a result, businesses are following them there. Karwowski’s agency works with Amazon and other firms to identify TikTok influencers over the age of 55.

These creators have found success by sharing life lessons, fashion tips, cooking demonstrations, or just being funny while also promoting products. The income from these sponsorships may not be enough to retire on for most influencers. However, it can give their finances a boost in later years and provide them with extra money to invest.

San Francisco resident Gym Tan, 62, for example, struggled to find an executive position in the fashion industry. Her daughter suggested she share her outfit of the day on TikTok about 18 months ago, and her account quickly grew to over 200,000 followers. She is now signed with a talent agency and has a modeling career, including appearing in a global ad campaign for Clairol.

Kevin Creusy, co-CEO of Upfluence, a company that manages social media creators that advertisers can use to find partners, noted that older brand representatives have opportunities because there are fewer creators in that age category. There were only about 2,700 entries for people 60 and older in Upfluence’s database of 4.5 million social media creators as of mid-April. However, Creusy acknowledges that other groups may be underrepresented overall. According to him, brands often look for creators with as few as 5,000 followers because those “nano-influencers” are more likely to engage with their audience, giving an account an authentic feel.

Sponsored content creators can make anything from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands. Lisa Pedace, a 59-year-old comedian from San Diego who has over 750,000 TikTok followers, has been hired by a variety of brands, including Amazon Prime and Valentino. In a video for a magnetic eyeglasses company, Pair Eyewear, she swaps on different frames to play different characters. Nonetheless, for the vast majority of creators, the average payment for a sponsored post is $348, an increase of 44% from the last quarter of 2022, according to Mr. Creusy.

Creators need to balance sponsored content and their own because users don’t want to tune in to a stream of commercials, said Margaret Bourne, who coaches creators. Lynn Yamada Davis, a 66-year-old retired software engineer who has over 15 million followers, advises tagging a brand in posts about products creators love. Brands that are interested could contact them later and form partnerships. She cautioned, however, that scammers might pose as brand representatives to ask the creator to pay to ship a sample or ask for their personal information. Creators should be wary of such messages, which usually come from an unknown brand or company with unprofessional or fake messages.

TikTok is the best platform for older users to build their audiences because of the app’s algorithm. TikTok determines what users want to see based on what they may be interested in and accounts similar to those they have viewed, rather than just from the accounts they follow. With its growth continuing, TikTok is likely to keep adding older users and attracting sponsored posts that target them

Author: OpenAI