How to Choose Between a TikTok Business or Personal Account (2024)

When creating a TikTok account, there are two types to choose from — a personal account or a business account.

Personal accounts are for individuals who want to use TikTok for social networking, sharing, and hanging out with friends. In contrast, business accounts are designed for marketing purposes. A company will create a TikTok business account to drive brand awareness, advertise their services, and more.

Who Should Use a TikTok Business Account?

Business accounts are an excellent option for:

  • Anyone who wants to promote a business, product, or service — even individual content creators with a product line.
  • Businesses that want to entertain their customers and promote engagement.
  • Businesses that want to use commercial tools on TikTok, such as those in the Business Creative Hub.

TikTok Business Account Features

When you create a business account on TikTok, you’ll have access to six helpful features:

  1. Commercial Music Library (CML) access: A collection of songs and sounds you can use in your videos without paying copyright fees. These tracks are pre-cleared for commercial use on TikTok, and business accounts can use them for organic or branded content.
  2. Post scheduler: Schedule posts up to 10 days in advance.
  3. Business website link: Display a link to your business on your TikTok profile.
  4. Business email address: Display your business email address on your TikTok profile.
  5. Exclusive analytics page: See metrics that reflect your account growth, view audience demographics, and more.
  6. Business Creative Hub: A special section in the TikTok app that shows content creation tips and trending business content.

Note: Business accounts don’t have access to TikTok’s General Music Library (GML). The music in that collection is for personal entertainment only, which is why only personal accounts can use songs from the GML.

This also means that business accounts cannot duet or stitch with videos that contain music from the GML. So if you want to create content by remixing what’s already out there or doing collaborations, a business account won’t be helpful. You would only be able to duet/stitch with accounts that use music from the CML.

How to Choose Between a TikTok Business or Personal Account (1)

Who Should Use a Personal TikTok Account?

Most people on TikTok — public figures, general users, content creators — use a personal account for their video content. They typically aren’t selling a product, representing a company, or looking to drive brand awareness.

You should create a personal account if you want to:

  • Watch videos on TikTok and interact with creators.
  • Create videos on TikTok for friends, family, and broader audiences.
  • Build a community of loyal followers.
  • Monetize your TikTok account through the Creator Fund, Tips, Live Gifts, etc. (Many of these features aren’t available for business accounts).
  • Use advanced tools to discover who your viewers are and what appeals to them.

Personal TikTok Account Features

A personal account has some features that a business account does not. Some of these benefits include:

  • General Music Library access: A collection of songs and sounds that have not been licensed for commercial use, thus making them usable for regular users.
  • Use Regular Sounds and Commercial Sounds: Users with a personal account can add any TikTok sound to their content. By contrast, business accounts can only use commercial sounds.
  • Set your account to private: Only let approved users see your videos or follow the you.
  • TikTok Creator Next: This program is designed to help TikTok creators monetize their accounts while they build a community of followers.
    • TikTok Creator Marketplace: Where brands and creators connect to build paid campaigns.
    • TikTok Creator Fund: A $200M fund that pays talented creators for their hard work and innovative content.
    • Video Gifts: Collect “Diamonds” from viewers that can be redeemed for cash.
    • Live Gifts: Collect “Diamonds” from viewers that can be redeemed for cash, but only during live streams.
    • Tips: Collect monetary tips directly through your TikTok profile.
  • Advanced creator tools: Determine the type of content your audience likes and see metrics to back it up.

How to Switch to a Business or Personal TikTok Account

If you choose the wrong TikTok account, don’t worry. You can switch from one to the other at any time.

Here’s how to make the switch:

1. Open the TikTok app and tap Profile in the bottom right corner.

How to Choose Between a TikTok Business or Personal Account (2)

2. Tap the menu icon in the top right corner.

How to Choose Between a TikTok Business or Personal Account (3)

3. Tap Settings and Privacy at the bottom of the screen.

How to Choose Between a TikTok Business or Personal Account (4)

4. Tap Manage Account.

How to Choose Between a TikTok Business or Personal Account (5)

5. Tap Switch to Business Account or Switch to Personal Account.

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Follow the additional instructions that pop up, if any.

TikTok recommends that you do not switch back and forth between business and personal accounts. If you want to create both types of content, consider creating two accounts: one for personal and one for business.

Which Type of Account Should You Choose?

The best TikTok account for you depends on how you plan to use the platform. For example, if you already own a business and want to use TikTok to promote that business, a business account is likely best. This will allow you to continue building your existing brand, provide access to commercially licensed sounds, and ensure that you have the best tools to market yourself.

It's easy to think, "I'm building a business, so I need a business account." But considering how those accounts are structured, a solopreneur or an individual might need a personal account until they have a certified business. That way, they still have access to TikTok monetization tools, advanced creator tools, and the ability to duet with more creators.

Also, it makes sense to keep a personal account if you’re looking for brand deals. A personal account gives you access to the TikTok Creator Marketplace (within the Creator Next program), where brands and creators can find each other and start building campaigns.

Now that you know which account to create, learn how to find trending TikTok sounds for your content.

How to Choose Between a TikTok Business or Personal Account (2024)

FAQs

How to Choose Between a TikTok Business or Personal Account? ›

If you're looking to upgrade your TikTok game, we recommend switching to a business account. TikTok is always adding new features to help businesses connect with shoppers to sell their products. If you want to boost your sales, a business account is the way to go.

Is it better to have a personal or business TikTok? ›

If you're looking to upgrade your TikTok game, we recommend switching to a business account. TikTok is always adding new features to help businesses connect with shoppers to sell their products. If you want to boost your sales, a business account is the way to go.

Is there a downside to switching to a business account on TikTok? ›

Business Account Cons:

Finite Audio Library: A Business Account cannot access non-commercial use sounds. Though you get access to tons of commercial sounds, you still might not be able to hop on every trend you see.

Do you get more views as a business account on TikTok? ›

There's no evidence that a Business account on TikTok receives more views than others. Views are mostly influenced by TikTok's algorithm, which prioritizes content quality, user engagement, and relevance.

What are the disadvantages of TikTok for business? ›

However, it also comes with limitations such as a younger user base, short attention spans, limited analytics, and brand safety concerns. Before incorporating TikTok into your marketing strategy, carefully consider your target audience, content capabilities, and alignment with your brand values.

Is it worth switching to TikTok business? ›

What's the main difference between a personal and a business account? You gain access to advanced business tools to support your content marketing strategy and help you reach a wider audience. So if you're a business and you want to use TikTok to make more sales and boost brand awareness, it's a no-brainer.

Does a TikTok business account cost money? ›

Business Accounts are free public profiles that give businesses access to exclusive performance insights, creative tools, and account features to help them think like marketers and act like creators.

Does TikTok Deprioritize business accounts? ›

Like your Uber five-star passenger rating, every post you make contributes to your score. Multiple accounts. TikTok allows for multiple accounts, but pro tip: multiple accounts from one phone will flag you as a business account and like many platforms, they'll de-prioritize you unless you're a paying advertiser.

How much money do you get for 10,000 followers on TikTok? ›

Brand Partnerships/Sponsored Posts
Followers$/Post (Low End)$/Post (High End)
10,000-50,000$30$400
50,000-500,000$80$1,650
500,000-1,000,000$150$3,500
1,000,000+$1,200Unlimited
1 more row
Feb 2, 2024

Can you make money on a personal TikTok account? ›

Join TikTok's Creator Fund

As a creator, once you have at least 10,000 followers and at least 100,000 video views over the last 30 days, you have the potential to start earning money. The Creator Fund provides an opportunity for you to earn money doing what you love.

How many followers do you need to go live on TikTok business account? ›

Requirements for going Live on TikTok.

First, you must be at least 16 years of age — this is determined by your birthdate when you initially create your TikTok profile — and second, you'll need to have at least 1,000 followers to unlock the capability to go Live.

What is the most followed business account on TikTok? ›

Most popular brands on TikTok globally 2022, by number of followers. In 2022, TikTok's own brand was the most popular brand on its platform, gathering roughly 62 million followers worldwide.

Why are my TikToks getting low views? ›

Without quality content, your view count will stagnate once you stop buying views. Instead, focus on creating genuine and high-quality videos that people will want to watch and share organically. You can utilize hashtags, collaborate with other creators, or even use TikTok ads to get into the limelight quickly.

What is the difference between TikTok and TikTok business? ›

Personal accounts are for individuals who want to use TikTok for social networking, sharing, and hanging out with friends. In contrast, business accounts are designed for marketing purposes. A company will create a TikTok business account to drive brand awareness, advertise their services, and more.

What are the benefits of a business TikTok? ›

Pros of a TikTok Business Account

This includes access to: TikTok analytics regarding your profile, video, content and LIVE videos. TikTok ads and promoted videos to help get more people to discover your videos, navigate to your website and hopefully gain more followers.

Why do people use TikTok for business? ›

You can also use TikTok to increase traffic to your website, app store, or e-commerce site. In-feed ads allow you to add links to your videos and drive interested users to your website. TikTok also helps with brand recall and recognition.

What is the difference between a business page and personal account on TikTok? ›

While you can make money from the products and services you sell through TikTok engagement, there's no way to monetize the content itself from a business account. That means that you can't participate in programs like Creator Fund, LIVE gifts and Diamonds, or Tips. You need a personal account to make money on TikTok.

Should my small business be on TikTok? ›

TikTok provides small business owners with an opportunity to tap into what content their target audience really wants to see, without spending a lot of money in advertising. If you can create exciting content consistently, the TikTok algorithm will display your content to more and more people, just like on Instagram.

What is the difference between a creator account and a business account? ›

The results may surprise you! Business and Creator accounts have many similarities, but each is geared toward a slightly different user. Creator accounts work well for personal brands and influencers, while Business accounts are meant for brands and influencers who have already built in their monetization strategy.

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