Whether you’re a Creator on TikTok or a business, you’re trying to build your brand — and for many creators, that brand turns into their own business (or a whole slew of them). But that doesn’t mean a TikTok Business Account is the way to go.
So, let’s do a little comparing and contrasting, shall we? What are the perks of using a Business Account vs a Creator Account, and what are the drawbacks?
Let’s look at the two types of TikTok accounts to decide which is right for you.
The Pros of a Creator Account
You get access to the creator tools.
A Creator Account is also known as a Personal Account, so you might already have a “Creator Account” if you’ve signed up for TikTok in the past. With the Creator Account, you get the ol’ run-of-the-mill features, like your beloved For You feed, but you also get access to the TikTok Studio. With the TikTok Studio, you can:
- Upload, schedule, and edit your content
- Manage your posts
- Keep an eye on your analytics
- Let TikTok know what you love (and what you don’t)
- Manage and engage with comments
- See how much moolah you’re making
- Check out tools that encourage account growth
- Get some post inspo
To get to your TikTok Studio, you can visit via browser, or the app:
- Go to “Profile”
- Tap the three lines in the top right-hand side of the page
- Hit “TikTok Studio”
You get a heck of a lot more music.
When you post content on a Creator Account, you get access to both the general music library and the TikTok Commercial Music Library (CML), and it’s that latter one that’s so tricky. Any music outside of this library isn’t covered for commercial use. In other words, if you’re using music to promote a brand, product, or service, you better have it cleared for commercial use or potentially face a copyright violation.
As a creator, you get to work with copyright-protected music without fearing the wrath of artists and music execs coming down on you. (There’s a big asterisk here; more on this in a minute.)
You get more ways to monetize.
As a TikTok user with a Creator Account, you can swim in cash if you play your cards right. You can make your own Series, which lets you put premium content behind a paywall. A Series can include up to 80 videos of up to 20 minutes each. Interested viewers can unlock this content through direct-in-video links or your profile. Only public accounts can use Series.
This type of account also lets you join the TikTok Creator Rewards program. Requirements for joining the program include being over 18, having over 10,000 followers, having at least 100,000 video views in the last 30 days, and making original content at least one minute long. You can also collect Video Gifts, which helps TikTok measure your popularity and reward you with Diamonds. And Diamonds are indeed your best friend, as the more you collect, the more you become eligible for rewards from TikTok, including money.
You can go private.
A TikTok Business Account can’t go private. That kinda makes sense because *most* businesses use social media because they want people to discover them. Pretty hard to find a brand with a private account. Creator Accounts can go between public and private.
On the other hand, if you want to go *super* public, you can post a Link in Bio in your TikTok bio once you reach the 1,000-follower mark, helping you to direct traffic to where people can learn even more about you and what you do.
The Cons of a Creator Account
You can’t actually use all music
Remember that asterisk we mentioned above? Here it is: You can’t just use whatever music you want. Yes, you can use more music in TikTok’s library than a Business Account can, but you still need to be careful when uploading your music.
TikTok secures various licenses that determine who can use a song and how. You can’t just upload a copyright-protected song willy-nilly on your own. Even as a TikTok creator, rather than a business promoting a product or service, you need to make sure the music you use is properly licensed.
If you use a song outside of TikTok’s library that’s not correctly licensed, TikTok may mute the video or remove it altogether. You may also get a letter from the Performance Rights Organization (PRO) that handles the licenses for the songs you used.
But the biggest deal is that if you’re a creator who monetized the video that contains the song, you could end up being sued, particularly if that video had you raking in the dough.
You can Promote your content, but not advertise.
Users with a TikTok Creator Account can “Promote” their content. This paid-for feature starts at $3 per day and can go up to $1,000 per day (if you have such a large chunk of change handy). It’s designed to boost your visibility on TikTok.
Once you Promote a video, you’ll get access to engagement data, audience insights, the status of the post you promoted, and how much you’ve spent on the campaign.
You have limited automation options.
Unfortunately, with how TikTok’s configuration is, specific tools — particularly automation tools — aren’t compatible with the TikTok Creator Account. For instance, you can’t get Manychat’s sweet suite of automation features without a Business Account.
With a Business Account, you can tell your audience to message a keyword, and Manychat handles the rest. You can also set up a message trigger to start conversations whenever someone messages you, helping you stay engaged with your audience without more work. And Manychat is only continuing to add more features, including the ability to reply directly to comments and deploy clickable links in messages.
The Pros of a Business Account
You *also* get access to creator tools.
Had you going there, huh? Why TikTok refers to the TikTok Studio as “creator tools” and then gives it to *both* Creator and Business Accounts, we can’t say. We can say that the TikTok Studio is indeed for both types of accounts, and it’s accessible the same way on both.
You get access to the TikTok Ads Manager.
With a Creator Account, you get access to the Promote tool, but that’s the only way to pay to get more eyes on your content and your brand. But Business Accounts get the TikTok Ads Manager. This handy management tool allows you to create ad campaigns, set your budget, and target your audience.
Once your campaign goes live, you can test and reinvest in where you want to target, adjust your parameters, and discover tools that offer feedback on making your TikTok ad more efficient. Plus, you get in-depth analytics that help you measure the ever-elusive ROI (because we know your boss will ask you about that).
Business Accounts play better with automation tools.
Many automation tools don’t work well (or at all) with TikTok Creator Accounts. If you want all the benefits of automated messaging and engagement — like what you get with Manychat — you’ll need a Business Account. Other automation tools that typically require a Business Account include automatic post schedulers and social listening tools.
The Cons of a Business Account
No privacy for you.
As a business, you probably don’t want a private TikTok account. But just in case, for some strange reason you do, going private with a Business account is a no-go. You’ll have to change to a Creator Account to set your page to private.
You have a limited music library.
If you want to use TikTok’s music library as a Business Account owner, you better stick to the Commercial Music Library. The CML is the only music on TikTok that you can guarantee is pre-cleared for commercial use. Music in the general library may have various licenses, but they don’t cover the commercial use of music.
I know what you’re thinking. “But wait…what if that video doesn’t directly promote anything?” Nope, doesn’t matter! As a Business Account owner, you’re inherently using TikTok to promote something, so you can’t use copyrighted music without clearance.
Suppose you upload your music or use an original sound outside the CML. In that case, you must agree to TikTok’s Music Usage Confirmation, which confirms that there’s no copyright-protected music in the video or that you’ve already obtained and paid for all the licenses necessary to use the music. Copyright means no play for you, unless you pay to play.
You get fewer monetization options.
Want the Creator Rewards program? You’ll need a Creator Account to do that. Still, you have some monetization options for a Business Account.
Like a Creator Account, you get access to Series, which means you can put exclusive content behind a paywall. But unlike a Creator Account, you can’t get Video Gifts. Which also means no Diamonds for you.
How to Switch Between Accounts
If you’ve already created a TikTok Creator or Personal Account, does that mean you’re stuck with it? Nope! You can switch to a Business Account at any time by:
- In the app, click the three lines on the top right of the Profile page.
- Go to “Settings and privacy.”
- Click “Account.”
- Select “Switch to Business Account.”
If you want a Creator Account again, follow the same steps but switch it back to a Personal Account.
Building Your Brand on TikTok With the Right Account
As you can see, there are plenty of pros and cons for Creator and Business Accounts. We may be slightly biased, but the Business Account is still our favorite because it opens the door to more TikTok automation.
And TBH, we’re big believers in working smarter, not harder, and that’s just what Manychat’s TikTok automation does.
Now that you’ve picked the right account, it’s time to start looking for ways to grow your brand. Are you ready to go viral? Check out our tips for not falling into the TikTok fame trap.