TikTok Live broadcast is a chance to interact with followers live, answer their questions, remind them about yourself, and even receive donations. So far, this is the only official way to monetise your TikTok content.

Let's talk about how to prepare for live broadcasts, launch them and stream on TikTok.

Go Live on TikTok: Preparation Steps

Come up with an idea and format

First off, you need to decide what you want to talk about in your stream. Then choose the format, whether it'd be a lecture, presentation, Q&A session, live broadcast from an event, or just a friendly chat with your followers.

At this stage, you should already know your target audience quite well — their age, interests, locations and other insights.

Tip: TikTok shares this information with you. You need to have a business or creator account, so switch to the Pro account if not yet.

To get a Pro TikTok account:

1. Click Manage Account in the Settings and Privacy tab and scroll down until you see Switch to Pro Account.
2. Choose between two options — creator or business account.
3. Choose either of these, and you'll get access to analytics and other business features.
4. Wait till the insights are loaded, and here you go!

Choose the perfect timing

Next, you need to pick a suitable day and hour for your live broadcast and think over the agenda of the stream.

To figure out your perfect stream timing and learn the best time to post on TikTok, check our blog article dedicated to this.

Think through the picture

Once you decide on the topic and structure, think through how you'll look during the live stream: your image and background. Set up lights so that your viewers can see you well and check the quality of your Internet connection.

When everything is set up, you can get straight to the action.

How Do You Go Live on TikTok?

TikTok sends notifications to your followers when a live broadcast starts. Users can find some broadcasts on the For You page and the Discover tab, so you need to be prepared in advance for your broadcast.

Yet, even if TikTok notifies your audience that you are going live, you should still inform them beforehand: make a short video to announce your stream and invite everyone to join. You should also post it on your other social media platforms.

Go Live on TikTok: Step by Step

The online broadcast function is available to those users who managed to gain over 1,000 followers and are at least 16 years of age.

It turns on automatically when the required followers' count is reached. If someone unfollows you, and there are less than a thousand subscribers, the function disappears.

If you're 18 years old or older, you can also earn gift points while going live.

1. To start a live broadcast on TikTok, click on the add video button (plus icon)

2. Swipe to Live in the navigation, pick an image, and come up with a title for your stream.

3. Press Go Live to start your stream. Easy as that!

After that, the broadcast will begin, and your followers will receive a notification.

Once you're live, you can tap the three dots to change various settings: flip the camera, add effects, filter comments, and even add moderators (up to 20).

Go Live on TikTok: The Bottom Line

Unlike Instagram, the advantage of TikTok live broadcasts is that the platform promotes the broadcasts of interesting creators and recommends their streams.

That is, you don't only chat with your followers but attract new ones! Beyond that, during live broadcasts, you can receive donations, which can then be withdrawn into money, just like on YouTube.

Since TikTok does not yet have a proper monetisation structure, as in YouTube, live streams remain the only way to make money on TikTok.