Four Indian TikTokers among the top 15 highest paid in 2020

Four Indian creators figure made a place in the list of the top 15 maximum paid TikTokers of 2020.

Influencer Marketing Hub compiled the list, which is dominated by US-based TikTokers like dancing stars Addison Rae Easterling and Charli D'Amelio.

A report released earlier this week said Riyaz Aly, Arishfa Khan, Awez Darbar and Nisha Guragain takes the 9th, 12th, 14th and 15th position in the global rankings, respectively.

Over the last couple of years, these four Indian creators had risen to fame on TokTok platform in India, gathering millions of followers in a short time.

They were also in the list of the top 10 TikTokers in the country when the Chinese app was banned over security concerns in July.

According to the report, Aly, the top Indian TikToker has more than 43 million followers, makes an estimated $35,000 per branded post. In contrast, Guragain, who had 28 million fans, makes around $23,500 for each sponsored content post.

However, Influencer marketing experts, said that the assessed earnings may differ from the actual amount that the Indian TikTokers made in the first half of the year, or continue to make now after they divided out to create content on many TikTok alternatives that came up after the ban.

"The actual numbers might be half of the estimated earnings mentioned in the list," said one influencer marketing manager, adding that Influencer Marketing Hub may have generalised the numbers based on the earnings potential of creators in the US, where advertisers spend a lot on digital marketing than they do in India.

Influencer Marketing Hub also explained that its estimations "can vary greatly by niche, country, audience location and audience brand affinity."

If TikTok was not banned in India, these creators would have been earning what the estimates in the list suggest, as "many brands were planning to increase their spends on TikTok, especially during the festive season that's upon us now," said Gautam Madhavan, founder of Delhi-based influencer marketing platform Mad Influence, which represents over 300 influencers and celebrities exclusively.

'Satirical and fascinating'

Be that as it may, it is nevertheless fascinating that Indian TikTokers even got it to the list, since there is no inevitability whether the ban would lift soon.

Founder of Influencer Marketing Hub, Werner Geyser, told ET that this could have happened as the report takes into account the creators' followers and engagement rates on TikTok during the first half of the year.

"A lot of people outside India don't even know that TikTok is banned here as they keep seeing old TikTok posts from Indian creators popping up on their feed," told Madhavan.

Some like Aly, have even added followers after the ban. His fanbase on TikTok is around 43.2 million in August but a Google search with the keywords "Riyaz Aly TikTok" shows his profile on the platform has now more than 43.5 million followers.

Indian TikTokers making it to this list is also satirical, as urbanites -- both creators as well as viewers -- relished in deriding TikTok for its cringe-worthy content when India became the app's most significant international market outside of China.

Yet, TikTok is the only platform where Indian creators have arisen as the highest earners at a global level.

"If there were a list like '15 of YouTube's highest-paid creators', you might perhaps see a Bhuvan Bham in it from India. For Instagram, I would be surprised if any Indian creator can touch even the top 50 highest-paid influencers' list," said Madhavan of Mad Influence. "To have four creators in a list of 15 top-paid stars is, therefore, a big deal," he further added.

Lakshmi Balasubramanian, co-founder of influencer marketing firm Greenroom said, it is a class war between TikTok and YouTube or Instagram, referring to the controversy that clashes between a group of TikTokers and YouTubers in May.

"But, in our marketing plans these days, a top TikToker like Awez Darbar features alongside a YouTuber like Kenny Sebastian (whose standup comedy is largely targeted at English-speaking Indians)," she said. One guy is good at something, the other at something else."

Indian TikTokers should consider this recognition as a big compliment, Madhavan of Mad Influence said, although be suitable that the list only considers TikTokers outside China.

"Had the list included creators on the Chinese version of the app, called Douyin, then all 15 most-paid creators would have been from China!"