From TikTok to OnlyFans: How Creators Drive Followers to Paid Sites

Savvy adult content creators have been using the art of self-promotion across multiple social media sites to drive their followers to revenue-generating content on paid subscription sites like OnlyFans.

That self-promotion helps engage and can increase the number of followers, which could boost revenues.

Think of it like bar hopping for followers, except the creators’ content progresses from SFW to NSFW as followers go from one site to the other. Sounds simple enough, but this strategy isn’t without its pitfalls, especially if you’re driving followers from TikTok.

Here are a few things to keep in mind while building your follower base across social media platforms and making sure you don’t get shadow-banned.

One thing to research is who’s doing it well. Social media personalities like Mia Khalifa come to mind. We covered this Lebanese American beauty in a previous Fleshbot post which placed her among the top 10 earners on OnlyFans. If Mia knows how to do anything well, it’s how to make money on paid-subscription sites, even when she’s no longer an adult film actress.

Successful content creators like Mia have mastered the self-promotion pipeline; it’s about the long tease, giving followers just enough provocative content from site to site while staying within the community guidelines of that platform.

In an interview with Vice, content creator Grace Grey says the reason why she has a TikTok account is because she can use it to increase the number of followers and engage more personally with them. That’s something she says she can’t always do on some paid platforms.

@gracegreyasmr♬ original sound - Grace Grey

That personal relationship with her followers builds a bond that keeps them interested from site to site, ultimately landing on a platform where Grace’s interactions are monetized.

But creators who strategize across this pipeline can run the risk of being shadow-banned, mostly on TikTok for not following the site’s guidelines on sexual content. It’s often difficult to know that your content has been shadowbanned until you realize there’s been a consistent decrease in views over time.

@oliviafleurasmr #mouthsounds #asmr #femaleasmr #kissingasmr #whisperingasmr ♬ original sound - Oliviafleur ASMR

TikTok’s community guidelines prohibit sexual activity or services. This includes sex, sexual arousal, fetish, and kink behavior, and creators cannot seek or offer sexual services. Hyperlinking to adult sites or subscription services in creators’ bios is also banned on TikTok, and it’s one of the reasons why most creators drive followers to their other profiles on social media sites like Instagram.

Driving followers to Instagram could be seen as a halfway point for followers on the long tease that leads to OnlyFans. Followers often find more provocative images from their favorite creators on Instagram and users can link to the creators’ other sites where access to NSFW content is monetized.

Having multiple channels also allows creators to highlight different sides of themselves, deepening their personal relationships with followers. One platform could focus on the creator’s hobbies while another could feature the creator’s SFW intimate moments.

Instead of focusing on TikTok, some creators have found success driving followers from X to OnlyFans or from Reddit to OnlyFans, for example, enticing adult consumers from one platform to the other.

The ever-evolving adult content businesses require ever-evolving adult content creators. Multiple streams of revenue could begin with multiple social media sites and a cross-promotional strategy that builds on itself, ultimately driving followers to access revenue-generating content.