TikTok is an attention monster, but most creators struggle to monetise this attention.
Kenya's biggest TikTok content creators struggled to monetise on the platform in 2025 despite creating massive attention.
This is despite TikTok announcing in January that it had paid in excess of Sh47 million to Kenyans in 2025.
These top content creators, who include a popular lifestyle artiste, comedians and musicians, among others, drew massive viewership on the platform, yet struggled to turn that visibility into meaningful income when compared to other social media platforms.
This is despite TikTok cementing its place as the country’s most-watched social platform, outperforming rivals like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X in sheer viewership.
One lifestyle content creator commands 1.9 million followers on the platform, while two comedians popular for their witty, comical skits, boast 2.9 million and 6.5 million, respectively. They currently rank among the top 10 creators on TikTok in Kenya in terms of content viewership.
TikTok biggest viewership generator
According to a recent study by Nairobi-based data analytics firm OdipoDev, which analysed over 35,000 Kenyan creators between January 1 and December 31, 2025, the top 10 creators were ranked based on total views, with the lifestyle content creator and the comedy kings leading the pack on TikTok.
Collectively, these three top creators pulled in a staggering 2.54 billion views in 2025 on Tiktok but only 4.3 per cent of that attention translated into money in the form of paid partnerships.
The report dubbed TikTok an ‘attention monster’, describing it as a platform that feeds creators visibility in abundance, but on the flipside struggles to convert that visibility into consistent earnings.
“TikTok is an attention monster, but most creators struggle to monetise this attention,” states the report.
Among the top 10 creators, just 12.1 per cent of total views resulted in any form of income, leaving a vast 87.9 per cent drifting in the unpaid zone.
OdipoDev study seems to paint a sharp contrast to TikTok’s own announcement in January that over 200 Kenyan creators had collectively earned more than Sh47 million through its TikTok for Business feature within a year of launch.
“TikTok for Business is marking one year since its launch in Kenya, celebrating a year defined by strong advertiser adoption, creator collaboration, and exceptional performance results from local brands. Throughout the first year of the platform’s presence in the country, the partnership between TikTok For Business and Wowzi enabled more than 200 local creators to earn more than USD 350,000 (sh47 million) through collaborations with local businesses,” TikTok revealed in January.
TikTok began rolling out adverts in Kenya in July 2024, and by January 2025, the platform announced that it had partnered with influencer marketing firm Wowzi to connect Kenyan creators with brands.
Wowzi described the deal as a “direct line to opportunity”, promising paid gigs, sponsorships and collaborations to Kenyan creators.
The logo of the social media video sharing app Tiktok. PHOTO | AFP
“We’re bridging the gap between creators and brands, making it easier than ever to connect with businesses looking for authentic voices. That means more sponsorship opportunities, exciting collaborations, and a chance to turn your passion into a profitable career,” Wowzi stated then.
Although it might be argued that it's too early to call since TikTok launched its TikTok For Business that it says paid out Sh47 million to Kenyan creators within a year of launching, it can equally be argued that TikTok has been gaining popularity in the country rapidly since the Chinese App launched in Kenya.
Instagram paying Kenyan creators more
Whereas creators struggle on TikTok, the study found that the same creators are significantly more successful at converting views into paid partnerships on Instagram than on other platforms.
Whereas TikTok dominates audience reach, Instagram is where these creators are able to consistently convert viewership into good earnings.
Analysis of the top 10 creators with the country’s highest average views per video on Instagram showed that 40.8 per cent of total views generated from their posts in 2025 were commercialised, compared with 59.2 per cent that remained organic.
Organic is the content uploaded to these platforms to engage audiences without paid advertising or direct selling, while monetised content is the brand-sponsored posts, product links and direct sales of physical, digital goods and services.
Besides Instagram, another of Meta’s platforms that is turning out to be more rewarding to content creators since it introduced its monetization features is Facebook.
Meta officially rolled out monetisation features in Kenya in August 2024, enabling eligible content creators to earn money through In-Stream Ads and Ads on Reels as well as paid partnerships.
With Facebook, which the study shows has been gaining popularity in the country since it began shifting towards video content, 264 million of 1.2 billion views generated by the top 10 creators on the platform were commercialised, representing about 22 percent compared to Instagram’s 40.8 percent and TikTok’s 12.1 percent.
Creators earning Sh500,000 for posts
OdipoDev also analysed 1,171 companies that are heavily engaged in creator partnerships, with the study revealing that the beauty and personal care industry is the largest income generator for the local creators on the social platforms.
The cosmetic industry is then followed by food and beverage, telecommunications and financial services as the leading segments with good rewards for influencer marketing.
The leading players in these four sectors are the Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), accounting for roughly 80 percent of content creators and brand partnerships across all social media platforms.
Social networking service TikTok's logo on a smartphone screen.
Take, for instance, Instagram, 529 out of 671 companies representing 78.8 percent, which engaged the top 20 creators in influencer marketing were the SMEs. The same trend was noted on TikTok, where 216 out of 273 firms representing 79.1 percent were SMEs, while on Facebook, the smaller businesses accounted for 77.1 percent of brand partnership deals.
However, while the small businesses dominate the influencer marketing with large volumes of deals, it is the big brands that offer the most lucrative deals.
The study shows sponsored post fees paid to content creators by the smaller firms range between Sh30,000 and 80,000 as the highest. For medium-sized companies, content creators fetch between Sh80,000 to Sh200,000 in posts fees, while those from big brands range between Sh200,000 to Sh500,000.
Among those big brands offering sweet partnership deals to the content creators are the multinationals and blue-chip firms such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Safaricom, East African Breweries Limited and Farmer’s Choice, OdipoDev notes.
The study also found out that a large social media following of a content creator is no longer the main currency, as was the case in 2020 when influencer marketing took off, with the report noting that a large following does not automatically translate to conversion for brands.
According to the report, only one of the top 10 creators by total video views ranked among the highest earners, a clear indication that a creator’s audience size alone is not the primary driver of income.
“Social platforms are not internally rewarding beyond views. Earnings are driven by a creator’s own off-platform efforts,” the report notes.
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