TikTok Business vs. Personal: Which One Is Right for You?

On TikTok, you can have a business or personal account. Some features are only available to one or the other. Which one should you use? Here’s your essential guide to TikTok Business vs. Personal accounts. 

TikTok Business Account vs. Personal Account: Differences and Benefits

What are you doing on TikTok? What are your goals for creating TikTok content? These questions and more will help you decide between a TikTok business account vs. a personal account. 

Choosing the correct profile is crucial to your TikTok success. This applies whether you’re just starting or have been on TikTok for a while. A Personal or Business account offers different features, advantages, and disadvantages. The right profile type means you’ll have the best tools for the job. 

In general, a Personal Account (previously the Creator Account) is ideal for creators, influencers, artists, celebrities, and other public figures. A Business Account is for all types of businesses, including retailers, food businesses, service providers, organizations, etc. 

Take note that both Business and Personal Accounts share the following features:

• Analytics
• LIVE Access
• LIVE Analytics
• Q&A
• LIVE Q&A 
• Promote
• Creator Playlist
• Branded Content Toggle
• Website link on the profile 

TikTok Business vs. Creator Account: Benefits of a Business Account

In the TikTok Business vs. Creator Account match, the better choice depends on a variety of factors. With a Business Account, you’ll have access to a suite of business tools that are suitable for:

• Marketing and promotion
• Selling products/services
• Processing orders
• Customer service
• Tracking performance and reporting 

When looking at TikTok Business vs Personal accounts, what are the benefits of a TikTok Business Account?

1. Business Registration. You can sign your Business Account with Business Registration to verify business ownership and validity. When you select this option, you can also display your business category. This will help boost discoverability. 
2. Business Profile Features. You can have an email button and similar features on your profile. 
3. Access to Business Creative Hub. This is a hub for learning — where you can watch videos for inspiration, discover business trends, and more. 
4. Lead Generation. If you’re part of a select market, you can give customers the option to “Subscribe,” “Get a quote,” “Sign up,” “Apply now,” or avail of a “Special offer.” These special CTA buttons are accessible via your profile or videos. 
5. Auto-Message. This feature lets you respond to customer messages promptly with an auto-message function. You can set up a welcome message or auto-reply based on up to four pre-determined keywords. 
6. TikTok Ads Manager. Leverage TikTok’s full suite of advertising products when you link your Business Account to TikTok Ads Manager. 
7. Commercial Music Library. Get access to more than 1.3 million royalty-free and copyright-free sounds. 

TikTok Business vs. Personal: Benefits of a Personal Account

If you’re not running a business, you can build your personal brand with a Personal Account. Take note that your TikTok Business vs. Personal choice will afford you earning opportunities, whichever way you go. A Personal Account is for you if:

• Your TikTok profile concerns you as a person, skilled professional, or subject expert.
• You offer value through your content. 
• You want to build a community around a shared idea, interest, cause, etc. 
• You want to keep your account private, or you prefer to have control over audience access to your content. 

Here are the benefits of a Personal Account:

1. Creator Fund. This monetization feature is exclusive to qualified creators with Personal Accounts. 
2. TikTok Creator Marketplace. This is a dedicated space where brands can discover creators vetted by TikTok. Creators can find plenty of lucrative opportunities for collaboration via this hub. 
3. LIVE Gifts and Diamonds. During a TikTok LIVE, qualified creators can receive Gifts from viewers. TikTok awards Diamonds to popular LIVE streams, which you can redeem for cash.
4. Tips. Tips are another way for viewers to show creators their support and appreciation. You’ll receive all tips via a Stripe account, which links to your bank account. 

Is It Better To Have a Personal or Business TikTok 

Is it better to have a Personal or Business TikTok Account? The better option depends on what you’re offering your viewers and your goals on TikTok. When considering a TikTok Business vs. Personal profile, TikTok recommends the following;

• If you’re a brand, retailer, service provider, or organization, use a TikTok Business Account. 
• If you’re a regular user, content creator, influencer, artist, celebrity, or public figure, choose a Personal Account. 

TikTok Business vs. Personal Profile: When Should You Choose a Business Account? 

If you’re still undecided between a TikTok Business and vs. Personal Account, here are additional considerations to remember. Use a TikTok Business Account if you meet any of the following criteria:

• You’re a business that wants to connect with your customers through entertaining or informative content. 
• You’re a business that needs online commercial tools to promote your brand and products/services. 
• Your primary goal is to promote your business, generate sales, and directly engage with your consumers. 
• You want to learn more about your customers via TikTok. 

Keep in mind that a Business Account is a public profile. You won’t have the option to make it private. But you can adjust your privacy settings for specific videos. 

While a Business Account can access the Commercial Music Library, it won’t have access to TikTok’s General Music Library. This is because the songs in this library are not available for commercial purposes. They’re only for personal entertainment. If there are trending sounds available only in the General Music Library, you can’t use them for commercial purposes. 

TikTok advises against switching between a Business and Personal account repeatedly. Doing so will mess up your analytics. But TikTok allows up to five accounts with different email addresses on one device.

 So you can create a Business Account strictly for your business. And create a Personal Account for your organic and personal content. 

TikTok Business vs. Personal Profile: When Should You Choose a Personal Account? 

To choose the right profile, you must understand the differences between a TikTok Business and a Personal Account. When should you choose a Personal Account? Use a TikTok Personal Account if you meet any of the following criteria:

• You want to use TikTok only to watch other people’s videos, follow people, and discover content related to your interests. 
• You want to create TikToks and share them with a select group of people. 
• You only want to interact with people you know. 
• You want to control who can follow you. 
• You want access to the General Music Library and the Commercial Sound Library. 
• You want to be eligible for TikTok’s various monetization features, such as the TikTok Creator Fund and LIVE Gifts.

A Personal Account can be a private or public account. However, you may need to set your account to public to qualify for certain features. You can apply different privacy settings to videos with a public account. 

TikTok Business vs. Personal Account: How To Make a TikTok Business Account

Are you creating a new TikTok account and leaning towards a TikTok Business Account vs. Personal? You will have to switch to a business account after sign-up. Here’s how to make a TikTok Business Account. 

1. You can sign up for a TikTok account using your Google account, email address, phone number, Facebook, etc. 
2. After you complete the sign-up process, tap your Profile at the bottom. 
3. Tap the Menu button at the top. 
4. Tap Settings and privacy. 
5. Tap Manage account. 
6. Tap Switch to Business Account. You will need to choose a business category and follow additional steps. 

With a Business Account, you’ll get access to real-time metrics, audience insights, call-to-action buttons, and more. After setting up your Business Account, you can start exploring the features and tools available to you. 

Start learning with how-to videos and other helpful videos in the Business Creative Hub. You’ll find examples of deceptively simple videos that went viral to inspire you. How can you achieve the same result if you’re new to TikTok?

Remember that a winning strategy on another platform may not give you the same success on TikTok. So explore the Creative Hub for “guidance on content creation and a steady stream of trending content.” 

You can always switch back to a Personal Account at any time. But doing so means you’ll lose access to all business features. Another option is to add another account using a different email address, phone number, etc. If you want to do this, just follow these steps:

1. Go to your Profile. 
2. Tap the small arrowhead icon beside the Add name button above your profile photo/video. 
3. Tap Add account.   

TikTok Business vs. Personal Account: How To Switch to a Personal Account

If you try both, you can make a more informed decision about TikTok Business vs. Personal Account. When you first sign up for a TikTok account, the default profile is Personal. If you switched to a Business Account, here’s how to switch back to a Personal one. 

1. Tap Profile at the bottom, then tap the Menu in the upper right. 
2. Tap Settings and privacy. 
3. Tap Manage account. 
4. Tap Switch to Personal Account. 

Your Personal Account can be public or private. If you make it private, you can approve who can follow you and view your profile info and videos. A private account is also ideal if you don’t want others to download your videos for Duet or Stitch. 

If you have a public Personal Account, your profile and videos will be available to the public — both on and off TikTok. This means anybody can share your video not only on TikTok but also on other social platforms. With a public account, you still have the option to customize your privacy settings to allow Duet or Stitch, etc. 

You can adjust your videos’ privacy settings if you choose a private or public account. You can limit their audience to people you follow back or only you. You can choose who can comment on your videos or to allow others to download them. You can decide if you want TikTok to suggest your account to other users. 

Here’s how to set your account to private or public:

1.  Go to your Profile and tap the Menu in the top right. 
2. Tap Settings and privacy. 
3. Tap Privacy. 
4. Toggle the Private Account option on or off. 

TikTok Business vs. Personal Account: Grow With Expert Help

Making a choice between a TikTok Business vs. Personal Account can make or break you on TikTok. This is especially true if you’re building a brand (business or personal) because there’d be much more at stake. 

A Business or Personal Account offers different tools and opportunities to grow your TikTok community. But they have a common factor. You should be able to reach interested audiences. 

On TikTok, getting tons of views for a video is easy. But converting views into loyal fans requires a targeted approach. 

You need a strategy that helps land your content on the For You feeds of interested viewers. Your strategy should make you more visible through hashtags, trending sounds, and other SEO tools. And to develop this strategy, you need to identify your target audience and understand their interests and behaviors. 

Whether you use a Business or Personal Account, proper audience targeting is crucial to achieving sustained growth on the platform. However, what works for you on other social platforms may not work for you on TikTok. This is because TikTok’s algorithm works differently and prioritizes users’ interests over the popularity of an account or video. So you’ll need to rethink your audience-targeting approach when using TikTok. 

You can give yourself an edge by teaming up with a TikTok growth expert like High Social. High Social’s advanced, proprietary AI technology will enhance your audience-targeting capability. You’ll find the right people for your content more efficiently. And you’ll grow with followers who are likely to become lifelong fans. 
Choosing between a TikTok Business or Personal Account can make or break you. But whichever way you go, you can increase your odds for TikTok success with the help of High Social. Earn lifelong fans with High Social. Start growing your TikTok today!

TikTok 101