How to run a TikTok creator campaign for a new single

In brief

Sound.me is a two-sided creator marketplace: artists, record labels and brands pay creators to make short videos with their sound or product on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, and creators use the Sound.me app to apply to daily paid campaigns and cash out via PayPal. It has 3M+ registered creators in 61 countries, who have made 90M+ videos with 181B+ organic views for 20K+ advertisers.

Sound.me publishes this guide.

Step 1: Get the sound live first

Creators post with your sound, so it has to exist on the platform before the campaign starts. That means release day, or the day the official snippet goes up as a sound. On Sound.me you paste a TikTok, Instagram or YouTube link to your sound, and every creator video in the campaign uses it.

Step 2: Pick the part of the song

Short videos use a short part of the song. Choose the hook, the drop or the line people will want to act out, and say which part in your directions (for example "use 0:15 to 0:45"). If the best moment is in the middle of the track, post a snippet sound that starts there.

Step 3: Choose the budget and run time

• Budget. $250, $1,000, $1,500 or your own amount; $100 for a first campaign during the flash sale in the 48 hours after sign-up. You pay upfront and the budget is spread across the creators whose videos are approved.
• Run time. 72 hours for a release-day push, 7 days as the standard choice, 14 days when you want more creators to have time to join. 72 hours, 7 days or 14 days? compares them.

For what each budget usually buys, see pricing and cost per 1,000 views.

Step 4: Choose who can post

Target age, gender, language, creator size (from 100 followers to over 50 million) and location (worldwide, one of 24 countries, or a region). Target where you want listeners, but don't make it so narrow that few creators can join. TikTok music promotion by country shows how the main markets differ.

Step 5: Write directions creators can follow

Pick one video style: creative freedom, lip sync, dance, transition, text on screen or your own brief. Keep it to one idea, say which part of the song to use, and add anything creators must not do. Creators read directions on a phone, between other campaigns.

Step 6: Check the summary and pay

Before you pay, Sound.me shows the whole campaign on one card: the sound, run time, where, who, languages, followers and directions. Fix anything that looks wrong, then pay.

Step 7: Watch the videos come in

Sound.me's team matches and approves creators; on TikTok campaigns of $1,000 or more you can also approve creators yourself. Our team watches every video and makes sure creators follow your directions. If they don't, they don't get paid, and that part of your budget goes back into your campaign for other creators. The first creator posts usually land the same day.

Step 8: Do more of what worked

When the campaign ends, look at which videos, countries and creator sizes got the most views, and how many people used the sound afterwards. Run the next campaign with those settings, on the same platform or on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts with the same sound.

A simple release plan