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UGC glossary

What are TikTok Spark Ads? Codes and pricing

Spark Ads: Spark Ads are a TikTok ad format that runs an existing organic post as a paid ad, keeping the original account's name and engagement. Creators grant access with a video code.

Spark Ads are TikTok’s ad format for running an organic post as a paid ad. The ad shows the original post’s account name and text, and all likes, comments and shares count toward the original post (TikTok). When a brand runs your video this way, it is TikTok’s version of whitelisting.

How it works

  1. You post the video on your TikTok account.
  2. In the post’s Ad settings, you turn on ad authorization, pick a duration and generate a video code.
  3. You send the code to the brand. They paste it into TikTok Ads Manager and build the ad.
  4. The brand can run your post as an ad for the period you chose.

TikTok lets you set that authorization period to 7, 30, 60 or 365 days (TikTok Ads Manager help). One catch: a video authorized as a Spark Ad has to be un-authorized before you can delete it from your account (TikTok).

Example

You post a video for a budgeting app on your own TikTok, and it does well. The brand asks for a 30-day code to put ad spend behind it. You send the code and invoice a paid-usage fee for those 30 days on top of your video fee. Another month means a new code and a new fee. These terms are an example, not a market rate.

Spark Ads and Canvas UGC

Spark Ads can promote the advertiser’s own posts as well as authorized creator posts (TikTok). So if you post on a brand-owned account, as in Canvas UGC, the brand doesn’t need a code from you. Your contract should still say whether your videos can run as ads, and whether that changes your pay.

Why it matters for UGC creators

  • Your name is on the ad. Ad audiences see your handle and can comment on your post. Agree who moderates.
  • The duration is your lever. Match the code to the paid term in your contract. A 365-day code means up to a year of ad use.
  • Price it as usage rights. Ad spend behind your video is worth more to the brand than an organic post.
  • Put it in writing. List the platforms, the term and the fee next to your per-video rate.

Spark Ads are one part of paid social. On Instagram and Facebook, the closest equivalent is Meta partnership ads.

Related terms

  • Whitelisting: Whitelisting (or allowlisting) is when a creator gives a brand permission to run paid ads through the creator's own account, so the ad shows the creator's name and handle.
  • Usage rights: Usage rights are the permissions a creator grants a brand to use their videos, defining where the content can appear, whether it can run as paid ads, and for how long.
  • Paid social: Paid social is advertising on social media platforms, where a brand pays to show posts or ads to a chosen audience instead of relying on organic reach.
  • Canvas UGC: Canvas UGC is short-form video a creator makes and posts on an account the brand owns, paid on output or views instead of the creator's own following.