Ep 1: Charli D'Amelio | 53+ Million TikTok Followers in One Year

Charli D'Amelio posted her first video on TikTok last May (2019), and she now has over 53 million followers. In addition, she has 3.6 billion likes on her TikTok videos, 17 million followers on Instagram, 1.5 million on Twitter, and 3.75 million subscribers on YouTube. Altogether, Charli has a combined following of over 75 million. There are a few takeaways that are really interesting about Charli D'Amelio's success on TikTok. First of all, her production quality is not overly impressive. She films multiple videos in the same outfit with poor video and audio quality, which doesn't fit into the mold of many successful content creators. Especially on YouTube, to gain 3.75 million subscribers in a year, you usually need to have unbelievable production quality. Yet Charli has become a successful social media influencer without fancy equipment or a film crew. Secondly, Charli's success on TikTok has been contagious. Her entire family has built an impressive audience, and it has likely changed all of their lives. Dixie D'Amelio has 22.5 million followers on TikTok, and her video was on the trending page of Google when we recorded this episode. Their parents even have millions of followers on TikTok. Third, Charli is working with an agency that likely helps her receive a significant income through her social media platform. Some estimates, which are largely based off of assumptions and guesswork, suggest that she could be earning upwards of $50,000 per brand deal. As a 16-year-old, that amount of money can easily set her up to retire early if she is smart with it. Lastly, Charli's success on TikTok has already helped her break through to other more impressive audiences. For example, she was recently a guest on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show and The Ellen Show. She has also done collaboration videos with James Charles, a beauty industry influencer, and Noah Schnapp from Stranger Things. Overall, Charli D'Amelio's success on TikTok is impressive and exciting, because it shows that there are still opportunities for talented creatives to become successful by consistently producing content online.