In certainly one of Jenny Krupa’s TikTok movies, her neighbor has been harm. Ms. Krupa’s concern? She desires to see “if the paramedics are hot.” In one other video, she lets a person who ghosted her know she’s TikTok well-known — and he “really screwed up.”

A goofy state of affairs in yet one more — involving a spat together with her finest pal and an “arrest” — seems to be a sponsored put up for the Paramount Pictures film “80 for Brady.” Ms. Krupa, an influencer on TikTok, has a partnership with the studio. But she shouldn’t be your typical social media character. She’s 91, lives in a retirement house and has collected two million followers (helped by her grandson Skylar Krupa, 23, who creates her movies together with her).

While Ms. Krupa, a Canadian who lives in Alberta and is called J-Dog to her followers, is in rarefied firm with such a big following, she shouldn’t be the one older creator making adverts on TikTok. Companies promoting clothes, magnificence merchandise and extra are discovering different retirement-age content material creators they need to work with.

TikTok is gaining traction with older customers, so manufacturers are following them there, stated Mae Karwowski, founding father of Obviously, an influencer advertising company that connects firms with content material creators. Her company works with Amazon and others to seek out TikTok influencers over 55.

These creators have been discovering success by sharing life classes and vogue suggestions, cooking, interacting with grandchildren or simply being humorous — whereas additionally selling merchandise.

“Older influencers have popped in popularity recently,” Ms. Karwowski stated. Over the previous yr to 18 months, she added, “it’s really been accelerating‌.”

For the overwhelming majority of influencers, the earnings from these gigs is probably not sufficient to retire on, however it could possibly assist give their later-year funds a lift and even give them extra cash to speculate.

Gym Tan, 62, of San Francisco, who beforehand labored as president of DKNY Jeans International and extra lately as a advisor, had been struggling to seek out an government place within the vogue trade. About 18 months in the past, her daughter, Mya Miller, 23, advised that Ms. Tan share her outfit of the day — O.O.T.D. in social media parlance — on TikTok to attach with the style trade differently.

Dressing in easy, fashionable, ageless clothes from each legacy and rising manufacturers, Ms. Tan amassed 10,000 followers in three months. After six months, firms got here calling. Now she has greater than 200,000 TikTok followers, a expertise agent and a modeling profession off the platform, showing in a latest world advert marketing campaign for Clairol.

The work is profitable, Ms. Tan stated, and he or she isn’t planning to cease anytime quickly.

“I was definitely not fully set up financially for retirement,” she stated. Besides saving for her later years, Ms. Tan stated, she is paying a mortgage and faculty tuition for a youthful baby.

Ms. Tan’s success is extra the exception than the rule. Still, there are alternatives for older model representatives as a result of there are fewer creators in that age class to compete with, stated Kevin Creusy, a co-chief government of Upfluence, which manages a repository of 4.5 million social media creators that advertisers can comb to seek out companions. As of mid-April, the itemizing had solely about 2,700 entries for folks 60 or older, he stated, and simply 174 of these had a TikTok account. The group can be overwhelmingly feminine and white, he stated, “an indicator that other groups may be underrepresented overall.”

Brands typically search for creators with as few as 5,000 followers as a result of these so-called nano-influencers usually tend to interact ‌with folks of their remark sections, giving the account an genuine really feel, Mr. Creusy stated. Those accounts will also be an affordable advertising automobile as creators generally characteristic a product simply because they obtained a free pattern. About half of partnerships shaped on Upfluence supply free merchandise as compensation, however no pay.

Creators who’re paid could make something from a number of hundred {dollars} to tens of 1000’s to supply content material promoting a model. Pay charges rely upon a number of components: how a lot effort is concerned in creating the put up, what number of instances it will likely be posted and on which platforms, if the imagery can be utilized elsewhere by the corporate, and what number of followers the creator has.

For the overwhelming majority although, whatever the creator’s age, the earnings isn’t sufficient to reside on. The common cost for a sponsored put up on Upfluence is $348, a rise of 44 p.c over the typical cost within the final quarter of 2022, Mr. Creusy stated.

The cash Ms. Krupa has earned for her handful of sponsored movies covers solely “fun” objects like vegetation, lottery tickets and garments, in line with her grandson, who manages her TikTok account. Ms. Krupa declined to be interviewed.

TikTok is the simplest platform for older folks to construct audiences, Mr. Creusy stated, as a result of customers’ feeds floor content material primarily based on what they could be enthusiastic about and accounts much like these they’ve seen, somewhat than simply from accounts they observe.

“It removed a barrier between creators and viewers,” Mr. Creusy stated.

A youngster won’t take into consideration following somebody who seems to be very completely different from themselves, he stated, however they might be proven a video they like and begin following that creator. “It’s about the content, not the person,” he stated.

That’s what Lynn Yamada Davis, 66, of Holmdel, N.J., discovered. She started creating Cooking With Lynja movies to assist her son, a videographer, sustain his cinematography abilities in the course of the pandemic lockdown in 2020. Within six months, about a million folks‌ have been following her quirky content material, and her first sponsor contacted her.

“We got sent a free air fryer,” Ms. Yamada Davis stated‌‌. “We were so excited!”

She and her son contacted manufacturers they wished to work with, and some responded.

“We were thrilled when we got paid $5,000 to do a video,” stated Ms. Yamada Davis, who receives retirement earnings from a pension and Social Security, and shares her TikTok income together with her son.

Now, with greater than 15 million followers and an agent who negotiates for her, Ms. Yamada Davis stated she and her son had been paid as a lot as $50,000 to create one video.

“I was such a nerd all my life,” stated Ms. Yamada Davis, a retired software program engineer. “Now sometimes I get recognized when I’m at a Starbucks.”

There are potential pitfalls for creators making an attempt to construct a product promotion enterprise. Scammers could pose as model representatives asking the creator to pay to ship a pattern, or ask for his or her private data, stated Margaret Bourne, who coaches creators. She stated frauds often include effusive, unprofessionally worded or misspelled messages and often come from an unknown model or firm.

Creators additionally have to steadiness sponsored content material and their very own as a result of customers don’t need to tune in to a stream of commercials, stated Lisa Pedace, 59, a comic and an actor in San Diego who began ‌‌making content material in the course of the pandemic as a inventive outlet and a solution to join with an viewers. She now has greater than 750,000 followers. Ms. Pedace has been employed by a wide range of manufacturers, together with Amazon Prime and Valentino.

“When a brand approaches me, I think about if I can work it into a comedic skit because that is what people expect,” she stated.

In a video for Pair Eyewear, a magnetic eyeglasses base body that comes with a wide range of high body types, Ms. Pedace swapped on completely different frames to play completely different characters.

Ms. Pedace stated she wasn’t planning on retiring quickly however was placing her rising TikTok earnings into financial savings. “The money is good and keeps getting better,” she stated.

With its progress persevering with, TikTok is prone to maintain including older customers, and attracting the sponsored posts that focus on them.

“It’s boom time to be an elder content creator,” Ms. Karwowski stated.

Tips for TikTok Influencing at Any Age

• Build your presence by befriending different creators of all ages that will help you faucet into TikTok communities and traits. Comment on each other’s movies, collaborate, sew, duet or put up collectively to introduce your audiences to one another.

• Attract sponsors by posting about merchandise you like and tagging the corporate title. Brands conserving an eye fixed out for followers could contact you. You can even e mail or message a model and supply to be an envoy. Mention your age and some other attributes that may make it easier to stand out.

• If you land a partnership, ensure that your first one, whether or not you might be receiving a free product or cash, is properly executed with clear messages and compelling visuals. Companies will evaluate prior sponsored content material once they consider you.