What is clipping? Clipping campaigns, explained

Long videos are where creators say the most, and short feeds are where new viewers find them. Clipping joins the two. A clipper watches a two-hour podcast, finds the 40 seconds where the guest tells the story everyone will share, cuts it, frames it vertically, captions it and posts it.

One long video can become ten clips, each reaching a different crowd. A clip that takes off sends new viewers back to the full episode, the channel or the product, which is why creators pay for them.

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Short-form feeds reward volume. A creator who posts one clip a day is up against accounts posting dozens. Clippers give them that volume, on many accounts at once, each with its own audience.

Paying per view keeps it fair on both sides: the creator only pays for clips that get watched, and clippers earn more for clips that do well. For brands and apps, it's advertising that looks like the content people came for, so they watch it instead of skipping it.

1. The brief. The creator or brand sets a rate per 1,000 views, a budget, the apps that count and the rules for posts.
2. The clips. Clippers cut clips from the creator's videos and post them on their own accounts.
3. The submission. Each clipper submits links to their clips once they're live.
4. The count. Views are counted for a set time, and clips that break a rule are turned down.
5. The payout. Approved clips are paid at the rate, up to the caps, until the budget runs out.

Campaigns are listed on platforms that track the views and handle the payouts, or run in a creator's own community. Rules differ a lot between them, so read every brief: the checklist in our money guide covers what to look for.

• Side hustlers posting a few clips a day around a job or school.
• Faceless channels built around one creator or one niche, posting every day.
• Editors who clip for clients for a monthly fee instead of per view.
• Clipping agencies running many accounts for many creators at once. See how to start a clipping agency.

Clipping is closer to running a media account than to editing for hire: you choose what to post, and you're paid on how it does.

Yes, when the owner of the content wants the clips. A campaign run by a creator, a brand or a label, or by a platform working for them, gives you permission to post their content and pays for results. Be careful with:

• Anyone who asks you to pay to join a campaign.
• Campaigns with no clear rate, cap or payout terms.
• Clipping creators who never asked for it. Without permission, clips can be taken down for copyright, and nobody pays for them.

More on permission, fair use and the apps' rules in is clipping legal?

Campaign

A creator's or brand's offer to pay for clips of their content, with a rate, a budget and rules.

Rate, or CPM

What a campaign pays per 1,000 views. A $1 CPM is $1 for every 1,000 views.

Cap

The most one clip, or one clipper, can earn from a campaign.

Budget

The campaign's total. When it's spent, the campaign ends.

Approval

The campaign's check that a clip follows its rules before it's paid.

Hook

The first line or second of a clip, which decides whether people keep watching. Try the hook generator.

Safe zone

The middle of a vertical video, which the apps' buttons and text don't cover. See it with the safe zone checker.

Faceless account

An account that posts clips of other people's content and never shows its owner.

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The vertical shape of TikTok, Reels and Shorts: 1080 × 1920 pixels.

Pick one campaign in a niche you know, make an account for it on each app, and post a few clips a day for two weeks. Then look at what worked. The step-by-step guide to making money clipping covers each step, from reading a brief to submitting your clips.