One of the keys to gaining an OnlyFans audience is to market yourself outside the platform. Many creators choose to post on a medley of social-media platforms — from the more sex-work-friendly sites like Twitter and Reddit to mainstream platforms like TikTok and Instagram — to get their names out there and entice potential subscribers.
OnlyFans creators may use multiple platforms to promote themselves, but each creator usually focuses on a few where most of their followers and subscribers come from. They master those sites and learn how to work them to reach as many people as possible.
Here are seven ways OnlyFans creators promote themselves:
1. Twitter
Twitter drove 75% of social media traffic to OnlyFans in the US, according to yearly data from April 2023 that web-analytics firm SimilarWeb shared with Business Insider. Many OnlyFans creators are active on the platform because Twitter’s guidelines allow for nudity and pornographic content, with some exceptions.
2. TikTok
At a glance, TikTok isn’t the ideal platform for OnlyFans creators due to its strict content guidelines that bar nudity and “sexually explicit narratives.” But some OnlyFans stars prefer to promote on TikTok because its algorithm allows them to easily find viewers who could become subscribers.
“Anyone can grow a fan base on TikTok, and I like that algorithm the best,” OnlyFans creator Charlotte Lavish told Insider.
Navigating the platform without getting banned can be tricky for OnlyFans creators, some of whom have said they’ve faced harassment on the site. However, several who use TikTok heavily said the platform can be a great promotional tool if you know how to work it.
3. Reddit
Reddit can be intimidating because of its communities of subreddits that each have their own rules, but several OnlyFans creators who learned to navigate it said it was where most of their subscribers came from.
Farrah, an adult-content creator who makes content without her face showing, posts in eight to 10 subreddits daily, including styled as r/milf, r/fitnakedgirls, and r/Impressive_Apricot37, which she runs.
4. Promoting discreetly by using safe-for-work content
OnlyFans creators often adapt their promotional content for each social-media platform’s content guidelines. It allows them to reach mainstream audiences while discreetly promoting their OnlyFans pages.
For example, MelRose Michaels, a creator who earns roughly $30,000 per month on OnlyFans and coaches adult-content creators on how to grow their businesses, creates safe-for-work content like ASMR videos on YouTube or livestreams on Twitch to plug her OnlyFans.
She recommends adult-content creators run their social accounts as any mainstream influencer would.
5. Cross-promoting with other creators
Rayna Rose was able to kickstart her career on OnlyFans thanks to a revenue-share deal she struck with her former boss, multimillionaire creator Bryce Adams. Through the deal, Rose receives promotion and advertisement from Adams — who has hundreds of thousands of fans — in exchange for a portion of her earnings.
Lizzy Capri, formerly a kids’ YouTuber, pivoted her content in 2023 and began posting on OnlyFans. She also entrusted the promotion of her profile to Adams, whose team manages and promotes the account in exchange for 15% of her net earnings.
Lavish, one of the OnlyFans creators who uses TikTok to promote, often features other OnlyFans stars in her TikToks. They do dance challenges or lip sync over popular sounds together. This is another one of the ways OnlyFans influencers can cross-promote.
Some creators even pay others for “shoutouts” on their pages. Oftentimes, the creator being paid has a larger following and can reach more people, and some of these creators have turned shoutouts into a business in itself.
