- Unlike other platforms, OnlyFans does not have a discovery page, which can make it hard for creators to get noticed.
- OnlyFans influencers typically have to advertise their accounts outside of the platform.
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.
These strategies can include scheduling posts, doing promotional shoutouts, collaborating with other creators, and experimenting with popular content on their chosen platforms, from audio and photos to short- and long-form videos. Some creators show off other interests like cooking and sports.
Isla Moon, who dropped her plan of pursuing a Ph.D. for OnlyFans, built most of her fanbase thanks to the short-video platform TikTok, where she shares a mix of revealing content and videos about her hobbies outside adult work.
Anne, an adult-content creator who traverses her home country of Canada in a van, uses Reddit to engage her community by diligently responding to comments on her posts.
"I love the community on there, and I make sure I respond to every single person I can who comments on a post that I've done," she told Business Insider. "I make sure to show them that I appreciate that they've seen my content and that they're important to my day."
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.
Check out these 4 OnlyFans creators' strategies for using Reddit
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.
Read more about how Capri pivoted her content from YouTube to OnlyFans
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.
Read more about how creators pay for 'shoutouts' to advertise their OnlyFans
6. Making content specific to personal interests
Some adult-content creators incorporate their mainstream interests like fitness and cooking into their content. Michaels, the adult-content creator coach, said this is a great way to bring creative or new ideas into OnlyFans content as well.
Isla Moon, who's made close to $5 million on OnlyFans, uses social-media platforms to promote her adult content but also to share her hobbies, like spending time in nature and fishing. This has allowed her to build a dedicated fan base of "the middle-aged man in the States who enjoys fishing and hunting on the weekends," she said.
Liensue, a German creator, makes cosplay a central element of her content, both on OnlyFans and on other social-media platforms. She's been able to build a strong community of subscribers who are into cosplay.
Read more about how Liensue made over $450,000 through cosplay content
Influencer Chloe Sasha has been experimenting with different TikTok pages where she chats about sports, cooks Mexican recipes, teaches Spanish, and more. She also modifies some of these videos for her OnlyFans audience, such as filming similar videos in the nude.
7. Creative IRL strategies to promote OnlyFans without social media
Steph Mi landed an OFTV show after she flew an airplane banner at a baseball game with the link to her OnlyFans written out, "ONLYFANS.COM/STEPHMI." She also did this again at the Kentucky Derby.
Here is our full coverage of how creators promote their OnlyFans
- Some adult-content creators are trying to make the jump from OnlyFans to a mainstream influencer career. Here's how 5 have leveraged OnlyFans to get brand deals and how they navigate social platforms.
- Although TikTok has strict content guidelines, some adult creators say the algorithm is worth it. Here are 3 OnlyFans creators who explained how they use TikTok.
- Reddit can be tricky if you don't understand the subreddit communities. Here is how 4 OnlyFans creators have found success on the platform.
- Some OnlyFans creators are getting paid to do promotional "shoutouts" for other creators. Here's how 9 creators have turned shoutouts into a separate income stream.
- Isla Moon has made almost $5 million on the platform. She's built a fanbase on social media by combining revealing content with content about her hobbies.
- Rayna Rose built an income of over $24,000 a month on OnlyFans. She kickstarted her career through a revenue-share deal with another creator.
- Liensue was able to build a dedicated fanbase without explicit nudity. She built her presence on social media and on OnlyFans by focusing on cosplay.
- Anne is an OnlyFans creator and stay-at-home mom. She primarily uses Reddit to promote her page.
- Chloe Sasha is a single mom of four who started up an OnlyFans after getting divorced. She heavily advertises on TikTok using multiple accounts.
- Farrah is a former healthcare worker who posts most content without showing her face. She posts in 8 to 10 subreddits a day to promote her OnlyFans.
- Steph Mi has used airplane banners to promote her OnlyFans. She made 5 figures in a month using these creative marketing strategies to grow her page.
- MelRose Michaels has been working in adult entertainment for over a decade, starting off as a "camgirl." Here is how she uses safe-for-work content to promote OnlyFans on platforms like YouTube and Twitter.
- "Mrs. Robinson," as she's known on OnlyFans, doesn't show her face in most of her content. She uses a "hot teacher" persona to stand out while only revealing her face in pay-per-view messages.
- Teddy Bear has been on OnlyFans since 2017 and has learned how to navigate different content guidelines over the years. Here is how he recommends OnlyFans creators promote discreetly on Instagram.
- Lizzy Capri is a YouTuber who formerly published content for kids. Here's how she "hard pivoted" to OnlyFans and how she built her income to $100,000 in just 11 months.
This story has been updated with new details.