How a Gen Z couple got started on Snapchat and grew their earnings to 5 figures with the platform’s revenue-share program

• AJ and Grey first met and started dating when they were 13 and 14 respectively in New York City.
• Today, the couple are content creators posting lifestyle and relationship content.
• Their favorite platform is Snapchat, where they earn money through the ad sharing program.

When AJ and Grey first met, the then-13 and 14-year-old content creators ran from opposite ends of New York’s Times Square into a hug.

They said it was like something out of a movie, and it appeared that some of the online world agreed. A TikTok video of their encounter went viral, garnering nearly 4 million views.

Since then, the New York-based couple has been creating content together.

“We get so many messages from people, some of whom live in homophobic households, or towns or countries, who tell us they’re so inspired by our love story,” Grey told Insider in an interview. To protect their privacy, AJ and Grey requested to be addressed only by their first names.

AJ, now 21, and Grey, now 22, met in 2014 on the online reading platform Wattpad. They began messaging each other on the app and started dating a few months later.

They have separate Instagram accounts as well as a joint TikTok account with approximately 980,000 followers where they post relationship and lifestyle content.

Nonetheless, they stated that Snapchat is their favorite platform for creating content and earning money because they can showcase their lives without a filter and earn lucrative amounts while doing so.

Since September 2021, when their manager set up a meeting with the platform’s head of creator development, Brooke Berry, the couple has been creating content for Snapchat. The Snapchat executive confirmed AJ and Grey as Snap Stars, a title reserved for public figures and top creators, and encouraged them to begin posting right away.

“I hadn’t used Snapchat since middle school, but we fell in love with Brooke’s energy so we decided to give it another shot,” AJ went on to say.

AJ currently has 348,000 followers on the platform, while Grey has 175,000. They make the majority of their money from the platform’s ad-revenue-sharing program. According to earnings documentation obtained by Insider, AJ has earned approximately $84,000 from ad-revenue sharing since January 2023, while Grey has earned nearly $21,000.

“As a Snap Star, you have the benefit of just showing up on people’s Discover feed without people even following or subscribing to you, and when they click on your story you’re immediately earning money,” Grey said in a statement.

The two creators post to their Snap stories from the moment they wake up until they go to bed, and they say that consistent routine is how they’ve integrated themselves into their audiences’ lives.

Leaving brand partnerships behind to experiment with Snap paid off.

Before they started posting on Snapchat, AJ and Grey weren’t making much money from content creation.

The couple was earning around $500 per month from paid partnerships with brands. AJ worked as a teacher, and Grey worked at a skate shop and an eyeglass store among other places.

“We just kept getting lowballed by brands who wanted to work with us, and I think it’s because we weren’t advocating for our worth in the way we should have,” Grey said in an interview.

That changed when they made the switch to Snapchat. They began posting stories about their experiences living together in New York, such as going to the deli and caring for their cat, as well as navigating their relationship as a lesbian couple.

When AJ reached 50,000 subscribers in June 2022, she could opt-in for advertisements in her videos via a toggle feature on the home screen. Grey became eligible for the revenue-sharing program a few months later. It enables Snap Stars to earn money by displaying advertisements to their followers in between Snap stories.

The couple explained that the income from this program used to be based on how many Snaps you posted, but it is now based on watch time, or how long and how many people are watching your Snap stories.

Creators are compensated in Snap crystals, which are a method of tracking payment-eligible activities on the platform and can be redeemed for cash. According to Snap, one dollar equals ten crystals. The money is transferred into the couple’s accounts via Snapchat’s direct-payment portal, Hyper Wallet.

The key to Snapchat success is to post as if it were second nature.

AJ revealed that, like many other Snapchat creators, she posts 200 to 250 times per day, which helps her earn more money on the platform.

She claims that because she posts so frequently, her content is completely unfiltered.

“People on Snapchat don’t like seeing scripted content, it’s where people go to see the messy side of others’ lives,” AJ went on to say. “I feel like my followers really know who I am, and that’s what really drives engagement.”

They believe their Snapchat accounts are popular because of their representation. The couple has been together for eight years and has a devoted following that looks to them for inspiration.

“There are a lot of trans and gender-nonconforming people that see themselves in me because I don’t follow any of the rules,” Grey said in an interview. “I like to show them that it’s fine to be yourself and show who you are unapologetically.”