The Definitive Guide To TikTok Affiliate Marketing
Are you interested in affiliate marketing on one of the web’s most popular social media platforms?
TikTok’s popularity surged in 2020 and has continued to dominate ever since.
Now, small and large creators alike can earn an income by running affiliate marketing campaigns on the platform.
In this post, we cover what affiliate marketing looks like on TikTok, how to start affiliate marketing on the platform and more.
What is TikTok affiliate marketing?
TikTok affiliate marketing can mean one of two things these days: typical affiliate marketing in which campaigns are run through TikTok instead of a blog or YouTube channel, and affiliate products you promote from TikTok Shop.
With typical affiliate marketing, you join an affiliate program for a brand whose products or services align with your audience’s interests. This could even be a shop, such as Amazon.
The program will assign a special link you can use to promote that brand’s products. When you do, the brand’s affiliate system will keep track of the sales you refer to their shop.
You earn a commission for each sale you generate, a commission that’s typically anywhere from 3 to 30% of what the customer paid for the order.
When you run affiliate marketing campaigns on TikTok, you promote products through your content, then link to those products in your bio or link-in-bio tool.
Brands love running affiliate marketing campaigns with influencers because it allows them to promote their products through user-generated content, which helps them save on advertising.
But enough about that for now. Let’s talk about TikTok Shop.
TikTok Shop is TikTok’s built-in ecommerce platform that connects viewers, creators and sellers on one central platform.
It works in the same way as typical affiliate marketing. The only differences are the fact that the products you promote are available on TikTok itself as well as the fact that you promote TikTok’s own links instead of a third party’s.
Most importantly, TikTok Shop allows TikTok creators to promote affiliate products their viewers can buy without leaving the app.
Why should you run affiliate marketing campaigns on TikTok?
Do you create content for TikTok? If you answered yes, this is your number one reason to use affiliate marketing on the platform.
When it comes to affiliate marketing, always follow this one simple rule: if you have an audience on a platform, you have an opportunity to generate affiliate earnings.
Even so, let’s elaborate on why TikTok is a suitable platform for affiliate marketing.
TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users around the world, 150 million of which are from the United States.
Not only that, it’s the #12 free app on the App Store for iPhones and the #4 top free app on Google Play. According to Google Play, the app has over 1 billion downloads on the platform.
Beyond statistics, the platform itself is perfect for affiliate content. Affiliate marketing works best when your audience can access content easily and when your audience trusts you.
TikTok’s simple UI and functionality coupled with its casual, short-form style of content make it a fantastic platform for personable affiliate content that gets right to the point.
The only disadvantage to affiliate marketing on TikTok is its approach to links. Like Instagram, you can only add a single link to your bio. You cannot add clickable links to TikTok videos, in your captions nor in comments.
Fortunately, you can use a link in bio tool to circumvent this issue.
How to get started with TikTok affiliate marketing
So, now that we know that “TikTok affiliate marketing” can mean a couple different things, we’re going to break this section down into a few different parts.
Specifically, we’re going to discuss how to get started with TikTok Shop as well as how to do traditional affiliate marketing on the platform.
How to get started with affiliate marketing through TikTok Shop
If you’ve browsed TikTok lately, your For You page is likely filled with posts promoting products from TikTok Shop.
TikTok Shop launched in the US edition of the app in 2023. It’s now a new tab TikTok users can scroll to in order to browse the platform’s built-in marketplace, a section of the app they can use to purchase products from third-party sellers.
Like we said, TikTok is now filled with videos that promote products from this shop.
These videos have links above their captions. You can click them to view the product’s designated page on TikTok Shop.
A product you’ve likely seen promoted heavily on the platform is Stanely’s line of portable cups.
However, when creators post videos promoting products from TikTok Shop, they, more often than not, aren’t promoting their own products. They’re promoting products of sellers who list their products on TikTok Shop.
How much do creators earn by promoting products from TikTok Shop?
Sellers are allowed to set their own commission rates for the products they list on TikTok Shop.
They can set a specific rate for all products or different rates for specific products. They can even invite individual creators to promote specific products at special commission rates.
This makes it hard to determine how much you can potentially earn as an affiliate of TikTok Shop.
Here’s a quick example of how much a small creator with a few thousand followers was able to make by promoting a skincare product on her account.
Her earnings were determined by THE ECOM BULL, who determined that the creator, @kgrabill8, was able to generate $18,667.50 in affiliate earnings from a single viral video.
He also goes on to explain how another creator was able to generate $2,554.65 in affiliate income in just a few days by promoting one of his products.
If you’re a creator on TikTok, start taking advantage of the huge potential in affiliate earnings the platform has created for you.
How to become an affiliate for TikTok Shop
TikTok Shop for Creators has two requirements:
- Be 18 years old or older.
- Have more than 5,000 followers.
You must meet both requirements in order to apply.
You can find this page in the app by going to Profile → Menu → Creator Center → TikTok Shop for Creator.
The page will let you know if you’re eligible to apply.
If you’re ineligible to join TikTok Shop for creators at this time, work on creating better content more often to increase your views and follower count.
If you are eligible, click the Apply button, and complete the program’s application process. However, there’s a chance you may already be part of the program if you’re passed the 5,000 follower mark.
In this case, you’ll see the regular TikTok Shop dashboard.
TikTok Shop for creators works in a similar way as TikTok Shop for sellers does in that you have a shop page users can view to see which products you promote.
From the TikTok Shop dashboard, click the Product Marketplace button under the Tools section. This is where you’ll add products you want to promote to your shop.
This process involves creating a commission account, which asks for your payment information, so you can get paid for the commissions you earn.
Which products should you sell?
The good thing about the marketplace section is the fact that you can see the number of units each product listing has sold.
Look for products that have sold a few hundred units or more.
You should also do a bit of research on each one to determine if they have a positive reputation among consumers. You can even use creator vouchers to purchase samples for cheap or free.
Finally, make sure you choose products that align with your niche and audience interests.
Once you have products added to your shop, you can start making content promoting them. TikTok will add a clickable link directly to your video, allowing viewers to easily shop for the product you’re promoting.
How to promote third-party affiliate links on TikTok
Because links to TikTok Shop are the only types of links you can add to videos, promoting links not generated by TikTok is a little difficult.
You’ll need a link in bio tool to get the job done. Link in bio tools host simple web pages that contain a series of links creators have promoted in their content but could not link to.
They’re popular among Instagram influencers due to Instagram’s policy of not allowing links in posts. You can only add a single link to your bio.
The TikTok bio follows this same policy, and so, a link in bio tool becomes necessary, especially if you want to succeed as an affiliate marketer on the platform.
Pallyy is a solid option for this. It’s flexible and easy to use.
That’s not all that Pallyy does though. You can use it to manage all your socials, including TikTok. That includes scheduling content to TikTok and managing comments.
Shorby and Linktree offer are solid options as well.
Here’s an example of @kallmekris’ bio link:
And here’s the actual page, made with Linktree:
You’ll notice a link called “Shop Otto by Kris” at the top of the page. This is a link to Kris’ clothing store.
So, when she launches a new clothing line for her store and makes a TikTok promoting it, instead of saying “go to my store” or “go to ottobykris.com,” she just needs to say something along the lines of “the store is linked in my bio” or “click the link in my bio” to direct viewers to her store.
This is how promoting affiliate links on TikTok works as well.
Consider what tool you want to use, and build a simple structure for your page that includes a link to your website (if you have one) and links to your other social media profiles.
Then, whenever you create a TikTok promoting an affiliate product, add your affiliate link to the page as well.
How to increase your affiliate earnings from TikTok
Earning an income from affiliate marketing on TikTok isn’t as easy as promoting first and third-party products in your videos.
Affiliate marketers on the platform need to strategize to ensure their content receives a lot of views consistently, their follower growth increases on a daily basis and the products they promote align with the interests of their target audience.
That’s why in this section, we’re going to cover a few tips you can use to increase your affiliate earnings on TikTok.
It’s a unique social media platform, but it’s not all that different from other platforms, so you can easily apply these tips to platforms like Instagram and YouTube as well.
Here are the tips we’ll be covering:
- Choose affiliate products carefully.
- Use a link in bio tool effectively.
- Increase your views and engagements.
- Create content for affiliate products.
- Advertise affiliate products on TikTok.
We’ve already touched base on a few of these tips, but we’re going to cover them again to emphasize their importance.
Choose affiliate products carefully
Whether you’re promoting products from TikTok Shop or promoting third-party products, such as Amazon or software products, you need to choose those products carefully.
There are three primary factors to consider when choosing affiliate products:
- Whether or not the product aligns with your audience’s interests.
- How your audience or even the broader community of your niche feels about the product.
- The commission rate of the affiliate program the product belongs to.
Basically, if you choose a product your audience doesn’t care about or trust, your conversion rates for affiliate marketing campaigns will be low.
As for commission rates, you sometimes don’t have a choice in the amount you earn per commission. Sometimes, the best product or shop has the lowest commission rate.
Even so, you’ll still do yourself a lot of favors if you take the time to research all of your options before deciding on a product to promote.
And while you can most certainly promote more than one product type at a time, you’ll likely experience higher conversion rates if you stick to promoting a single product for each product type you promote.
A good way to promote a wide variety of products without staying loyal to one is by creating reviews and similar content, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
Use a link in bio tool effectively
Do you remember KallMeKris’ Linktree page? Here’s a refresher in case you need it:
It’s very simple, and this is by design.
You’ll notice her top three links are her shop link, a link brands can use to get in touch with her about sponsorship deals and her Patreon link.
This is an excellent use of a Linktree page because it places the visitor’s focus on links that increase revenue: the Shop Otto by Kris link for her clothing store, the Brand & Business Inquiries link for sponsorship deals, and the Patreon link for her membership subscription available through Patreon.
Follow a similar approach for your own page.
Promote links that generate revenue for your own products or services (like a Patreon membership) first, then create a link for the emails brands should use to get in touch with you about sponsorships.
Create links for affiliate products after that, using simple calls to action like “try Audible”.
Depending on which features are available in the link in bio tool you choose, you should also consider creating a clickable image card for your best affiliate product. That is, the one that has the highest potential to bring in revenue.
However, you should note that because Linktree has a spot for social media buttons at the bottom of the page, you don’t also need to create dedicated links for them on your page as Kris has done.
Increase your views and engagements across your entire TikTok account
The key to success with affiliate marketing is an active audience that engages with your content.
If you’re not receiving likes, comments and shares on TikTok, you’re less likely to succeed as an affiliate marketer on the platform.
So, before you start pumping out post after post promoting affiliate products, take a second to examine your content and how you can improve upon it.
We have guides on how to get more views and followers on TikTok.
Tips include creating more content, creating better, more lively content, collaborating with other influencers, and more.
However, if your audience isn’t engaging with your content, try using simple engagement tactics, including:
- Asking viewers to “click that like button.”
- Asking viewers to answer a question or share an opinion in the comment section.
- Telling viewers to share the video in a fun or helpful way, such as saying “share this with someone who needs to drink more water” on a video in which you share your strategies for remembering to drink enough water throughout the day.
Create content for affiliate products
A common tactic affiliate marketers use to promote affiliate products is to simply mention them in regular videos.
However, your conversion rates for affiliate marketing will be much higher if you create dedicated content for affiliate products.
Because it’s TikTok, it’s best to keep videos as light, authentic and entertaining as possible.
If you want to review a product, simply create a video of you talking to the camera (in your everyday look) about your experience with and opinion of the product.
You can even do other styles of review videos, such as “top 10” lists and comparing two or a few products against one another.
If you want to create a tutorial, record clips of you demonstrating how to use the product, then do a voiceover explaining what the viewer is seeing.
Advertise affiliate products on TikTok
If you’ve ever used TikTok, you’ve likely noticed the ads that appear in your feed as you scroll through your For You page.
You can actually buy ads yourself and use them to promote affiliate products.
This can be especially helpful if you’re having trouble getting noticed on the platform and have the budget to run ad campaigns.
With TikTok ads, you can choose primary goals or objectives as well as a target audience. The platform will then optimize your campaign to ensure your ads get shown to the right audience.
Ads don’t need to be commercialized, either. You can most certainly create your usual, casual content and use it as ads.
To get started with paid advertising on TikTok, you’ll need to create a TikTok business account and go from there.
Frequently asked questions
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