View TranscriptThe TikTok Shop Affiliate Program offers a dynamic avenue for sellers to boost visibility and drive sales by connecting with a diverse community of creators. This program allows sellers to leverage authentic, engaging content from creators who promote products through videos, LIVEs, and affiliate links, earning commissions for successful sales.

Why Leverage TikTok Shop Affiliates?

• Drive GMV Growth: Affiliate partnerships are a powerful way to increase your Gross Merchandise Value(2).
• Expanded Visibility & Ads Campaign Fuel: Utilize affiliate creatives to expand your reach and power your Shop ads campaigns
• Tailored Collaboration Models: Customize your approach to align with your business growth and marketing strategy

Identifying Your Hero Products for Affiliate Promotion

Selecting the right products is crucial for affiliate success. Focus on "hero products" that stand out, solve problems, show clear visual results, or align with TikTok trends.

• Understand Market & Consumer Needs: Research the market to identify where your products can excel and deeply understand customer needs.
• Tailor to Platform Trends: Products that deliver visible and transformative results tend to perform better on TikTok Shop, which thrives on engaging content and visuals. Tools like "Product Opportunities" can help spot trending items.
• Consider Seasonality: Match product promotions to periods of high demand, adapting your lineup for different seasons and keeping evergreen products available.
• Factor Price Sensitivity: Experiment to find price points that resonate with creators' audiences.
• Make Data-Driven Selections: Use sales numbers and customer feedback to prioritize promotional efforts. "Sales Accelerator" can also help suggest high-potential products.

Choosing Your Collaboration Model: Open vs. Target

TikTok Shop offers two distinct collaboration models, each suited for different product stages and seller experiences.

	Open Collaboration	Target Collaboration
Suitable Sellers	New to TikTok Shop New to affiliate marketing Looking to build brand visibility and attract a broad range of creators Still exploring which products might perform well on TikTok Shop	Have specific creators in mind Have experience working with affiliates Have a clear product message to deliver Seek deeper, long-term collaborations with selected creators
How it works	Your products are visible to all creators in the TikTok Shop Affiliate Program, allowing interested creators to proactively promote them.	You proactively select and invite creators, leading to a more curated and managed program.
Key Features	Wide audience reach Let creators find your products Flexible commission rates (1%-80%) Support for Free and Refundable Samples Enroll in your full product catalog to find opportunities for collaboration	Products visible only to invited creators You proactively search for creators Flexible commission rates (1%-80%, often higher than Open Collaboration for incentivization) Support for Free Samples (not Refundable Samples)
Benefits	Great for testing products Social seeding for new launches Discover "hidden gem" creators	Excellent for key product launches or campaigns requiring creative control Incentivize experienced creators with strong sales record with higher commissions Reward your top-performing creators

Dual Strategy Approach:Many sellers successfully utilize both models to help increase sales, refresh creator portfolios, and fuel product awareness. They use

• Open Collaboration for broad creator discovery and new product launches; and
• Target Collaboration for deeper partnerships with top performers.

Setting Up Samples to Attract Creators

Samples are a highly effective way to attract creators by allowing them to experience your products firsthand, leading to authentic content.

• Free Samples: Provided free to creators, ideal for building strong partnerships and encouraging confident content creation.
  • Manually Managed: You review and approve each request, suitable for limited samples or specific creator matching.
  • Auto-Optimized: Automates sample distribution in Open Collaboration, matching you with qualified creators based on target ROI.
  • Auto-Approve Requests: For Target Collaboration, this saves manual effort and boosts exposure for your invitations.
• Refundable Samples: Creators purchase upfront and receive a refund upon fulfilling set conditions (e.g., creating videos or generating orders). These are exclusive to Open Collaborations and are a low-risk option for exploring new partnerships.

The best sample strategy depends on your experience, product stage, and collaboration goals. New sellers might start with manually managed free samples and refundable samples, while experienced sellers can scale with auto-optimized and auto-approved samples.

Finding and Managing Creators

Proactively finding creators who align with your brand is crucial.

• Discovering Creators:
  • Use "Find Creators" in the Affiliate Center to search and filter matching creators for your products & brands.
  • Search trending hashtags or products on TikTok to spot creators who are already posting shoppable videos in your niche.
  • Look up creators who are working with sellers like you or promoting similar products with strong engagement.
• Building Your Creator Strategy:
  • Nano Creators: Excellent for new product launches due to their relatable, authentic tone and higher acceptance rates for social seeding.
  • Mid-tier and Micro Creators: Offer a balance of reach and engagement, suitable for growing products.
  • Mega and Macro Creators: Provide massive reach for mature products ready to scale, though with lower acceptance rates.
• Managing Relationships:
  • Use the "Manage Creators" section to tag, track performance, and communicate directly with creators, fostering long-term partnerships.

Connecting with Creators Effectively using Target Collaboration

When using Target Collaboration, your goal is to make your offer as attractive as possible.

• Competitive Commissions: Offer higher commissions in Target Collaboration to incentivize selected creators.
• Attractive Samples: Utilize free samples, especially auto-approve requests, to streamline the process and gain exposure.
• Optimized Product Listings: Ensure high-quality images, clear descriptions, and compelling selling points.
• Personalized Messaging: Mention creator handles, reference past content, and highlight product selling points, commissions, and free samples.
• Brand Reputation: A strong online presence (website, SEO, social media) encourages creators to engage.
• Content Guidance: Provide tailored content briefs based on creator tiers (Focus on necessities only for mega/macro, provide framework leaving room for creativity for mid/micro, give clear instructions for nano). Share tips on creating "High-quality videos" and official guides on accepting invites.
• Follow-Up & Nurture: Check in after samples are shipped, remind about deadlines, re-engage successful creators for future campaigns, and consider sending appreciation gifts.

Shipping Samples & Monitoring Fulfillment

Ensure smooth delivery and follow-up for successful partnerships.

• Before Shipping: Double-check sample details and creator information (name, address, phone), and include your contact details in the box.
• After Shipping: Share tracking numbers and remind creators about delivery.
• Post-Delivery: Remind creators to produce content within seven days of receipt (14-day total window) and provide high-quality shoppable content as reference.

Tracking & Optimizing Affiliate Operations

Regularly review data in the Affiliate Center's Analytics module to refine your strategy.

• Product Analytics: Identify top-selling products and amplify visibility for those with strong sales potential.
• Collaboration Analytics: Review performance of open and target collaborations to adjust commissions, products, or engagement of creators across tiers.
• Creator Performance: Track high-performing creators by GMV and GMV-to-follower ratio. Consider higher commissions for successful Open Collaboration creators or boosting videos of high-GMV creators with smaller followings.
• Video Performance: Analyze top-performing videos by views, conversions, and GMV. Consider launching Shop ads campaigns for organically successful affiliate videos.

By consistently testing, learning, and refining your approach, you can effectively leverage TikTok Shop creators to increase visibility and achieve sustainable growth for your shop.