Product Overview

Connect and collaborate with creators instantly, right within TikTok Shop. With our seller-creator instant messaging (IM) options, you can chat directly with creators in the Affiliate Center. This seamless communication channel makes it easier than ever to build relationships, launch collaborations, and grow your brand together.

Benefits

• Improve your collaboration efficiency: Chat, send product offers, and manage sample requests all in one place, saving you time and keeping your partnerships on track.
• Build stronger relationships: Direct communication helps build trust and allows you to share your brand story and vision with potential partners.
• Stay organized and in control: Keep your conversations tidy with inbox folders, filters, and the ability to star or archive important chats.

How it works

1. Find Your Way to the Chat. You can start a conversation from multiple places in your Seller Center, making it easy to connect with creators whenever inspiration strikes.
   • From the main navigation: The most direct route! Just click on Creator messages in the top navigation bar of the Affiliate Center.
   • While discovering creators: Found a creator you love in the Find creators marketplace? You can send them a message directly from their profile or the list view.
   • When sending offers: You can initiate a chat when sharing a specific product via a Targeted plan or when managing a Sample Request.
   • Behind the scenes: No matter which entrance you use, the system logs this as a single, unified conversation. This means you can start a chat on the "Find creators" page and pick it up later in your main "Creator messages" inbox without losing any context.
2. Send Your First Message. Once you open a chat window, you can start the conversation. Keep in mind there are some limits to how many new creators you can reach out to each week.
   • Your weekly outreach limit is based on your shop's performance (Affiliate GMV) over the last 30 days. This limit is shared between new IM conversations and targeted collaborations.
   • To avoid spam, you can send up to five messages to a creator before they reply. Once they respond, the conversation is fully open!
   • Behind the scenes: These limits are in place to encourage meaningful, high-quality interactions. The system tracks your initial outreach count in real-time. When a creator replies, the system recognizes that a mutual connection has been made and removes the five-message limit for that specific chat.
3. Manage Your Inbox Like a Pro. Your inbox is your command center for all creator communications.
   • Use the folders on the left (Unread, Unreplied, Starred, Archived) to organize your chats and prioritize your responses.
   • Use the Filter to find creators based on their follower count, main category, or sales performance to quickly locate specific conversations.
   • Click the three-dots menu on a conversation to Star it for follow-up or Archive it to clean up your inbox.
4. Share Products and Plans Directly in Chat. Turn conversation into collaboration without ever leaving the chat window.
   • In any conversation, click the + icon to open a side panel. From here, you can access the creator's Profile, send Products from your shop, or invite them to a Target collaboration.
   • You can also approve or reject Sample Requests directly from the chat. When a creator requests a sample, a card will appear in the conversation for you to take action where you can select "Approve" or "Reject."

Tips

• Looking to message creators in bulk? Visit our How to manage creators guide for more detail.
• Looking to block a creator? When you block a creator, they will no longer be able to send you messages. They will see a notification in the chat stating that they have been blocked. You can block and unblock a creator at any time from the chat settings (the three dots next to a creator handle in the inbox view).

FAQs

• Why can I no longer access creator messages? If your TikTok Shop has been shut down or your account has been deactivated due to violations, you will lose access to Seller-Creator IM.
• What happens when I block a creator? When you block a creator, they will no longer be able to send you messages. They will see a notification in the chat stating that they have been blocked. You can unblock a creator at any time from the chat settings.
• Is there a way to message multiple creators at once? Yes, visit our How to manage creators guide for more detail.