How to Make Money with TikTok Affiliate Marketing

TikTok is not just a platform for viral videos and dance challenges.

It is also a goldmine for affiliate marketers who want to reach a massive and engaged audience of potential buyers.

TikTok affiliate marketing is the process of promoting and selling other people’s products or services on TikTok for a commission.

It is a great way to monetize your TikTok account and earn passive income online.

But how do you get started with TikTok affiliate marketing in 2023?

In this article, I will share with you the latest tips and tricks on how to succeed as a TikTok affiliate marketer.

You will learn:

• How to choose the best affiliate products or programs for your niche
• How to create engaging and persuasive TikTok videos that drive traffic and conversions
• How to use TikTok’s features and tools to boost your affiliate marketing performance
• How to avoid common mistakes and pitfalls that can ruin your TikTok affiliate marketing efforts

What Is TikTok Affiliate Marketing?

TikTok affiliate marketing involves the creation of videos on TikTok with the primary objective of generating income through affiliate links placed in the videos or on external blogs and social platforms.

While this may seem quite similar to affiliate marketing on other social networks, what sets TikTok apart is its relative newness.

The app was introduced in 2016, in contrast to Facebook’s nearly 17-year history, Twitter’s 14 years, and even Snapchat’s almost decade-long presence.

For younger generations, these older platforms are often seen as outdated, hence the term “boomer platforms.”

As a result, Generation Z tends to gravitate towards TikTok precisely because they know that adults are not as active on this platform.

Choose the Best Affiliate Products or Programs for Your Niche

The first step to becoming a successful TikTok affiliate marketer is to choose the right products or programs to promote.

You want to make sure that the products or programs are relevant to your niche, audience, and content.

You also want to make sure that they offer high-quality products or services, generous commissions, and reliable tracking and payment systems.

There are two main ways to find affiliate products or programs for your niche:

• Join an affiliate network or platform. An affiliate network or platform is a marketplace that connects affiliates with merchants or advertisers. Some of the most popular affiliate networks or platforms are Amazon Associates, ShareASale, ClickBank, CJ Affiliate, and [Rakuten Advertising].
• Join a direct affiliate program. A direct affiliate program is a program that is run by the merchant or advertiser themselves, without involving a third-party network or platform. Some of the most popular direct affiliate programs are [TikTok Shop], [Shopify], [Bluehost], [Wix], and [Skillshare].

When choosing an affiliate product or program, you should also consider the following factors:

• The commission rate. This is the percentage of the sale price that you will earn as an affiliate. The commission rate can vary depending on the product type, category, niche, and program. Generally, digital products tend to have higher commission rates than physical products, as they have lower production and delivery costs.
• The cookie duration. This is the period of time that the merchant or advertiser will track the visitors that you refer to their website through your affiliate link. If the visitor makes a purchase within the cookie duration, you will earn a commission.
• The product quality and reputation. This is the level of satisfaction and trust that the consumers have with the product or service that you are promoting.

Create Engaging and Persuasive TikTok Videos That Drive Traffic and Conversions

The second step to becoming a successful TikTok affiliate marketer is to create engaging and persuasive TikTok videos that drive traffic and conversions.

You want to make sure that your videos are entertaining, informative, authentic, and relevant to your niche, audience, and product.

There are two main types of TikTok videos that you can create for affiliate marketing:

• Review videos. Review videos are videos where you share your honest opinion and experience with the product or service that you are promoting. You can show the product features, benefits, pros, cons, and results. You can also compare the product with other similar products or alternatives. Review videos are great for building trust and credibility with your audience, as well as showcasing the value and quality of the product.
• Tutorial videos. Tutorial videos are videos where you teach your audience how to use the product or service that you are promoting. You can show the product steps, tips, tricks, hacks, and best practices. You can also demonstrate the product outcomes, transformations, and solutions. Tutorial videos are great for educating and inspiring your audience, as well as highlighting the usefulness and functionality of the product.

Tips When creating TikTok videos for affiliate marketing

• Use a catchy title and thumbnail. Your title and thumbnail are the first things that your viewers will see when they scroll through their TikTok feed. They should capture their attention and curiosity, and make them want to watch your video.
• Use a strong call to action. Your call to action is the last thing that your viewers will hear or see when they watch your video. It should motivate them to take the next step, which is to click on your affiliate link and visit the merchant’s website.
• Use hashtags and keywords. Hashtags and keywords are the words or phrases that describe your video content and help TikTok’s algorithm to rank and recommend your video to relevant users. You can use hashtags and keywords that are related to your niche, audience, product, or trend.
• Use TikTok’s features and tools. TikTok offers a variety of features and tools that you can use to enhance your video content and performance. Some of the most popular features and tools are:
  • Effects: Effects are filters, stickers, animations, or effects that you can apply to your video to make it more fun and creative.
  • Sounds: Sounds are music tracks, sound effects, or voice-overs that you can add to your video to make it more lively and engaging.
  • Duet: Duet is a feature that allows you to create a split-screen video with another user’s video. You can use duet to collaborate with other influencers, respond to other users’ questions or comments, or join a viral challenge or trend.
  • Stitch: Stitch is a feature that allows you to clip and integrate another user’s video into your own video. You can use Stitch to share a testimonial, review, or feedback from another user who has used the product or service that you are promoting.
  • Live: Live is a feature that allows you to broadcast live videos to your followers and interact with them in real time.

Use TikTok Paid Advertising to Boost Your Affiliate Marketing Performance

The third step to becoming a successful TikTok affiliate marketer is to use TikTok paid advertising to boost your affiliate marketing performance.

TikTok paid advertising is the process of creating and running ads on TikTok’s platform to reach a larger and more targeted audience of potential buyers.

TikTok offers four main types of ads for advertisers:

• In-feed ads: In-feed ads are ads that appear in between organic videos on users’ TikTok feed. They look like regular TikTok videos, except they have a “Sponsored” label on the top left corner.
• TopView ads: TopView ads are ads that appear when users open their TikTok app for the first time in a day.
• Brand takeover ads: Brand takeover ads are ads that appear before any other content when users open their TikTok app.
• Branded hashtag challenge ads: Branded hashtag challenge ads are ads that invite users to participate in a sponsored hashtag challenge created by an advertiser.

When using TikTok paid advertising for affiliate marketing, you should also consider the following tips:

• Follow TikTok’s advertising policies and guidelines. TikTok has strict rules and regulations for advertisers to ensure a safe and positive environment for its users.
• Use a landing page or a bridge page. A landing page or a bridge page is a web page that you direct your viewers to after they click on your ad. You can use a landing page or a bridge page to:
  • Pre-sell the product or service that you are promoting. You can use a landing page or a bridge page to explain the benefits, features, and results of the product or service that you are promoting.
  • Capture the viewer’s email address. You can use a landing page or a bridge page to offer a free gift, a discount code, a trial offer, or a newsletter subscription in exchange for the viewer’s email address.
  • Warm up the viewer for the merchant’s website. You can use a landing page or a bridge page to prepare the viewer for what they will see on the merchant’s website.
• Test and optimize your ads. Testing and optimizing your ads is the process of experimenting with different elements of your ads to find out what works best for your audience and goals. You can test and optimize various aspects of your ads such as:
  • The ad format. You can test different types of ads such as in-feed ads, topView ads, brand takeover ads, or branded hashtag challenge ads to see which one generates more impressions, clicks, conversions, or revenue.
  • The ad creative. You can test different elements of your ad creative such as the title, thumbnail, video length, video quality, video content, sound, effect, call to action, hashtag, or keyword to see which one attracts more attention, interest, desire, or action.
  • The ad targeting. You can test different parameters of your ad targeting such as the location, age group, gender, interest, behavior, device type, operating system, network type, or custom audience to see which one reaches more relevant users who are likely to buy.

You can use TikTok’s analytics and reporting tools to measure and compare the performance of your ads based on various metrics such as impressions and views.

Avoid Common Mistakes and Pitfalls That Can Ruin Your TikTok Affiliate Marketing Efforts

The fourth and final step to becoming a successful TikTok affiliate marketer is to avoid common mistakes and pitfalls that can ruin your TikTok affiliate marketing efforts.

You want to make sure that you are following the best practices and avoiding the worst practices of TikTok affiliate marketing.

Here are some of the most common mistakes and pitfalls that you should avoid:

• • Spamming your affiliate links. Spamming your affiliate links is the practice of posting your affiliate links everywhere without providing any value or context to your audience.
  • Violating the disclosure rules. Violating the disclosure rules is the practice of hiding or failing to disclose your affiliate relationship with the merchant or advertiser.
  • Ignoring your audience’s feedback. Ignoring your audience’s feedback is the practice of not listening to or responding to your audience’s questions, comments, suggestions, or complaints.
  • Promoting low-quality or scammy products. Promoting low-quality or scammy products is the practice of endorsing products or services that are poor in quality, performance, or reliability, or that are fraudulent, deceptive, or unethical.