A Beginner's Guide to TikTok Affiliate Marketing

TikTok affiliate marketing allows approved creators to tag products listed in the TikTok Shop in their videos and earn a commission off of every sale that they drive.

• In our opinion, this is the easiest way to make money on social media in 2025.

• Because the full transaction occurs in the TikTok app, it makes the process seamless for everyone, creators and consumers.

• There’s no cap on the amount of affiliate videos you can make, and no cap on the amount of commission you can earn.

• It’s completely realistic to make $10,000-$20,000 a month as a solo creator just through TikTok affiliate sales.

How to Sign Up: To become a TikTok Shop Affiliate Creator, you must apply here and be approved by TikTok.

Requirements: TikTok Affiliate is only available for creators in specific regions who meet the following two criteria:

• 5,000+ followers

• 18+ years old

• Approved regions: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam

Note: If you’re posting consistently but have less than 5,000 followers, you can apply to the TikTok Shop Beta Program — TikTok is currently piloting a program for select creators with a 1,000 follower minimum.

Getting Started: Once approved to become a TikTok Affiliate, you want to pick a product niche and stick to it.

• Pick three key brands in your niche of choice and only make videos about them.

• TikTok is great at finding your audience for you as long as you are specific with the type of content you're creating.

• Post 2-3 videos per day until you figure out what works.

Picking the Right Niche and Product: Commissions typically range between 10%-40%. Some popular product categories include:

• Supplements — High commissions

• Clothing — Lower commissions but easier conversion

• Skincare/Makeup — Mid tier commissions, decent sales volume

Trending Products: Hop on products that are trending on TikTok/within TikTok Shop.

• If it’s going viral, you know that there’s consumer interest/demand for that product.

• If a product is getting lots of sales through TikTok Shop, the algorithm will push out videos talking about that product more.

Let’s Talk Numbers: While it depends on multiple factors (product, commissions, etc.), a good rule of thumb for TikTok affiliate marketing is for every million views a single video gets, you will earn around $10,000.

• When starting out on TikTok affiliate marketing, be patient.

• All it takes is for 1% of your videos to hit for you to make $10,000/month.

• But that means that 99% of your videos will not work.

• It’s going to take you time and experimentation to find the right products and video styles that work.

Affiliate Video Styles: To get you started, here are four popular types of affiliate videos:

1. Talking Head / Product Explainer: Talk directly to the camera and explain the benefits of the product.

2. Product Showcase: Showcase the product without talking. Use a viral sound, and have a text hook to get people’s attention/convince them to buy.

3. Story Time: Tell an engaging story to your audience and find a way to weave in the product.

4. Conspiracy: Use a visual hook talking about a conspiracy theory to get people’s attention and then cut to a demonstration of the product. This is intended to be satirical/comedic (while still showcasing the product).

Dig Deeper: We interviewed a creator making +$10K/month with TikTok Affiliates sales. Listen to the interview below:

• Apple

• Spotify

• YouTube

Later This Week: We’re sending a letter to all Hobby+ members about how AI influencers are going to start taking creators’ jobs (and what to do about it). See you Thursday!