Affiliation on TikTok: how does it work?
TikTok is the latest social network. First appearing in 2016, it has grown by leaps and bounds to reach 1 billion monthly users today (source: Sprout Social). Here, content creators can publish short videos in which they share their daily lives, passions or moods, most often with humor. Although the network shares many similarities with Instagram, its audience is younger.
How to make money with TikTok?
TikTok has carved out a lion's share of the public's attention. A video can quickly go viral, generating thousands of views. With the audience usually comes the opportunity to earn money from your content. Unlike other social networks, TikTok offers creators the chance to earn money for the videos they publish. To qualify for this option, three main conditions must be met:
- Be of age
- A community of 10,000 subscribers
- Get at least 100,000 views on your videos
By meeting these conditions, creators can join the TikTok Creator Fund. According to La Dépêche, the platform pays creators between 2 and 4 cents per CPM. This means that a video viewed a million times earns between €20 and €40. At that rate, you'd have to produce a lot of content to generate the equivalent of a salary. Fortunately, affiliate marketing is possible on TikTok.
💡 CPM is an acronym that stands for "cost per thousand". It is an advertising remuneration model that is calculated per thousand displays of an ad. If you'd like to find out more about the different affiliate remuneration models, read our article on the subject.
How do I set up an affiliation program on TikTok?
Affiliation involves referring your subscribers to a partner website via an affiliate link. You earn money if they buy something there. No technical knowledge is required, as it works very simply, with affiliate links displayed in the comments of your posts or on your profile. When a visitor clicks on the affiliate link, tracking technology identifies it as coming from your account, and if they make a purchase, you earn a commission. To find out more about how affiliation works, we invite you to read our article on how to get started in affiliation.
💡 TikTok, like Instagram, lets you post links, but they'll only be clickable on your Bio in your profile.
How much can you earn with affiliation on TikTok?
As always in affiliate marketing, the figures are jealously guarded by the biggest influencers. So it's difficult to determine, for example, how much of the $17 million Charli d'Amelio earned in 2022 came from affiliation. Nevertheless, her partnerships are clearly announced in her posts, notably with Amazon, suggesting that affiliation makes up a substantial part of her income.
The biggest TikTok influencers, earnings and followers 2022(source) :
- Charlie d'Amelio: €17.5M / 148M Followers
- Dixie d'Amelio: €10M / 57M Followers
- Addison Rae: €8.5M / 88M Followers
- Bella Poarch: €5M / 92M Followers
- Josh Richards: €5M / 26M Followers
- Kris Collins: €4.75M / 47M Followers
- Avani Gregg: €4.75M / 42M Followers
- Riyaz Aly: €2M / 45M Followers
How can I succeed as an affiliate on TikTok?
If a simple affiliate link is all you need for affiliate marketing, here are a few guidelines to increase your chances of success:
- Once you've started in affiliation, many advertisers will want to become your partner. There's a wide range of affiliate products on offer (see our article on"What themes can be covered in affiliate marketing"). However, it's important to keep a cool head and be honest with your audience. Selling counterfeit or poor-quality products may pay off in the short term, but it will lead you down a blind alley. So make sure you always sort out the advertisers on affiliate platforms.
- Affiliate marketing on TikTok requires a certain pedagogical approach. The affiliate links you insert are not clickable. If you want your subscribers to follow your links, you have to make them visible. While certain reflexes may seem obvious to you, they may not be to everyone. Don't hesitate to clearly indicate where your links are located: below your videos or in your bio on your profile. The use of URL shorteners is highly recommended to facilitate copy and paste.
- TikTok is a social network with a very active community. Take advantage of your subscribers' feedback to improve your videos. Whether it's the format of your videos, the products you choose or the way you present them, your subscribers will help you improve your content.
- Frequency of publication is important, especially in the early days when you're trying to build a community. Try out different video formats, preferably not too long, to enable you to produce volume. By diversifying the formats and products you present, you'll be able to analyze your audience's feedback, fine-tune the way you do things, and decide which product categories to test and present.
Advantages and disadvantages of affiliation on TikTok
Benefits
👍 A very wide audience
👍 No technical knowledge required
Disadvantages
👎 A young audience with fewer resources and less diversified interests
👎 Very strong competition
👎 In the sights of local authorities
Key points to remember
TikTok, Instagram's enemy brother, shares many similarities with the latter in terms of formats, possibilities for publishing affiliate links, and tools available to content creators. This network has experienced incredible growth and enjoys huge popularity among teenagers. The affiliate opportunities for influencers are therefore colossal. It's up to you to find your niche, build a subscriber base and generate sales with your partners.
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