For months, I’ve been pondering whether or not I should start promoting products on TikTok as a TikTok Affiliate. On one hand, I already have a catalog of original content that I create on TikTok. On the other hand, promoting products on the platform could turn into a side hustle, helping me bring in some extra income.
The only question that remains is this: If I start doing affiliate marketing on TikTok, will it betray my followers and viewers? Imagine being in their shoes. You go on TikTok to watch your favorite creators doing their thing, but instead of seeing creative content, you start seeing them promote skincare and household products. That would be disappointing, to say the least.
I asked my family and friends about it, and they all said the same thing: In this day and age, everyone could use some extra money, and it makes perfect sense to seize such an opportunity. Not everyone is eligible to become a TikTok Affiliate, though. You need at least 1,000 followers to unlock the TikTok Shop features for affiliates. I was lucky enough to have one video go viral last year, which grew my account from 300 to 15,000 followers. It would feel like a waste if I didn’t take advantage of it.
So, I finally made the leap a couple of months ago. Since then, I’ve uploaded 14 affiliate videos promoting various products. I’ve made 7 sales and earned RM21 in commissions so far. I have to admit, these videos are fun to make. They take time and energy, but they’re fulfilling at the same time.
Once we become eligible to be affiliates, we unlock some cool features, including the 'Request Free Sample' button. As a beginner-level affiliate, however, we're limited to just five sample requests at a time. And just to be clear, not all sample requests get approved. Sellers reject these requests regularly. Approvals depend on factors like sales count, follower count, viewership, engagement, content quality, and other variables. The more sales you can generate, the more credible your account becomes.
TikTok sellers have access to the analytics and statistics of all affiliates. They can see extra data like affiliate rankings and sales count. Based on this data, they decide who gets free samples. Moreover, receiving free samples doesn’t guarantee sales. Some affiliates ghost sellers after receiving the free samples without making any promotional content. Sellers have a limited budget for samples, so if they’re not careful, it can quickly become a loss for them.
For now, my sample requests are sometimes approved, and the products I receive tend to be small and inexpensive. As a new affiliate, it makes sense that I’m only able to promote and review lower-cost items since they’re less risky for the sellers. I’ve started to envy the seasoned affiliates reviewing electric scooters, phones, cameras, and even electric cars! I guess I won’t be reaching that level anytime soon—but that’s okay.
What I’ve come to understand is that getting rich as a TikTok affiliate isn’t the goal. Even if you do this full-time, you’re still going to struggle to make ends meet. Sure, you’ll hear stories of full-time affiliates making big bucks, but it’s different for everyone. You should never compare yourself to others. The goal is to focus on improving your promotional skills and elevating the quality of your videos.
A YouTuber friend of mine, who’s been doing affiliate marketing for a few years now, shared his experience. He said starting out was tough. Back then, when no seller would grant him free samples, he bought the products himself, out of his own pocket. He built his video catalog this way until sellers started seeing that he was making actual sales. That’s when they began offering him free samples, and he didn’t need to buy as often anymore.
He also shared an important piece of advice that totally blew my mind. TikTok affiliates form a tight-knit community. They have WhatsApp groups where they support each other, and they actually swap items for making promotional and review videos. Each affiliate manages to get different samples from different sellers, and by sharing what they have, they all benefit. I had no idea this was a thing. How awesome is that?
He also gave me a bonus tip that every affiliate knows. It’s about the almighty TikTok algorithm and how to win it over. To get your videos ranked higher, so you get more views and sales, you need to upload at least three videos per day, consistently. Now, I don’t necessarily agree with this, as three videos per day seems a bit too much for my taste. It might work for the algorithm, but I think it could come off as spammy. Plus, I don’t always have enough samples to promote. Maybe it’s the right move for some creators, and I respect that, but I’m going to go with my gut on this one and take a slower approach.
For now, I only make product videos when I have something to promote. I don’t buy products just for the sake of making a review video. I either promote free samples if I get them or review items I already own. It’s been a fun journey so far, and I plan to keep going, even if I don’t receive free samples as often. It’s a great use of the camera gear I own, and I have no regrets.
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