An Introduction To TikTok

TikTok has taken the world by storm. If you haven’t heard of TikTok, it’s a hot new social media platform for creating and sharing short videos.

The average user spends 52 minutes per day on the app. That’s a lot of engagement from people who are using or watching TikTok to pass the time or find something fun or interesting to watch.

The App encourages users to create and upload short videos up-to 15 seconds long & 60 seconds stories type videos. You can additionally make long-formed content up 10 mins long if you desire, however those are the predetermined video clip length times that you can choose from inside the TikTok app.

Why Use TikTok?

The first issue is the widespread misconception that TikTok is a social networking app “just for youngsters.”While this is mostly correct, it does not provide the entire picture.So far, the TikTok app has been downloaded 2 billion times.TikTok has around 800 million active users from 155 countries and 75 languages.In the United States, there are currently an estimated 80 million active TikTok app users.So this isn’t a fluke.Approximately 40% of the TikTok audience is between the ages of 16 and 24.That means the average affiliate marketer has a target audience of around 300 million people to deal with.They all spend at least 50 minutes every day online watching videos on the app.When they aren’t submitting their own 15 – 60 second videos for friends and other people.Just keep in mind that your affiliate offers and niches must appeal to this younger population.As in, you’re unlikely to have much success promoting retirement plans or home loans.Or, for that matter, B2B products and services.TikTok app users spend their disposable cash on fashion, leisure, gadgets, and consumer products.So those are the affiliate products you should concentrate on.Let’s look at how TikTok can be used for affiliate marketing now.

Snapchat is nearly a decade old.And that signifies only one thing to kids: they’re boomer platforms.Gen Zers will avoid any social network utilized by a parent or older sibling like the plague.They’re on the go because they know adults don’t utilize TikTok.

What is TikTok Affiliate Marketing?

TikTok affiliate marketing is the practice of uploading videos on TikTok with the intention of monetizing your audience through affiliate links in your films or on an external blog or social site.So this seems a lot like affiliate marketing on any other social network, right?But TikTok stands out from the pack since it is so fresh — the platform was only released in 2016.Facebook has been around for about 17 years, Instagram about 10 years and Twitter has been online for 14 years.

How To Make Money With Affiliate Marketing On TikTok? 

So, let’s have a look at how TikTok traffic can be used in affiliate marketing efforts.

Increase Your Audience Through Organic Reach

As of right present, TikTok doesn’t appear to limit the amount of traffic a content creator receives through free organic traffic.You can count on getting tens of millions of views for nothing from them.Here’s what happened to me after I released one of my recent videos on TikTok:

Nearly 190,000 views for a 45 sec tutorial video.

CRAZY!

TikTok organic traffic can be used in four different ways:

• Your profile can contain a link to an external website.
• Send visitors to a different social media account.
• You should include promo codes or URLs in your videos.
• Include a link to your affiliate website in the post description.

Look at how you can use these opportunities to your advantage.

Link To External URL’s

On TikTok, the issue of whether or not you can add custom links to a video is constantly changing.Although it is unavailable at the moment, it is most likely because they have begun pushing their paid advertisements.However, there are a number of ways to bypass this issue.

#1 Upgrade your account to a business

You cannot add a clickable link to your profile in a TikTok ‘Personal’ account. You need to have 1000 followers to add a website.

However, ‘Business’ accounts are exempt from this restriction and can be upgraded at any time.

With that, you are able to drive traffic to the website or blog of your choice by using a TikTok profile link.

#2 Use A Bridge PageSay, on the other hand, that want traffic to be directed to a number of URLs or affiliate offers.Services like LinkTr.ee, Beacons.ai or liinks.co are the answer.

Here’s an example of my beacons.ai profile.

As nice as it would be to link directly to your content, this is a far more workable solution.You may come up with a list of your most profitable affiliate blog posts.Add them to your profile and you’re done.In terms of direct affiliate links, no, I haven’t tried it yet.but I’m guessing they’re discouraged.

Link to Your Social Media Accounts

TikTok makes this surprisingly simple.On the TikTok app, tap on the ‘edit profile’ button underneath your profile picture:

Click ‘Edit Profile.’For your Instagram and YouTube profiles, they are located at the bottom:

Is it common for people to follow many social media accounts belonging to the same person or brand?Absolutely.

Promo Codes

Companies know that putting the right product in front of the correct audience can produce significant returns on investment.It’s a goldmine for them in terms of marketing.As a result, TikTok affiliate marketers and social media influencers should expect to receive coupon/discount codes from them on a regular basis.You can just mention this coupon code in your content to activate it.Or, if you like, you can get a unique referral URL from the advertiser’s affiliate network.Take clickfunnels.com as an example.Instead of providing a coupon code, you direct your viewers to this URL:

https://brandtheboss.com/go/clickfunnelsYour affiliate program account will be rewarded for any purchases made by your followers at that URL.

Make use of TikTok’s Paid Advertising

There are instances when you need to target a specific group or two, and organic reach is perfect for that.Other forms of advertisement will be required, though.Despite the fact that TikTok has a paid advertising platform:

• Beta testing is ongoing.
• It isn’t available in all countries, unfortunately.

Some countries appear to not be available on “TikTok For Business”, so manage your expectations.

Growing Your TikTok Audience

You can only utilize TikTok for affiliate marketing if your videos receive a certain number of views.What can you do to grow a TikTok audience for your affiliate marketing business?

Maintain Consistency

TikTok is all about posting short-form videos (15 to 60 seconds long) on a regular basis. In some cases you can create up to 10 min videos.  As a result, content marketers/video creators must develop and keep to a video posting schedule.

Be Creative

New trends can be started, but it takes time and effort to do so. An alternative is to look at current trends and determine whether any of them apply to your industry. Once you’ve done that, use it.

Always Network

For those who want to make the most of social media platforms, here’s what we tell everyone: discover people in unrelated fields, build partnerships with them, and hunt for marketing possibilities to work on as a team.

Don’t be a slave to hashtags

Compared to other social media platforms like Pinterest or Instagram, TikTok doesn’t place nearly the same value on them. Limit the number of hashtags each video to 2–3. Overdoing it would be a waste of time.

Make the most of your traffic

It’s an achievement to have your TikTok videos viewed by tens of millions of people. As a bonus, you may use a lead magnet to “migrate” your followers to a monetized YouTube channel, or to your email list.Above all else, keep in mind who you’re trying to reach.Instead of targeting Facebook or Twitter users, you’re reaching out to people in the second and third generations of Millennials and Generation Z.

example of tikTok affiliate marketing accounts

Here are a few real-world examples of how TikTok affiliates have made money.

First we have HustleWithShan with 114k followers.

A range of offers, including Amazon, ClickBank and other affiliate marketing products, are some of the ways she makes money from the traffic she generates.Her TikTok traffic is diverted to her linktr.ee, however.

Next we have Antonio Diaz (leaderofthepacklv) with 1.1 million followers

He monetizes through his own products and some Amazon offers as well.

He also diverts his traffic to his linktr.ee.

An finally we have a fitness influencer by the name of SydneyDelreyy.

She monetizes through various apparel products and also includes Amazon on her list.

Pros & Cons Of TikTok Affiliate Marketing

Let’s see if TikTok affiliate marketing is a good or bad idea.

Pros

• TikTok is currently the fastest-growing social network.
• With just a few videos, you can generate a lot of interest.
• Creating videos is simple – using editing software isn’t needed.
• As a brand-building tool, it has the potential to be extremely effective.

Cons

• TikTok is tightening up on Make-Money-Online content.
• TikTok Ads is already seeing a push, which is starting to slow organic engagement.
• You cannot add direct affiliate links.

Should You Begin TikTok Affiliate Marketing?

So, can TikTok be used for affiliate marketing?

Kinda.

But it should be one of many channels you leverage for your affiliate marketing business.

Not the only one.

There’s no way to add affiliate links directly to your videos, leaving you to rely on a bridge/landing page.

Which makes affiliate marketing there more difficult than it should be. 

And affiliate marketing doesn’t need to be awkward or tough.

In fact, you can see how straightforward it is in this awesome training.

But back to TikTok.

They’re literally giving traffic away for free.

And you can redirect that traffic to any of a number of external platforms, like Instagram or your blog.

TikTok is more of a traffic source than anything else, one that I’d make use of right now while accepting that it won’t be around forever.  

It’s an interesting platform that’s currently enjoying its moment in the sun.

But the sun always sets on this stuff.