TikTok influencer marketing for brands: run your first campaign

By the RecruitAffiliates.ai team · Published 9 November 2026 · Checked on 9 November 2026 · 9 min read

Facts about other tools come from their own sites, with the date we checked. Our editorial policy · About us.

A first TikTok creator campaign is a small, planned test. A creator here means what the trade calls an influencer. You pick one deal, brief about ten creators, check the posts go out labelled, track sales per creator, and keep what works. That is seven steps.

You don't need TikTok Shop or a big budget. The steps run in order. For finding names, read how to find TikTok creators. For TikTok's own tools, see TikTok Shop affiliates.

Step 1: Pick one deal for the whole test

Choose one deal and use it for everyone. Mixed deals make results hard to read.

Deal	What you give	Pick it when (our advice)
Gifted product	Free product, no promise of a post	You want to see who likes the product
Paid video	A flat fee for one video	You need a video by a set date
Commission	A cut of each sale through their code or link	You want cost to follow sales

The deals follow the three ways Shopify's guide lists to pay an influencer: fee, free product and commission (Shopify, 25 September 2026). The right-hand column is our advice.

For a first test, we suggest gifted product plus commission. You risk only the product, and a creator who sells earns more. Our guide to product seeding on Shopify covers what to send. To set the rate, read what commission a Shopify program should pay.

Step 2: Find about ten creators

Aim for a short list you can write to by hand. Look for creators whose videos already show products like yours. Small accounts are fine for a first test.

To search by hand, type your product type into TikTok search and open the Videos tab. Note the accounts that post about products like yours, and check their recent videos. The guide linked above has the full steps.

TikTok has a paid route too. TikTok One is TikTok's tool for brands to hire creators. Its help page says projects pay base pay, revenue share or both (TikTok for Business, last updated April 2026). The Creator Marketplace guide shows how that works.

To reach a creator, use a TikTok email finder or a message. Keep the note short and personal.

Step 3: Write the brief

A brief is one page that tells the creator what you want. Keep it short. Leave room for the creator to make the video their own.

It should hold:

What the product is and the one point to get across.
What you give: product, fee, commission, or a mix.
What you need: how many videos, and by what date.
The disclosure rule (see step 4).
Which sounds are allowed (see below).
Whether you may reuse the video as an ad, and for how long.

Write the deal down. Our collaboration proposal guide gives wording. This is not legal advice.

Music. Brand accounts can't use every song. TikTok's help page tells businesses to use the Commercial Music Library for all commercial activity. It describes the library as pre-cleared and free for businesses. If a video uses another sound, TikTok advises checking the licence with your own legal team (TikTok for Business, Commercial Music Library, last updated July 2025). Tell creators to use only sounds cleared for brand use.

Step 4: Make sure each post is disclosed

A post that promotes your brand for pay or free product must say so. TikTok has a setting for this. TikTok's help page says creators must turn on the content disclosure setting when posting content that promotes a brand, product or service. It adds that content made through TikTok One gets the disclosure automatically, while content made outside it needs the creator to turn it on (TikTok for Business, last updated April 2026).

Two more points from the same page matter:

TikTok says labelling a post as a paid partnership "will not affect the way TikTok recommends content to users." It cites an internal study of nearly 2 million videos.
Undisclosed commercial content "may not be eligible for distribution in the For You feed," TikTok's main recommendation feed.

The page adds that if a creator gets a notice of possible undisclosed branded content, they can turn the disclosure on within 24 hours, before the video becomes ineligible for the For You feed.

In the US, the FTC treats free or discounted product as a relationship that needs disclosing, even if you didn't ask for a mention. It also says not to assume a platform's tool is enough, and to place the disclosure where it is hard to miss. In a video, that means in the video, not only in the caption (FTC, Disclosures 101, November 2019).

Put both asks in your brief: turn on the TikTok setting and say it clearly in the video. Our disclosure examples give wording. This page covers US guidance only, so check the rules where you sell.

Step 5: Give each creator a way to be counted

Without a code or link per creator, you can't tell who sold.

On Shopify, a discount code is the simplest. Shopify's help page says you can set the dates a code is valid, how many times it can be used and a minimum order amount (Shopify Help Center, discount codes). A code is easy to say in a video. If you also give a tracked link, the creator can use whichever fits the video.

Name codes after the creator, such as ANNA10. An affiliate tool is the app that records sales per person and works out what you owe. If you pay commission, you need one. How to measure influencer marketing ROI covers what to count.

Step 6: Reuse the best video as an ad

If a video sells, you can run it as an ad. TikTok calls this Spark Ads: ads that use an organic TikTok post. You run them in Ads Manager, TikTok's tool for buying ads.

The creator gives you permission with a video code. TikTok's help page says the creator finds it in the app: open the video, tap the three dots, tap the Ad settings icon, then Generate. The page also says two things to plan for (TikTok for Business, Spark Ads, last updated June 2026):

You can't edit a caption once the post is authorized as an ad.
A private video becomes public once it is used in a campaign.

So the caption you approve is the caption that runs.

For a creator you work with often, TikTok lets you link their account in Business Center, where you manage your TikTok and ad accounts. Admin access is needed on your side (TikTok for Business, last updated October 2026). Agree ad use in the brief first. Creators may ask for extra pay.

Step 7: Read the results

Give the test two to four weeks. Judge it on three things.

Sales per creator. Which codes or links were used.
Cost per sale. Product cost, fees and commission, divided by sales.
Which videos you would reuse. These are your best ad candidates.

Here is a made-up example. Say you send ten creators a product that costs you $8 to make and ship, with 10% commission. Three post and between them sell 12 orders at $40 each, which is $480. Your cost is $80 of product for all ten (the seven who never post still cost you $56) plus $48 of commission, or $128. That is about $10.67 per sale. Compare that with what a sale is worth to you. The numbers are invented to show the sum.

Keep the two or three creators who sold and offer them a longer deal. Drop the rest politely. That is our advice, not a rule.

Where RecruitAffiliates.ai fits

RecruitAffiliates.ai isn't a TikTok tool. It finds the people who already cover shops like yours, and sends the first email.

That includes TikTok and Instagram creators, and also bloggers, reviewers, newsletters, podcasts and YouTubers. Each one comes with the page that shows it. It looks for each person's email and checks it. You get a verified email where it can confirm one.

On 22 October 2026 we ran a first search for 30 public Shopify brands. It showed 2,924 people, and 49 of them were TikTok creators (method and counts). That is a small first search, not a census.

AI drafts a personal first email. You approve it, and it sends from your own inbox. You can add a free-item line and your affiliate sign-up link when you approve the draft.

Launch is $79 a month for one brand, with a 7-day free trial and no card.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need TikTok Shop to work with TikTok creators?

No. You can send product, pay a fee or offer commission through your own Shopify store. TikTok Shop is one route, but not the only one.

How many creators should a first campaign use?

About ten gives you enough to compare and few enough to write to by hand. That number is our advice, not a TikTok figure.

Does labelling a post as a paid partnership hurt reach?

TikTok says it will not affect how it recommends content, and cites an internal study of nearly 2 million videos. Undisclosed commercial content may not be eligible for the For You feed.

Can I run a creator's video as an ad?

Yes, with their permission. TikTok's Spark Ads use a video code the creator generates in the app. Agree it in your brief first.

Do I pay a creator more if I run their video as an ad?

TikTok's help pages don't set a price for it. Agree it with the creator before they post.