TikTok Shop: Learn to Start Making Money with TikTok

Are you experiencing the growing phenomenon of TikTok Shop? Looking for more information to get started? Well, you have come to the right place.

You must be seeing every other person going viral on TikTok Shop and making hella money. But it's not exactly what it seems. Indeed, TikTok Shop can be a viable addition to your revenue stream, but you need to know intimately about this platform and how you can actually start earning from it.

We gathered a team of eCom experts and this blog is a compilation of their success in TikTok Shop experience, market research, and building a consistent revenue system. So we will be sharing with you a step-by-step breakdown on how you can start making money on TikTok Shop

Is TikTok Shop Legit?

TikTok is indeed legit and safe for both sellers and buyers. TikTok Shop is not a scam but rather a global search engine for products. It is an in-built eCommerce solution for content creators, sellers, and affiliates.

This acts as a powerhouse product recommender and over a billion users around the world use it to find products which creates enormous opportunities for TikTok business account users, to sell directly on the platform via Live Shopping, shoppable videos, and more.

Now what are these TikTok business accounts, who uses them and how? Let’s dive into that.

Who can Earn Money through TikTok Shop?

TikTok is a goldmine of revenue opportunities for a large net of users. But in order to start selling, you first need to see if you are eligible or have access to the TikTok Shop.

TikTok Shop is currently available for sellers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, UK, USA, and Vietnam.

As long as you live in any of these countries, you can set up TikTok Shop account.

Those accounts can be categorized into these 3 types of accounts and you can choose what works best for you.

TikTok Shop Sellers

To create a TikTok Seller account, you must verify your identity by providing:

• TikTok Account
• Phone number
• Email
• Certificate of Incorporation
• Passport, or Driver’s License
• Last 4 digits of Tax ID

Once you have successfully verified all these requirements, you can apply to be a TikTok Shop Seller.

Important Note

Merchants who wish to use TikTok Seller Center as their AIO (all-in-one) eCommerce platform, must verify their:

• Business Location
• Phone Number
• Email
• Street Address (for either warehouse or pickup location)

TikTok Shop Creator

If you are a content creator, you can earn heavily through commissions by becoming a TikTok Shop Affiliate.

With this you can link to products in your videos, Showcase page, or when you go Live. You will earn a handsome commission on every sale you generate. 

In order to start earning money as a Creator, you need to:

• Have a prominent account with good reputation
• Be at least 18 years or older
• Have over 5000 followers
• Follow TikTok’s Community Guidelines

How to Become a TikTok Shop Affiliate Without 5000 Followers?

There are some ways by which you can bypass the followers condition. Use these steps to become a TikTok Shop Affiliate without 5000 followers and start monetizing your TikTok account right away.

Change your Region to USA

First, you need to change your current region to United States. To do this, you need to buy a virtual SIM card or a physical SIM card from USA. By using this, you identify as a “new citizen” in TikTok’s radar and can successfully access all the affiliate features of TikTok Shop.

Connect TikTok Shop Account to Business Account

Once you successfully change your region, connect the TikTok Shop account to your Business account. This step is absolutely necessary as it establishes your TikTok Shop account as an affiliate of your business.With this, you can easily tag products in your videos and earn commissions on every sale.

Pro Tip
For more information on the affiliate setup and programs, go to TikTok Shop Academy for their free courses on various topics including Affiliate marketing.

TikTok Shop Partner

You can choose to be TikTok Shop Parnter (TSP) which is a third-party expert who provides services in all aspects of a brand’s TikTok Shop. You can provide your services as a developer, talent agency, services partner, or as an account manager TikTok Shop.

TSP is responsible for building your business, scaling your revenue opportunities, and engage with Creators and Sellers. This includes live streaming, short video content creation, API integration, and fulfillment.

TikTok Shop Ads

TikTok Shop Ads are a game-changer for businesses and sellers to maximize their reach and increase their ROI exponentially better. 

There are 3 kinds of Ads that you can use on TikTok Shop to make sales. We have described all three of them here so you can decide which one resonates best with your audience, or even better, use all three.

TikTok Shoppable Videos

Use Video Shopping Ads to drive both traffic and sales. These videos containing product links can appear as in-feed Ads (similar to when you scroll reels). These videos are between 9-15 seconds and can contain multiple call to actions. 

These video Ads have to be short, hard-hitting, and motivating enough to make a purchase.

TikTok Live Shopping

This is a highly engaging immersive content format that allows brands to showcase their products in real-time via live streaming. Users can pin multiple products throughout the stream. Then they can simply tap to view and checkout without leaving the app (or being redirected to another page).

TikTok Product Showcase

The Product showcase tab is an ideal choice for brands to present a larger collection of products. Moreover, acting as a brand catalog for advertising multiple relevant products.

Benefits of Using TikTok Shop Ads

Here are some top benefits as to why TikTok Shop Ads are flipping the advertising game:

• Available Virality
• Ecommerce Integrations (like Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, etc.)
• Less friction for fan-to-customer transition 
• Product discovery, Product Details, checkout, and post-payment activity is all performed within TikTok app
• Users can purchase a product the moment they see it in their feed, and buy again without having to leave the app

Proven Strategies for Optimizing Revenue on TikTok Shop 

Here is what we were able to dig up after weeks of research and from the stories of successful creators and TikTok experts. These are some of the most viral ways of maximizing your revenue on TikTok Shop:

If there is one thing you need beforehand, is to have good information about your target audience. Once you precisely narrow down the interested shoppers, all these strategies become easy to implement.

TikTok Shop Product Catalog Optimization

The shopping tab in your account is your TikTok storefront, the face of your TikTok Shop presence. This needs to be optimized for customers to find and be impressed by it.

Avoid a noisy and messy product catalog, if it is, then the user/customer might not want to come back again.
You will need to focus on quality and style for your product images. The more appealing and easier you make it for the users — the more sales you generate.

Important Note

• The product title should be under 34 characters, otherwise it will get cut off. So describe only basic information about the product.
• Use the space in description to add more details.

TikTok Creativity Program

This program is ideal for users to make money — who have built up a large active following over a period.

This program replaced TikTok Creator Fund since May of 2023.

US-based creators with at least 10,000 followers and a 100,000 authentic video views within the past 30 days are eligible to join this program.

Who is Eligible:

• Users who are 18 years or older
• Users who meet the followers and video views requirements
• User accounts with good standing
• Creators who are already a part of TikTok Creator Fund can upgrade to the Creativity Program

Sell Merch on TikTok 

Selling your own products on TikTok is a fantastic way of monetizing nearly any type of content. Whether you are a designer, comedian, or a boxer, you can always create and sell your TikTok merch to most loyal fans.

There are a lot of print-on-demand companies that you can contact for designing your t-shirts, hoodies, coffee mugs, stickers, phone cases, and more.

The most interesting thing about selling merch is that it creates a valuable bond with your fans and acts as an extended advertising. Every followers who wears your merch, spreads word about your TikTok brand.

Virtual Gifts on TikTok

If there is one thing that can skyrocket your sales quickly, that is Live Gifting. It is found that going Live on TikTok generates more buyers and sales revenue than any live feature on social media apps.

Users engage in real-time and loyal fans feel like contributing to your content success, brand, and revenue. So its a great way to engage them personally, respond to them, and receive gifts which can be redeemed for money.

Content creators who have switched from other live social media apps to TikTok Live have reported an enormous spike in sales!

Affiliate Partnerships on TikTok

Being an affiliate has massive perks, but if you are an affiliate on TikTok, oh boy, you gotta brace yourself for a crazy income stream.

Join a successful creator or content/reviews tiktok affiliate program for higher chances of success and hefty commissions.

Due to TikTok’s available viral content, and native shopping features, Affiliate marketing becomes an ideal choice for a fast, easy, and consistent passive income.

TikTok In-feed Ads 

Create in-feed Ads because TikTok makes sure that your content reaches target audience in the “For You” section. These ads play like any other video and can garner potential customers easily, hence maximizing organic marketing.

The same goes for Paid Ads, rest assured, you will see that your Ad spend is being put to work, increasing your ROI.

Crowdfunding on TikTok

Another great way to use your fan following and make money is crowdfunding projects. With your active fanbase, you can start a live fund-raising events. 

The funding goal can be for startups, charity, rewards, or debt-based. You can raise a considerable amount of money though this accessible avenue.

TikTok Tipping feature

Make use of TikTok’s native tipping feature to collect friendly donations from your fans. You spend a lot of time and effort to create content for followers, so it is inevitable that your followers will likely show gratitude for your useful or enjoyable content.

With a convenient button, followers can donate any amount of money by just tapping on that button.

Earn from Subscriptions via TikTok

For a more secure and regular passive income, you can tell your invested followers to support you via subscriptions. Amongst multiple subscription-based models, the one which has extended advantages than others, is Patreon.

With this, you can provide exclusive content to your biggest supporters and maintain a lasting bond.

Best Practices for Offering Patreon Subscriptions:

• Entice your fans with rewards
• Acknowledge and Thank supporters directly
• Promote your Patreon Page
• Low Subscription costs 
• Announce and create new content consistently

Partner with Creators and Influencers

Influencer marketing is highly rewarding in terms of advertising, brand awareness, and revenue. TikTok has created several self-made internet celebrities whom you can approach for mutually beneficial partnership.

72% of TikTok users find ordinary content creators more interesting to watch than celebrities.

Moreover, it creates more authenticity for your brand and products.

  Linking your Website in TikTok Bio

A great way to garner tons of views and sales is adding a link to TikTok Bio. TikTok content harbors enormous amount of views in a short amount of time. Meanwhile having visitors on your website is a a lot less exciting because there is no such viral activity going on.

You can use the viral buzzfeed and active following of TikTok, to your avantage. 

Here are some benefits of linking your website in TikTok bio:

• Drive viral traffic with high-purchase intent
• Convert followers into customers
• Build your fan-following across multiple platforms
• Enhance credibility of your brand
• Access on multiple devices (laptops, computers, tablets, etc)

But there are some conditions for being able to link your website in TikTok Bio, those include:

• A business account
• More than 1000 followers
• Should Add link with a Mobile device (option not available on desktop)

  TikTok Rewards

Lastly, you can also earn some amount of money through TikTok rewards. These are virtual points that can be earned by attracting people to join TikTok or by completing activities,such as watching, creating, or interacting with videos.

They can be redeemed for cash, coupons, or mobile top-ups (as rate set per country).

Track Performance with TikTok Creator Search Insights

Use the in-built feature called TikTok Creator Search Insights to create viral content that actually resonates with your target audience.

Type “Creator Search Insights” in a search bar and tap “View”. You will find topics that are being searched often.

You can inspiration for your content, tailor creative strategies, and keep up with trends before they die out (via flash sales or seasonal discounts).

With a neat presentation of the topics, one can navigate through suggestive and trending content ideas. 

Here are some things to draw out of this dashboard:

• Undeserved topics and making content to address them on TikTok
• Engage with trending conversations

Identifying and using potent keywords for captions and adding hashtags to TikTokvideos and profiles to boost SEO