When running affiliate collaborations on TikTok Shop, sellers can set up either an Open Plan or a Targeted Collaboration, and creators will review product details, commission rates, and sample information through these plans.
An Open Plan is visible to all creators, whereas a Targeted Collaboration is only shown to the creators you invite, allowing for more flexible — and typically higher — commission settings.According to TikTok Shop’s research, many mid-tier and top creators use seller invitations (Targeted Collaborations) as a primary entry point for collaboration, and a large number check these invitations on a daily basis. However, in practice, there are also many cases where creators “see the invitation but don’t respond because the offer doesn’t match their content,” leading to a mismatch between sellers and creators.
➡️ This is why it’s crucial for sellers to send highly accurate Targeted Collaborations based on each creator’s past performance and interests. This guide provides a systematic overview of the best practices for discovering, selecting, managing, and inviting the right creators.

Narrow Down Your Target Creators with Precision

How to Use Filters Effectively

If you want to find creators who are a good match for your products, go to “Find Creators” in the TikTok Shop Affiliate Center. Here, you can use filters to search for creators, save them, and categorize them by category or tags.
We recommend checking the “Risng stars” first. These creators have strong growth potential and are high-quality collaboration candidates. Of course, you can also narrow down your target creators precisely using multiple criteria, such as product category, average commission rate, content type, and whether they are represented by an agency.

• Save to 【Manage creators】 List

• Add Creator Tags

In the 【Manage creators】 page, you can use the bulk tagging function.By assigning custom tags (e.g., “high cost-performance,” “beauty category,” “strong in video content”) to saved creators, you can quickly filter them when sending Targeted Collaborations later. This greatly improves operational efficiency.

How to Utilize Creator Lists Obtained from External Channels

If you have a list of potential creators gathered through external channels — such as agencies or TikTok Feed ads—you can bulk import creator information into TikTok Shop using the following steps:

• Affiliate Center → Manage Creators → Bulk upload → Download template

• Importing Lists

• You can import up to 100 creators at a time.
• Upload the created file and the specified list will be reflected in the system.

• Assign Creator Tags

• After importing, assign custom tags to make future management easier.
• Tagging creators allows you to quickly filter them when sending targeted collaborations, significantly improving operational efficiency.

Do a Target Collaboration (with up to 50 creators at a time)

Recommended Setting: Auto-approve Requests

• We recommend enabling the Auto-approve requests feature to increase the number of posts from carefully selected creators.

Checking the Progress of Creator Approval Status

• Select Target Collaboration from the navigation menu on the right to check the status of the Invitations you have sent. Here, you can view a list of your approved creators or creators who have run promotions, and check the progress for each.

• In addition, click on a specific target collaboration to view details such as the number of creators already invited and the status of their posts. If you send an invite to a creator but receive no reply, or if the creator has read your invitation but has not yet responded, use the templates shown at the end of this article. They should significantly improve your response rates.

How to Check Creator Videos

This procedure explains how to handle situations where creators are unsure of how to showcase products.
In some cases, some creators may not know how best to present a product. Providing one or two high-quality videos—such as unboxing videos or footage of the products being used—helps creators intuitively grasp a product's key features, significantly boosting response rates and their interest in collaborations.

• Going to the "Find Creators" Page

1. Click "Find Creators" in the menu on the left.
2. Enter keywords such as the creator's name, product name, or hash tags into the search bar.
3. A list of the creators who match your criteria will be displayed. You can review metrics such as follower counts, video views, sales figures, and more.

• Review the creators' videos to get an understanding of their performance and style

1. Click the creator's icon or the number of video views to open a detailed information page.
2. Select the Example Videos tab to check the product showcase videos and product review videos the creator has posted

Weekly Must-Do Task

Be sure to check the Sample Requests every week, and prioritize bulk-approving requests from Rising stars. These creators have high growth potential, and their videos tend to achieve excellent view counts, which can quickly draw attention to your products and boost sales. By delivering products early, creators can post faster, significantly increasing the success rate of high-commission Targeted Collaborations. This is an essential routine for sellers to achieve maximum results with minimal effort.

Instant Message Templates to Boost Creator Response

To improve Creator response rates and strengthen collaboration communication, you can use the system-provided instant message templates after sending invitations.
These templates help you efficiently follow up with Creators who have not yet accepted your invitation. At the same time, they provide a clear message structure, allowing you to present your brand information and product selling points in a more complete and persuasive way.

• Going to the "Target collaboration" Page

1. Locate the invitation you previously sent and click the arrow next to "Edit"
2. Select "Share"
3. Click "Share to IM"
   
4. On the left panel, select the creators you want to send the message to.
5. In the top-right corner, turn on the "Send message using template" toggle.
6. Preview the message content on the right side of the page.
7. Click "Share" to send the message.