How to make money on TikTok without brand deals: affiliate links and codes

Why aren’t TikTok’s own programs enough?

TikTok has its own ways of paying creators: rewards programs based on views, gifts during live streams, an integrated shop. None of them is available to everyone. They vary by country, require a minimum number of followers and views, and the terms change without much notice. Plenty of creators with real audiences live where the program does not exist, or sit below the threshold with no idea when they will cross it.

Sponsorships have the same flaw from the other side: they depend on a brand finding you, emailing you and paying you, and that usually takes longer than motivation lasts. Don’t dismiss any of these sources, but don’t wait for them either. Affiliate links and discount codes are the option that depends on nobody but you and your audience.

How do affiliate links and codes make money on TikTok?

The mechanism is simple. An affiliate platform for creators gives you access to merchant campaigns; you pick one, get your own affiliate link and discount code and put them in your videos. Every purchase made with your link or code is attributed to you; the merchant confirms it once the return period has passed, and the commission accumulates until you reach the payout minimum, which on a platform like convli is paid out via Wise or PayPal.

What makes this work at any size is that there is no threshold: an account with a few thousand followers in a specific niche can earn commissions from its first video, because the brand pays for results, not reach. What makes it fail is the usual reason: promoting things you would never use yourself.

Where do you put the link if TikTok doesn’t allow links in videos?

This is the TikTok-specific part. Captions do not carry clickable links, and the link in bio may be restricted depending on the account type and region, sometimes until you cross a certain follower count. So you work with three tools: the discount code said out loud and shown on screen, the link in bio as the final destination, and a pinned comment where you repeat the code and explain how to use it.

The code is your real link. Keep it short and easy to type; keep it on screen for several seconds, not just at the end; and say it out loud, because a lot of people watch TikTok without reading. When the link in bio is available, point it at your short affiliate link or at a page with your recommendations. And keep the pinned comment current: it is the first thing curious viewers open.

How do you make a video that sells without looking like an ad?

An affiliate video that works on TikTok is, first of all, a video that works on TikTok. Hook in the first two seconds: the problem the product solves, not the product. Then honest use: show it the way you really use it, limits included, in your home and with your lighting. An ad shows the perfect product; a recommendation shows the product in your life.

Near the end, the code on screen and in your voice, plus a concrete call to action: “the code is pinned in the comments”. One product per video; two already compete for attention. And film variations: the same product with three different hooks teaches you more about your audience than any tutorial.

Nobody on TikTok buys because you sold to them; they buy because you told them something useful and didn’t lie.

Which offers should you pick when your viewers live in several countries?

TikTok audiences are very international: a video in English can gather viewers from the US, the UK, Canada and Australia in the same week. A code that is only valid in one country leaves most of them out and, worse, makes them feel cheated when the store rejects it. Check the country breakdown in your analytics before choosing any campaign.

Then pick offers that are valid where your viewers live. A platform like convli filters campaigns by the countries of your audience, so you never promote something they cannot buy. If your audience is spread out, favor digital products or stores with regional shipping, and say in the video which countries the code works in: fewer wasted taps and fewer angry comments.

Disclosure, repurposing and what to measure per video

Every video with an affiliate link or code has to say so: “#ad” or “paid partnership” in the caption, plus the branded content toggle TikTok offers when you post. It is not a formality: the US FTC publishes a disclosure guide for social media influencers, and consumer authorities in many countries fine creators who skip it. Viewers do not mind disclosure; they mind finding out it was missing.

The same vertical video works on YouTube Shorts and Reels, with one difference: on Shorts you can put the link in the description and in the pinned comment. Repurposing gives you three audiences for one recording; our post on how to monetize YouTube Shorts explains what changes on each platform.

Finally, measure per video, not per month. With a different code or a dedicated link per video you know which hook, which product and which format produced confirmed sales, not just views. Click and conversion stats per post tell you that; TikTok’s view counter does not. And be patient: commissions are confirmed weeks later, and the first videos usually teach you more than they pay.