How to Find and Vet High Potential Creators
Start with TikTok Shop's built-in affiliate marketplace, where creators are already looking for products to promote.
This is your lowest-hanging fruit and it's FREE to use.
Go to Tik Tok Affiliate Center
Filter by Category Pro and Select Your Category
Sort by GMV (High to Low)
How to Find Winners
Check Their GMV
Only approve creators with GMV > $1k or more. More is better, but the really big ones will want flat fees or big brands to work with.
Ignore Follower Count
A creator with 5K followers and consistent sales beats a 100K follower creator with no selling experience.
Review Their Content
Watch their recent videos. Is the content sales-focused and authentic? Do they naturally weave products into storytelling? Does their style align with your brand voice?
Check Sample Score
You want creators with a high (80+ Sample Score) who actually create videos when you send them samples and know how to sell.
Click "Invite" once you've found the right creator for you.
Choose "Create New Invitation" and Commission-Only
You can do flat fees, more on that in another guide, but here is a quick explanation:
The big difference between commission and flat rate is that with flat rate you're paying them for the video(s). You also get creative content control and approval before they can post it.
Name your invitation and fill out your contact details.
Outreach That Gets Replies
The Framework Your outreach message needs to be short, benefit-focused, and clear about next steps. Top creators get 1,000s of pitches daily. Make your value proposition obvious. The Script FREE $[PRODUCT PRICE] [PRODUCT] + $[DOLLAR VALUE OF COMMISSION] Commission for YOU {{creators username}}. [BRIEF PRODUCT DESCRIPTION] 🫵 We want you to to be one of our brand ambassadors [BRAND]. Request a FREE sample and get our top-selling product that will make your affiliate commissions pop! Why This Works: It opens with a clear offer, explains the product and identifies the brand, and ends with a call to action. The whole script is concise and answers all of the creator's questions.
Choose your product and set the commission rate. Click "Shop Ads" commission to set a separate rate for commissions once you put ad dollars behind it. You can leave that unchecked for now.
When manually selecting creators like this, choose Free Samples & "Auto approve requests". You want to make it dead simple for your chosen creators to get your product and start promoting.
Choose your creators. You'll already have one selected from the previous screen. If you choose multiple creators you'll see them here. Click "Send"!
You will see Collab Invite Sent.
Be sure to click "Message Creators" as you'll want to also send them a DM that invites them personally.
Repeat for 200 creators or do all at once in 4 collab invite (4 collab invites by 50 creators).
This is a manual process, but an important one that shows you how to find and vet top-performing creators.
Want to do all this in 10% of the time?
DO IT FASTER and BETTER with CRUVA
- Sign up for CRUVA here where you can do outreach rapidly through agents.
- Click "Get Started"
- Book a demo to get the free trial.
- The demo accelerates your progress by a day at least.
- Once you're in, go to Outreach and Automations and click "New Automation"
- Name your campaign, choose "Outreach, choose "Target Collaboration + DM" & click Next.
- Click Filter to filter down to the creators we want to target.
- The sky is the limit here and you can try different creator segments.
- A great start are these filters:
- PPS > 4.0
- Engagement Rate > 2.5%
- 30-Day GMV > $1k
- Post Rate > 80%
- Click Next once you get the right subset of creators.
- Write a message title and description. Use the message content below that gets replies!
- The #1 rule is to make it all about them and what they get when they work with you.
- "Hi [affiliate_name], new creators who generate GMV with our samples get an invite to our Discord group where you can win 💸 cash💸 prizes each week! We are looking for long-term creator 🤝 partners🤝 to support and win together. Come work with us and watch your commissions grow!"
- Choose your product and add your commission.
- Start at 15% and save the higher ranges for top tier creators.
- Shop Ads Commission goes into effect when you drive ads to the creators creative. You can use this if you want to run a lower commission when you're driving traffic to their videos. You can ignore for now.
- Select "Offer free samples", but do NOT select "Automatically approve sample requests".
- Since you're bulk sending invites you don't want to get hammered with 2k orders unexpectedly.
- Choose "Shoppable Video" for now. We'll work on LIVE in another guide.
- Put in your contact email and auto-resolve and click "Next"!
- Add additional messages if you want to get in front of your creators multiple times. I recommend it because creators get a ton of DMs each day and even if they were interested they may forget in a sea of messages. I used the templates below to show you waht they look like, but put relevant messaging to your product in the follow ups. Click "Finish" and you're live!
- Track your progress on the Outreach Automations tab. Don't forget to approve the samples!
How to Build a Creator Community that Keeps Selling
Setup Discord for your community.
Go here and download the app:
Create a New Server
- Click the “+” button on the left sidebar.
- Select “Create My Own.”
- Name your server (e.g., “[Brand] Creator Army”).
- Upload your brand logo as the server icon.
Create the Following Channels
- #announcements
You will use this channel to keep creators up to date with the contests you're running. For example:
- #community-chat-english
For creators to share wins and ask questions and self-service.
- #product-faq:
Everything creators need to know about your product.
- #discount-codes
Where you share discount codes with creators to increase their conversions.
- #creator-tips
You will share top-performing videos each week for other creators to review and learn from.
- #start-here
Everyone starts here where you briefly describe what they get from being a part of your community.
You can use text or whip up a quick banner in Canva and pin it here.
Channel Setup
#announcements
- Make it read-only.
- You'll use this to announce promos, blitzes, and other relevant info for creators.
#community-chat-english
- Write a brief welcome message "Welcome to the [Brand] Creator Army! Introduce yourself and drop your latest TikTok video." and pin it.
#product-faq
- Copy/paste it from your website. If you don't have one, do this:
- Go to https://chatgpt.com/ and prompt "Can you evaluate the products on this website and create an FAQ about the products? https://goli.com/" Briefly review the output for accuracy and copy/paste it to this channel. Pin it.
- Make it read-only.
#discount-codes
- Make it read-only.
- You'll use this channel to drop discount codes for creators.
#creator-tips
- Make it read-only.
- You'll use this channel to share top 10 videos each week.
Final Steps
Now invite your team and assign “Admin” role to them. Add your logo to the server if you haven't already.
Time to fill your Discord community with creators!
Invite & Onboard Creators
Build Your Invite List
Only invite creators you’ve vetted and approved (those who fit your brand and have sales potential). Don’t post your Discord link publicly. Keep it exclusive.
Here are your criteria and how to invite them.
Go to Tik Tok Seller Center and click "Manage Creators" or follow this link: https://affiliate-us.tiktok.com/connection/creator-management.
Sort by GMV. Anyone who has generated sales, the more the better.
Click "Batch Message" and select all your GMV > $0 creators.
If you're already established or you've got a larger $10M+ brand you can be more selective, but this particular brand is around $3M and new to TT so we want traction.
Now click "Batch Message".
This is where we are going to offer them to join our exclusive Discord channel where they can post more and win loads of $$$ prizes.
Before you do this, if you want to really vet them you can check their videos to ensure they are on-brand. Depends on how selective you want to be with the type of people you work with.
Send a Personal Invite
DM each creator the following message. Customize to your brand, but follow this template:
Hey {{Creator_Name}},
You crushed it with your [Brand] video, and we want YOU in our exclusive [Brand] Creator Army on Discord.
You will get:
💰 Weekly cash prizes for top videos and GMV
🎁 Free product drops and secret swag
🏆 Contests, leaderboards, and a shot at “Creator of the Month” with a big cash prize
🚀 Early access to new launches and collabs
🤫 Insider tips, viral hooks, and a crew of creators who are all here to win
We’re building the most unstoppable creator squad on TikTok Shop and you’re on our VIP list.
Ready to win big prizes and grow your Tik Tok affiliate business? 👉 [Discord Invite Link]
See you inside!
[Your Name] [Brand] Creator Army General
P.S. Contest this week is $100 cash to the video with the most views. Don’t miss it!
Welcome New Members
Greet each new creator in #community-chat! This is so important to make them feel welcome and start the engagement. Encourage them to introduce themselves and share their Tik Tok handle. Immediately DM them the contests going on that week/month (more on this below).
Keep the Momentum
Encourage new-to-Discord creators to post their first video link for feedback. Once they do always comment on it with useful feedback. Ask other people their thoughts too.
You can do this manually for now, but eventually you'll want to put your social media person, a trusted creator, OR a Discord bot on the job of building and managing this server.
You need to repeat this process WEEKLY in the first few months to get your Discord full and active.
Then you can reduce it down to monthly.
If you over-invite, you can always create a threshold to remain in the group, such as $1k GMV/month and cycle under performers out and new creators into the group each month.
Incentives & Contests that Drive Video Volume & GMV
Creators are motivated by recognition, monetary rewards, and competition. The right incentives turn your Discord group into a content machine that will build massive video volume and help you hit your $100k GMV.
What Contests You Should Run
First, set a budget. You can start with as little as $500/month. Just like with ads, you'll get more results with a bigger budget.
Second, break your budget down into a weekly budget. People want to win and get paid quickly.
Let's say you have a $2k/month budget, here's what you can do:
- $250 on 4 weekly contests = $1,000/month
- $500 on 2 monthly contests = $1,000/month
Weekly Contests You Can Run ($250 each)
- Most Videos Posted:
The creator who posts the most TikTok videos about your product this week wins $250.
- Top Seller:
Highest GMV from affiliate links in 7 days wins $250.
- Best Performing Video:
Most GMV on a single video this week wins $250.
- Best LIVE Streamer:
Stream over 20 hours of LIVE and win $250.
Announce winners every Monday in Discord and hype up the next contest!
Monthly Contests to Run ($500 each)
- Top Seller of the Month:
Highest total GMV for the month wins $500 (plus a special “Creator of the Month” shoutout or free product).
- Biggest Single-Day GMV:
The creator with the highest single-day GMV in the month wins $500.
- GMV Growth Award:
The creator with the biggest month-over-month GMV increase (compared to their last month) wins $500.
- Viral Moment Award:
Single video with the highest views or engagement all month wins $500.
Stack monthly contests with exclusive perks, like early access to new products or a shoutout in the chats.
Don't just run these blindly. You need to think and test these contests to see what motivates your creators.
Mix and match these contests to keep things fresh, competitive, and fun. The more chances to win, the more content you’ll get!
How to Announce Your Contests
Decide on your contests and prizes.
Write a quick text in English and Spanish (for both community chats) announcing it.
If you want to get fancy, draft up a quick one in Canva. Here's a killer example:
Post your Contests each week in the Announcements channel and "@" everyone so they get a ping.
Also post it a few times per week in the #community-chat as a reminder.
How to Track Results and Reward
Track Results
Go to Tik Tok Shop's Seller Center → Analytics → Performance or use this link: https://affiliate-us.tiktok.com/insights/transaction-analysis.
You can filter by 7 days (week), 28 days (month), or custom
Each week check and export the data into a Google Sheet.
Announce your winners in Discord.
Reward
Pay cash prizes the same day for winners.
AND immediately follow up with the incentives for the following week/month.
You can also use a Google Sheet to build and push a Leaderboard to the Discord (use Zapier or Make to connect this)
Post the top 5 creators in your Discord #announcements channel to keep the competition up.
BONUS TIPS:
Put your top creators in a VIP chat and give them higher commission rates!
Use Discord roles (like “Champion” or “Top Seller”) for ongoing recognition. You can also include "most improved" or "rising stars" to give everyone a chance to get a role. Gamification works.
How to Get Your First $100K on TikTok by Building a Creator Army