What Makes TikTok Shop Affiliate Videos Sell: A Brief You Can Hand to Affiliates

Most weak affiliate videos are not the affiliate's fault. They got a parcel, a product link and no idea what you wanted.

TikTok publishes its own guidance on what good shoppable content looks like. It is written for affiliates, but it is more useful to sellers, because it is very nearly a brief already. Here is what it says and how we turn it into something an affiliate can film this afternoon.

TikTok's five tips#

On the fourth one, TikTok adds a caution that matters. When affiliates share their own experience, they should say it is their own and that results may differ from person to person. That lowers the risk of a false or misleading claim.

What TikTok tells affiliates to avoid#

• Inappropriate language. Excessive profanity or derogatory terms.
• Static content. Still images and screenshots in place of video.
• Lack of interaction. Formats that don't engage the viewer at all.
• Weak product focus and call to action. The product barely appears and the viewer isn't told what to do.

Turning the rules into a brief#

Rules like "be real" are hard to film. Angles are easy. For a short campaign, these four work for almost any product:

1. First impressions. Unboxing and the first use, on camera.
2. Texture, scent or feel. What it is like up close.
3. How it fits a routine. Where it goes in their morning or evening.
4. What it is for. Who should buy it and why.

Add your two or three key messages, the product link, the deadline, and a line on what not to say. That is a brief.

We also ask that each required video be clearly different from the last. Two near-identical uploads from the same affiliate help nobody, and a brand is within its rights to reject the second.

A lesson on claims#

One of our early drafts of campaign angles for a hair product suggested testimonials. We took that out. An affiliate who has used a product for four days cannot honestly say it regrew their hair, and asking them to is asking them to make something up.

Our rule now: never brief a claim the affiliate hasn't experienced, and never name an ingredient that isn't in the product. First impressions and routine videos are less dramatic. They are also true, and they don't get taken down.

Health products need extra care. We had a campaign where a supplement's registration renewal was still pending after samples had gone out. The brand moved the campaign and its prize pool to a different product. It was a scramble we would rather you avoid, so check your registrations before you ship a single sample.

Where the brief lives#

A brief sent by chat gets lost under forty other messages.

On ShopSlayer, the brief is part of the campaign page. Affiliates read it before they join, they can open your sample videos from the same screen, and it is still there when the parcel arrives. When their video comes in, you can approve it, reject it with a reason, or send feedback.