TikTok Lowers Threshold for Creators to Join Affiliate Program

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TikTok has reportedly lowered the threshold to join its affiliate program from 5,000 followers to 1,000.

This change was not officially announced by TikTok, but it was noticed by users of the social media platform, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (May 23).

The lower threshold will allow more creators to make money in the affiliate program, which enables creators to collect commissions on the sales they generate when they post videos promoting products that are available in the TikTok Shop, according to the report.

This report comes at a time when TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance is facing a U.S. law that requires it to sell its stake in TikTok or risk the platform being shut down.

The law was signed by President Joe Biden on April 24 but faces legal challenges and other delays. Biden signed the bill after its passage by the House and Senate, where supporters argued that the threat of a ban is necessary for national security concerns.

TikTok and ByteDance filed a lawsuit May 7 asking the court to review the constitutionality of the law, saying that this “qualified divestiture” is not possible — commercially, technologically or legally — and certainly not within that time frame.

With a potential TikTok ban looming in the future, brands that have built their following on the social media platform have to figure out how to survive the shift, as they could see a sudden loss of access to their audience.

It was reported April 30 that TikTok Shop had more than 500,000 merchants selling to American users at the end of 2023 — double the number it had a year earlier.

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that TikTok is the fourth most commonly used platform for shopping via social media, after Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Among U.S. consumers, 43% browse social media to find goods and services, and 14% ultimately purchase those goods and services via social media, according to “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Monetizing Social Media,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and AWS collaboration.

The report found that social media platforms are seizing the opportunity to integrate purchasing into their platforms and becoming robust eCommerce ecosystems.