How to Source TikTok Creators for Successful Influencer Partnerships

Ah, TikTok. It’s the fastest-growing social media platform—but also the most contentious. Far from being a hideaway for Gen Z consumers and creators, the appeal of TikTok is spreading to just about every audience demographic you can think of.

So, if you’re questioning whether your brand should be investing in influencer partnerships on TikTok—the answer is yes.

Unlike the more established (and predictable) platforms of Instagram and YouTube, TikTok presents an exciting frontier for influencer marketing. It’s algorithm-driven content discovery and potential for viral moments make it a tempting prospect for smaller brands—but a super complex creator ecosystem to navigate.

So, let’s dive into what successful TikTok creator sourcing looks like as an influencer marketer:

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The case for sourcing TikTok partnerships

TikTok is a tricky platform for influencer marketers, especially those who are less experienced at running influencer partnerships.

Why? We still don’t have a perfect equation for what success looks like. There’s a polarizing divide between brands that are successfully and unsuccessfully testing with TikTok creators—and what works for one brand doesn’t necessarily work for another.

The democratized nature of TikTok means that literally anybody can go viral for just about anything—but their next (very similar) video can bomb. So much content is served up so quickly that traditional metrics like follower counts or views are super misleading.

At the same time, TikTok has several quirks that you can REALLY turn in your brand’s favor, as Amber explains:

“TikTok can be used for so many different things. Obviously we've got the educational piece, we've got community building, we've got pretty much every vertical that you can think of.”

Amber Kai, Head of Creator and Brand Partnerships at Sequincial

Communities dominate on the platform, as do extremely niche interests and products that wouldn’t have a place on YouTube or Instagram (rule of thumb: the more unique/strange on TikTok, the more traction it gets!) So, if you play your cards right when sourcing TikTok creators, you can give your influencer marketing program a massive edge.

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Identify your demographic

First, you need to find your target demographic on TikTok—or if it isn’t super apparent, get creative with how to reach them.

Going with a community-first approach is the best way to kickstart your sourcing efforts. So, how do niche communities impact TikTok influencer sourcing?

TikTok is a social platform full of communities and interests, so lean into this as much as possible when sourcing. The more niche a community is, the higher the engagement on that content will typically be. If the area of interest that your product connects to is naturally smaller, think about where you can leverage interconnected verticals or industries that have a natural overlap with what you’re selling:

”I'm really looking for a lot of TikTok-first creators, which in the gardening space is one of the smaller communities there. But wellness and cooking, that's really big on there. So, I'm expanding into that vertical for our programs where people are going to be interested in food. And where does food come from? The garden!”

Molly Cole, Influencer Marketing Strategist + Partnerships at Epic Gardening

One thing to keep in mind is that TikTok does tend to be a younger audience when compared to Instagram or YouTube, so ensure that your products are at a price point that’s feasible to younger views. If you have high acquisition goals, you may have to discount accordingly.

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Run through your high-level sourcing checklist

It’s worth noting that TikTok sourcing is pretty time-consuming, since you will have to consume a LOT of video content to assess whether a creators offers a good partnership opportunity. It’s a good idea to team up with your social media and community managers to divide and conquer.

For example, you can collaborate with your social team by sharing a list of TikTok creators you want to reach out to. Social/community coordinators can interact and comment on their content through your brand account to build recognition, so it feels less like cold outreach when you officially reach out.

Once you know where to find the right type of creator, you can start checking for TikTok profiles that meet those initial requirements.

Is their content worthy of reposting?

“It's something that you would pay for as a brand and you would probably repost on your own feed. So that would be the number one thing.”

Cristina Vintimilla, Senior Influencer Marketing Manager at Oura Ring.

This is THE most important criteria when looking for TikTok creators; is the quality/type of content they’re posting something that you as a brand would be proud to share? This underscores the importance of the creator’s alignment with your brand aesthetics and values.

Is posting consistent?

Consistent posting not only pleases the TikTok algorithm, but fosters a highly engaged audience, which is invaluable for successful influencer marketing campaigns.

Consistency is tricky, because performance on TikTok can be very erratic. TikTok creators that are committed to growing a community need to be posting 2 - 3 times per day to support their continued channel growth.

Is the content authentic?

Look for creators who are already genuinely interested in your brand’s specific category—be it beauty, fitness, or another area. This ensures that a partnership feels natural and that a creator is well-versed the style of content that’s going to perform well with your audience.

For example, if you’re a skincare line, you’ll want to scroll through a few videos to see if aa creator is posting repeat products—or if they’re switching up their routine every video (this usually means no conversions).

Don’t forget to check the comment section to see whether the audience is actually engaged. Is that video content about a beverage, but all the comments are asking about their kid’s outfit? This speaks volumes about their ability to actually influence purchases.

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Think SEO and search-first

Don’t forget: TikTok IS a search engine—albeit a quirkier one than YouTube or Google.

Searching for non-branded keywords that are relevant to your brand or product helps to identify potential creators and trends to target in your content. But where you source creators with pretty general terms on YouTube, TikTok requires a lot more specificity to zero in on niche communities.

If you’re beauty brand, consider searching focusing a certain product on a particular hair type, for example. If you’re a food or beverage brand, you could look for specific cuisines or recipes where your products could naturally feature:

“I will literally just go on TikTok and start searching for grilled pizza recipes or anything that relates to that recipe and see who are the top contenders within those videos that pop up, because obviously I would want them.”

Kendall Dickieson, Head of Social and Influencer at Graza

If it turns out that a TikTok creator is already using your products, tagged or untagged, then that’s the ultimate win!

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How can you leverage TikTok Shop to find influencers?

TikTok Shop has emerged another avenue for brands to connect with creators who already engaging with products in their category. The creators you’ll find on TikTok Shop are active in specific niches and have already made content for other brands, so you’ll get a very good sense of the style and performance of their past content.

However, it’s worth noting that TTS isn’t a guaranteed shortcut when sourcing. There’s a ton of brands currently experimenting with shoppable content and trying to gain a foothold on this channel. Mass creator outreach using bots is widespread, so there’s a LOT of noise for your brand to cut through to reach creators with right audiences and approach to content.

So, how do you approach TikTok creators for partnerships? It all starts with standing out from the other brands who are trying to get their attention. As Micah explains, targeted and thoughtful outreach is everything in the platform—and especially for TikTok Shop:

“Your copy and your outreach is very, very important. They are going to be getting all kinds of fluffy marketing messages that feels like it was written by a marketing manager. It needs to feel like it was written by their friend. We call it the “bar test”; If it doesn't sound like you would be talking to a friend at a bar over a beer, then it's not going to resonate with them.”

Micah Whitehead, CEO and Co-Founder at ZeroTo1.

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Don’t ignore creator relationships outside of TikTok

TikTok and TikTok Shop is still a fairly niche platform so far as influencer marketing goes, so sourcing net-new creators who are native to the platform can be a challenge. This is where bringing existing partnerships on other platforms into play can provide a really great workaround.

"If I already have that relationship outside of TikTok, but I know that they can also create content that will be differentiated in TikTok and not get buried, to me it's worth going to them and taking my time to figure out how to scale and spending my money in a really smart way."

Liv Soibelman, Head of Ecommerce at Blueprint

Remember: Success on TikTok comes down to authentic connections and community building. Working with select, trusted creators to help set them up on TikTok and grow an audience is a long-term play that can really pay off when your program is in its early stages.

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Don’t forget about inbound!

As we’ve already said multiple times in discussions about sourcing, it’s much easier to grow your program by leveraging inbound requests from creators who are already interested.

“People will reach out to us because they want to work with us…And I love it when people do that because they're taking the initiative, they really want to work with you, then they are likely going to be a great partner.”

Molly Cole, Influencer Marketing Strategist + Partnerships at Epic Gardening.

Proactive engagement from influencers shows a high level of interest and enthusiasm for your product, which can make them more valuable partners—even if they have smaller audiences. In fact, smaller influencers on TikTok who genuinely love and champion a brand can often perform better than larger influencers who are more transactional in partnerships.

If you’re used to the more predictable nature of Instagram and YouTube creator sourcing, discovering creators on TikTok can feel like left field exercise. There’s so much content on the platform that finding the right creators can feel overwhelming, especially for certain niches.

But as such an interest and community-first platform, it’s easy for even super niche product categories and verticals to gain a foothold on TikTok—and creators will very likely follow!

Once you’ve found your creators, it’s time to take a closer look at whether they can offer a viable TikTok partnership. So, onto vetting!

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What are the key considerations for sourcing TikTok influencers?

Focus on creators who are already creating content related to your brand or product niche, as they will have the most experience in how best to present your product. TikTok Shop offers a great way to search for experienced creators based on specific products or trends. It’s important not to overlook the value of working with creators who are passionate about your product who have smaller communities, as they are more likely to put your product front and center in their content and have a follower base who trust their recommendations.

What should you look for in a TikTok creator's content?

Influencer content on TikTok needs to be high-quality and compatible with your brand’s aesthetic for a partnership to make sense. Look at a creator's consistency in view count and growth patterns to gauge whether they are a creator who is on ascendence, rather than a one-hit wonder with a viral video. Also look at how they talk about the bands they partner with; does it seem transactional, or do they genuinely care about the product? It will very apparent to their audience when a brand they’re talking about is one they know and trust.

What are the best practices for engaging TikTok creators?

Focus on crafting concise, personalized outreach that feels authentic and relatable to creators. This will help your brand to stand out from the others that are DMing them with generic program invites. It’s also important of have a robust follow-up process when working with TikTok creators, with dedicated messaging and sequences tailored to each stage of the affiliate's experience.

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