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

To make money on TikTok without brand deals means earning from your videos without waiting for a company to sponsor you or for the platform to accept you into its rewards program. The most direct route is affiliate: you recommend a product you use, your audience buys it with your link or discount code, and you earn a commission on every confirmed sale.

You do not need a huge account or a contract. You need a product worth recommending, an honest video and a way for viewers to reach the store, which on TikTok is exactly the part that takes method. This guide is for creators who already get views and want to turn them into income. If affiliate is new to you, the guide to affiliate marketing for influencers explains the whole model; here we focus on what makes TikTok different.

Why are TikTok's own programs not enough?

TikTok has its own ways of paying creators: rewards programs based on views, gifts during lives and a built-in shop. None of them is open to everyone. They change by country, require a minimum of followers and views, and their terms are updated without notice. Many creators with real audiences live in countries where the program does not exist, or sit below the minimum with no idea when they will reach it.

Sponsorships have the same flaw seen from the other side: they depend on a brand finding you, writing to you and paying you, which usually takes longer than motivation lasts. There is no reason to rule out any of these sources, but no reason to wait for them either. Affiliate links and codes are the option that depends on nobody but you and your audience.

How do you make money on TikTok with links and codes?

The mechanism is simple. An affiliate platform gives you access to brand campaigns; you pick one, get your own short link and discount code and use them in your videos. Every purchase made with your link or code is recorded under your name. The brand confirms it once the return window has passed, and only then does the commission count as yours.

What makes this work at any size is that the brand pays for results, not reach: an account with a focused, loyal community can earn commissions from its first videos. What makes it fail is the usual reason: promoting things you would never use. Your audience notices before the video ends.

Where do you put the link if TikTok has no links in videos?

This is TikTok's quirk. Captions have no clickable links, and the link in bio may be restricted depending on account type and region. You work with three tools: the discount code said out loud and shown on screen, the bio link 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, show it on screen for several seconds rather than only at the end, and say it out loud, because many people watch TikTok without reading. Once the bio link is available, point it to your short link or to a page with your recommendations. And keep the pinned comment up to date: it is the first thing curious viewers open.

How do you film 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. The hook comes in the first seconds and talks about the problem the product solves, not the product. Then comes honest use: show it the way you really use it, limits included, in your home and in your light. An ad shows the perfect product; a recommendation shows it in your life.

Near the end, show the code on screen, say it out loud and close with a concrete call to action, such as “the code is pinned in the comments”. One product per video: two already fight for attention. And film variations. The same product with several different hooks teaches you more about your audience than any tutorial.

On TikTok nobody buys because you sold to them; they buy because you told them something useful and did not lie.

Which offers should you pick if your audience lives in several countries?

TikTok audiences are very international: one video can gather viewers from several countries in the same week. A code that only works in one country leaves many of them out and, worse, makes them feel misled when the store rejects it. Check the country breakdown in your analytics before choosing any campaign.

Then choose offers that are available where your viewers live. If your audience is spread out, favour digital products or stores that ship across the whole region, and say in the video which countries the code works in. You lose fewer clicks and get fewer complaints in the comments.

Disclosure, reuse and what to measure in each video

Every video with an affiliate link or code has to say so: “ad” or “#ad” in the caption, plus the branded content option TikTok lets you switch on when posting. This is not a detail. Consumer authorities in many countries penalise leaving it out, and audiences 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. Reusing gives you three audiences from a single recording. In YouTube Shorts monetization we explain what changes on each platform.

Finally, measure per video, not per month. With your own link or a different code per video you know which hook, product and format produced confirmed sales, not just views. And be patient: commissions are confirmed weeks later, and your first videos usually teach you more than they pay.

How ADQ Links, ADEQ's affiliate product, handles it

ADQ Links is ADEQ's affiliate product. As a creator, you tell it which countries your audience is in and you only see campaigns available there, from local and global brands. Each campaign gives you a short link that tracks your sales, a QR code and, when the brand offers them, discount codes to mention in your videos.

You also get a creative kit with images, captions and scripts ready for TikTok, Instagram or YouTube. Confirmed commissions are paid by ADEQ together with the rest of your earnings, and you keep the larger share of each one. To get started as a creator, sign up at console.adeqmedia.com/join.

Frequently asked questions about how to make money on TikTok

Do I need a minimum number of followers to use affiliate links on TikTok?

Not for affiliate itself: any account can share a discount code. What may depend on account size and region is the clickable link in bio, which is why the on-screen code and the pinned comment matter so much.

Can I combine affiliate links with TikTok's rewards program?

Yes, they are independent: the program pays for views and affiliate pays for confirmed sales. Check the program's rules and switch on the commercial content label whenever a video includes an affiliate link or code.