Building an AI affiliate army - Issue #106

| Agency | FREE Affiliate Database |

Welcome to Rankster 👊

The TikTok Shop newsletter that’s more reliable than the ice cream truck song...

We'll always show up when you need us most 🎵

In today’s issue:

• DEEP DIVE: AI Affiliates - The TikTok Shop Hack That Sounds Too Good to Be True

• Last Chance (Again): TikTok's Third Extension!

• $100B Secret: Why Manual Creator Outreach is Dead

🔽 Let’s get started

BEST LINKS

What Caught My Eye This Week

🚀 Seller News….. News you need to know

• Wait... Trump Just Hit Snooze on TikTok Again

• The best software for affiliate management

• Leadership Overhaul in the U.S.

• Your DMs During Live? That's Called Business Now

DEEP DIVE

AI Affiliates

The TikTok Shop Hack That Sounds Too Good to Be True

My wife calls me cheap every single day. (And honestly? She's not wrong.)

I want to scale every brand on TikTok Shop, but I want to do it while spending the absolute minimum. Call it frugal. Call it smart. Call it whatever you want – but I've been obsessing over this idea that sounds completely insane:

I know, I know. It sounds like one of those "make money while you sleep" scams your uncle shares on Facebook. But here's the thing – it's actually happening right now.

The AI influencer market hit $6.95 billion in 2024. Virtual influencers like Lu do Magalu have 6.9 million followers and are earning thousands monthly. Meanwhile, 71% of brands believe AI influencers deliver higher ROI than human ones.

So naturally, my cheap brain started thinking: "What if I could create an army of these things for TikTok Shop?"

Here's What I've Discovered So Far...

(Disclaimer: I haven't finished testing this completely, but the early results are... interesting.)

The strategy breaks down into 4 steps that sound deceptively simple:

Step 1: Create Your AI Avatar

This is the easy part. There are a ridiculous number of AI video generators right now – HeyGen, Veo2, and dozens of others. (Whatever I recommend today will probably be outdated by next week because AI moves faster than my kids when they hear the ice cream truck.)

The crazy part? You can literally have the AI avatar holding and showcasing your product in the video. Just upload some product images and boom – instant spokesperson.

Step 2: Build the AI TikTok Profile

This is where it gets messy. Each AI affiliate needs its own account, which means its own phone number and SIM card.

(Yeah, I know what you're thinking – "Paul, this sounds sketchy." Stay with me.)

There are methods to open dozens of profiles and verify them, but I haven't tested all the pros and cons yet. It's doable, just... complicated.

Step 3: Hit That 5,000 Follower Threshold

Here's where my cheap brain got excited. You need 5,000 followers to become an affiliate, and running follower campaigns typically costs $0.50-$1 per follower if you target US audiences.

But here's the hack: You only need the profile to be American, not the followers.

Target countries like India, Philippines, or South Africa and you can get followers for $0.05-$0.10 each. Do the math – that's $250-$500 to unlock affiliate status instead of $2,500-$5,000.

(Pro tip: Don't try this with your main TikTok Shop profile. You don't want to mess with the algorithm on your primary account.)

Step 4: Content Factory Mode

Here's where this gets really interesting. Most people think about AI affiliates as sales machines. But I see a better use case:

Testing hooks and video strategies at scale.

Imagine having 10 AI affiliates pumping out 10 videos each per day. That's 100 test videos daily – equivalent to the cost of a cup of coffee.

Find the winning strategies, then tell your human affiliates: "Make a video like this... the format is proven to convert."

The Reality Check

Look, this entire strategy could be built in a single day. The economics are compelling. But there are obviously some big questions:

• Will TikTok catch on and shut this down?

• Are there legal implications I haven't considered?

• How sustainable is this long-term?

I honestly don't know yet.

What I do know is that virtual influencers are making serious money right now, and TikTok Shop is still the Wild West. The brands that figure this out first are going to have a massive advantage.

So Here's the Deal...

If this sounds as crazy-interesting to you as it does to me, let me know. I'm working with a few platforms to make this a reality and would love to hear if you're thinking about testing this too.

Because if my wife is going to keep calling me cheap, I might as well make it profitable.

That's it for this week 👊

But I need to ask a favour...

Thanks for reading.

- Paul

PS….. Share this email and get our 10K TikTok Shop Affiliate Database