Top TikTok Shop Influencers Driving Sales + How to Work With Them

In September 2023, TikTok had everyone from CNN to social media marketers talking about its new offering: the TikTok Shop. The eCommerce feature lets TikTok business accounts set their storefronts on the app, so users can buy products directly without leaving the app.

Besides bringing a new opportunity into the world of TikTok Shopping, this feature also carved a sub-category of influencers, TikTok Shop influencers. These are creators who collaborate with TikTok Shop businesses to promote their products.

While some existing TikTok influencers started collaborating with brands on TikTok Shop, others created a specific niche for themselves in this space, helping TikTok users find the best Shop products in every category, from fashion to tech gadgets. We discuss a few of these TikTok Shop influencers in our guide and provide best practices for working with them.

TikTok Shop Influencers Are Changing the Game for Social Commerce

TikTok Shop influencers are creators who specifically or predominantly work with Shop businesses on TikTok. Unlike regular TikTok influencers that work with known-name brands, TikTok Shop influencers are the first line of promotion for a brand that's just setting up its shop on the app. These brands are usually small or homegrown, give or take a few.

The TikTok Shop marketplace has grown a lot in almost a year. In fact, it accounted for over 68% of social shopping gross merchandise value (GMV) among all social media platforms (minus Facebook Marketplace) with shopping features in February 2024.

So, there's a lot of potential for influencer marketing to grow in this vertical. TikTok Shop influencers do pretty much the same kind of work as regular influencers, such as:

• Creating promotional or sponsored content
• Running product giveaways on TikTok in partnership with a brand
• Reviews and unboxing videos

Don't mistake the relatively smaller scope of TikTok Shop (compared to the platform as a whole) for the smaller follower size of Shop influencers. These influencers also fall in the same categories as other influencers, such as nano, micro, macro, and mega-influencers. 

Top TikTok Shop Influencers in 2024

TikTok Shop has all sorts of stores, from beauty and cosmetics to fashion and accessories, electronics and gadgets to home decor and appliances. However, it might be hard to find Shop influencers in some industries.

For example, people aren't very trusting of electronics and gadgets sold by a small tech business. They'd rather buy from a trusted brand. But that's not to say there aren't any influencers in such industries. There are a few, but they're just harder to come by.

Having said that, here are some of the top TikTok Shop influencers in 2024.

Melissa Murdick 

Niche: Makeup and skincare

Melissa Murdick (@itsmakeupbymelissam) is a makeup influencer on TikTok with over a million followers. She doesn't only work with TikTok Shop brands since she has a substantial following that allows her to work with larger businesses.

Melissa focuses on beauty and makeup products, creating tutorials, doing reviews, and showing new products in her TikTik videos. She has also created playlists, such as monthly favs and eye makeup. Here, you can find the products she has promoted for a multitude of beauty and makeup brands.

For example, here's a video she has created for Bioderma USA, showing their foaming gel in action. 

@itsmakeupbymelissam These type of products are of course not brand new... but they are definitely a product trend right now! If you like a 'one and done' approach--you'll love these one-step cleaners @BIODERMA USA #skincareroutine #tiktokshop #bioderma #makeupremover ♬ original sound - Melissa Murdick

Since she's also a makeup artist, her followers trust her recommendations. On top of that, her engaging content delivery makes her an excellent pick for makeup brands. The video she created for Bioderma has 62 comments and 180 saves, which indicates decent engagement.

Briana Merriweather

Niche: Beauty and lifestyle

Briana Merriweather (@bemerri2) is a beauty and lifestyle micro-influencer who shares her product recommendations for skin, hair, and body care. She frequently shares TikTok Shop products, such as Mary Ruth's hair growth serum.

@bemerri2 I will never stop taking this supplement! @MaryRuth's #hairgrowth #hairgrowthtips #hairgrowthsolution #fyp #viralproducts #tiktokshopbacktoschool ♬ original sound - BRI ?

Being a black creator, the majority of her following comprises black women looking for beauty recommendations from a fellow black woman. She responds to comments actively, providing suggestions and answering questions to her followers.

This level of interaction and trust-building makes her an ideal candidate for beauty brands targeting black women.

Lupe Torres

Niche: Makeup

Lupe Torres (@g.torres_makeup) is a highly popular beauty influencer with over 660k followers on TikTok. She is known for creating tutorials, particularly for eye makeup looks.

She promotes makeup products from a range of brands, from high-end to drugstore, making her content accessible to a wide audience. Plus, she has worked with a ton of TikTok Shop brands, not limited to makeup.

For example, she shared a promo code for Just 4 Kira, a contact lens brand, with her audience. Since the product falls into her domain of makeup, her followers were appreciative of the code in her comment section.

@g.torres_makeup @Just4kira ♬ FRESITA - Fuerza Regida & Bellakath

Lupe's appeal is her distinct style of makeup, which is not over the top but is still sultry enough to warrant a double-take. Her tutorial videos are easy to follow, making them ideal for makeup enthusiasts of all levels. 

Maddie Costantino

Niche: Fashion and wellness

Maddie Costantino (@maddieconstantino) is a small micro-influencer who shares a wide range of content, from daily vlogs to wellness tips, recipes, beauty and skincare recommendations. Her account is like a visual diary of her (very aesthetic) life.

Since she's young, she's relatable to Gen Z and millennial women; the groups make up the most of her audience. To keep them engaged, she also partakes in TikTok trends and uses popular sounds in her videos.

She doesn't only use TikTok videos. Rather, she uses carousel posts to their full potential by posting about multiple brands and then adding her links to the Hoo.be page in her bio. She often mentions TikTok Shop brands in these slideshows, too.

Source: tiktok.com

Since she's a small influencer with an engaged following, she's a suitable pick for TikTok Shop brands that want to reach their audiences without spending too much money. After all, more and more brands are leaning toward smaller influencers. Our Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report confirms this.

Influencer preferences among brands

Emma Jordyn

Niche: All things girls related

Emma Jordyn (@emma__jordyn) is a TikTok influencer with over 400k followers. According to her bio, her account is ''for the girls.'' So, you can find everything girl-related there, from romantic advice and beauty tips to wellness plans and story times.

Emma also makes helpful tutorials on how to be more confident or get a glow up. Due to the general interest in these topics, her videos get millions of views, making her an ideal influencer for brands to collaborate with.

TikTok Shop businesses work with her to market their products to young girls, particularly those still in school or college. She makes PR haul videos regularly, which include packages from TikTok Shops, too. For example, in this haul, she shares products from known brands and smaller shops.

@emma__jordyn HUGE PR HAUL! ? thank u to all my amazing girly and for 370K! I luv u all! #unboxing #prunboxing #unboxinghaul #prhaul #contentcreator #influencer #unboxingvideo #backtoschoolhaul #prpackage #haul #prunboxinghaul #unboxwithme #makeuphaul #clothinghaul #skincarehaul #haultok #beautyhaul #unboxinghauls #hauls #influencertips #influencerpr #overcomsumption #pr #trending #viral #famous #makeup #skincare #fashion #blowthisup #prunboxingvideos #preppy #haultok #fyp #foryoupage #foryou #grwm #getreadywithme #hair #bighaul #hugehaul #massivehaul #shopping #backtoschoolshopping @PINK PALM PUFF @Drunk Elephant @Charlotte Tilbury @Glow Recipe @Katie Fang @Indeed Labs @e.l.f. Cosmetics @GRWM @Original Beautyblender @dormify @Kulfi Beauty ♬ original sound - ☆ emmajordyn ☆

Emma's lively personality and relatable content are the reason for her popularity. Since the TikTok algorithm also favors story times and advice-related content, she usually gets more views than her follower count.

Ashlyn Ross

Niche: Motherhood

Ashlyn Ross (@ashlynhope.ross) creates motherhood and lifestyle-related content for her 313k followers on TikTok. Not only does she collaborate with TikTok Shops, but she also has a playlist of all the shops she has shared on her account. At the time of writing, the playlist has over 100 videos.

Ashlyn's content features her boys, including their daily activities and vlogs. She also posts motherhood tips, such as guiding new moms on must-have baby items and sharing life hacks for busy moms. Her content is loved by her followers, and even those without kids can enjoy watching her family's fun adventures.

Due to the nature of her content, Ashlyn's TikTok Shop recommendations are usually baby-related, such as these learning blocks for kids. Since she has kids of her own who she shows using the products, people trust her recommendations.

@ashlynhope.ross Such well made toys that can be passed down! #lovevery #tiktokshop #kidstoys #babyregistry #boymom #funnykids ♬ original sound - Ashlyn Ross- Motherhood

Claudia Walsh

Niche: Beauty and lifestyle

Claudia Walsh (@iwantcandy77) is a beauty and lifestyle TikTok creator with over 1.4 million followers. She creates day in my life, morning routine, cleaning, gym, get ready with me, and snack videos. Also, she posts quite a bit about her relationship, such as her engagement and wedding planning.

Her audience is predominantly women, especially those in their 20s and 30s. She isn't exclusively a TikTok Shop influencer but collaborates with TikTok Shop brands on videos. For example, she partnered with Well People to promote their lip oils.

@iwantcandy77 My new favorite lip oils ?✨?? Shop now on TikTok Shop!/Click the link in my bio to get your hands on these! #wellpeoplepartner #lipoil #wellpeople #lipcombo #grwm #beauty #makeup #favoriteproducts #cleanbeauty #plantpowered @Well People ♬ original sound - Claudia Walsh

Since her audience is highly engaged, it's no surprise that her followers appreciate her recommendations and are likely to try out the products she endorses. Claudia's charm lies in the nostalgia around her content since she started her journey on YouTube, where most people discovered her and then followed over to TikTok.

Her brother and sister are also influencers, so there's a lot of family-related content that entices viewers into sticking around for more.

Halley Cunningham

Niche: Lifestyle, tech, and motherhood

Halley Cunningham (@haileycunninghamtn) is a TikTok micro-influencer who shares her TikTok Shop finds in pretty much every category, from home office accessories and apparel to everyday-use kitchen gadgets. Unlike most TikTok influencers, she doesn't focus solely on one niche. Instead, she combines technology and lifestyle content with motherhood and parenting tips.

She also shares TikTok Shop dupes for popular products, making her content not only interesting but also budget-friendly for her audience. For example, here's a video in which she's promoting an inexpensive pair of earbuds that are also glasses-friendly and have raging reviews on the platform.

@haileycunninghamtn Replying to @wvredhead Upgraded X15 Pro Same Price! #earbuds #earphones #headphones #airpods #music #tiktokshop #tiktokmademebuyit #tiktokshopsummersale #tiktokshopfinds #tiktokshopdeals #tiktokshop ♬ original sound - Hailey Cunningham

Halley is quite strategic in how she shares TikTok Shop finds. Instead of making a video about a product, she'd make a response video to a question on one of her older videos and then subtly introduce a TikTok Shop find as a solution. It's a great way to promote products without making it seem like a sales pitch.

Kalce Alea

Niche: Beauty and wellness

Kalce Alea (@kaicealea) is a nano-influencer on TikTok who shares her everyday routine, recipes, makeup tutorials, and hair care tips with her audience. What sets Kalce apart is her approach to beauty and wellness, which focuses on self-love and body positivity rather than perfection.

She's also very descriptive when it comes to explaining what a product does or how it works. For example, the video she creates for The Manicurist's at-home manicure goes in-depth into the steps and results, making it easier for her audience to understand and replicate.

@kaicealea @Manucurist ♬ original sound - kaice alea ?

Kalce has a very calm vibe, which is evident in her videos. She's not afraid to show herself without makeup or talk about skincare issues, making her content relatable and authentic. Her audience loves how open she is with them and often reaches out for suggestions on products. 

What Are the Benefits of Working With TikTok Shop Influencers?

After you've perfected your TikTok Shop setup, the next step as a brand is to get the word about your presence out to as many people as possible. Fortunately, influencers can be quite helpful. Here's how.

Increased Brand Awareness

The first and most apparent benefit of working with influencers is the brand awareness that comes with your brand being introduced to thousands, if not millions, of people. These are people who likely don't know about your brand yet. But once they hear their favorite creator raving about your products, they're likely to develop an interest in what you have to offer.

For small TikTok Shops that have a hard time kicking off due to competition and slow follower growth rate which averages 3% on a monthly basis, working with the right influencers can be a game-changer.

Targeted Marketing

Once you find your target audience on social media, you have to find the right way to reach them. Influencers can be that route.

Since creators have targeted followers, the campaign you run through them will likely reach precisely the people you're trying to sell your products to. This is better than spending money on ads that may or may not hit the target.

For example, at the time of writing, Claudia Walsh is planning her wedding. Because of this, the algorithm makes her content more visible to other brides-to-be. At this point, if a bridal shop were to work with Claudia, it would be a targeted approach.

Boosts Sales

eMarketer data shows that influencer marketing has been more resilient than social ad spending over the past few years. That means you're more likely to get a better return on investment (ROI) from influencer marketing than social media ads. Also, TikTok is the second-most popular for influencer marketing spending, crossing $1,25 billion in 2024.

Influencer marketing spending

It makes sense. Influencers are already trusted by their followers. Plus, only those people follow them who are genuinely interested in their content. So, when an influencer recommends a product or service, the followers are likely to give it a chance.

For a TikTok Shop business, this trust translates to sales. So, working with the right influencers could mean a higher revenue.

Facilitates Cost-Effective Marketing

As we've already discussed, working with influencers lets you be more precise and targeted in your marketing efforts. You're not going to be spending money on ads that may or may not reach the right audience.

Plus, you don't have to work with influencers charging tens of thousands of dollars per post. Nano and micro-influencers have a decent engagement rate (3,69% for nano-influencers), which you can leverage to reach your target audience with minimal cost.

Let's not forget about TikTok Spark Ads, which you can run on organic content. This way, influencer-generated content serves two purposes. It gets posted on the influencer's account, where you get credibility and exposure. Then, you can use it to run targeted ads for your desired audience. 

How to Find TikTok Shop Influencers For Your Campaigns?

Most brands already have a roster of influencers to whom they reach out due to their positive past performance. But TikTok Shop is relatively new, so chances are you don't have a list of proven TikTok influencers up your sleeve. So, how do you find the right ones for your campaigns?

Use the TikTok Creator Marketplace

The TikTok Creator Marketplace is TikTok's official platform for connecting brands with TikTok influencers. You can use it to find influencers in any niche possible. The marketplace lets you search for influencers by:

• Region
• Topic
• Reach
• Average views
• Audience region

Source: creatormarketplace.tiktok.com

You can select the "eCommerce anchor" option while searching for influencers, and the marketplace will show you a list of influencers who have already worked on eCommerce campaigns.

Use TikTok's Search Functions

Besides the Creator Marketplace, you can also use TikTok's search bar. For example, search for trending topics, and see videos appear on top. Since influencer content generates a lot of traction, you'll find relevant creators here.

You can also search by hashtag. For example, if you're a clean skincare brand, search for trending TikTok hashtags like #skincare or #cleanbeauty to find relevant influencers.

You can also simply run a search for keywords related to your brand. TikTok's search results show you top posts and accounts. You can then click on the profiles and go through their videos to see if they align with your brand's image.

Use Influencer Marketing Platforms

TikTok's native features are quite helpful. However, they may not provide all the filters and search options you may need.

On the other hand, influencer marketing platforms are quite intuitive and feature-rich. They also let you manage and pay influencers from a single dashboard, saving you a ton of hassle. Our guide on the top influencer marketing platforms can help you choose the one for your brand.

Work With an Influencer Marketing Agency

Building a TikTok Shop from the ground up is a time-consuming task. With your hands already full, you may not have the time or resources to manage influencer campaigns. TikTok Shop influencer marketing agencies can take this task off your hands.

Since they know how the influencer marketing world works, you can trust their expertise and strategy to find the right influencers for your brand. They'll also handle all negotiations and contracts with influencers. You just have to enjoy the results.

Some of the top influencer marketing agencies include Viral Nation, MOMENTIQ, Fresh Content Society, Moburst, and The Influencer Marketing Factory. While they all have impressive portfolios, you can base your decisions on your budgets and the agency's past expertise in your niche. 

Apart from dedicated influencer marketing agencies, you can work with TikTok Shop agencies that offer greater service flexibility.

Best Practices for Working with TikTok Shop Influencers

Want to get the maximum ROI out of your TikTok Shop influencer campaigns? Here are some best practices that can help you accomplish this.

Select the Right Influencers

If the foundation is strong, whatever you build on top of it will be, too. It applies to influencer marketing as well.

Selecting the right influencers is the first step to a successful campaign. Here are some factors to consider while selecting influencers for your TikTok Shop business:

• Relevance: The influencer's content should be relevant to your brand and target audience.
• Engagement Rate: Look for influencers with an engagement rate above 3% to ensure that their followers are actively engaging with their content.
• Authenticity: In today's age of social media, authenticity is key. Look for influencers who have a genuine connection with their audience and don't just promote any brand or product for the sake of money. It also helps to use a fraud detection tool to check if an influencer's followers are real.
• Previous Collaborations: Check if the influencer has worked on similar campaigns or collaborations in the past. If yes, you're golden.
• Audience Demographics: The influencer's audience should be similar to your target audience with respect to age, gender, purchasing power, geographical region, and interests.

Review Influencer Authenticity

We have already touched on this above a bit. It's important to ensure that the influencers you collaborate with have an authentic following. In other words, their followers should be real people who are actually interested in the influencer's content and not just bots or fake accounts.

You can use a fraud detection tool to check this. For example, NeoReach lets you buy credits to use their influencer fraud detection software with no monthly commitment.

You should also check if the influencer engages with their audience. Check the comment section under their videos to see if they respond to their followers' comments and if there is a genuine conversation happening.

Use TikTok Spark Ads

TikTok Spark ads are ads that you run on organic content rather than creatives specifically made for advertisement. You can use one of your own videos or one created by an influencer.

Since influencers put a lot of thought and effort into creating engaging content, it's likely that their videos will perform well as Spark Ads. When coupled with brand awareness through influencer content, these ads can amplify your presence on the platform. If this is too much work to do in-house, you can partner with a TikTok Sparks ads agency. 

Build Long-Term Relationships

Every time you onboard a new influencer, you have to go through a whole process of familiarizing them with your brand and setting expectations. Long-term influencer relationships prevent all this extra work.

They also provide better results since the audience already associates the influencer with your brand. Plus, it's more cost-effective in the long run as you can negotiate better rates. Our Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report also found that over 63% of brands prefer to work with the same influencers rather than new ones since the former offers more value.

One-off vs repetitive partnerships

Manage Legal Compliance

The same compliance rules apply to TikTok Shop influencer partnerships as the rest of the platform. Draw written agreements outlining the deliverables and usage rights of all influencer campaigns.

You should also include the payment terms in the contract. If there are any changes, update them regularly. On the influencer's side, they should use hashtags like #ad or #sponsored to ensure transparency with their audience by disclosing partnerships.

Track Influencer Campaign Performance

Monitor the performance of your TikTok Shop influencer campaigns using analytics tools to get a clear picture of how well they're driving sales and engagement. Influencer analytics tools like Modash and Brandwatch help you pinpoint what you can improve and what you're already doing best.

Wrapping Up

With TikTok Shop becoming bigger and better, Shop influencers will be in high demand. If you want to foster long-term relationships, it's best to start soon. You can find these influencers through agencies, influencer marketplaces, or TikTok itself.

Just like you would with any regular influencer, run influencer marketing campaigns, including product sponsorships, contests, giveaways, product launches, and sale events with these creators. You can even include them in your TikTok live shopping events to boost viewership and sales. However, if you choose to work with TikTok Shop influencers, make sure you're monitoring campaign performance and tweaking strategies to optimize results.

About the Author

Nadica Naceva

Writer

Nadica Naceva, Head of Content at Influencer Marketing Hub, is a seasoned writer and reviewer with in-depth expertise in digital and content marketing. Leveraging her extensive experience in guiding content creation and strategic direction, Nadica brings a critical eye and analytical approach to reviewing articles and educational pieces. Her commitment to accuracy, integrity, and innovation with each review helps IMH grow as a leading source in influencer marketing. Her insights are backed by first-party data, ensuring content meets the highest standards of relevance.