Hiring TikTok creators as a local or service business

Short answer: in-app shopping features are built for physical products sold online, so a local or service business gets little from them. Creator content still works, because it is about the experience. Find creators who live in your city and whose audience matches your customers, agree a fixed fee for a clear brief (a visit with a video, an explainer or a short series), settle reuse rights upfront, and measure results with bookings, a code per creator or the question “how did you find us?”.

Start from your customer, not the platform

Describe who you want to reach in one sentence: “students in Utrecht who eat out on a budget”, “freelancers who dread their tax return”. On InFluFlu that sentence is the brief, and matching looks for creators whose real audience overlaps with it. A creator with 8,000 local followers who fit beats one with 300,000 who never visit.

How to find local creators

For a place people visit, location matters more than reach. Filter on city and invite creators who actually live there; their followers can come by next week. Check that the audience really is local: what they post about, in which language, and who comments. If in doubt, ask for a screenshot of the audience stats from the app.

What to pay a local creator

A fixed fee for a clear brief is fairest for both sides. What is reasonable depends on reach in your area, the work (one visit and video costs less than a series) and whether you want to use the video in ads. Use the creator’s median views as the base and add extras. More in Pay influencers per sale or a flat fee?.

Barter or pay?

A free meal, treatment or trial as a gesture is fine, as long as nothing is required in return. If you want a video for sure, at an agreed time, that is work and you pay for it. Many creators see a visit plus a fee as the normal deal.

A brief that works

A visit-and-post brief is easy: what the creator experiences, what you would like shown (your best dish, the result of a treatment, the feel of the place) and when it goes live. Let the creator set the tone; they know their audience. Do say what is off limits, such as customers or patients on camera without consent.

Reuse the best video

Without a checkout to count sales, judge the content: does it explain what you do, would you put it on your site, would it work as an ad? Agree upfront that you may reuse it, and for how long. To run it as an ad from the creator’s account, you need a TikTok Spark Ads or Instagram partnership code; put it in the deal.

Measuring results without a webshop

• A code or offer per creator (“mention this video for a free drink”).
• Bookings in the days after the video, compared with a normal week.
• Asking “how did you find us?” at booking or checkout.
• How the video performs as an ad if you run it later.

FAQ

Do in-app shopping features work for services?

Hardly; they are built for physical products sold and shipped online. For services, hospitality and local businesses, a fixed collaboration with a creator works better.

How do I find TikTok creators in my city?

Search by city and topic and check that their audience is local. On InFluFlu you filter by location and describe your audience in plain words.

Does a creator have to disclose a free meal?

In the Netherlands, yes: a free meal or treatment is a relevant relationship under the advertising code for influencer marketing, and as the business you have a duty to point that out.

Can I use the video in my own ads afterwards?

Only if you agree it upfront, including channels and duration. Ads from the creator’s account need an authorization code.

When do I pay the creator?

Agree that the fee is set aside before the creator starts and released after delivery. On InFluFlu you fund the deal upfront, approve the delivery, and the payment releases on approval or automatically after five working days.

A first campaign in five steps

• Describe your audience in one sentence and use it as the brief.
• Pick a format: a visit with a video, an explainer or a short series.
• Agree a fixed fee and a delivery date per creator.
• Settle reuse and the ad code in the deal.
• Put the best video on your site and in your ads.