How TikTok agencies find creators: discovery, eligibility and the first message

Where do agencies look for creators?

A TikTok LIVE agency's growth depends on regularly meeting new creators. There is no single answer to "how do you find TikTok creators"; most agencies use a few channels together. This guide walks through the most common ones, the strength and weakness of each, and what you need to do before you write to a creator you found.

First, a frame. TikTok recognizes agencies under the name Creator Network and gives them a management platform called LIVE Backstage. The platform's own pages say agencies can scout creators with tools inside Backstage, such as instant messages, see a list of potential creators, and use referral programs to invite creators into their network. So finding creators is work the platform expects from agencies. The problem is not the task itself, it is how it gets done.

The same platform also puts the limits of that task in writing. The Creator Network Management Policy published for agencies lists, one by one, which creators cannot be approached and which behaviors count as prohibited. Read every method below alongside those limits.

Why is live discovery the most common channel?

Many agencies find creators while they are streaming. A team member browsing the LIVE feed notices a creator who talks well with their audience, streams regularly, or receives gifts, and takes a note. The strength of this method is that you see the creator as they really are: how they act on camera, how they talk with viewers, how long the stream runs, all observed directly.

Its weakness is time. A team member can only watch a limited number of streams in an hour, and most of what they watch will not turn out to be a fit. There is also a pull to reach out to a creator you notice while they are still live. Be careful here: the policy explicitly lists repeatedly disturbing creators while they are streaming and posting excessive comments in a LIVE room among the improper ways of collecting creators. LIVE discovery is a good place to scout, not to pitch.

Taking notes during discovery needs its own structure too. Write the creator's username, the day and time you saw them live, what the stream was about, and a short line on why they caught your attention. When you check the same creator again a few days later, that note tells you whether your first impression was a coincidence or a pattern. One good stream does not mean a creator who streams regularly; seeing the same person go live on several different days is a much more reliable signal.

How do search and profile review help?

The second channel is search. Looking up people who stream in a given category, language or region and reviewing their profile builds a candidate list faster than waiting on live streams. A profile shows recent videos, follower count, and how the creator describes themselves.

Search has a weak side too: a profile does not tell you everything. An account with a high follower count may never go live; a creator with few followers may already be running regular, strong streams. Search produces a candidate list; deciding still needs a look at an actual stream.

Names found through search and discovery get lost if they are not written down anywhere. Two people on the team find the same creator separately and both write to them. Keeping every name you find in a single candidate list matters as much as the discovery itself.

How much do referrals and community help?

The third channel is referrals. A creator who works with you and is happy tells other creators they know about you. A creator who comes through a referral usually trusts faster, because they heard about you from someone they already know. The referral programs TikTok offers agencies rest on the same idea; read the current terms inside Backstage.

The limit of referrals is that you do not control them. You cannot plan who will bring in whom, and this channel only works if your current creators are actually happy. That makes referrals less a method and more a result of doing good work.

The fourth channel is community. Groups, events and chat communities where creators gather are places an agency can present itself honestly. The standard here is the same: describe yourself honestly, do not overpromise, and do not disparage other agencies. The policy also lists disparaging other agencies with false or misleading information among the prohibited behaviors.

What should you check before writing to a creator?

However you found a creator, one question needs an answer before you reach out: can this creator be invited? The policy bans setting up a management relationship with ineligible creators, and lists them. The main ones are as follows.

First, a creator who has already joined another agency's network or is in a commercial partnership with TikTok. Second, a creator who does not meet requirements such as Diamonds or follower levels. Third, a creator located outside the territory agreed with the agency.

TikTok's policy on multiple accounts adds two more cases: a creator who recently left a previous agency and whose waiting period has not ended, and a creator under the age limit. The policy sets that limit at 19 in Korea and 18 in other countries and regions.

The most expensive of these is the first one. Writing to a creator already tied to another agency can start a serious process against your agency account. The policy also states that a violation can restrict the agency's ability to invite new creators for up to 30 days.

Timing matters for this check too. A creator's status is not fixed; a creator who looked independent last week may have signed with an agency this week. Because of this, the check should happen right before you write, and the result should be recorded. The record should show the day and time it was checked and what the result was, and it should not be possible to change it afterward. A creator who comes back permanently ineligible should also leave the list for good, even after the team changes.

What rules apply to the first message?

A good first message is short: say who you are and why you are writing, and do not promise anything. Do not present yourself as a TikTok representative, do not encourage a creator working with another agency to break their contract or open a second account to join you, and do not write repeatedly to a creator who does not answer. According to TikTok's help pages, a first message to an account that does not know you usually shows up as a message request, and only one request can be sent until the other side accepts it, so the first message is usually your only shot.

How do you turn discovery into a daily routine?

Turning creator discovery into something you do every day needs three things: a single candidate list, an eligibility check that happens right before you write and gets recorded, and permanently closing the door on a creator who has been rejected once or has said they do not want to work with you.

TT Panel is a working panel built to hold these three together. New names land on your candidate list without you searching for them, the same creator never lands on it twice, and you can see who is on the rise through their league history. Before you write to a creator, you keep an unchangeable, timestamped record that you checked their status. While the team browses TikTok, they see a creator's status in the extension card at the top of the page. Whatever tool you use, the standard is the same: check eligibility before writing, do not write to a creator who does not answer over and over, record who wrote to whom and when, and stay inside the platform's limits. Following platform rules is the agency's responsibility; the panel shows the eligibility result and the evidence record for every creator.

If you are thinking about choosing a tool, read what to ask when choosing TikTok LIVE agency software first. To see how the panel works with your own candidate list, request a walkthrough.