The video can travel. Plan the product link separately.
Copying a product video does not recreate the original shopping experience. Give each destination a clear route from watching to finding the item.
Follow the viewer’s next three steps.
- 1
Watch the video
Understand which product is shown.
- 2
Find the destination
Follow a platform-appropriate instruction.
- 3
Check the product
Arrive at the matching item.
Test each destination independently.
Separate the file from the shopping experience.
A video file contains the footage you uploaded. A platform’s product tag, storefront and checkout are separate parts of the original post. Do not assume those features become part of a new upload on another platform.
Before reposting, write down where you want the new viewer to go. That could be a creator shopping page or another supported product destination. Then prepare the caption and profile so they lead to that exact place.
On Instagram, make your bio destination useful.
Relay’s Instagram workflow uses a shopping page that you can add to your bio. In the post editor, review the shopping URL saved for the video. If there is no link, add the correct one in your library.
Name the product in your caption and explain where to find it. “Find the packing cubes on my shopping page — link in bio” gives a viewer a concrete item to look for. Verify the page contains that item before you publish the instruction.
Open the route on a phone: Reel, profile, shopping page, product. Look for places where the item becomes hard to identify or a visitor needs account access they do not have.
On YouTube Shorts, a pasted URL is not enough.
YouTube says URLs in Shorts descriptions and comments are not clickable. Channel profile links are a separate supported link location. If you publish a Short yourself, choose an available destination and explain where viewers should find it.
Check YouTube’s current link guidance for the exact placement you plan to use. Features such as YouTube Shopping have their own requirements; they should not be assumed to come with every uploaded Short.
This is a guide to planning the shopping path. The Relay publishing workflow described in these pages is for Instagram; use YouTube’s own publishing tools for your Shorts workflow.
Keep tracking separate from navigation.
A working destination answers “Can someone find the item?” Attribution answers a different question: “Can an eligible purchase be associated with this content or creator?” A functioning link alone does not establish that connection.
Preserve the correct affiliate or merchant link when one applies, and check the reporting supplied by that program. Do not replace tracking parameters casually or report product visits as purchases.
- The caption describes a real, available route.
- The destination matches the product shown.
- Any applicable affiliate link is preserved.
- Visits and confirmed purchases are reported separately.
Sources & further reading
YouTube Help: sharing links with your audiencesA few useful answers.
Does a TikTok Shop tag move with a downloaded video?
No. Treat the product destination as a separate part of the new post and configure it for the platform where you republish.
Can viewers click a URL in a YouTube Shorts description?
YouTube’s guidance says URLs in Shorts descriptions and comments are not clickable. Review supported alternatives such as channel profile links.
Does a working product link prove I earned a commission?
No. Confirm eligible transactions in the relevant merchant or affiliate reporting. Navigation, clicks, purchases and settled commission are separate stages.