How to start affiliate marketing

Online creators often build partnerships with brands to promote their products and services. In return, they earn a commission for each sale

Decide on a niche

Choose your platform

Find relevant affiliate marketing programs

Create valuable content

Build an audience

Follow FTC regulations

Decide on a niche

A niche is a larger market segment defined by its unique characteristics. It becomes your specialty and the topic people will know you for. Travel blogging would be an affiliate marketing niche, as would pet care or tiny homes.

Choosing a niche is a strategic business decision designed to serve a specific customer base. It helps establish a loyal audience that’ll buy your products instead of competitors.

The top affiliate marketing niches found by Easy Affiliate are:

Lifestyle and wellness

Technology

Personal Finance

Pet care

These aren’t your only options, of course. There are hundreds of options available. So how do you go about finding a profitable niche that interests you? Consider the following:

Do you want to learn more about the niche? You’ll want to become a subject matter expert on your topic over time. The only way to achieve expert status is by constantly learning and staying on top of trends.

Can you solve problems? Affiliate marketers often have special training or experience in a specific niche. This gives them new ways to present information and help people solve problems.

Is it profitable? Run a quick search on Google to see how popular your niche is. Check how much competition is in the space. Read market reports. A busy niche isn’t always bad, because it means there are people ready to buy.

The goal is to choose a niche that you enjoy. You won’t be making six figures overnight. Running an affiliate business takes commitment and time.

Choose your platform

The next step is considering what platform you’ll use for your business. Each affiliate marketer has a different platform and approach.

For example, while blogger Ryan Robinson has an Instagram account, his core source of income ($700,000+ per year) comes from his blog. Other affiliates focus solely on Instagram or TikTok to earn affiliate commissions.

There are two main methods to choose from as a beginner:

Niche topic or product review site

These sites review companies’ products for a specific audience and compare products with each other. They can also publish buyer’s guides and product tutorials to help shoppers make buying decisions.

Digital content

Content creators include bloggers, social media influencers, and YouTubers. They continuously publish content that resonates with their audience to gain influence and encourage clicks.

A good example is how Ryan Robinson’s blog focuses on freelancers. He regularly publishes new content related to freelancing to draw in an audience and promotes brands that he’s affiliated with.

Authenticity and audience engagement are two critical elements of affiliate marketing. If you can’t connect with your audience, they likely won’t buy the products you recommend.

Not sure which platform to choose? Start on a platform you’re comfortable with. If you enjoy creating social media videos, make Instagram your platform. If you’re a good writer, maybe blogging is the best route for you. Creating on platforms you already understand will help you create content that connects with your audience and drives affiliate sales.

Find relevant affiliate marketing programs

There are a lot of affiliate marketing programs out there. According to Mediakix, 80% of companies use affiliate marketing. So it’s important to make sure you find the program that is right for you.

Make sure not to just focus on high-paying affiliate programs but to find the affiliate offers and products that will appeal to your audience. A few things to look for when choosing an affiliate program include:

Does the program have a great market reputation? You don’t want to work with partners that people don’t trust. Fortunately, affiliate networks like Share Sale and Click bank vet programs present reliable, profitable merchants you can work with.

Does the program have a good commission rate? You want to earn good money for your time and effort. Many programs pay upward of 10% to 20% commissions for a sale. Choose a rate that works for you.

Does it have a high earnings per click (EPC) rate? EPC is an industry-wide metric that shows the average affiliate earnings per 100 clicks across a merchant’s program. Networks like Share Sale show you this information for each merchant. For example, Modern Nursery pays a 5% commission, but its EPC is $38.20, which means you could make almost $40 per click!

Finding the right programs is critical to running a successful affiliate business. For example, True Crime Obsessed is a comedic podcast where best friends and hosts Patrick Hines and Gillian Pennsville talk with a comedic spin on true crime documentaries.

Using this very particular take on a popular niche, they’ve garnered over 70 million downloads in one year as well as an Obsessed Network with six other offshoot programs.

The podcast promotes a variety of different products and services in episodes and a dedicated promo code page related to its niche.

Ask your favorite brands if they have an ambassador or affiliate program to find good affiliate opportunities. That way you can promote products you already appreciate and enjoy.

You can also find products and brands to work within the following affiliate marketplaces:

Commission Junction (CJ) Affiliate

Click Bank

Flex Offers

Share Sale

Awin

Amazon Associates affiliate program

Create valuable content

Statista reports that in 2019 people spent an average of 170 minutes online, globally. People are consuming content, but if you want to stand out, you have to make yours valuable to your audience.

Blogs are a really good way to do that. Find stack reports that 65% of all affiliate marketers generate traffic through blogging alone. Kelly Marohl from The Green spring Home advises that new affiliate marketers should “focus on publishing high-quality content … and build a highly engaged audience. That will pay off in dividends later!”

In 2020 Statista reported that people all over the globe spent an average of 145 minutes on social media per day. So, if you’re asking if you have to have a website to be an affiliate marketer, the answer is no.

Promoting on social media is an easy and free way to get your content into the hands of people that might be interested. Even platforms like Pinterest have affiliate opportunities using the pins on your various boards.

There are plenty of affiliate marketers who operate entirely on social media, like @amandacerny, who became an influencer through her vlogs on YouTube and is now a prominent influencer and affiliate marketer on Instagram with over 24 million followers.

Research and understand search engine optimization (SEO) if you have a blog. Bright edge reported in 2020 that SEO drives over 1,000% more traffic than organic social media. Doing some keyword research and implementing SEO well is crucial to reaching your audience. Email marketing is another way to keep those customers who’ve already visited your site interested.

Build an audience

To build an audience first you have to reach them. Creating email lists helps you to directly reach your audience. You can send newsletters, updates on new content, and exciting offers directly to anyone who signs up to be a part of your email list.

If you’re operating mostly on social media, follow and tag influencers that may be interested in your niche. The name of the game is to do what you can to increase the traffic to your website or social media page.

Reeling them in is just the first part, now it’s important to build trust between you and your audience to keep them coming back. Deez from PageOneCoffee advises, “Write on things that will create value for your audience and help them connect and make a better and informed decision on the choices they have.”

Don’t just try and sell anything to your audience to gain a quick buck. The more they feel your genuine interest, the more they will trust you.

Follow FTC regulations

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) protects consumers from deceptive marketing practices. Unfortunately, there are affiliate marketers out there who are more than willing to promote scams and misleading products and services to make a quick buck.

To prevent this, the FTC requires that any affiliate marketer disclose their financial relationship with any brands or products that they are promoting. In short, you need to tell your audience that you’re getting compensated for promoting the products you’re promoting, and you must always tell them when a link is an affiliate link to stay compliant with the FTC.