With all the bad press and noise, it’s easy to think that the affiliate marketing business is not worth it. But I’ve been in space for three years, and my experience has been rosy.
The only challenge is the occasional Google update that scares all business owners and marketers alike.
So if you’re reading this and wondering: is affiliate marketing worth it?
Well then, the answer depends on whether you’re ready to invest into it and become a successful affiliate marketer.
According to Rakuten Advertising, more than 80% of advertisers ran affiliate marketing programs.
And based on the affiliate industry’s past steady growth, A. Guttmann predicted the affiliate marketing spend in the US would reach 8.2 billion in 2022.
The affiliate marketing industry is not shrinking.
So even if you already have a business or a job, it’s still worth it as a second revenue stream besides your primary source of living. The beauty is that, it will also eventually become a passive income stream or you can look into leveraging affiliate marketing to grow your own products/servivces.
Ready to join the lucrative affiliate marketing industry?
Keep reading to learn how it works and how you can make the most of it.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is the process of promoting other people’s products in exchange for a small commission for the sale. It’s a business model where businesses pay their affiliate partners per purchase or click, and it’s all done through an affiliate link.
For instance, if you were in the home decor niche and promoted homeware products, you can sign up to be an Amazon affiliate marketer, and direct your audience to buy appliances on Amazon through an affiliate link. In exchange, Amazon rewards you with a commission for qualified affiliate sales.
There are three types of affiliate programs on the internet:
1. Unattached Affiliate Marketing
Unattached affiliate marketing is the regular Pay Per Click (PPC) affiliate marketing campaign where you don’t have a presence or authority in the product or space you’re promoting.
Without a connection with the audience, the only thing you can do is place affiliate links on social media ads like Facebook ads or Google ads hoping that someone will buy the product.
2. Related Affiliate Marketing
Related Affiliate Marketing is a form of affiliate marketing where you establish a presence in the online space through a blog, podcast, videos, or social media. But you haven’t used the affiliate product you promote.
Placing affiliate links on your website to products related to your niche is an excellent way to earn extra income. The biggest risk with such affiliate campaigns is that if you promote the wrong product that’s not fit for your audience, you’ll lose their trust.
3. Involved Affiliate Marketing
Involved affiliate marketing is where you’ve used an affiliate product or service, you believe in it, and you recommend it to your audience. The involvement and experience with the product make this type of affiliate marketing so attractive.
But there’s a lot of responsibility to uphold when making recommendations.
You’ll need to build trust, influence, and authenticity on the internet. Picture it as a way to build relationships with your audience.
Feel free to use the affiliate marketing that resonates with you. Or start with the related affiliate marketing then graduate to involved affiliate marketing.
Can You Make Money With Affiliate Marketing?
Making affiliate marketing work for you is simple, but not easy. How fast you can make your first $1000 with affiliate marketing varies depending on your niche, time investment, and content strategy.
For example, if you promote furniture and decor, you could join Wayfair’s affiliate program that gives affiliates a 7% commission rate. While they have a vast range of products, their average order size is $300. So we’re talking $21.
To make $1000 a month through their affiliate program, you’d need to convert at least 47 customers! Not to mention that their cookie duration is only 7 days. Meaning that once your lead clicks on your referral link, they have to convert within 7 days.
Compare that to promoting an SEO software like SEO PowerSuite where you get 33% commission not just for the first sale, but for subscription renewals too. Their cheapest subscription is $569 per year. So that’s about $196 commission per sale. Meaning that to make $1,000 in a month, you only need to convert about 6 customers. Plus their cookie duration is 120 days!
Clearly, promoting software would get you to your $1,000 affiliate commission faster. And when you include the recurring annual or monthly commissions, physical products don’t even come close.
What’s more, your audience also determines how much you’ll make in affiliate sales. For example, if your content is targeted to students, you’re better off promoting student loan programs than decor items. But if your content attracts company decision-makers (e.g., marketing directors), you can promote high-value software.
Nonetheless, affiliate marketing success requires commitment because it takes time to pick up.
Just take a look at the following affiliate marketers:
Tom Dupuis, a successful affiliate marketer, makes $150,000 each year promoting website themes, plugins, hosting, etc. His strategy was to use a high-paying affiliate program (Cloudways) in his niche (WordPress speed optimization). And though it took him many months blogging to get there, he makes his money with 3,000 monthly views to his blog.
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