Top 10 Most Profitable Affiliate Marketing Programs
Being an affiliate marketer is one of the best ways to make money online, especially for bloggers and content creators. By joining affiliate marketing programs, you can start earning passive income without having to build your own brand from scratch or worrying about inventory management.
However, choosing the best affiliate programs can be challenging since there are so many options available.
With this in mind, we have compiled top affiliate programs to help you maximize your earning potential. We’ll also cover the definition of the affiliate program and how it works, along with its different types.
How do affiliate programs work?
Affiliate programs work by letting individuals or businesses create a profile on their platform and choose the brand they want to promote.
The programs generate a unique link that affiliates can share with their site visitors, customers, and social media followers. When someone clicks the link and purchases from the brand, the affiliate receives a commission.
Companies use affiliate programs to improve their sales. The programs are built on platforms that boast tracking technology to keep track of the affiliates.
What Are the Types of Affiliate Programs
When choosing between affiliate programs to join, think about your hobbies and topics that genuinely interest you.
Broadly, affiliate programs can be segmented into the following types:
- Bloggers and influencers. They usually have a specific niche and their own audience. Many companies partner with bloggers and influencers to build trust and engage with a larger audience, making it suitable for introducing a new brand or a product.
- Search affiliates. These are people who leverage online advertising, such as Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and other paid ads, to promote a product and increase site traffic. However, this type of program may not be suitable for beginners as it can be costly.
- Review sites. Partnering with review sites can be a good option to promote a product by providing customers with comprehensive information. This can convince them to purchase the product and help the brand look trustworthy.
- Coupon sites. This is one of the most popular programs that offer discount codes to customers. This program can attract customers and increase site traffic, especially for unpopular products. Moreover, using a time limit for the coupon will create an urgency for the customers to check out the product immediately.
- Email marketing. This is one of the best ways to generate affiliate income since most online business owners use it. Furthermore, email marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies.
Top 10 Most Profitable Affiliate Marketing Programs
Affiliate Marketing Programs
This section will list affiliate programs with high-income potential that are suitable for beginners. Furthermore, we’ll also provide you with each program’s stats, including its pros and cons.
As far as the best affiliate marketing programs go, Shopify’s affiliate network can be a real treasure trove for affiliate marketers.
Shopify is one of the biggest eCommerce platforms with all the tools needed to create and manage online stores. The brand’s affiliate program is also one of the best affiliate marketing programs around: it boasts one-time payments of up to 200% of the order value for new subscriptions or a fixed $2000 payment for the premium Shopify Plus plans.
Unlike many other affiliate networks, the Shopify affiliate program offers each partner a dedicated account manager. The flip side, however, is that most of the other affiliate marketers promoting Shopify have websites and a dedicated audiences.
Payments are only made twice per month through PayPal, and there’s a minimum payout amount, too.
2. Prosper
Prosper is a peer-to-peer lending network for small business loans, debt consolidation, and automobile and home improvement. Affiliate marketers get a commission every time they refer a new borrower or investor to Prosper services.
Borrower leads are visitors who complete the loan application and publish a listing on Prosper’s website. Meanwhile, investor leads are lenders who transfer money to the network for the first time.
Borrowers also need to track all prepayments manually. That, combined with a high upfront fee of 2.41% to 5.99% and late loans fee that ranges between 5% and $15, may turn some personal finance leads away from the program. MORE LATEST NEWS
3. Grammarly
You can earn a decent profit with Grammarly’s own affiliate program. It offers many bonuses, ranging from $0.20 for free trial registrations to $25 first-time signup bonuses for writing about the service and using the affiliate banner ad.
Other than that, all premium upgrades are worth $20 per sale. Not to mention, if you manage to refer someone as an affiliate using your link, you’ll get 10% out of their lifetime earnings.
The only notable downside of this affiliate program is that Grammarly doesn’t have a recurring payment model. This might not be a problem for higher-priced subscriptions and experienced affiliated marketers. However, you might need to increase the sales quantity of lower-cost services just to break even.
4. Adidas
Adidas has become one of the leading vendors of sportswear. If this is a niche you’re interested in, Adidas offers a great affiliate program that pays an average of 7% to 10% on sales.
Plus, all affiliates are equipped with adequate marketing tools and support. Usable assets include links, banners, deep linking, caption templates, newsletters, promotions, and an extensive database of over 3,500 products.
The only downside is that you need to have an established audience that aligns with Adidas’ target customers. Namely, men and women between the ages of 18 to 24 who are passionate about sports.
5. Twitch
Unlike the other affiliate programs in this list, with Twitch, your earnings are generated not from links but from viewer-paid subscriptions.
The pricing structures are divided into $4.99, $9.99, and $24.99. Each plan comes with ad-free viewing and custom emotes. Viewers can also opt to subscribe via the Amazon Prime membership for free.
Similarly, Twitch affiliates can earn from tips, and unique currency called Bits, which are special emotes viewers buy to show for their favorite streamer.
To qualify as a Twitch affiliate, you must have at least 50 followers. Plus, a total of 500 minutes of your stream watched by at least three concurrent viewers within a month for seven different days.
6. Amazon Associates
Amazon Associates has been one of the top affiliate programs for beginners since 1996. In fact, it was the first online affiliate marketing program in the world.
Since its inception, it’s been helping online marketers make money by advertising to the millions of customers that shop on Amazon each year. When an Amazon affiliate shares a link that leads to a sale, they earn referral fees from the transaction.
And since thousands of businesses are learning how to sell on Amazon each year, the potential for affiliates to grow is seemingly infinite.
To get started as an Amazon affiliate, all you have to do is click the Sign-up button on the Amazon Associates page.
7. ClickBank
ClickBank is among the top companies with affiliate programs that appeal to all kinds of marketers. Its affiliate information is completely open to anyone, making it a valuable affiliate platform to consider for your success.
ClickBank started out of a garage in 1998 but quickly grew to become one of the top retailing and affiliate sites in the world. It currently boasts a large number of affiliates who’ve earned billions in commissions promoting ClickBank products.
Because of its success and 20-year history, it’s an excellent option for getting started, no matter your expertise. With tons of products to promote and a wide variety of companies to partner with, it’s hard to pass up.
8. Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is a one-stop package that offers Microsoft Office apps and cloud-based productivity tools. Some notable examples include OneDrive and Skype.
Unlike Microsoft Office, the payment for Microsoft 365 is recurring on a monthly or annual basis. That’s why Microsoft 365 Affiliate Program is a great way to generate long-term passive income. Plus, there’s no sales limit to claim your commissions.
As far as great affiliate programs go, Microsoft has a strong brand authority, so there will always be a market for the products. The promotional efforts are also made easy thanks to Microsoft 365’s abundant marketing materials.
However, Microsoft 365 only pays a flat commission for all the sales generated. In addition, there’s a 90-day window before you can claim earnings.
9. Sephora
Sephora is an ideal program for beauty website owners. There are over 13,000 high-quality products to promote, ranging from luxury cosmetics to niche skincare products.
Besides that, Sephora offers various rewards and promotional campaigns for their customers, which can be beneficial for affiliates to advertise them. Plus, there are no restrictions on which brands to sell.
To join the program, simply sign-up on the website and wait for your site approval. Once you get accepted, you’ll get access to special promotions, member-only newsletters, and many other affiliate marketing assets.
10. Sendinblue
Note that both affiliate programs offer different commission models. For instance, in the Bloggers program, affiliates will get a flat 5€ commission for every new user registration and an additional 100€ payout for every premium upgrade. Meanwhile, recurring commissions are available for the expert program that starts at 10%.
As this affiliate program integrates with Tapfiliate, you can easily track and manage all commissions and campaign data.
However, all invoices must be made manually, and publishers must settle with either a bank transfer or PayPal to receive payments.
