5 Best Affiliate Marketing Programs For Different Types of Businesses

Imagine earning money around the clock, regardless of your location, even while you’re asleep.

Enter affiliate marketing.

It involves affiliates earning commissions by promoting and selling others’ products they’re passionate about. It is a lucrative strategy for boosting online sales and revenue. Its shift from traditional methods has proven highly effective for brands and marketers. The spending on affiliate marketing in the US surged from $5.4 billion in 2017 to $8.2 billion in 2022, indicating ample opportunities for newcomers.

This beginner’s guide will outline the 5 top affiliate marketing programs tailored for diverse businesses and highlight the associated benefits you can anticipate.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing refers to the process of earning a commission by promoting another company’s product or service online. In essence, affiliates undertake online marketing activities on behalf of a merchant, aiming to increase traffic and conversions for the merchant’s website. The affiliate receives payment from the merchant for each click or conversion achieved.

How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?

The process operates through four key players:

• The affiliate (or “publisher”): This entity promotes the merchant’s product or service.
• The merchant: The seller of the product or service that the affiliate promotes.
• The affiliate network: Acts as an intermediary between affiliates and merchant programs, facilitating connections.
• The customer: The individual who makes a purchase through an affiliate link.

Affiliates join marketing programs to connect with merchants. Over time, they expand their network of brand partnerships, often in a specific industry. Occasionally, affiliates and merchants connect organically through direct outreach, as in the example of a baking enthusiast affiliate partnering with a cake pan manufacturer.

Diverse Businesses, Top Affiliate Marketing Programs: A Countdown

A vendor that streamlines all elements of affiliate program management is known as an affiliate marketing program. Onboarding, tracking and reporting sales and clicks, managing referrals, maximizing site traffic, and paying commissions are all part of this system.

Finding the ideal program for your business can be tricky. Worse comes to worst you may end up with the wrong one. But once you’ve found the right program half of your battle is already won.

Here are our top 5 picks of the best programs for different types of businesses.

Also Read: Top 14 Content Syndication Tools to Maximize Your Reach and Engagement

1. Amazon (for e-commerce affiliate programs)

Amazon is the world’s largest online marketplace, selling anything and everything. It’s a terrific affiliate marketing program to use in your content if you’re a blogger or influencer. Amazon also offers varied flat commission rates.  You can recommend things to your audience that you believe they’ll like and start earning commission through referrals. Depending on the product type, the commission rates typically range from 1% to 20%.

2. Shopify (for e-commerce website builder affiliate programs)

Shopify is the most popular e-commerce website builder its brand recognition leads to consistent conversion rates. Additionally, Shopify also provides affiliate FAQs as well as promotion tips. High commission rates are paid. Only one sale is required to reach the payment level. A full-time affiliate marketing manager is assigned to you. Publishers have the ability to generate tracking links. The affiliate site is simple to use and navigate.

3. Moosend (for Email Marketing affiliate programs)

With its lifelong recurring commission, Moosend’s affiliate program will help you move one step closer to having a passive income. With Moosend, every month, you can earn 30% on every plan per month based on what your contacts buy via your affiliate link(s). The fact that you can earn additional affiliate commissions when your contacts upgrade makes this affiliate program a must-have.

4. ActiveCampaign (for Email Marketing affiliate programs)

Almost for two decades, ActiveCampaign has been a reliable email marketing automation and CRM platform. It also has the best affiliate marketing features. When you sign up, you get an affiliate link immediately that you can use right away. There are affiliate webinars that are always available that assist you in setting up a funnel.

ActiveCampaign also provides a simple dashboard for keeping track of conversions and progress. You can earn up to 20-30% commission on referrals.

5. NordVPN (for VPN affiliate programs)

NordVPN is a well-known brand and has effective promotional material. They also have high conversion rates and specialized account managers who can assist you in driving more revenue. The commission rates of NordVPN are distributed as per monthly, half-yearly, one-year, and two-year plans. The rates can range from 40 to 100%.

For smaller online stores that have a limited marketing budget, opting for a program can be highly beneficial. It has low-risk and low-cost marketing strategies. It has the added benefit of helping you reach more prospective buyers faster without having to increase your marketing budget.

How Much Money Do Affiliate Marketers Make?

According to a survey by Influencer Marketing Hub, most affiliate marketers earn less than $10,000 annually. However, approximately 16.87% of affiliates make $50,000 or more per year. A standout example is Matt Giovanisci, whose site, Swim University, generated $149,991 in affiliate commissions in 2021. It’s important to note that achieving this level of success requires years of dedicated brand-building and hard work. If you’re just starting out, your earnings may be modest initially. While you may not hit the jackpot right away, take inspiration from others’ success stories; with time, effort, and the right knowledge, you have the potential to reach those higher levels of income.

Bottom Line

Affiliate marketing programs, including niche affiliate marketing, offer a versatile and potentially lucrative avenue for individuals and businesses to generate income online. As we’ve seen, while some affiliate marketers earn modest amounts, others have achieved substantial success through dedicated effort and strategic brand-building. It’s essential to implement the process with realistic expectations, understanding that significant earnings may take time to materialize. By leveraging the right strategies, cultivating valuable partnerships, and staying committed to providing value to your audience, you can unlock the full potential of affiliate marketing programs and embark on a rewarding journey toward financial success.