Last Updated on March 21, 2022 by Markeyus Franks
7 Best affiliate programs for startups and beginners
Affiliate Marketing is now one of the most trending digital marketing programs that provide businesses an opportunity to diversify their content and generate revenue. In simple terms, Affiliate marketing is signing up with a company or network to sell their product or services in return for a fixed commission every time the audience buys something or executes the desired action. The term ‘desired action’ here is vague and can consist of anything right from clicking on the link or completing a purchase process. Affiliate marketing works on a commission basis, wherein you get a commission when the traffic generated by your content completes the action.
If you are a beginner and trying to get a hang of affiliate programs, and how they can be leveraged into monetary benefits then, you must research how the majority of startups and mature websites in your niche are promoting affiliate products. Initial research and understanding will help you know the nuance of affiliate marketing and gauge how much profit is in the affiliate marketing business. The potential of affiliate marketing depends upon your niche, content quality, and promotion tactics.
Which affiliate marketing programs are the best for startups and beginners?
There are many factors that one needs to take into consideration before opting for any affiliate program. One needs to do extensive research, analyze, and think critically because an affiliate partner’s products are worth investing in time, money, and efforts. You need to foresee the potential of the products and ponder how you can incorporate them on your website.
Another critical point is to shortlist the affiliate program partners. This can be done by reviewing some of the prominent affiliate programs, studying what they are offering, the commission rates, whether there are any terms and conditions, offers, program features, dashboards, and optimum support to affiliates. Associating with a professional affiliate program with an optimum support system and guidance can help you understand the basics of affiliate marketing and boost your confidence.
If you are not familiar with WordPress, SEO Strategies, Email Marketing, Listing, Build LeadPages, Plugins, then initial assistance can be vital for a kick-start. Always connect with an affiliate program with a good network, reputation, credibility, and real-time support. It should be beneficial for both parties. Come across reviews of affiliate networks or service providers mentioning how difficult it was to get assistance and support from the program. You should try to associate with some other affiliate program.
An understanding and concrete detail about the number of merchants that an affiliate network currently has can give you a little indication of their work pattern and revenue potential. To select the best fit for an affiliate program, one should employ a 360-degree approach and make an informed decision.
Types of Affiliate Programs Networks
Affiliate Network
Affiliate Network is one of the most common types of affiliate programs. In this model, you generate the traffic for the network’s offer and promotion. From a form submission to a landing page, it can be anything. The affiliate network will guide you on how you can promote the network’s offer with the aid of marketing material and literature. This helps affiliates to build the trust of the audience and increase the rate of conversions too.
The main motive of an affiliate network is to amplify the reach of the network offers. An affiliate network is popular among new businesses wishing to promote their new products in the market. Most of the affiliate network appoints an affiliate manager to manage and overlook the entire process and provide adequate guidance to the affiliates.
In-house Merchant Affiliate Program
In this type of Affiliate program, everything is managed by the affiliate merchant within its partner program. The network has its own affiliate software and dashboard that manages lead conversions and keeps track of referral commissions. In-house Merchant Affiliate Program is the simplest form of the affiliate program and is mostly preferred by startups and beginners.
Now that you are familiar with the affiliated marketing and program models, we move forward to discuss some of the best and leading affiliated programs that can multifold your revenue in just a few months.
1. Amazon Associates:
Amazon Associates is one of the prominent affiliate programs for beginners. The Amazon Affiliate Program is apt for startups trying their hands-on affiliate marketing. This model is flagship when it comes to making money with the monetization tactic. There are umpteen online tutorials and videos available on the net that explain how Amazon Associates Work can generate more revenue.
The Amazon Associate is one of the largest and trusted affiliate programs globally. Its structured system and optimum integration give it a distinct edge over others. The payment structure of Amazon associates is defined and regular. Amazon Associates have an excellent track record of paying all its affiliates on time (30 days after the purchase). It is one of the easiest and user-friendly affiliate programs.
Moreover, there are end numbers of products listed on its website. Whatever your niche is, you will indeed find some of the right products with attractive offers. Also, if you are doing good and are one of the top-ranking affiliates, Amazon does provide you the privilege to change links to higher commission offers.
Hence, if you are new to the affiliate world and trying to figure out how the affiliate program works, Amazon Associates should be on your consideration list.
2. Fiverr:
Fiverr is the leader in the freelance marketplace. The Fiverr Affiliate program enables an exciting opportunity to earn commission by referring products and services. Fiverr has more than 150 subcategories and is one of the largest online sources for Freelancers. The multiple affiliate programs along with state-of-the-art marketing software Cellxpert make Fiverr one of the best affiliate platforms.
Fiverr makes operating an affiliate program easy and convenient with its informative and modern landing page. The landing page of Fiverr consists of several elements such as video tutorials, FAQs, a start guide, the sign-up page, and much more. The commission rates of Fiverr are exciting. One of the most significant advantages of Fiverr is the deep linking. Fiverr allows its affiliates to deep-link offers, services, and products to an article/blog. The only drawback and runoff of Fiverr is the first-time buyer clause which makes it an unappealing affiliate proposition. Join the Fiverr Affiliate today
3. CJ Affiliate:
The affiliate network of CJ is humongous. CJ Affiliate has hundreds of companies working with it to promote the products and offers across the globe. It has experience of over two decades in the affiliate industry. CJ Affiliate has carved a distinct space for itself with realistic and genuine affiliate programs. It is ideal for startups and beginners who are new to affiliate marketing and looking out for a robust foundation. CJ Affiliates provides an opportunity to connect with some of the leading brands and companies worldwide and promote their products in the marketplace. The interface of CJ Affiliate is quite user-friendly and loaded with advanced features.
If your business model and product offerings are within reach of the CJ affiliate niche, then you most strongly associate with it.
4. Click bank:
One of the Affiliate giants that is slowly making its name in the affiliate network is Click Bank. For more than 20 years in the industry, Click Bank has had a user base of around six million worldwide. Moreover, the commission rates of Clickbank are enticing and high in comparison to their contemporaries. One of Click Bank’s unique features that make it highly popular amongst its merchants is the simplified process. Click Bank affiliate programs offer great flexibility to its merchants. It eliminates the need for prior approval from companies before promoting the offers. The spectacular payout and timely payment of commissions have Click Bank one of the most popular affiliate programs. The user interface and dashboard of Click Bank are embedded with modern features and tools. It is effortless to operate. Also, Click Bank provides adequate promotional content, marketing material, presale pages, brand logo, product images, and designs that make promoting easy for Affiliates. Clickbank is one of the top choices for amateur entrepreneurs and beginners.
5. ShareASale:
ShareASale is one of the most prominent names in the Affiliate network. The program uses innovative and clutter-breaking technology to promote and aid affiliates as well as merchants wisely. This affiliate program has incorporated some modern and advanced tools that can help one build their affiliate business and scale up the revenue. ShareASale is associated with some of the leading brands globally and offers a great choice of products to its affiliates. This is one of the significant reasons behind the extensive affiliate network of more than 1000 merchants at ShareASale. It offers complete assistance and service right from the eCommerce platform to advanced software to its merchants.
The application process of ShareASale is simple and comprehensive; it gives a real-time record of conversions, average sales, earnings per click, etc. Such metrics play an important role in increasing the affiliates’ momentum and encouraging them to perform better. However, several industry experts claim that the interface and portal of ShareASale are a little outdated, making it complicated to use and understand the dashboard features. It acts as a hindrance while establishing a relationship with potential partners. So, if you are a startup and a total beginner in the tech-savvy world, ShareASale may not be the ideal affiliate program partner for you.
6. Rakuten:
Rakuten Advertising, formerly known as Rakuten marketing, is a professional Affiliate Marketing Service provider. It has more than 1,50,000 publishers and brands associated with it. Its systematic and optimized pay for performance structure and commission rates has immensely amplified its Affiliate network. Rakuten is user-friendly and has an amazing simple dashboard with some great features and analytical tools. Rakuten believes in providing real-time access to the performance metric of Affiliates, and therefore, it has some innovative metric system that helps one keep track of the performance. Promoting offers is organized and meticulous as Rakuten with its sufficient customer support and complete assistance. However, many experts claim that Rakuten’s approval rates are not ideal for startups and beginners as other Affiliate Service Providers.
7. Flex offers:
The intricately designed Flex Offers has an evident and robust network of more than 12000 affiliate programs. It is connected to more than 500 advertisers globally. It has an extensive and brief affiliate category that ranges from education, entertainment, sports, legal services, travel, automobile to business. Its Affiliate program has been critically acclaimed by industry experts and has received positive reviews globally. The affiliate program of Flex Offers is optimum for all types of niches. So, no matter what your niche is, your content strategy, or your affiliate plan, you are sure to find products that are an ideal match for your forte.
The affiliate program structure of Flex Offers is a little different from its contemporaries. The affiliates have to sign up at Flex Offers with its link and split the commission earned. It makes you part of its Merchant program. Moreover, Flex Offers titles to add every day a new 50 advertiser program. If anything, which does not work for you on a particular day, changing a little strategy the next day may earn you the desired success and conversion. This unique feature is greatly acknowledged by startups and beginners trying to get the affiliate program’s hang. The only drawback of Flex Offers is its complicated sub-affiliate scheme. Many startups and beginners find it challenging to comprehend the sub-affiliate program model and keep pace with it.
The Key takeaway
Affiliate marketing is a profit-making lucrative marketplace with lots of affiliate program options. However, it is vital to do in-depth and complete research and associate with a professional affiliate service provider for consistent growth and development.
