I’ve been there. Hours and hours of testing different programs and products, and getting no sales in your accounts. This is how the world works and there’s a reason not everyone can become a super affiliate. Here are some easy tips to identify the best Affiliate programs for you (because it’s all about you and your audience).
If you’ve been searching for the best marketing affiliate programs list you’re already doing it wrong. There’s no such best affiliate programs list because the program needs to suit yourself and your audience. Here’s how I chose my best affiliate programs and so far I’m doing well enough to – at least – pay my blog’s expenses.
Considering I just started some months ago, it’s a good sign, isn’t it? So let’s start:
Table of Contents
Commission Amount
I guess this one explains by itself. How many leads can you generate to earn a decent amount of money? The more it pays, the better, but also remember that normally, selling a high priced product is more difficult than selling a less expensive one. It’s like a pyramid, and it’s pretty clear why it works like that.
Example: Market Samurai has a 33% commission based on the initial $149 price. That’s almost $50 per sale for you.
Affiliate Resources
Again. How much help are you receiving from that program to achieve the conversions? Does the program offer banners, links, promotions, coupons, email leads, etc? Or is it just a link that you need to promote without statistics and analytics?
Cookie Duration
In the lovely world of the internet, an affiliate program normally tracks your conversions with cookies. So when a user enters by your link a cookie is stored into his browser and then if you make the sale you receive a commission. But how long before that cookie expires? Is it 1 day? 1 month? or forever?
And what happens if the customer buys another thing from the same affiliate even though it wasn’t the same you were promoting? Those are things you really need to know. Example: The Amazon Affiliate program pays you for anything that the customer bought even if it wasn’t the item you were promoting.
Payment Schedule
Does it pay every month? each week or every quarter? Do you need a bank account or can you receive it via PayPal? Can you receive a check? What happens if someone asks for a refund?
Refunds
If someone buys a product by your link and then after 1 month he asks for a refund, what’s going to happen with your commission? What happens if the client was using a credit card and the refund happens many months after the sale?
Niche
This one is definitely obvious and however, some people still don’t care. Is the product right for your audience? or are you selling it just because of the high commissions? Have you ever tested it or are you just trusting the brand? I personally don’t recommend any product that I have not used in the past, for at least some weeks or months. Your audience is the most important part of your blog. No audience, no sales, and no commissions.
Product / Service
is it a high-quality product or service? Or is it a cheap thing that the buyer will hate after some weeks? maybe you made the sale for a cheap product, but later no one will trust you anymore. If you’re selling a service, then make sure their after-sales service is good enough to cover you.
Promotion
What will they do after you refer your audience to their website? Will they capture their attention with a video or will they use a boring landing page? Will they send an email or is it just the page? What can they offer to get the sale done after you did your part?
Conversion Rate
This one is basically a mix of the things above. Will you go for a program that has a $100 commission but a conversion of 0.01%? Or do you prefer a program where they pay you a $15 commission but their conversion rate is 25%?
Super Affiliate Programs
So you receive $10 per each item you sell. but what happens if you sold more than 30 items? Will they pay you 10 or will you receive a bonus for that achievement? What if you increase your quantity to 100? Do you get what I mean here?
Competition
Are you new into this program and there are already thousands of people promoting it with their affiliate sites (check a few examples here)? Then make sure at least it’s a good brand with high sales quantity. Or move to another program that hasn’t been saturated yet.
Terms and Conditions
Can you offer your own discount or do you need to follow a price? What about coupons (real coupons, not fake) and season offers? can you promote it to Social media and can you review it even if your thoughts and results aren’t as good as the brand would expect?
And finally… here comes the most important part of being a super affiliate:
Never sell something that you don’t trust or that you haven’t tested yet.
Especially if it is a service because then it could hunt you down and bite you later.
Being an affiliate requires your trust and passion to something. If you really love the products or services, then you’ll have an easier time trying to convince people to try it, because you already love it.
If you don’t, at least make sure it’s a niche that you love, so you can be honest and understand what you’re selling to your audience.
What other factor do you consider when you sign up to an affiliate program? Let us know in the comments below.
