The Complete Guide to Affiliate Marketing: How to Earn Big Commissions Promoting Products You Don't Create

If you’ve ever wanted to earn money online without having to deal with all the hassles of creating, marketing and selling your own product, then affiliate marketing is an excellent option to consider. In this complete guide, we’ll explain exactly how affiliate works, how you can get links to thousands of partner programs, and some key strategies for promoting products to maximize commissions. 

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing enables regular people to earn lucrative commissions simply by promoting other companies’ products. As an affiliate marketer, you essentially act as a freelance sales rep for brands and businesses, directing customers to their offerings through special tracking links. When someone clicks your affiliate link, purchases the product, you receive a hefty percentage of the sale as your reward. Commissions typically range anywhere from 1% to 99% of the product cost.

Why Do Businesses Use Affiliate Programs? 

For companies, affiliate marketing taps into an army of partners who hunt down customers for free upfront, only getting compensated via commissions on direct sales they produce. This helps lower customer acquisition costs which can run from hundreds to tens of thousands per month through conventional advertising and marketing channels. 

Best Affiliate Marketplaces:

There are a variety of affiliate platforms available, with some offering thousands of partner programs across every conceivable niche and industry:

These platforms allow you to sign up for multiple affiliate programs seamlessly with one unified login and centralized payment/tax documentation which saves administrative headaches down the road.

PartnerStack – Specialized in B2B software/SaaS programs 

Impact – Mix of popular B2B & consumer brands 

Amazon Associates – Access Amazon’s program 

Mavely – Mainstream consumer brands like Walmart & Target

ClickBank – Health/finance/software/ebooks offers 

Lemonsqueezy - Subscription Focused Software 

PartnerStack: https://dash.partnerstack.com/invite/f021ae1f978a477b808018ffe1be7829

Mavely: https://shorturl.at/vwDMS

Amazon Associates: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/

Impact: https://impact.com/partners/affiliate-partners/

ClickBank: https://www.clickbank.com/

Lemonsqueezy: https://affiliates.lemonsqueezy.com/programs

Once registered with an affiliate platform, browse the marketplace of brands and offers to apply for ones aligned with your interests and audience. You’ll need to be approved before receiving your customized tracking links and promo tools. For consumer products, your unique link is used to make sure any resulting sales are attributed to you. With software/SaaS programs, you’ll often get a partner portal you can log into to create special discount codes, track sales volumes and more. 

Top Affiliate Models:

There are a few mainstream affiliate models including:

Pay Per Sale - Get paid for every customer that buys after clicking your affiliate link. Most common.

Pay Per Lead - Get paid when someone signs up or becomes a qualified lead. Common with SaaS and financial services.

Pay Per Click - Get paid for users that click your affiliate link. Less common today.

Recurring Commissions - Keep earning monthly commissions as long as the referred user stays signed up for something like a subscription. Very lucrative long term.

Paid Ads Marketing: 

Propeller Ads: https://propellerads.com/

Taboola: https://go.taboola.com/

Google Ads: https://ads.google.com/home/

Facebook Ads: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads

TikTok Ads: https://www.tiktok.com/business/en-US

Promoting Affiliate Links for Maximum Commissions:

The key to earning big affiliate commissions lies in where you strategically place your links for the highest visibility and conversion potential. 

YouTube stands out as an ideal platform thanks to allowing affiliate links directly in video descriptions. If you create ‘listicles’ around proven best software programs for startups or trendiest gadgets for 2023 for example, you can include your links so viewers can easily click to purchase your recommendations. 

An innovative approach is firstly creating searchable YouTube Shorts to gain views/subscribers, before guiding viewers to companion long-form videos housing your affiliate links they can buy from. This leverages viral potential of Shorts, converting viewers into buyers on full videos.

Selling Relevant Products to Engaged Followings 

As outlined in this complete guide, affiliate marketing represents an extremely viable income stream given the right approach and platforms leveraged. By selling relevant products embedded directly in valuable content to engaged followings, you're primed to earn impressive commissions. Give affiliate marketing a try and unleash your earning potential as an independent online marketer.

Create Your Own Affiliate Program: 

LeadDyno: https://www.leaddyno.com/how-it-works
GoHighLevel: https://www.gohighlevel.com/?fp_ref=creator-tutorials50
FirstPromoter: https://firstpromoter.com/

Top Affiliate Marketing Niches

Some top verticals that tend to work well for affiliate promotions include:

Software & SaaS - High commissions recurring monthly as customers continue using a software service. Can promote discounts.

Online Courses & Education - Generates high-intent & valuable leads. Can focus on sub-niches.

Financial Services - Bank account sign-ups, credit cards, insurance plans etc can earn big one-time or recurring commissions.

Travel & Hospitality - Promoting specific hotels, tours and travel platforms works well. High purchase value.

Physical Products - All types of physical products from household items to supplements offer affiliate programs. Look for high margins.

When narrowing down, look to promote affiliate offers that provide big value relevant to your audience interests while having healthy commission rates built in.

Top Affiliate Content Types: 

Content plays a major role in affiliate marketing. Some formats that tend to convert well include: 

Reviews - In-depth reviews, comparisons and buying advice builds trust while linking to purchase options. 

Tutorials & Guides - Step-by-step guidance funnels interest to related affiliate products integrated naturally. 

Coupons & Discounts - People actively seeking discounted options have high intent you can match with relevant promo codes. 

Product Roundups - Comparing the 10 best solutions lets you integrate multiple affiliate links and offers in one place. 

Optimized and high-value content builds authority while allowing natural contextual recommendations tied to affiliate promotions. The goal is providing value not just selling.

Here are some additional affiliate marketing topics to continue the education:

Driving Targeted Traffic:

Some of the top strategies for driving targeted and interested traffic to your affiliate content include:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to get your pages ranking high in Google by targeting valuable long-tail keywords in your niche. This attracts free organic search traffic.
Promotions on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and more by creating eye catching short videos and graphics showcasing the affiliate offers. Use relevant hashtags.
Email marketing by building an engaged subscriber list who opt-in to regularly receive your recommendations - then send promotional affiliate emails.
Paid ads through Google Ads, Facebook Ads and native advertising networks to further amplify your reach and target niche users by demographics and intent.

Tracking Affiliate Link Performance

To calculate your true return on investment and optimize your affiliate strategy, make sure to closely track metrics like:

Click Through Rate on links shows the % of people actually clicking, which helps refine messaging.
Earning Per Click quantifies revenue generated for each link click to find winning offers.
Conversion Rate reveals how many clicks convert to sales, highlighting gaps in the funnel.
Lifetime Value is the recurring and long term commissions earned per customer. 

Affiliate Link and Cookie Duration

Most affiliate programs assign cookies that credit your account for a certain number of days after a visitor clicks your link. Common durations are 30, 60 or 90+ days. This means you can still earn a commission if someone doesn't buy right away and comes back later. Be sure to check the specific cookie duration for any program you join. Some last 6+ months allowing commissions even from very delayed purchases.

Recurring Commissions 

One highly lucrative model is earning lifetime commissions from referrals who sign up for subscription services. With each monthly payment they make, you receive a percentage month after month for the life of that subscriber. Over the long run this can add up to 10X+ the initial commission amount.

Building an Affiliate Site

While you can promote affiliate links across social channels, having your own dedicated site lends further credibility. You can share in-depth content and reviews centered around your niche and recommended offerings. This also establishes an asset you own allowing long term continuity.

Shorten or Disguise Links: 

https://www.shorturl.at/

https://linktree.com

https://t.ly/

Different / Better Way of Listing Affiliate Links: 

📊 Do Your Taxes: https://quickbooks.grsm.io/czf8id367ugg

🎬 Edit Your Videos: https://shorturl.at/bcde2

🌐 Build a Website: https://try.carrd.co/4hvjhkhr

🔍 Keyword Research: https://meetglimpse.com/extension/invite?token=m1g9ykwj1wrc

🎙️ Host Your Podcast: https://www.captivate.fm/signup?ref=mzk2ytn

🤖 All in 1 AI: https://magai.co/?via=alex

📈 Get Leads: https://apollo.grsm.io/zqpzgkbygjup

These are the fundamentals and links you'll need to get started in Affiliate Marketing. Remember, success in affiliate marketing isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. Be patient, experiment, refine your strategies, and most importantly, focus on providing genuine value to your audience.

At Alex Hitt, we offer distinct online marketing strategies tailored to help various businesses and individuals, ranging from small startups, established corporations, to entrepreneurs and influencers. Our primary objective is to help our clients create strong online visibility, generate leads, and improve their conversions. Our strategies are multi-faceted, including SEO optimization, Google Ads management, content creation, podcast advertising, Tik Tok Ads, and social media advertising. For more details on who we help and how we can benefit your business, visit our Who We Help page.

Contact us today by visiting our Contact Page. Let's get your business booming with the power of online advertising!