What kind of money can you make as an affiliate marketer? Is affiliate marketing a viable business model anymore? How long will it take me to make a decent living from affiliate marketing? Will I be able to make a living as an affiliate marketer if I quit my job?
On a variety of forums, these and dozens of other questions can be found. And there are always newcomers who are enthralled by the concept of passive income but skeptical of their ability to make money.
So, how much money can you expect to make as an affiliate marketer in 2021? We’ll look at how difficult it is to answer this question in this article.
The affiliate marketing industry is still growing. Affiliate marketing spending in the United States alone is expected to reach $8.2 billion by 2022, according to Statista.
As a result, there is plenty of opportunity to advance and earn. We believe this even more when we see examples of super-affiliates publicly disclosing their earnings and success stories.
Consider the following well-known super-affiliates for inspiration:
Pat Flynn, a well-known affiliate marketer, increased his affiliate revenue from $8000 to $100.000 per month.
Tom from Onlinemediamasters increased his annual income from $20k to $150k in just two years.
In 2017, Doug Cunnington earned $70,000 from a single niche website.
Isn’t it inspiring? People become impatient and sceptical after a few months of no or minor earnings. Some people give up because they have lost hope; others start asking questions and looking for new ways to make money. They are still far short of the desired numbers. So, how much does a genuine affiliate earn?
The STM forum recently conducted a poll asking about affiliates’ annual earnings. The following graph depicts the results:
This graph should give you an idea of how much affiliate marketing earnings can fluctuate. As you can see, many bloggers and affiliate marketers earn less than $20.000 per month ($1.600) per month. Those who make a lot of money, on the other hand, are a minority.
Based on their monthly earnings, affiliates can be classified into the following categories:
Those who are brand new to the game and are currently losing money;
Affiliates who are just starting out can earn up to $300 per day;
Intermediate affiliates, with daily earnings ranging from $300 to $3,000;
Affiliates who earn more than $3,000 per day;
Affiliate marketers who earn more than $10,000 per day are known as super affiliates, also known as “gurus of affiliate marketing.”
Affiliate marketing success requires perseverance and consistency. You can’t assume that your profit will always be $300 per day if you used to make $300 per day. In Affiliate marketing, there have been numerous instances where people’s earnings have skyrocketed overnight after earning a relatively small income for a long time. It all comes down to selecting the appropriate niche and strategy. There are numerous examples of affiliate marketers who have gone from making a lot of money to making nothing.
Here are some affiliate commission examples from various niches:
Not only do affiliate terms vary by niche, but similar terms and peculiarities are unlikely to be applied to affiliate programmes within the same niche. Here are some affiliate niches with examples of affiliate earnings:
Software affiliate programmes are available.
If you’re looking for the most profitable affiliate programmes, look into software and web hosting companies. A commission of up to 30% may be applied to each payment. In the software industry, the check size is obviously large. However, there must be another side to that coin. It’s one of the most appealing, as well as one of the most competitive. Probably not for someone who is brand new to the game.
Programs for travel affiliates
Travel agencies, airlines, booking aggregators, review sites, and travel goods are where most affiliates in the travel niche make money. For example, 20 skip-the-line tickets to Barcelona’s La Sagrada Famlia will cost you around $70, and airport transfers will cost you around $7-10. The niche in which you work determines your commission rate and total earnings. Consider the following illustration:
Affiliate programmes like JetRadar, KAYAK, Kiwi.com, and others pay a 1-3 percent commission on total order value.
Hotel affiliate programmes such as Booking.com, Agoda, Hostelworld, and others pay 3-12 percent commission on total order value.
GetYourGuide, Klook, Viator, and other programmes pay 3-7 percent commission on total order value for tours and activities.
Car rental affiliate programmes such as DiscoverCars, RentalCars, AutoEurope, and others pay 4-15 percent commission on total order value. You can join major travel affiliate programmes like Booking.com, GetYourGuide, and over 60 others through the Travelpayouts affiliate network.
Keep in mind that, while the travel industry is highly competitive, it is still less so than e-commerce or dating.
Programs for e-commerce affiliates
You’ll need a large audience to make a decent living in eCommerce. Consider Amazon, where you can earn anywhere between 4% and 8.5 percent commission on sales. The check amount is typically small because these are primarily B2C sales. You can earn at least $1,000 per month with around 20-40 hours of work per month if you have a large audience and put in enough effort.
Online dating affiliate programmes
In the dating niche, affiliate commissions could reach $12 per lead, $5 for referral commissions, and $500 for the first order. If an affiliate programme offers a loyalty (bonus) programme, your commission may increase after a certain number of sign-ups.
Programs for loan affiliates
Loans are a niche where companies are fiercely competing for customers, and as an affiliate in this niche, you can make a good living. According to High Paying Affiliate Programs Loans affiliate programmes, affiliate marketers can earn anywhere from $1 to $5000 depending on the loan size.
Fitness and nutrition affiliate programmes
A healthy lifestyle has been one of the most talked-about topics for a long time. It’s only going to get bigger. If you promote fitness and health products, every supplement sale can earn you up to 15-40% commission.
How long does it take to build a stable income stream?
You should not quit your job right away because it may take some time to get to the point where you can earn a consistent income from affiliate programmes. It can take anywhere from 6 months to several years for affiliate marketing to pay off. Your overall success will be determined by your ability to create quality content, optimise for SEO, drive traffic, and promote your affiliate products. Remember to promote your company via social media and email marketing. You’re not going to become a millionaire in a day. Having the right marketing strategy in place and being consistent in your affiliate product promotion, on the other hand, will get you to your desired income level.
Make a decision about the type of affiliate marketer you want to be.
There are several ways to make money in affiliate marketing; you must choose one. You can either work as a publisher, promoting products from a variety of brands and advertisers, or you can create your own affiliate network and turn it into a full-fledged digital advertising firm. You get to choose your own path!
We suggest that you look into both parties’ earnings and the role affiliate marketing plays in them.
You can make money as a publisher as an affiliate marketer.
If you’re starting from scratch and don’t have any money, your only option is to become a publisher and promote products. Isn’t it apparent that it’s fairly simple? While this may appear to be the case, in practise it is not. Expect a few links to be posted and hundreds of people to click on them to make a purchase. To do so, you must first create and implement a well-thought-out marketing strategy.
In order to get started in affiliate marketing, you’ll need to take two steps:
- Choose a niche.
- Consider starting a blog or using another platform to share useful information.
- Choosing an affiliate market to promote
In order to determine your job satisfaction and potential earnings, you must first choose an affiliate niche.
As a result, when choosing one, you should think about your own personal preferences for the product. If you already have a popular blog, you can use the science to your advantage and pick the vertical that best complements your current content. You can choose something that is related to your professional background, your hobbies, or a passion of yours.
Find out what the average affiliate commissions for products in your chosen vertical are as well. Prepare to learn about a variety of commissions as well as the terms and conditions of affiliate programmes. Knowing the average commissions will also assist you in determining how much effort and content you’ll need to produce in order to achieve the desired profit. We’ve compiled a quick list of affiliate commissions for the most popular industries.
Creating a blog
As a publisher, you’ll need an online platform to post affiliate links. Affiliates can use a blog or a YouTube channel to promote their products. If you think you’ll be able to handle it in time, you can do both.
It’s best if you don’t pick a platform solely on the basis of how comfortable you are in front of the camera. It’s important to note that there are some significant differences between blogging and vlogging. Here are a few of the most important ones:
A blog, on the other hand, is yours, whereas a YouTube channel is not. If you want to sell your YouTube channel, you won’t be able to.
In terms of SEO, blogging is more difficult.
Blogging costs money for the domain, hosting, and development, whereas Youtube is completely free.
You can change the text and add new affiliate links over time. Changes to videos that have already been published are not possible.
Here are a few ideas for how to promote affiliate content.
I’ve decided to start a new blog. Is that to say I’m all set to leave?
Clearly not. You can’t just start a blog and then add an affiliate link to it. You certainly can, but it will be to your detriment. We believe you are aware of the situation.
Make your blog more popular by increasing the number of people who read it.
It’s always been the goal of affiliate marketing to be unobtrusive. Users should be unaware that they are watching a commercial. As much native character as possible should be present in the setting. To do so, you’ll need to consistently produce content in order to build a loyal audience interested in the advertised products.
You must first obtain traffic in order to engage in digital marketing. The majority of ad networks will ask about your traffic volume when you apply to join them. As a result, always remember that traffic comes first, then sales.
Don’t underestimate the value of building your email list; it will help you expand your reach across various marketing channels. Free webinars and tutorials are great ways to get people to sign up for your email list.
Also, don’t forget about SEO.
You won’t get much traffic if your website isn’t well-optimized for search engines. For top search rankings, do your research and use niche-specific keywords in the right places, as well as create competitive content. If that isn’t enough, look for SEO tools to assist you with blog optimization.
Become a member of affiliate programmes and ad networks.
Once you have a blog with consistent traffic, you can start applying for affiliate programmes. Consider using affiliate networks such as Amazon, Clickbank, Rakuten, Commission Junctions, and others to promote a variety of programmes and products. You should, however, consider a stand-alone partner programme. Look for information about the affiliate programme on the websites of the products you want to promote. Not every business joins an affiliate network; some choose to start their own and recruit affiliates.
Today, marketplaces such as Affise Reach, which bring together various media partners (affiliates) and advertisers, can make finding partners even easier.
What professional development opportunities do you see in affiliate marketing?
The size of your monthly check in relation to the amount of effort and time you put into the job is, of course, your first personal KPI. In the end, your goal as an affiliate marketer is to earn a passive income.
Second, if you’re a seasoned affiliate looking for new opportunities, you might want to consider starting your own affiliate network.
- Learn how to build your own affiliate network from the ground up.
- Affiliate marketing allows you to earn money as a vendor.
Assume you’ve designed and developed your own product. If that’s the case, you’ll probably agree that as a product owner, you should concentrate on improving product quality or providing direct product delivery. You’d like someone else to handle the promotion for you, and you’d like them to do an excellent job.
Whether or not a vendor has in-house marketing, including an affiliate programme in your marketing strategy is a great asset. Sales can be significantly increased with affiliate assistance.
Interesting fact: Amazon was the first to introduce an Amazon affiliate programme to boost profits as a vendor from the beginning.
What is the best course of action?
In this situation, vendors have two options: join an affiliate network and build a partner programme there, or build their own partner programme on a SaaS partner marketing platform. You can compare two options here.
An advertiser can create a programme after registering. Advertisers typically start by describing the partner programme, including its rules and policies, as well as marketing collateral. Once everything is in place, they begin recruiting affiliates to join their programme.
The benefit of running a partner programme is that you get access to all ad campaign data. You can keep track of all of your partners’ performance to see which ones are the most effective.
