7 Best Affiliate Marketing Programs For Beginners To Make Money In 2022
7 Best Affiliate Marketing Programs For Beginners
Now let’s take a look at the best affiliate marketing programs for first-timers— those that give you the best chance of making money online with your new business.
- Amazon Associates
Jeff Bezos is a pretty clever guy.
He’s also indescribably wealthy – his bank balance looks like his name converted to binary.
That wealth comes from foresight, like being one of the first online retailers to offer an affiliate program way back in 1996.
Yes, there was an Internet in 1996, except you could hear it when you picked up the phone. Ask your parents what that means if you don’t understand.
The Amazon Affiliate Program (aka Amazon Associates Program) is one of the oldest affiliate programs out there. And it’s vast, encompassing all of the products they sell online. So if you can find something on Amazon, you can sell it and get a cut of the profit.
And that includes everything from books to bullhorns, and anything in between – there’s something for every audience.
Amazon’s affiliate marketing program is pretty much the first place we send brand new affiliates simply because it’s so easy to use, especially when creating your first affiliate link(s).
Pssssst. Want to learn how to build an Amazon affiliate site free of charge? We give you step-by-step instructions. You can also check out our Amazon Affiliate Program Review.
URL: Amazon Associates Program
Cost: Free
Type: Affiliate network
You get paid: Net 60
Payment threshold: $10
Best suited to: Affiliate marketing beginners building their first site
Pros
International brand recognition – everyone knows what Amazon is
385 million products for Amazon Associates to promote
They place huge focus on customer service, so you benefit from that
Link creation and management is super easy
Easy-to-use affiliate dashboard
Cons
Amazon changes their mind on commission rates as often as they change their underwear
The 24-hour cookie is far from ideal
- CJ Affiliate
CJ Affiliate — formerly known as Commission Junction — is one of the oldest affiliate networks out there, one I’ve been using since about 2002.
What makes them different to Amazon is that CJ Affiliate specializes in big brand names, as well as smaller product and service suppliers.
So, at the time of writing this they represent mahoosive companies such as Zappos, Walgreens, Verizon, Under Armour, Trip Advisor, Staples, Sonos, Disney Shops, Sears, and Samsung.
And roughly 2,473 other affiliate marketing programs.
In addition to the super diverse range of brands and products, you also get all the tools successful affiliate marketers need — from excellent support to simple affiliate link creation.
But what I really love about the CJ Affiliate network is their metrics – I can clearly see if an affiliate program is profitable or not.
That’s a huge time saver.
There’s no guesswork involved, so you can map out exactly what affiliate programs you’re going to promote and roughly how much you can expect to make per sale.
URL: Commission Junction
Cost: Free
Type: Affiliate network
Payment threshold: $50
You get paid: Net 30
Best suited to: Affiliate marketers with 3 – 6 months experience under their belt.
Pros
Intuitive interface and dashboard – ideal for affiliate marketing beginners
Lots of really big brand names under one roof
Direct display advertising (flat fee and commission) opportunities
You can find profitable affiliate programs without having to guess
Support and tutorials make things very easy
Cons
Big brands come and go on this network all the time
There is a very mild learning curve when compared to Amazon
- ShareASale
ShareASale is probably one of the most overlooked affiliate networks out there.
Part of this is because the interface looks very 2002 – it hasn’t changed since I first signed up for my account many, many moons ago.
And the lack of a “Wow” factor puts some new affiliate marketers off.
But my friends, my friends – ShareASale has some of the best affiliate programs out there. Some pay $300 – $350 per sale. And no, those affiliate programs have nothing to do with…umm “enlargement” products, or anything like that.
In fact, they represent around 5,000 different affiliate programs, but these are focused more on smaller but profitable companies, rather than just huge brand names.
The affiliate marketing dashboard is basic but functional, and sometimes the lack of complexity is actually a good thing.
ShareASale is one network you should seriously consider signing up for.
URL: ShareASale
Cost: Free
Type: Affiliate network
Payment threshold: $50
You get paid: Net 30
Best suited to: An affiliate marketer looking for emerging brands or more tangential products and services.
Pros
Thousands of products and services to promote
Smaller, unknown but very worthwhile affiliate programs
The “Search for Merchants’ function is far superior to Commission Junction, for example
Their ‘PowerRank’ metric shows you where an affiliate program sits in the top 1000 on ShareASale
You don’t have to wait months to get paid
Cons
A very dated interface
The approval process for affiliate programs can be unpredictable at times
- ClickBank
ClickBank is yet another affiliate network that falls into the “grandparent” category — they’ve been online since 1998.
And it’s a real rags-to-riches business story – one started by friends sitting around a garage, but that eventually transformed into a business with US$3 billion per year in sales.
While every other affiliate program was trying to figure out how to ship goods while still generating a profit, the guys at ClickBank turned that idea on its head by focusing instead on selling digital products.
That meant instant delivery, almost no overheads, and the ability for them to work directly with creators. And although they could never have imagined social media being a thing, their range of products can also work extremely well with those audiences.
You can find all of their products in the ClickBank Marketplace, but they do also feature some physical products these days.
The Marketplace interface is functional but looks like it hasn’t changed since 1998. It’s a minor gripe, but it’s long overdue a facelift.
If you need a little more of a helping hand to get started as a ClickBank affiliate, check out our (well Gael wrote it, so it’s a collective we) article on how to make money with ClickBank.
URL: ClickBank
Cost: Free
Type: Affiliate network
Best suited to: Marketers who prefer promoting digital products
Payment threshold: $50
You get paid: Net 60
Pros
You rarely need to be approved to promote a program
Probably the best network for anyone doing affiliate marketing without a website
Their top-tier programs average out at about $50 per sale
You’ll have lots of opportunities to promote programs with recurring commission
Most of the pre-selling is done for you by the merchant’s landing page
Digital products can work hand-in-hand with email marketing/social media
Creating your affiliate link is super easy
Cons
The Marketplace hasn’t changed one bit in 19 years – it’s functional but very dated
Certain programs can result in very high refund rates
- Rakuten Advertising
You might not have heard of Rakuten, but they’re an absolutely Japanese affiliate marketing service provider.
They put their foot in the door of the affiliate marketing scene when they acquired LinkShare back in 2005.
Since then they’ve taken the Rakuten Linkshare platform from being a presence in the market to winning awards most years.
So….is it suitable for beginner affiliates?
The short answer is “Yes”, but let me elaborate:
The interface is pretty similar to most other affiliate networks
They represent 1,000+ brands and businesses
Their merchants supply everything from gifts and flowers through to consumer electronics and office supplies.
The only potential downside is that Rakuten is a serious player on the affiliate marketing scene, so the approval process can be slow, especially if your site has little or no traffic.
With that being said, Rakuten is a sleeping giant most newbie affiliates don’t pay enough attention to.
Some affiliates have implied this network is slow to pay out, but I’ve never had an issue with them.
URL: Rakuten affiliate program
Cost: Free
Type: Affiliate network
Best suited to: Affiliates who want to broaden their horizons beyond Amazon and eBay.
Payment threshold: $50
You get paid: Net 30
Pros
Lots of big brand affiliate programs live here
Reasonably intuitive interface – it gets the job done
Handles over US$100 million in sales transactions each year
One of the oldest affiliate networks there is
Cons
An interface that’s so dated it makes me look young
The lack of metrics data gives me stomach ache
- Impact
Impact is essentially another big affiliate marketing network (despite claiming otherwise), although it’s not as old as the likes of ClickBank and ShareASale.
But age, after all, is just a number, so Impact’s comparative youthfulness definitely shouldn’t stop you signing up. Its founders created Commission Junction, so they clearly know what they’re doing!
Much like the other big-name networks, you’ll find tons of household names on Impact, including Adidas, Airbnb, and HSBC. At time of writing, a grand total of 2,517 brands were using the platform to reach new audiences, with new advertisers joining the network all the time.
Unsurprisingly for a (relative) newcomer to the world of affiliate marketing, Impact’s user interface is a lot fancier than most affiliate networks.
But this isn’t just about cosmetic appeal — it also incorporates some smart, user-friendly features.
One of my favorites is the “brands to work with instantly” section, which lists all the advertisers offering instant approvals. It’s a fantastic feature that makes it easy for new affiliate marketers to get up and running fast.
URL: impact.com
Cost: Free
Type: Affiliate network
Best suited to: Affiliate marketers looking for programs offering instant approvals
Payment threshold: Varies by payment method
You get paid: Monthly
Pros
Easy to find brands offering instant approvals
Big choice of affiliate programs (more than 2,500 at time of writing)
Smart interface is more intuitive than older networks
Home to plenty of big-name brands like Adidas and Airbnb
Wide choice of categories, from shoes and apparel to B2B services
Multiple ways to cash out your earnings, including PayPal and direct transfer
Cons
The wealth of features can make it a little complex for new affiliate marketers
This is a minor one, but it doesn’t have quite as many big names as Commission Junction
- Awin
While it’s hard to quantify, Awin can definitely claim to be the largest affiliate network out there, with more than 16,500 advertisers and 225,000 publishers at time of writing.
In 2020 alone, the platform generated an impressive 182 million sales and its affiliates earned $1 billion in commission, so it’s a pretty big deal.
And it’s not only big; it’s also one of the oldest networks. Awin has technically only existed since 2017, but its roots can be traced back to the zanox and Affiliate Window networks, both of which started out back in 2000.
Not content with running its own network, Awin also acquired another of the networks on this list — ShareASale — a couple years ago. However, they operate as totally separate entities with their own merchants, so there’s nothing stopping successful affiliates signing up for both.
As you’d expect, there are plenty of big names on Awin, including Emirates, Etsy, and Under Armour.
However, as an affiliate marketer, my favorite thing about Awin is its commitment to fast payments. Many of its affiliate programs offer accelerated payments, plus you’ll get paid for validated transactions regardless of when Awin gets paid by the advertiser.
URL: Awin
Cost: Free
Type: Affiliate network
Best suited to: Affiliates who want to get paid promptly!
Payment threshold: From $20
You get paid: Once or twice a month (you choose)
Pros
Accelerated payments mean you don’t have to wait around for commissions
Huge choice of affiliate marketing programs
Easy-to-use platform with clear, consistent labels and layouts
Tracking is easy to follow and understand through your Awin dashboards
Slicker interface than most networks
Lots of big-name brands to work with
Cons
With 260 affiliate marketers joining the network every day, you’ll face a lot of competition
While it operates globally, it’s most heavily concentrated on UK and EU advertisers