It is no longer news that affiliate marketing is one of the most profitable businesses in the gig economy. Although this business is lucrative, relatively easy, and cheap to start, a lot of affiliate marketing enthusiasts have backed out of the scene given the dearth of knowledge and information on finding the best types of affiliate partners.
If you have been confused about looking for an affiliate program or a partner marketing program, this publication is tailored for you.
There are chunks of programs out there but it appears difficult for budding affiliates to know the niches that best suit their businesses because they probably did not dig deep or know how to navigate the sites.
Or, it is even possible that the program you want to pitch your tenth with only accepts specific or a handful of partners. As a merchant, you should inspect to check for sites to check for commonalities or if they are all over the place. Else you may not know the type of campaign that would appeal to your audience.
You must have been wondering already about different and the best types of affiliate partners. Below is a list of the best types of affiliate partners but bear in mind that they are all related.
In this article, we will be exploring the best types of affiliate partners that you can use to reach your audience in the most cost-effective way.
1. Search Affiliate Partners
These are business managers and owners who go to web search engines including Bing and Google plus other advertising platforms.
In this category, merchants are constantly worried about the source of traffic being used by affiliates in promoting their particular offers. This ensures that the chosen audience is the right fit for the promotion and subsequent sales of certain products and offerings.
2. Mobile
Mobile activities now account for the majority of digital footprints on the Internet. Most people use their smartphones. To shop and navigate the web as it is easier and more fun.
Certain merchants have developed their software with their unique affiliate links. This is a perfect solution for sites that engage in shopping comparisons or coupons using their app. It can also work for standalone apps. An example is Shazam which is used for music streaming through affiliate links that redirect to Apple iTunes. Gaming apps on the other hand build their monetization strategy around incentives.
3. Email
Email marketing has become one of the leading digital marketing strategies and you can count that it will always reach the very person you target. Subsequently, the factor that determines conversion is the email content among others.
Email is great for affiliate marketing as you can target certain demography rather than relying on Google or Facebook traffic. You can effectively tell your audience about current deals and special promotions.
The disadvantage of using email is that fraudsters now send spam to millions of users who now disregard many emails promoting any offers. However, there’s a disadvantage of working with email affiliates because dubious people disguise themselves as email affiliates to perpetrate fraud.
4. Shopping Comparison
Mostly utilised by e-commerce platforms, Shopping comparison relies on data feeds embedded with affiliate links. When going through these websites, users sift through multiple products and items with many interesting them.
However, the products that attract the most users are placed by a combination of keywords and excellent product features and/or reviews.
Users have to click on the embedded affiliate link to purchase the item, earning the affiliate platform some commission in the process.
5. Bloggers
Blogs are created for different purposes. Some are built for commercial purposes, while others may be in the deep interest of the owners. That said, you will always find big enough blogs in almost every niche that may exist.
These blogs will have a wide enough reach for users to buy items using affiliate links that have been strategically placed within the blog content or banner. The products have to be relevant to the blog readers for them to convert highly.
6. Loyalty or Cashback Websites
These platforms have a way of rewarding their members for making purchases through affiliate links. The site usually gets a commission for the items bought on the platform. They will in turn give the buyers a cut of the commission which is a great way to bring back buyers to the site.
This doesn’t in any way lower the profits the website makes. In fact, it ensures buyers to keep coming back to make purchases and get something in return for buying products on the website.
7. Content Sites
These sites include platforms where various articles and niches can be published. This could be an aggregator or a general-purpose website. Many of these sites offer columns at intervals. They also monetize them using guest posts, links, and affiliate banners. Forums are another great example of sites like this.
8. Review Sites
Review sites give you a description of a product so you can have a great idea of what using the product would be like. For instance, Amazon affiliates are advised to have a review website as this can help to generate great profits and build a brand.
However, you should ensure that you do this well and optimise it for online sales. Choose strong keyword URLs. Do not use too many popups and widgets. You should also consider the reviews that your readers are interested in.
9. Coupon Sites
Getting coupon websites and deals should be quite easy as these are quite common in affiliate marketing. Prospective buyers go through several e-Commerce platforms before deciding to purchase an item. This is because they are looking for good deals and platforms where they can pay a little less.
Affiliates can offer discount coupons or codes to their users. They can earn a commission for sales made through their links.
10. News and Media Sites
New and media websites are easily the most visited platforms. They have a large audience who frequently visit their sites multiple times daily. So, you can get lots of prospective buyers from these sites.
Although these sites used to rank low among the most profitable affiliate marketing partner programs, the various advertising opportunities unique to this platform have steadily changed the narrative.
Affiliate links can be published within articles and reach millions of people in a matter of minutes.
