6 Factors On How To Choose The Right Affiliate Marketing Program

Planning to dip your toes into affiliate marketing?

Do ensure that you have quality content on your website. This is the first step before applying for affiliate marketing programs. Most brands will want their ads to appear on reputable websites (and not shady sites).

But with so many brands offering affiliate marketing programs, which should you join? Here are some factors to consider before deciding on the right affiliate marketing program to join.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. I will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you purchase through these links. Your support encourages me to continue blogging and help with the costs of hosting this site. Thank you!

1. Familiarity: Have You Used The Product Or Service?

The first factor is familiarity.

Are you familiar with the brand, product or service? Have you used the product or engaged the service before?

Equipped with this firsthand experience, you can give a more objective review of the product or service. This shows in your writing where you’ll state both pros and cons, what you like and dislike about it. Of course, if you love the product or service, it also shows in your review!

Such reviews are one of the best content to insert affiliate links and earn commissions. Rather than sugar-coated reviews that only say the good, people trust honest reviews that include the bad too.

For example, I really love SiteGround and Elegant Themes. When writing reviews about them, I include what I like as well as how they may not be suitable for certain people. Take for instance, Elegant Themes is great for design noobs like me who want to have full control of the website design (and not hire designers). Its drag-and-drop visual builder even allows me to design my website all by myself! But of course, I also highlight that if you change your mind one day, removing Elegant Themes codes will be tedious. Therefore, you should only purchase it if you’re very sure that you’ll stick to it until the end.

Therefore, you can consider selling what you love. Check if your favorite brands offer affiliate programs and apply for them. Choosing a product or service you believe in and genuinely enjoy using is a good place to start.

2. Want Or Need: Does Your Target Audience Desire This?

Think whether your target audience wants or needs this product or service. Is this highly desired by your target audience? Choosing an affiliate program that appeals to your target audience will result in a higher conversion rate.

The first step, of course, is understanding exactly who your target audience is. You should already know this. But if you don’t, this is a great chance to identify who your target audience is. You can create a buyer persona by referencing your current customers. Try to be as specific as possible.

Next, do some research. You can directly ask them via email or survey about what challenges they face and what products and services they’re looking for. If your customer base isn’t huge yet, you can study your competition and see what is popular. Or tap into social media and listen to what your target audience is saying.

If there are affiliate marketing programs that solve the problems your target audience is facing, you can consider joining them.

Photo by Elina Fairytale on Pexels

3. Niche: Does The Product Or Service Fit Your Niche?

Whatever product or service that you intend to promote on your website or blog, you need to ensure that it aligns with your niche and content. In other words, you should join affiliate marketing programs which are related to your blog or website.

For instance, if you own a food blog, you can promote restaurants, cafés, food delivery, cookbooks, culinary schools etc. But if you suddenly promote clothes, it’ll seem odd and out of place.

Photo by Kaylah Otto on Unsplash

4. Quality Products & Services: If You’re A Customer, Will You Consider Buying It?

As a consumer, I’m sure you prefer quality goods over subpar goods that don’t even solve your problems. Likewise, your audience will also want quality products and services.

Making your audience happy will lead to long-term affiliate success. By recommending and promoting products and services that provide value to your audience, you’ll earn a good reputation that will help future sales.

To determine whether the products and services are good quality, consider researching them and browsing customers’ reviews and testimonials. This way, you can determine if these products and services solve your audience’s problems.

Source: Ylistyle via Etsy

5. High Commission: Will You Earn A Decent Amount For Promoting The Product Or Service?

Let’s be honest. The reason why we’re dipping our toes into affiliate marketing is to earn some money. You should therefore sign up for affiliate marketing programs that give you a decent commission.

There are 2 factors to consider: conversion rate and commission rate.

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who turn into customers. It’s the percentage of people who click on affiliate links and convert. Note that some brands might be more reputable and established so it’s easier to convert. For example, Etsy.

Commission rate varies by product and industry. It can be a fixed amount or a percentage of the sale. Some products or services are more expensive so the commission rate is higher. For example, Elegant Themes Divi and SiteGround.

It may be tempting to promote cheaper products and services because the conversion rate is higher. Consumers don’t have to think too much to buy a $1 item. Likewise, it’s also tempting to promote expensive products and services because the commission rate is higher. You’ll gain much more money for each sale.

However, I strongly recommend that you promote both lower and higher products to appeal to everyone. Being open to a wide range of products and prices will increase your chance of affiliate success.

Also, you might want to consider recurring commissions. For instance, there are affiliate marketing programs that reward you for every purchase that your referral makes in the first year.

Photo by nattanan23 on Pixabay

6. Vendor Support: Do Vendors Provide Marketing Materials That You Can Use?

When promoting a product or service, you probably need some marketing materials. For instance, when I write a blog post to promote a product or service, I like to include screenshots and banners. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, these images will help to convince readers and visually show them how the product or service adds value and solves their problems.

Here are some marketing materials that vendors can provide to help your affiliate marketing efforts:

• landing pages
• product feeds
• banners

With these marketing materials, you can promote their products and services more easily.

Photo by yourschantz on Pixabay

Now It’s Your Turn

How do you decide which affiliate marketing programs to join? What’s the most important factor to you? Why?