What Is Affiliate Marketing? Everything You Need to Know in 2025

Affiliate Marketing offers a win-win opportunity for both brands and content creators. Brands gain exposure to highly engaged audiences through bloggers, podcasters, online magazines, and social media influencers. Meanwhile, creators earn commissions from sales or referrals, creating a dependable income stream from their content.

This guide will walk you through the essentials of affiliate marketing, including expert tips, actionable steps, and examples of top-performing affiliate programs.

Table of Contents

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing model where affiliates (publishers) promote products or services for retailers or advertisers. Affiliates earn a commission by driving specific results, such as generating leads, increasing website traffic, or boosting sales.

Affiliates typically share custom affiliate links with their audiences, enabling companies to track the origin of the traffic or sales. While commissions are often tied to completed sales, some programs reward other actions like free-trial signups, app downloads, or website clicks.

In recent years, affiliate marketing has grown into a profitable avenue for creators, entrepreneurs, and anyone seeking a side income.

How Affiliate Marketing Works

Affiliate programs often have no sign-up costs, making them accessible to virtually anyone. These programs allow individuals or businesses to promote products and earn commissions on successful sales.

Here’s a high-level overview of the process:

An affiliate shares a unique affiliate link on their blog, website, or social platforms.
A user clicks the link and browses the advertiser’s website.
The user makes a purchase.
The affiliate network tracks the transaction.
The affiliate earns a commission.

Commission rates vary based on the product, industry, and partnership terms. For example:

Low-ticket items: Categories like pet supplies or skincare may offer commissions around 5%.
High-ticket items: Industries such as finance and software might pay commissions exceeding 20%.
Flat rates: Some programs offer a set payment per sale rather than a percentage.

Successful affiliates often negotiate custom deals with their partners for higher commissions.

3 Types of Affiliate Marketing

1: Unattached Affiliate Marketing

This approach involves promoting products unrelated to the affiliate’s expertise or audience. Unattached marketers often use pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on social media or search engines to drive traffic.

2: Related Affiliate Marketing

Affiliates focus on promoting products relevant to their niche or audience. These marketers typically build trust through blogs, YouTube channels, TikTok, or other platforms.

3: Involved Affiliate Marketing

This strategy includes creating in-depth content around specific products or services, such as reviews or tutorials. By offering detailed and honest recommendations, involved affiliates establish credibility and foster trust.

Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing Pros

Straightforward Execution: Affiliates focus on driving traffic and sales while the retailer handles product creation and logistics.
Low-Cost Entry: Joining affiliate programs is usually free, requiring minimal upfront investment.
Scalability: Successful affiliates can increase earnings by expanding their audience, promoting more products, or negotiating better commissions.

Affiliate Marketing Cons

Time-Consuming: Building a reliable income stream takes consistent effort over months or even years.
Limited Control: Affiliates must adhere to the rules of affiliate programs, which can restrict promotional methods.
Revenue Dependence: Earnings are a fraction of sales, and affiliates rely on their partners to honor commission agreements.

Affiliate Marketing in 2025

Affiliate marketing continues to evolve as a lucrative option for creators, side hustlers, and businesses. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced marketer, leveraging the right strategies and partnerships can help you succeed in this ever-growing field.

Who Should Become an Affiliate Marketer?

For new businesses, affiliate marketing offers a way to generate income with minimal overhead costs. For established creators, it presents an opportunity to earn additional revenue from an existing audience or content portfolio.

Here are three key indicators that affiliate marketing may be a good fit for you:

You Have Access to an Audience

If you’ve built an engaged and loyal following, you may be in a prime position to tap into affiliate marketing. This could be a broad audience or a smaller, niche community of dedicated enthusiasts.

For instance, a wellness podcast might collaborate with brands that align with its listeners’ interests, such as a vitamin supplement, a meditation app, or a premium mattress.

You’re a Content Creator

If you excel at crafting content that resonates with platform algorithms and engages large audiences, affiliate marketing could be a viable business model for you.

Many affiliates generate income by optimizing their websites to rank well in search engine results. Others are skilled at creating viral content on platforms like Instagram Reels or YouTube.

You’re a Trusted Authority

If you have expertise in a specific product or service category, you can leverage that knowledge to succeed in affiliate marketing. Educating your audience with insightful content can be a powerful way to drive traffic to partner websites.

How Affiliate Marketers Earn Money (and How Much)

Affiliate programs offer various payment models. These models, sometimes referred to as pricing structures or payout types, dictate how affiliates get paid based on user actions.

A payment model outlines the specific behavior that affiliates will be compensated for. For instance, if you’re promoting a software product, the goal might be getting users to sign up for a free trial. For physical products, the goal could be securing a purchase.

Many programs operate under last-click attribution, meaning the affiliate who gets the last click before a purchase receives 100% of the credit for the sale.

5 Ways Affiliates Earn Money

Per Sale: Affiliates earn a commission for each sale made, a common model in ecommerce.
Per Action: Affiliates are paid for specific actions, such as newsletter signups, contact requests, or form submissions.
Per Install: Affiliates earn money for every app or software installation they generate.
Per Lead: Affiliates are compensated each time a new lead is created.
Per Click: Affiliates earn a commission for every click on their affiliate link. This model is often used by large brands focused on increasing brand awareness.

How Much Can Affiliate Marketers Earn?

According to data from 2023, most affiliates earn at least $1,000 per month from affiliate links shared on social media. When combined with a website or other marketing channels, affiliate marketing can evolve into a lucrative full-time business.

As reported by Payscale, a compensation software company, the average annual salary for affiliate marketers is over $56,000, based on more than 7,000 salary profiles. However, many marketers earn far more, especially those with large, engaged audiences.

Typically, the larger the following, the higher the income potential. However, a small, highly-targeted audience can also be incredibly profitable if the right offers are presented.

The earnings potential largely depends on the niche. For example, business-related affiliate programs often offer significantly higher commissions compared to those in categories like books, media, or clothing.

It’s also essential to consider the conversion rate of a niche—the likelihood that a referred visitor will take the desired action. Weighing the potential of a referral against the effort required can help determine the profitability of a given affiliate program.

How to Start Affiliate Marketing in 4 Steps

Pick a Channel and Format
Determine Your Niche
Find an Affiliate Program
Choose Your First Product

1. Pick a Channel and Format

The first step in becoming an affiliate marketer is to select a marketing channel to reach your audience and decide on the content format you’ll use for that platform.

Common marketing channels include:

Organic search
Email
Instagram
TikTok
YouTube

2. Determine Your Niche

When selecting a niche, affiliate marketers typically follow one of two approaches:

They choose a niche they are passionate about.
They select a niche based on audience demand and analysis.

Opting for a niche you are already familiar with helps you appear more authentic and trustworthy to potential customers. It also simplifies the process of choosing products and brands to promote.

For example, if you started a blog to document your experiences as a new pet owner, it would make sense to focus on affiliate marketing within the pet care industry. This aligns with both your content and audience’s interests.

Alternatively, choosing a niche based on audience analysis may reveal profitable opportunities that are less competitive. This strategy could help you establish a foothold in an untapped market before others catch on.

However, keep in mind that this method may put you in competition with more knowledgeable content creators. To succeed, you’ll need tools like social listening, website analytics, and social media insights to fully understand your audience’s preferences.

3. Find an Affiliate Program

To generate income as an affiliate marketer, the products you promote must be relevant to your audience. Getting this wrong can harm your credibility and hinder your success.

If you’re unsure where to find products to promote, explore affiliate networks that host hundreds of programs. Popular networks include:

Impact
CJ
ClickBank
FlexOffers
LinkConnector
ShareASale

Alternatively, you can visit business websites to check if they offer affiliate programs. Many businesses, including Shopify, have their own affiliate opportunities.

A more direct approach is reaching out to product owners or brands you admire to ask if they run affiliate programs. If they don’t, they might be open to creating one, such as offering a special coupon code for you to share with your followers.

Always review the terms of service for affiliate programs to ensure you comply with their rules. For example, your affiliate link may include a cookie with an expiration period, and some programs might not permit the use of pay-per-click ads using the company’s name.

4. Choose Your First Product

When selecting your first product to promote, ensure that it aligns with your target audience’s needs or the audience you plan to cultivate.

Ask yourself:

Is this product something my target audience would find valuable?
Does it align with my expertise and brand?

Additionally, consider whether the product or service is appropriate for the platform you’re using. For instance, home décor and fashion may perform well on image-heavy platforms like Instagram. In contrast, more complex purchases, such as software, might convert better on platforms like blogs or YouTube that allow for detailed content.

How to Join Shopify’s Affiliate Program

The Shopify Affiliate Program is available to educators, influencers, and content creators globally. Shopify affiliates inspire individuals to embark on their entrepreneurial journey with Shopify or show existing merchants the advantages of switching platforms.

Becoming a Shopify affiliate is free. Once accepted into the program, you’ll earn a commission every time a Shopify merchant completes a free trial and commits to a full-price plan.

Here’s everything you need to know about joining the Shopify affiliate program:

Affiliate Criteria

To be eligible for Shopify’s affiliate program, you must meet these requirements:

Own and manage a website
Have an established audience
Create original content such as online courses, articles, or videos
Have experience with Shopify or other ecommerce platforms

You must also follow Shopify’s brand guidelines to ensure you’re using their branded assets correctly.

Application Process

To become a Shopify affiliate, complete the application form, which takes about five minutes.

During the application, you’ll need to accept Shopify’s contract terms, which outline payout rates for referrals based on location. The terms also explain the payment process.

You’ll be asked how you plan to refer merchants. This could be through review content, courses, or engagement with your existing audience.

Afterward, link your promotional channels to your application, such as your website, social media profiles, podcast, newsletter, or other methods to reach potential customers.

If you don’t already use Impact (Shopify’s affiliate management platform), you will need to create an account, which can be done directly on the application form.

Impact

Shopify utilizes Impact, a third-party software, to manage its affiliate program. Affiliates use Impact to generate and manage referral links.

Inside Impact, you’ll find thousands of pre-made referral links and creative assets uploaded by Shopify’s design team. These assets are tested to drive conversions.

You can attach affiliate links to these assets and add tracking codes to monitor the performance of your links. Shopify’s affiliate cookie window lasts for 30 days.

Once You’ve Applied

Shopify will review your application and notify you of the outcome, typically within three to five days.

If approved, you’ll receive an email confirming your acceptance, along with links to helpful tools to get started.

For more information on the Shopify Affiliate Program, including details on payments and affiliate strategy tips, check out the program’s help documentation.

9 Tips for Affiliate Marketing Success

1: Build Trust

Trustworthiness is a universal affiliate marketing tip. Always maintain your brand image by promoting products you genuinely believe in.

Being trustworthy means publishing honest content. For example, when reviewing a product, share your authentic opinion based on personal experience. The more transparent you are, the more trustworthy you seem.

Trust is even more critical in certain niches. For instance, promoting a $1,000 online course requires more trust than recommending a $20 t-shirt.

Desirae Odjick, founder of Half Banked, suggests building trust by promoting a limited number of affiliates or only recommending products you personally use.

2: Talk to Product Users and Experts

Consider interviewing people who use the product or service you’re promoting or creating content about the product’s brand or inventor. Adding this context can enrich your reviews and provide a more compelling narrative for your audience.

3: Create a Product Tutorial

An effective strategy is creating how-to guides or tutorials related to the product or service you’re promoting.

Many people search for how-to content like “How to save money for college” or “How to decorate a laundry room.” By offering tutorials that address searchers’ needs and highlight a product’s benefits, you can encourage stronger customer incentives to make a purchase.

4: Build an Email List

An email list is a powerful tool for maintaining connections with your audience outside social media and web browsers.

Consider sending a weekly newsletter that features affiliate promotions. Include valuable content for your subscribers, such as:

Free downloads
Reports
Business insights
Entertaining stories
News updates
Special deals

If subscribers engage with your emails, always reply promptly. Consistency in the quality and frequency of newsletters is vital. Occasionally, promote affiliate products within these emails, but avoid bombarding them with constant promotions.

5: Find Relevant Search Terms

If you’re promoting a product on your blog, research relevant keywords people may search for. Tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner are free to use and can help you identify the best search terms.

6: Use the Product

Creating firsthand content, such as tutorials or reviews, can significantly impact your affiliate marketing strategy.

For example, you could create a video demonstrating a physical product or explain how to maximize the value of a digital tool. Sharing your personal experience adds depth to your content, making it more relatable and authentic.

Unboxing posts are also popular in affiliate marketing. If you receive a product, consider documenting the unboxing process. This builds anticipation and excitement among your audience, prompting them to consider buying the product.

7: Set Your Distribution Strategy

After creating your promotional content, distribute it across your website and social media platforms. If you have an email list, you can integrate it into your email marketing campaigns.

8: Lead with a Discount Code or Bonus Offer

Affiliate marketers sometimes offer bonuses to encourage purchases. For example, you could provide a free ebook to any follower who buys a product through your affiliate link.

This strategy incentivizes customers to act by adding extra value to the deal. It’s especially effective if the bonus is something you typically sell because customers can appreciate its monetary worth.

9: Keep Things Legal

Always disclose when content contains affiliate links. Not only is this a requirement by the FTC, but it also helps build trust with your audience.

For example, Frugalwoods offers the following disclosure:

“Frugalwoods.com contains affiliate links, meaning Frugalwoods.com receives commissions for purchases made through those links at no cost to you. We recommend these companies because we have experience with them and find them helpful, not because of the small commissions we receive if you decide to purchase.”

If you’re unsure how to word your disclaimer, it’s worth consulting a legal professional.

Affiliate Program Examples

Take a look at these popular affiliate programs to understand various payout models, products, and services you can promote.

Shopify

Shopify’s Affiliate Program brings together entrepreneurs, educators, influencers, and creators who refer customers to Shopify. Joining the program is free—simply apply to get started.

Once approved, affiliates are provided with a unique referral link. Each time someone signs up through this link, the affiliate earns a commission.

On average, Shopify affiliates earn $58 for each user who subscribes to a paid Shopify plan. The earning potential is limitless and depends on the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Ezra Firestone, founder of Smart Marketer, considers the Shopify affiliate program one of the most accessible he’s encountered in over a decade of digital marketing.

“Shopify made it simple for me to promote their platform, earn money, and offer value to my community,” he says.

Many Shopify affiliates promote their links on social media by creating engaging YouTube tutorials or TikTok shorts showcasing Shopify merchant successes.

Others develop long-form educational content, such as online courses that guide new entrepreneurs from their first business idea to generating their first sale.

Healthish

Healthish, a water bottle retailer, leveraged affiliate marketing to build a million-dollar brand. It collaborated with Instagram influencers to raise awareness for its flagship product, the WB-1 bottle.

The Healthish affiliate program continues to partner with influencer accounts with at least 100,000 followers, working with around 300 creators monthly to produce content that promotes and sells at scale.

Amazon Associates

Amazon Associates is one of the world’s largest affiliate programs, allowing publishers to monetize Amazon’s massive catalog of products. Commissions vary by category, generally ranging from 1% to 10%.

Thanks to Amazon’s global reach and strong brand recognition, Amazon affiliates often benefit from higher-than-average conversion rates for their links.

Juice Beauty

Juice Beauty, a skincare brand based in California, runs an affiliate program through Rakuten. Affiliates earn a commission starting at 6% on all sales and receive special deals and discounts. Juice Beauty doesn’t charge any application or membership fees for its affiliate partners.

EcoFlow

EcoFlow, a brand of smart solar solutions, offers products like portable air conditioners and generators. The company collaborates with two affiliate partners, offering a 5% commission per sale. However, with an average order value of $1,000, affiliates earn about $50 per sale.

Manduka

Manduka, a yoga brand, offers various referral and affiliate programs tailored to yoga teachers, influencers, and affiliate marketers. The versatility of these programs allows Manduka to connect with the right partners and audiences for effective affiliate campaigns.

Good To-Go

Good To-Go, a camping food brand, provides an affiliate program with a 10% commission rate and additional benefits. Due to its niche focus, Good To-Go partners with social media influencers in the outdoor space to target campers and backpackers with relevant affiliate campaigns.

Affiliate Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Focus on Helping, Not Just Selling

Regardless of your platform—blog, YouTube, or Instagram—your content should prioritize helping over selling. For example, a blogger promoting a meal kit service might write an in-depth review highlighting how it addresses specific dietary needs. Alternatively, a YouTuber could collaborate with a chef to provide expert insights into the recipes.

This approach adds value, builds trust with your audience, and makes them more likely to follow through with a purchase.

Avoid Publishing Low-Quality Content

Ensure the quality, tone, and topics of your content align with what works in your niche.

Observe top creators in your area—what formats do they use? What topics do they explore? How do they engage their audiences? For instance, if popular tech gadget reviewers on YouTube produce detailed unboxing videos, consider adopting similar techniques to resonate with your audience.

This strategy helps ensure your content meets the expectations of your audience, boosting your credibility.

Don’t Ignore SEO

Effective SEO goes beyond keywords—it involves understanding platform algorithms and optimizing your content accordingly.

For YouTube, focus on engagement signals (e.g., watch time, likes, and comments) in addition to correct tagging and descriptions.

For bloggers, ensure your website is mobile-friendly and fast-loading in addition to using targeted keywords.

Instagram influencers should interact with followers via comments and stories to increase post visibility.

Study the algorithms of each platform and tailor your content to maximize reach.

Start Your Affiliate Marketing Business Today

Affiliate marketing offers an excellent way to generate passive income with minimal upfront investment. While it takes time and effort to refine your strategy and find the right affiliate network, the outcome can be a system that provides a steady revenue stream for years.

Affiliate Marketing FAQ

What Does Affiliate Marketing Mean?

In affiliate marketing, affiliates earn commissions by promoting a company’s product or service using a special affiliate link. Affiliates are rewarded for bringing specific results to a merchant, such as sales, leads, or signups. Affiliate income is either a percentage or fixed amount per referral.

How Do I Start Affiliate Marketing?

To get started in affiliate marketing, follow these steps:

Choose a niche
Select a platform
Join relevant affiliate programs
Create valuable content
Build an audience
Follow FTC guidelines

How Do Beginners Get Into Affiliate Marketing?

Beginners can begin affiliate marketing by learning the basics of the strategy, selecting a niche, and choosing a platform like a blog or social media to share content. After joining suitable affiliate programs, they can create and post content containing affiliate links. To boost traffic and earnings, beginners should focus on SEO, social media, and email campaigns.

Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It?

The affiliate marketing industry surpassed $8.2 billion in 2023, according to Statista. It is relatively inexpensive to start and carries low risks compared to other business models.

What Are the Top Affiliate Networks?

Some of the top affiliate networks include:

Affiliate Future
AvantLink
CJ
ClickBank
FlexOffers
LinkConnector
ShareASale

What Is an Example of Affiliate Marketing?

Shopify offers an affiliate program where affiliates can refer merchants to the platform. After applying and getting approved, affiliates receive a referral link. When a merchant signs up via the link for a paid Shopify plan, the affiliate earns a commission.