How do I become an affiliate on YouTube?

If you're looking into getting started as an internet marketer or hoping to increase the amount of money you make online, then one option is using video content to attract viewers who'll eventually click through to buy something from you.

Affiliates are people who promote products they've never used themselves but which fit well with what their audience might find useful. They can be bloggers, influencers, experts, or just ordinary people like you and me.

In this article we break down some basic principles about using YouTube to build traffic and earn revenue via affiliate programs. But first let's look at whether it makes sense to use YouTube as part of your income strategy.

Does YouTube have affiliate?

YouTube has its own affiliate program called Clickbank. You can sign up here and begin earning commissions straight away if you want to start promoting other companies' products. The main advantage of joining this network is the ability to create your own branded account, so you don't need to worry about having to set up another website to sell things.

You also won't need to go through all the hassle of creating multiple accounts to manage different sites or apps -- everything is integrated within the same platform. However, there aren't many high-quality products available yet, so you may not see much return on investment (ROI) unless you already know someone working at these businesses. If you're thinking of signing up anyway, take our advice and read our guide to finding quality Clickbank products before investing any money.

There are also several third-party affiliate networks offering similar services, including Shareasale, CJ Affiliate, eBay Partner Network Inc., Rakuten Advertising, and more. These offer a wide range of options for both individuals and small business owners alike when it comes to building successful campaigns. Some even allow you to connect with brands directly, meaning you can potentially work with them offline too!

Most importantly, most platforms enable you to track sales data very easily, so you can see exactly how each campaign is performing and where improvements could still be made.

How do you get paid by YouTube?

The key thing to remember is that when you decide to join an affiliate program, you must agree to provide a certain percentage of clicks back to the company hosting the ads, otherwise known as CPA (cost per action). This means that every time somebody visits your ad, you pay out according to how often they clicked through to purchase the product.

Depending on your niche, you might only require 10% of visitors clicking through to buy after viewing your ad, whereas others may require 50%. It really depends on how effective your ads were during testing.

As with anything else, though, the better the results you achieve, the higher the payout rate. So test lots of variations and keep tweaking until you find the best combination. When you finally land on that winning setup, stick with it and watch your earnings grow over time.

It's worth bearing in mind that because YouTube doesn't display direct banners, you're going to have to come up with creative ways to convince users to visit your site instead. For example, you could try adding short snippets of information on screen while playing background music. Or maybe include a countdown timer showing how long they have left to complete the task you're asking them to perform.

Whatever type of approach you choose, it's important to ensure that your call-to-action button clearly shows "Buy Now" or whatever phrase matches the brand name you're trying to advertise. Don't forget to optimize your landing page URLs either, as Google prefers pages with shorter URL names rather than longer ones full of numbers and symbols.

Once you've got your campaign up and running and proven yourself, you should be able to negotiate your payment rates and receive payments on a regular basis.

How do I get affiliates on my YouTube channel?

So far we've covered how to get involved in affiliate marketing, but now I'm going to show you how to actually implement those strategies in practice. To help you along, I've created a free cheat sheet covering the basics of YouTube affiliate marketing. Take a peek below for step-by-step instructions.

Step 1: Create Your Channel & Upload Videos

First, head to YouTube and sign up for a new premium account. Once logged in, select Account Settings from the dropdown menu above the search bar and scroll down to Promote My Content. From here, click Create New Ad Unit and follow the prompts to add a title, description, thumbnail image, keywords, and tags. Then hit Save Changes.

Next, upload your first video. As soon as it finishes uploading, you'll notice two additional buttons appear under Promote Video. Choose Add to Playlist and share your creation with friends and family to generate some initial buzz.

Now sit tight for 24 hours and wait for your video to reach 100 views. A few days later, your next three videos will automatically appear under the Promote tab. Each one gets progressively closer to reaching 1000 views, so check back regularly to monitor progress.

Finally, once you've reached 25k subscribers, you'll also gain access to the Partner Program. This offers a number of benefits such as being able to send emails to fans inviting them to subscribe to your channel, view live streams, and download exclusive content.

Step 2: Make Money Off Your Audience

Now that you've uploaded five videos and gained 20k subscribers, it's time to start monetizing your channel. All you have to do is copy your partner ID from the bottom right hand corner of your YouTube profile and paste it into the relevant field whenever you run a promoted sale item. Doing this adds your affiliate code to the end of the URL linking to your item, enabling potential customers to convert instantly.

This process works perfectly fine for items sold on Amazon or eBay, but if you'd prefer to promote digital downloads such as ebooks, courses, software packages, etc, then you'll need to use a special tool called Viral Ads Manager.

Viral Ads Manager allows you to build custom audiences, assign unique codes to specific groups of followers, and target promotions accordingly based on your chosen criteria. With this feature alone, you can boost conversions dramatically simply by targeting the right group of people.

Step 3: Start Making Profits

To start generating real cash flow, you should focus on increasing your organic subscriber count. Although you can always pay for advertising, this isn't recommended due to the fact that it requires constant maintenance and ongoing costs. Instead, focus on building relationships with influential members of your community.

For instance, consider starting conversations with popular YouTube personalities whose fan base overlaps with yours. Ask them questions relating to your industry, post answers to common queries, and invite them to guest blog posts. When they reciprocate by commenting on your original content, it creates trust between you and your audience.

Also, think carefully about what kind of content you publish. Do you write articles related to topics that are frequently searched for online, or do you focus primarily on educational material? Keep in mind that YouTube algorithms favor more entertaining content, so aim for videos that are around 30 seconds long and contain plenty of visual elements.

After spending time researching different niches, you'll discover a variety of profitable opportunities that you can pursue in the future. Just bear in mind that affiliate marketing takes patience, persistence, and consistency to succeed. Be sure to invest time in learning about the various methods outlined in this tutorial and apply them diligently.

Can you put affiliate links on your YouTube channel?

One final thing to note is that you cannot embed external links inside YouTube videos. However, you can add affiliate links to your channels' playlists, allowing viewers to navigate elsewhere if interested.

Take a look at our full list of tips for making the most of YouTube to learn more about how to turn your channel into a thriving business.

If you're new to the world of online advertising or just want to learn more about it, then video is where your best bet lies. If you've already got some experience with creating YouTube content but aren't sure what kind of results to expect when promoting affiliate products, this article can help you make sense of things. You'll discover what kinds of ads you should be putting up, which ones are going to pay off most effectively, and why these types of promotions might not be appropriate at all times.

Video content has been proven to generate higher conversion rates than any other form of digital media. That's because people like watching long-form video content rather than reading articles or scrolling through pages of text. So if you're looking to build traffic to your website, YouTube could be one of the best places to start. It's also a good place to put out ads that will drive targeted traffic to your site -- whether they relate to specific keywords or topics related to your business. These tips will show you exactly how to set up a successful campaign using YouTube as both the source and destination.

Are affiliate links paid promotion on YouTube?

No. The only way to earn commissions by placing sponsored advertisements (ads) on YouTube is to create original content yourself. This means that you need to have something interesting enough to share with others so that viewers would willingly watch it instead of skipping over it.

It may seem counterintuitive to suggest that you shouldn't try to sell anything while producing original content, since you'd obviously never be able to monetize those shares otherwise, but there's no guarantee that anyone will actually buy whatever it is you're trying to advertise. And even if someone does click through -- especially if they were attracted to your ad via organic search engines such as Google -- chances are that they won't convert into a customer after viewing your product.

This doesn't mean that you can't use YouTube to market affiliate offers alongside your own personal brand. In fact, this type of strategy works very well for many businesses. But when you choose to go down this path, keep in mind that you'll probably want to focus on selling niche products and services, since there's far less competition among them compared to popular items that everyone wants to purchase.

CJ Affiliate (formerly ClickBank), eBay Partner Network Inc., ShareASale, Rakuten Advertising, or Shopify are examples of companies that offer tools specifically designed for marketers who want to take advantage of the power of YouTube and its audience. All of their programs include features that allow you to target certain demographics based on age and gender, as well as geographic location. They also provide analytics reports that let you see how much time each viewer spent watching your video, along with data regarding who clicked on your ad and ultimately bought the item being advertised.

You don't necessarily have to sign up for any of these platforms in order to benefit from them, though. Instead, you can simply join their affiliate program and upload relevant videos directly onto your channel. Then, once you receive payment for every sale, you'll split it between the company that created the ad and yourself.

Can I promote affiliate links on YouTube?

Yes, provided that you follow the guidelines listed above. While you certainly wouldn't want to spam your fans' feeds with hundreds upon thousands of promotional messages, having regular updates featuring affiliate links here and there isn't likely to annoy anybody either.

The key thing to remember is that you always want to stay within the letter of the law. For example, you cannot post multiple ads per day unless you have permission from the owner of the account. Also, while you can promote affiliates outside of your channel, you must ensure that the video contains nothing else besides an advertisement. Anything else violates the terms of service for the platform and can result in getting banned.

In addition to following all of the rules outlined above, you'll also want to think carefully about how often you decide to run video ads. There's really no rule against running a few ads per month, but posting multiple videos daily is usually too aggressive for most users. Plus, it can quickly turn off potential customers who find themselves bombarded with constant sales pitches.

When deciding how frequently you'll launch campaigns, consider taking a look at your competitors. Are they launching several videos per week? Or are they sticking to a single video posted once per month? How effective are they compared to yours? Do they regularly attract comments and views from viewers? Is the number of likes and dislikes equal across the board?

Also, don't forget that you should avoid promoting affiliate products during major events, holidays, or other important dates. Doing so will undoubtedly cause confusion amongst your followers, and it can lead to angry feedback if you happen to misspeak.

Finally, there's another point worth considering before choosing a particular format for your ads. Some channels tend to favor images, while others prefer short clips. When it comes to the former, you'll find that they typically have fewer viewers overall. On the flip side, the latter tends to draw larger audiences, but they're harder to track.

For instance, if you plan on uploading longer videos, you'll want to check out statistics from sites like StatCounter to determine how many hours each clip lasts. Based on this information, you can select the ideal length for your next campaign accordingly.

Do you get paid for affiliate links?

Affiliate marketing has grown exponentially in recent years thanks to the rise of social networks. As we mentioned earlier, YouTube is arguably the biggest player in this space right now. However, Facebook and Twitter also play host to plenty of opportunities to promote various brands and collect revenue in return.

To begin earning money from your efforts, you'll first need to register with the network of your choice. Once you've done so, you can browse through the available options until you find something that appeals to you. Next, it's time to write up a description and add some tags. Finally, you can pick the perfect thumbnail image to represent your ad, complete with accompanying title and subtitle.

After submitting it, it takes anywhere from 24 to 48 hours for the ad to appear live on your page. During this period, it's completely free for you to preview everything, change anything you wish, and delete the campaign altogether if you feel like it. Afterward, you'll see a notification informing you that the ad was approved or rejected. Approved ads automatically display on your profile whenever visitors scroll past or visit your page. Rejected ads remain hidden behind a "Preview" button.

Once you reach the end goal of driving traffic to your site, you'll see whether or not you earned any income. If you did, you'll immediately see how much you made along with the total amount of impressions and clicks generated throughout the process of generating the earnings. You can even compare the two figures to identify areas that require improvement.

Of course, there are many different ways to approach affiliate marketing on YouTube. Just know that you'll reap greater rewards if you stick to a schedule and maintain consistent quality output. It goes without saying that you'll want to work closely with a professional agency to maximize your profits, but you definitely don't have to spend big bucks on expensive tools and software.

Instead, you can rely on programs offered by reputable providers such as CPA Lead System Pro and Video Traffic Machine. With these tools, you'll be able to customize your workflow according to your preferences. For example, you can easily automate tasks such as recording voiceovers, editing footage, adding subtitles, and mixing audio tracks. You'll also gain access to templates that streamline the entire process, ensuring minimal distractions and maximum productivity.

Affiliates have been around since the early days of online retailing when people would click through to Amazon or other sites and buy something from them using their own credit card information.

The internet has changed everything about this business model, with affiliates now earning money by placing ads alongside relevant content - such as video tutorials - and then getting paid whenever someone clicks through and buys something.

If you’re new to the world of affiliate marketing, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by all the different methods you could try out. There’s ClickBank, which offers its own platform for marketers to sell digital products; Shopify, which sells ecommerce hosting services and apps; eBay Partner Network Inc (EPNI), which allows users to connect their accounts with several major platforms including PayPal, Google Play, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Walmart, and more; and finally, Rakuten Advertising, which is one of the most popular ad networks for smaller brands looking to reach consumers across many social media channels. There are so many options!

But if you want to start your journey into affiliate marketing today and don't know where to begin, here's what you need to learn first...

How do I make myself an affiliate?

Before starting any kind of business venture, it makes sense to understand exactly what you're doing and why. If you're going to market yourself as an affiliate, you'll need to sign up to some sort of website or service offering. This might be a marketplace like ClickBank, or an app like Shopify or EPNI, but whatever it is, you probably won’t be able to join unless you offer some form of product or service for sale.

It doesn’t matter whether you use these tools for selling physical goods or digital ones, but the important thing is that they exist and that you can access them without needing permission from anyone else. You may also want to consider signing up to some of the biggest websites in the US and UK, such as Amazon, Ebay, and others. These companies tend to have very strict policies regarding who can advertise on their site and what kinds of products can be sold, so even though you wouldn’t technically be advertising anything directly, you’d still benefit from having connections to these big names.

Once you've signed up somewhere, you should create a profile page detailing what you do and what you look like, along with any credentials that prove you’re eligible to work there. It might seem weird at first to put ‘affiliate’ in your job title, but this is just because it sounds better than saying “marketing assistant,” and it's not really necessary to explain further. The important part is that you show potential employers and customers alike that you meet certain qualifications. Make sure your bio includes the URL to your profile page too.

Is there a YouTube affiliate program?

Yes, although it hasn't always existed. When YouTube was founded back in 2005, it offered nothing except regular old web-based videos. In 2009, however, the company launched a way for advertisers to pay to appear alongside certain types of content on the site. Since then, the number of partners available has grown exponentially, ranging from well-known businesses like Dell, Starbucks, and Samsung to niche organizations like the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

In fact, according to a study conducted by HubSpot, nearly 70% of millennials prefer watching sponsored content over traditional TV commercials. So if you’ve got a decent following already on YouTube and you’re serious about becoming an affiliate, you definitely stand a chance of being featured among some high-profile partnerships. However, keep in mind that while you might be working with some of the biggest brands in the world, you’ll never make as much cash as someone who works with bigger brands through another channel. That said, if you’re interested in maximizing your chances of success on YouTube, the next section explains how to find suitable opportunities.

How do I promote affiliate links?

As mentioned above, you’ll need to choose a partner that lets you display advertisements alongside relevant content. Once you’ve found that partner, you’ll need to decide how often you want those ads to show up. To start off, you should aim to include them on every single piece of content you publish, even if you only upload ten minutes worth of material each week. As time goes on, you can increase that frequency depending on how successful things go. For example, once you achieve a certain level of engagement with viewers, you might want to add them as sponsors to future pieces of content.

When choosing a partner, you’ll likely want to avoid promoting individual items as opposed to entire categories. After all, you want to encourage buyers to purchase multiple items rather than focusing solely on one item. With that in mind, it’s usually best to pick a partner whose audience tends towards specific demographics. Some examples of these audiences include women between 25 and 35 years old, men between 18 and 24 years old, parents, families and children, students, young professionals, and so forth.

You can also take advantage of the free traffic offered by YouTube itself. While these views aren’t necessarily targeted, they provide great exposure for your brand, especially during peak hours.

Where is the best place to post affiliate links?

That depends entirely on your goals and preferences. Are you trying to drive sales to a particular store? Do you wish to attract followers to a blog? Maybe you’re hoping to build a community and inspire fans to share your content? Whatever your objective, you’ll need to think carefully about what type of content appeals to your target demographic the most.

For instance, if you’re aiming to promote a diet plan, perhaps you shouldn’t feature recipes featuring unhealthy ingredients. Likewise, if you’re trying to boost sales of shoes instead of socks, you’ll obviously want to steer clear of anything related to fashion. You’ll also want to ensure that your posts contain no offensive language or images – otherwise, you run the risk of losing half your audience before you ever see a penny.

However, if you want to maximize your profits, you’ll want to avoid posting anywhere that caters toward younger audiences. That means avoiding anything containing references to drugs, violence, sex, and alcohol. Instead, opt for topics relating to health and wellness, politics, science, humor, history, and religion. And if you want to grow your subscriber count, you’ll want to focus on sharing interesting content regardless of whether it relates to your area of expertise or not.

Finally, remember that the main purpose of building an audience is to help generate revenue down the line, so if you’re planning to monetize your videos later on, you’ll want to stick to topics that appeal to your existing fanbase. Otherwise, your income stream will dry up quickly.

Hopefully, these tips were helpful enough to get you started. Want to know more about YouTube and affiliate marketing? Then check out our guide to YouTube affiliate marketing. We'll teach you everything you need to know about creating your own YouTube account, uploading videos, picking the right keywords, and driving traffic to your channel.