Choosing an appropriate and lucrative niche for your affiliate business is essential when you want to make money online with it. This article will help you explore various options that could work for you as well as provide some tips on choosing one of those options.
If you have chosen this field because you think that making money from affiliate marketing would be a great way to earn extra income, then you should know that finding a suitable niche is just as important as building up a successful website or blog. It’s not only about having a high-quality product but also being able to sell it effectively through any means possible. If you don't know where to start looking for your niche, read our guide on how to choose a niche for affiliate marketing.
In essence, if you start out by creating a brand new site targeting a specific market, you're going to need to spend time and effort into developing content around your products/services. The same goes for blogs - you need to write posts regularly (at least once per week) and they must contain valuable information related to your offered services. As such, the more knowledgeable you become about your products/services, the better off you'll be. That's why we recommend starting out by learning everything you possibly can about your target audience first before trying to figure out which kind of sales funnel works best for them.
And while many people might turn away at the mere thought of spending hours upon hours writing articles about their favorite topics, you shouldn't let this stop you from getting started. There are plenty of resources available online that teach you all you need to learn about blogging and SEO. So, no matter whether you prefer reading books or watching YouTube videos, you will eventually get the hang of things.
Once you've built yourself a solid foundation, it's time to look for opportunities to promote these products/services to other potential customers. And again, it doesn't really matter who you decide to partner with since all of them offer similar programs. What matters is that you stick to your plan and follow the steps necessary to achieve success. You will soon see results coming in.
The following list presents seven different approaches that you can take in order to narrow down your search for the perfect niche for affiliate marketing.
There are dozens of companies offering affiliate programs today. Most of them focus on selling digital goods like eBooks, software, video courses, etc., but others also offer physical items like makeup brushes, clothes, jewelry, kitchen appliances, etc. When searching for a promising niche, keep in mind that you won't necessarily succeed using every single service out there. Instead, pick the ones that fit your skillset and interests the most. Here are five factors to consider when picking the right company:
1. Reputation
This is probably the biggest factor in deciding whether a particular company deserves its reputation. Do a bit of research and check reviews left behind by previous clients. Also, try contacting their customer support team directly via email and see if they respond quickly enough for you to feel comfortable working with them.
2. Commission rates
Affiliate commissions vary greatly across different networks. Some pay much higher than others and others pay very little compared to their competitors. Make sure to calculate the average commission rate for each network carefully before signing up.
3. Customer support
Another thing to consider is the level of customer support provided by certain networks. Does the company provide 24/7 live chat, phone calls, emails, etc.? Or does it only accept complaints via social media channels like Facebook or Twitter?
4. Payment methods
You may encounter situations where payment processing takes longer than expected. Be aware of this possibility before signing up with a company. In addition, some platforms require you to use additional third-party tools to process payments. For example, ClickBank uses Paypal Express Checkout, PayPal Payments Advanced, Bill Me Later, Stripe Connect, Amazon Payments, Google Wallet, etc.
5. How to join
It sometimes happens that you cannot sign up for a company until reaching a certain point in your account. Sometimes, you can bypass this step by paying upfront to secure your spot. However, some companies prohibit this practice. Find out how to join ahead of time.
Now that you understand how to choose a niche for affiliate marketing, you can move onto selecting the right platform. Below are four popular choices for promoting digital products:
1. ClickBank
One of the oldest and largest affiliate networks currently operating today, ClickBank offers over 100,000 merchants and publishers. Its interface has been streamlined over the years so that users have an easier experience. They also feature a robust reporting system that lets you track statistics regarding traffic, conversions, earnings, etc.
2. ShareASale
Founded back in 2004, ShareASale is another reputable network that allows you to connect with thousands of partners worldwide. Unlike ClickBank, ShareASale focuses primarily on physical products instead of digital downloads. Their main goal is to create long-term relationships between retailers and buyers.
3. Rakuten Advertising
Rakuten Advertising was launched in 2010 and provides advertisers with access to millions of active consumers in Japan. Its ad management tool enables you to customize banners based on keywords used by visitors. Other features include automatic bidding, real-time analytics, flexible pricing plans, etc.
4. CJ Affiliate
CJ Affiliate is arguably the fastest growing affiliate network today. Launched in 2011, it boasts over 1 million registered members within two short years. One of its greatest advantages is the fact that it accepts both digital goods and physical products for sale. Not only that, but its revenue share model gives affiliates 70% of the profit generated from sponsored links.
Here are five types of businesses you can set up as affiliates:
1. Online stores
Online stores allow you to sell anything ranging from clothing to electronics. Some even specialize in selling handmade crafts, furniture, collectibles, etc. Popular sites include eBay, Etsy, AliExpress, etc.
2. Bloggers
Bloggers are individuals who post daily updates on their websites. As a result, readers trust them more than traditional news outlets. Therefore, bloggers often receive free samples from brands in exchange for posting advertisements on their pages. Popular sites include WordPress, Tumblr, Medium, etc.
3. Marketers
Marketers refer to anyone who sells something else for a living. Whether you own a small boutique store or run a large franchise chain, marketers rely on affiliate marketing to generate revenue. Examples include UberEats, Fiverr, Airbnb, etc.
4. Ecommerce
An eCommerce website is basically an online shop that sells tangible items. These days, even brick-and-mortar stores are turning to online shopping as a viable alternative. Sites like Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Costco, etc. use affiliate marketing to boost their revenues.
5. Services
Any type of professional services can potentially qualify as an affiliate opportunity. To name a few, lawyers, doctors, dentists, financial advisors, coaches, trainers, consultants, etc. can make decent side income by partnering with established organizations.
So far, we discussed how to find a good niche for affiliate marketing as well as picked out the right affiliate program. Now, it's time to talk about what exactly constitutes the whole package.
Your website serves as the hub of your affiliate campaign. It helps prospective customers locate your listings and makes it convenient for them to click on them. Your job now is to convince them to buy whatever it is you're selling.
As mentioned earlier, you can either build a standalone website or opt to go with a prebuilt template designed specifically for affiliate campaigns. Whichever route you choose, you still need to invest some amount of time and effort into optimizing your page.
Next, you'll need to sign up with a reliable affiliate tracking solution. You can do this manually by adding unique codes on your webpages and connecting them to your affiliate dashboard. Alternatively, you can purchase automated solutions that manage the entire process for you. Both types of solutions cost money, though, so you'll have to weigh your preferences accordingly.
Finally, you'll need to distribute promotional materials to attract traffic to your website. Depending on the type of product you're selling, you can use print ads, banner ads, PPC advertising, text link ads, etc. Once you have attracted traffic to your site, you can convert them into leads and close deals. Afterward, you can repeat the cycle to bring in fresh prospects.
With a lot of competition out there, you should always aim to stay competitive and innovative. By implementing proven strategies in your business, you increase your chances of succeeding. Use the abovementioned tips when thinking about narrowing down your niche for affiliate marketing and you will surely reap the rewards.
Choosing a niche that works well with your skills and personality will help you succeed as an affiliate marketer. The first step would be finding out what kind of products or services you want to promote. Then, look at which online businesses have those products and see if they offer any affiliate programs. Once you've found one, it's time to start learning more about that industry to know whether it has potential or not. You'll also need to learn how to optimize your content and keep up on new trends. It takes some effort but once you're set, you should be able to earn money from promoting other people's products.
There are many different things to consider when choosing a niche for affiliate marketing. Here's everything you need to know before starting.
The most important thing to understand is that the product you're going to sell doesn't matter too much -- the only relevant factor is your chosen niche. Choosing the right one means being able to target people who might be interested in buying something related to this topic. There are lots of niches available, ranging from food to clothes, books, toys and even healthcare. So, where does this leave us?
It depends entirely on our interests. If we like cooking, we could try selling recipes, cookware or kitchen gadgets. Or maybe we'd rather focus on clothing accessories like scarves or handbags. And then, let's say that we love collecting coins, perhaps we could make a profit by offering them through Amazon Coins. Even though all these examples may seem unrelated, each one could potentially work depending on their popularity and demand.
So, don't just pick a random product because it sounds interesting. Think about why someone would buy it instead. For instance, if you enjoy baking cakes, you could create a blog focused on sharing delicious dessert recipes. Also, if you already own tons of cookbooks, why not write reviews about others' favorites? As long as you stay true to yourself and stick to your passions, you're sure to find a great niche for affiliate marketing.
You probably won't be able to find a suitable niche overnight. That's okay, however, since you don't really have to go looking for one either. Instead, think about the types of topics you usually read, listen to or watch on YouTube. These three channels alone contain millions of videos across dozens of categories. Now, imagine that every video had an opportunity to become an affiliate link (a way to monetize your channel). Wouldn't that give you plenty of opportunities to build a successful business?
If you still haven't figured out what kinds of content interest you, remember that you can always use Google Trends to get an idea of what topics are trending worldwide. This tool shows data such as searches per month, growth rate over time, and keywords associated with search volumes. By analyzing these numbers, you'll soon discover the hottest subjects among web users around the world. From there, you can decide what type of content you'd like to share.
Once you've decided on a subject area, you must now figure out which companies provide goods or services within this category. The next step is identifying the affiliate program offered by each company. To do this, simply scroll down until you reach the bottom of their website. At the very end, you'll often see a special section called "Affiliates" or something similar. Clicking this button opens a list of affiliates, including links to their websites. In addition to providing information about each company, this page lets you browse their catalogs and select specific items you'd like to advertise.
After you've selected a few partners, take note of their commission rates. Some companies pay higher commissions than others. While the exact percentages depend on the individual affiliate agreement, you can generally expect between 3% and 10%. However, there are exceptions, especially if you specialize in a particular field. For example, while Amazon pays 5%, Shopify offers 2% and eBay 1%.
Now that you know what kinds of products you plan to promote, it's time to start brainstorming ideas. Don't worry, you're doing fine so far. All that remains is to come up with creative yet compelling titles for your ads. Remember that you can easily customize them using tools such as Autopilot, LeadPages and Wistia.
Don't forget that writing effective ad copy requires a lot of practice. Luckily, you can get tips and advice from experts on digital advertising platforms like Quora and Reddit. After you've honed your skills, you'll be ready to launch campaigns quickly and without hassle.
As mentioned earlier, the best choice isn't necessarily the easiest one. Sure, you could begin by focusing on popular niches like beauty or fitness. They're certainly easier to break into than complex industries such as health care or education. But if you're unable to find products related to your passions, you'll struggle to stand out from competitors. In order to attract attention, you'll need to show off your knowledge of the subject and prove that you have valuable insights.
A better option would be to identify a niche that hasn't been taken advantage of by anyone else yet. Since no one knows exactly what to expect from it, you can claim to be its expert. Plus, this approach allows you to experiment freely and test various strategies. Keep in mind that the success of your campaign hinges on your ability to deliver quality content consistently.
This article was written based on the author's experiences working with multiple internet marketers. He shares his thoughts on how to choose a good niche for affiliate marketing. If you have additional questions or comments, feel free to post below!
1. Research
Before choosing a niche, check if there is already a demand for such product or service. This means looking into statistics like Google Trends and Alexa ranking.
Google Trend - Use this tool to see how many times certain keywords were searched per month over the past few years.
Alexa Ranking - Look up how popular a site or blog is according to Alexa rankings, then compare it with the competition by checking their traffic stats.
Find Similar Niche Sites - Check similar sites that might offer affiliate programs. Try searching them on Google or Bing using related search terms.
Competitor Analysis - Find out who else offers the same program or service as yours. Compare their website features, design, prices, customer support etc. Don't forget to include social media profiles too.
Traffic Stats - See how much traffic each page gets every day/week. If you don't get enough visitors, consider adjusting your promotion strategy accordingly.
Compare Affiliate Programs - Check out various affiliate programs offered by different companies. Some may allow you to promote multiple brands while others only let you promote one brand.
Check Competitors' Products - Search through competitor websites to see what types of products they sell. Do a quick comparison between your own products and theirs. Are they selling better than yours? Is there a difference in quality? Keep in mind that even though competitors sell the same type of products, they may still compete against each other based on price range or location, among other factors.
Look Into Your Audience Demographics - What age group does your target audience fall under? How old are most of your customers? Where do they live? These questions could give you clues about where to focus your efforts when creating content for affiliates.
Choosing a business that you will want to run and which has an audience who will buy your products or services can often seem like trying to pick between two attractive women at a party - one with a gorgeous body but little personality, while the other with big personality but not much physical beauty (and vice versa). But if it's your job to make money from online businesses then finding a profitable niche may actually be easier than choosing between the right woman for yourself!
In this article we'll look at some key questions when deciding on which niche to focus on as an affiliate marketer. We'll also cover some techniques used by successful marketers to identify their own ideal audiences in order to start making money immediately.
The first question any affiliate needs to ask themselves before they begin looking for potential markets is 'which niche should I target?' This is because different niches have varying degrees of competitiveness depending upon where you live and whether or not you're operating outside of North America.
For example, the United States is home to many more competitors than China -- and therefore US-based merchants need to work harder to get noticed. However, Chinese consumers tend to spend more per visit due to lower purchasing power, meaning that they can afford to purchase higher priced goods. It follows that Chinese affiliates must offer more competitive prices in order to attract buyers.
On the flipside, Chinese brands often use third party sellers to distribute their wares into foreign countries. In contrast, American companies prefer direct sales through their own websites. So if you operate on the opposite side of the world, it might take longer for you to build up a reputation among your target audience. You could potentially face stiffer competition and less opportunity for success.
This means that even though the internet is global, each country still has its own unique characteristics. As such, there isn't really just one best niche for everyone. Instead, there are dozens of viable opportunities available to anyone willing to research them thoroughly.
Once you've decided on a niche, you'll need to determine which product or service within that category is currently selling well. If you don't know, simply search Google Trends to see how popular certain keywords are over time.
You can also check out ClickBank's Marketplace to learn about the hottest new offers being sold today. And of course, you can always browse Amazon to view the latest trends in consumer electronics, household appliances, fashion, food & drink, health care, entertainment, etc.
When picking a niche, it's important to understand that you won't necessarily be able to sell anything directly to every person using that term. For instance, "I'm going shopping" doesn't mean that someone is interested in buying clothes, shoes, jewelry, makeup, etc., unless they already happen to be planning to go shopping. The same goes for "watching TV," "reading books," or "eating pizza."
However, if you have a skill that people are searching for online, you could easily become known as the expert in your field. People would then seek you out whenever they were ready to buy something related. Your ability to create content around your chosen topic could help you develop a following and increase your chances of getting paid commissions. Plus, you'll likely enjoy sharing useful tips and advice with others.
If you think you'd rather avoid writing articles or videos altogether, consider becoming an influencer instead. These are individuals whose social media presence makes them influential among their peers without having to write words down for publication. They typically earn income via sponsored posts on sites like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Medium, and elsewhere.
As you can imagine, these positions come with their own challenges, especially since the average user spends no more than 10 seconds reading any given post. Influencers therefore require excellent customer engagement skills in order to maintain their popularity.
There are plenty of examples of influencers earning six figure incomes through their social platforms alone. Some of the biggest names include Ariana Grande, Kylie Jenner, Miley Cyrus, Kendall Jenner, Justin Bieber, Bill Gates, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian West, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, and Drake.
It's true that some of these celebs started off as ordinary people too. Others got famous purely through luck or timing. Either way, they all knew exactly what kind of brand image they wanted to project, and worked hard to achieve it.
These days, influencers aren't limited to celebrities either. There are entire communities dedicated to helping aspiring entrepreneurs gain visibility and influence among their peers. Sites like Patreon allow users to support creators financially based upon their level of interest.
Influencer campaigns on Instagram range from $100 USD to upwards of $20K USD. To date, companies such as Cinnabon and Starbucks have been paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to those willing to promote their offerings in exchange for free rewards.
Although it's tempting to jump headfirst into any industry that's trending, remember that the only thing guaranteed to trend is death. Be wary of industries that change rapidly, as you risk losing track of current customers and followers. Also, keep in mind that the majority of people who enter a particular niche end up quitting after a few months. Unless you plan to stay in the space forever, it's probably better to stick with something else until you've built up enough expertise to succeed.
After carefully researching your desired niche, you now need to decide which type of affiliate program you wish to join. Below are three major categories worth considering.
1) Commission Junction:
Commission Junction is a company founded in 1999 that specializes in connecting advertisers with publishers across multiple verticals including travel, finance, retail, automotive, healthcare, gaming, technology, education, ecommerce, and financial services. Its network consists of approximately 1,800 affiliated programs representing 2 million active members.
2) ShareASale:
ShareASale was formed in 2004 and claims to provide a platform that connects both affiliates and retailers. Today, it operates in 30 countries worldwide and boasts nearly 50,000 partners.
3) Rakuten Advertising Network:
Rakuten Advertising Network is operated by Rakuten Inc., Japan's largest online retailer. It launched in 2016 and provides access to millions of advertising impressions across various digital channels.
Each of these networks features a slightly different approach to promoting products and services. While the commission rates vary greatly, the general idea behind each is similar.
First, you sign up to join a specific affiliate program. Then you select a product or service that interests you and place ads on relevant webpages throughout your website. When visitors click on those links, you receive payment and share a portion with the advertiser.
Affiliates generally fall into one of four groups:
Agency/broker: These affiliates act as middlemen who connect advertisers and publishers. Their goal is to generate revenue for both parties involved. Typically, brokers charge fees ranging anywhere from 5% to 15%. Many agency affiliates pay a percentage fee to publishers, although sometimes they don't receive any compensation whatsoever.
Publisher: Publishers feature original content created by independent authors. Most of them rely heavily on SEO tactics to drive traffic back to their website. Many also offer premium membership plans where subscribers can read full versions of their articles for a small monthly fee.
Advertisers: Advertisers fund the creation of content aimed towards reaching a targeted demographic. Unlike publishers, ad agencies rarely display advertisements on their own sites. Instead, they partner with other entities to host their ads.
Vendors: Vendors produce specialized software designed to aid advertisers in placing ads on publisher sites. This allows them to automate tasks, reduce costs, and streamline processes.
To maximize profits, it pays to learn everything you can about the ins and outs of each individual marketplace. Take advantage of the resources provided below to learn more about the different types of affiliates available.
Regardless of which option appeals to you, remember that there are pros and cons associated with each. For example, some affiliates charge high startup fees, whereas others limit payments to smaller amounts.
Another factor to consider is the amount of control you retain over your earnings. With traditional forms of employment, employees usually receive fixed wages regardless of performance. On the other hand, self-employed workers often struggle to set their own schedules and negotiate appropriate terms and conditions.
Finally, keep in mind that working independently comes with added risks. Because you're responsible for generating leads and attracting traffic on your own behalf, you bear greater responsibility for ensuring that your efforts result in profit. Therefore, it's essential to have a strong understanding of the fundamentals of marketing and branding before jumping in head first.
While there's definitely no substitute for experience, learning the basics early on ensures that you have a firm foundation upon which to build your career. Once you feel comfortable with the process, you're sure to reap the benefits.
Just follow our battle-tested guidelines and rake in the profits.