There are lots of affiliate programs available. It does not mean that you go and enroll for many of them randomly. It will probably waste your time and effort. An important point to remember is that you become a partner to a company when you sign up for its affiliate program. You need to carefully choose an affiliate program because this is the base from where you can build your empire of affiliate marketing.
Here is the list of various parameters which you need to consider before you enroll for an affiliate program –
Fits to your Niche or Theme
You should always choose affiliate programs and products as per your niche or theme. For example – A travel blogger should choose affiliate programs linked to travel bookings. Your visitors will get confused and may not buy if your blog content belongs to one niche and the product promoted by you belong to another.
Physical vs. Digital Product based Affiliate Program
Physical product’s online marketing has a commission payout of less than 10% because someone has to manufacture, store and ship it to the end-user. On the other hand, digital product’s online marketing has a higher commission because it needs no extra cost for storage and shipping. Examples of digital products are an eBook, Mobile app, a course, etc. The commission may go up to 60% of the cost. It shows that digital products are better for affiliate marketing, but this is not entirely true. There are other factors that you should consider before choosing a product-specific affiliate program.
Commission Calculation
Various affiliate programs have different commission structures. You need to understand the commission structure and choose the affiliate program accordingly. Few examples are –
- Fix percentage commission of the product’s sale price.
- Fixed amount per sale.
- Special commission for new joiners.
- Earn a higher commission when you make more sales.
Decent conversion rate
Affiliate programs pay higher commissions on the less frequently selling products and lower of high selling products. You can consider the average conversion rate while selecting the affiliate program. Sometimes high selling product with less commission results in decent earning because of the high volumes.
Cookie lifetime
Most of the affiliate programs use a cookie to track the person responsible for the sale and award commission accordingly. Cookie lifetime controls your eligibility for getting commission means someone has to click and purchase the product within a cookie lifetime. You will not earn any commission if a customer clicks on an affiliate link and buy a product outside cookie lifetime. It means a longer cookie lifetime is better for you. Amazon affiliate is having one day cookie lifetime.
Payout Frequency
Most affiliate programs pay your commission money once a month. Some also provide payout twice a month. Based on your cash inflow requirement, you can choose an appropriate affiliate program.
Tools and Resources
An affiliate program understands the need of the affiliate and consistently innovate on the tools which help them. Good affiliate programs provide dedicated blogs to educate their affiliates and provide tools like email marketing templates, ad banners, creative images, etc.
I hope the above points will help you choose the right affiliate program and increase your passive income. Keep learning and keep earning.