What is Affiliate Marketing and How to Start

Affiliate marketing is one of the few side gigs that can actually pay like a full-time job. It’s simple – you recommend a product, someone buys it through your unique link, and you earn a commission. Let’s say you share your favorite Bluetooth speaker in a blog post. If a reader clicks your link and makes a purchase, you get paid. That’s it!

The affiliate marketing industry is massive, with a value of $18.5 billion that is projected to grow to $31.7 billion by 2031. Many people are jumping on the trend and earning thousands of dollars each month through affiliate marketing alone, and you can do it too.

If you’re wondering where to start with affiliate marketing, don’t worry. We got you. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to get started and begin earning.

Affiliate Marketing Defined

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing model where you, as an affiliate, earn a commission for promoting someone else’s products or services online. You can promote the product or brand on any platform like YouTube, Instagram, or your blog. When your recommendation leads to a sale, signup, or specific action, you get rewarded.

Businesses usually partner with affiliates because they want to reach their target audience and increase sales, and if you can do that, you can profit from this marketing model. Here’s how it works:

• The merchant/brand lists its products on an affiliate network.
• The affiliate network provides unique links that track sales for affiliates.
• The affiliate shares the unique links and brings in the traffic.
• Buyers click on the links you shared and make a purchase.
• The affiliate network records the sales and pays you the commission.

The brand makes the sale, and you earn more money. It is a win-win for both!

Affiliate Marketing Types and Examples

Now that you know how affiliate marketing works, here are some types of affiliate marketing you need to know about so you can pick one that suits your skills and needs.

Unattached Affiliate Marketing

In this type of affiliate marketing, you promote products without having any personal connection to the brand or any expertise in the field. You share the links on your social media or run pay-per-click campaigns. And you earn a commission any time someone buys using that link. You are not promoting the product because you believe in it, but because you can earn some cash by sharing the link.

Related Affiliate Marketing

Related affiliate marketing is when you promote products that are relevant to your audience. For example, if you have a fashion blog, you can start recommending products that your readers might enjoy. You can add the links in your blogs and earn extra cash whenever someone makes a purchase through that link.

Involved Affiliate Marketing

This follows a very hands-on approach, wherein you have already used the product and know how it works. You can make a genuine recommendation based on your experience, and your audience will love it. Involved affiliate marketing may bring in more sales because it creates a sense of trust in the audience, motivating them to make the purchase.

How to Start Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is an exciting opportunity to create passive income, but it takes time to build it. If you want to start affiliate marketing, here is the process to follow:

Choose a Niche You are Passionate about

Brands love interacting with affiliate marketers who have a loyal audience base. But how can you create that? You need to pick a niche that serves you well. While picking a niche, you need to focus on two things: passion and audience size. Your goal is to find a niche whose target audience is underserved and fill that gap. Ask yourself these questions to get a clear idea of what niche is best for you:

• What topics am I passionate about?
• What things am I good at?
• Is there a problem I can solve that others can’t?
• Are there enough people interested in the niche I am eyeing?
• Are there affiliate products available that fit this topic?
• Can I create relatable content in this niche and build an audience?

Build a Loyal Audience Base

Once you have picked a niche, you need to start building an audience. Pick a platform where most of your target audience is. You can start a blog, a YouTube channel, or an Instagram account, but make sure you know where your audience is. Start creating reliable content for your audience and gain their trust. You can add your affiliate links to your content and drive sales for the brands.

How to Drive Traffic for Affiliate Links?

Here are a few examples of how you can showcase your affiliate links to your audience. Your job is to promote other brands and their products and you can do that by using these various channels:

• You can naturally promote affiliate links through valuable, relevant content such as product reviews, comparisons, how to guides and even widgets on your blog. Put focus on sharing honest recommendations rather than overloading your posts with affiliate links.
• Create YouTube videos showcasing unboxings or tutorials. You can also add relevant and clearly labeled affiliate links to the beginning of your video descriptions. Mention them within your videos to ensure transparency with your audience,
• Make social media posts on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok with links in captions, bios, or story stickers. You need to share authentic and relatable content that resonates with your audience and builds trust. Avoid being too “salesy.”
• Send out email newsletters sharing exclusive deals including affiliate links. You can promote the links directly by dedicating emails to specific offers or embed links naturally into valuable content.
• You can also promote the affiliate links on forums like Reddit and Quora by providing valuable, relevant answers and build trust with the community.

Pro Tip: You can boost your conversions by including affiliate links within your lead markets. This means when you create lead magnets like ebooks, checklists or other valuable gated content you can include affiliate links in them. This is a smart way to gently promote your products while also providing value.

A quick lesson: Beauty influencer Malvika Sitlani started posting her makeup and beauty content in 2016. After building a loyal following, she went into an involved affiliate marketing with Smashbox, promoting their limited range of lip products. Her YouTube channel and Instagram handle are interconnected; she uses both to partner with brands and increase their sales.

Select Affiliate Programs or Networks

While building an audience, you need to start looking at affiliate programs you could be a part of. Choosing the right affiliate programs will connect you with relevant merchants, and you can promote products you like! You can directly join affiliate programs from merchant websites, but sometimes it is hard to keep track of all your clicks and sales. Joining affiliate programs makes the tracking easy. However, getting approved by affiliate programs directly can be difficult, whereas platforms like GrabCash make it easy to get started instantly. GrabCash makes it effortless for you to discover deals, share affiliate links, and earn commissions.  Here’s how you can get started with GrabCash:

• Click the “Sign Up” button on the GrabCash homepage.
• Create an account using your mobile number or Google account.
• Once logged in, browse thousands of deals and select one based on product, profit, or discount.

• You can convert a product link to a GrabCash affiliate link and share it on all your platforms, or you can select a product link on GrabCash itself and copy it.
• Copy the link and share your unique affiliate link on platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, or Reddit.

• When someone makes a purchase through your link, you earn a commission, which is credited to your GrabCash account.
• Easily transfer your earnings directly to your bank account. Please note, you need a minimum of Rs.10 in your GrabCash account to withdraw your earnings.

GrabCash lets you manage all your affiliate deals in one place. You can track your sales, and withdraw your commissions from your bank account whenever you want them. Just share links and earn, it’s that easy!

Share Content with Affiliate Links

Select brands and products that are relevant to your niche, and create content around them. Or you can create high-quality valuable content and then share the links that go with the content; you can do it either way. Here are some tips you can use while sharing your affiliate links.

• Repurpose your content and share it on all your platforms: blogs and social media. This will allow you to generate more clicks through multiple platforms, increasing the chance of purchase.
• Do not overlook SEO when creating your content. The better you optimize your content, the more people you will reach. So, create a solid SEO and content marketing strategy to double down on your audience.
• Improve your content-making skills so you can create attractive videos, designs, and blogs for your audience. Remember, visual appeal plays a huge role in decision-making. Audiences buy what looks good! So make sure your content looks good.
• Experiment with different content types like reviews, tutorials, comparison posts, and resource lists. Keep track of what’s working with your audience and create more of what’s working.

Track Your Results

To ensure your affiliate marketing is working effectively, you need to keep track of a few elements. Doing this will help you identify areas of improvement and increase your chances of earning more.

• Check if your affiliate link works well and redirects to the correct product page with your affiliate ID in the product page.
• Analyze the links that are generating the most clicks and conversions. Check why they are performing well and try to replicate it for others.
• Track where the traffic is coming from mostly, whether it is social media, email, blogs or other platforms, and revamp your efforts accordingly.
• If you want to do an in-depth analysis, you need to track these key metrics: total revenue from affiliate, conversion rate, AOV (average order value), EPC (earnings per click), and ROI.

Why Become an Affiliate Marketer?

According to Glassdoor, the average salary of an affiliate marketer is $59,060 per year. It usually ranges between $58K and $158K. While the money may be an attractive part of the job, there are plenty of other reasons you should be considering affiliate marketing.

Best Side Gig You Can Ever Have

You need to know that most of the affiliate marketers do this job as a side gig. Imagine having a full-time paycheck and then earning extra cash on top of that. You do not have to quit your job to get started; you can do affiliate marketing in your free time, during weekends, or even during your lunch break.

Be Your Own Boss

Craving independence? As an affiliate marketer, you call the shots. You decide what products to promote, which platforms to use, and how much effort to put in. There’s no manager breathing down your neck or rigid company policies to follow. You’re in control of the work you put in.

Start a Business without Products

In affiliate marketing, you do not have to deal with the inventory, shipping, and returns. You only have to connect with your audience and earn a commission when they make a purchase. There is no need to handle shipping, returns, or product management.

Higher ROI with Minimal Investment

Affiliate marketing is one of those zero-investment business ideas that you can start any day. Just open a channel page on any platform and start posting quality content. You don’t need to invest in product creation or a warehouse; you just create a meaningful connection with your audience and share great recommendations. The investment in creating your own website is extremely meager, and the cost-to-benefit ratio is solid. You don’t need a lot to become an affiliate marketer. Grace Aberdeen, a popular affiliate marketer, only spends $30/month on her tools and website.

Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners

As a newbie, it can be difficult to find programs that are right for you. We have curated a list of affiliate programs that are beginner-friendly AKA easy to join.

All of the affiliate programs mentioned above are beginner-friendly, but the sign-up process and the approval process can sometimes feel overwhelming or time-consuming. That’s where an affiliate marketing platform like GrabCash comes in handy-as mentioned before you don’t need an approval to join GrabCash, you can make an account within minutes. Moreover, you can easily generate, track, and manage your affiliate links and earnings in one place.

Best Niches for Affiliate Marketing

You need to choose the right niche for affiliate marketing because it will help you create a loyal audience base and brands are eager to partner with a marketer who has good hold over the audience. Here are some of the most profitable affiliate marketing niches-

Travel

In 2024, the global tourism revenue was estimated to have reached $1.9 trillion, which goes to show that the travel market is growing strongly. Most of the travelers are influenced by ads and social media posts, making it a great niche for affiliate marketing. You can focus on a sub-niche like luxury travel, backpacking or solo travel, rather than covering everything. Popular affiliate programs include travel booking sites, airlines, travel insurance, luggage brands and hotel loyalty programs.

Tech

If you can simplify complex tech topics and guide people to the right products/brands/services then this could be the niche for you. Whether it’s web hosting, podcasting, latest smartphones – you can build content around any tech topic you have knowledge in and build a loyal following. You can partner up with reliable brands and promote their products to your audience after trying them out.

Personal finance

Personal finance is a timeless niche. You can cover everything from budgeting, taxes, investment to retirement planning. Better to pick a sub-niche like investment strategies for millennials, passive income ideas, and credit repair. If you have expertise in the area you can partner with companies that offer financial products like budgeting apps and banks.

Fitness and Health

The health and fitness industry reached an estimated $4.95 billion in 2022, and the industry has been growing steadily since then. This shows scope for affiliate marketers. If you are into fitness, or have a personal fitness journey you would like to share then you can genuinely connect with the audience. Make sure you only promote high-quality, research-backed products to maintain trust.

Cosmetics and Beauty

This industry has never been down, it has always been booming and it could be your best bet if you are into makeup and beauty. Whether you love skincare, makeup or hair care, you can share your honest tips and reviews to build an audience. The best thing is beauty shoppers often buy the recommendations of influencers, so you will definitely be getting the commissions in.

How Do Affiliate Marketers Get Paid?

Before you start your journey as an affiliate marketer, you need to understand the various payment models in the industry. Here’s a look into how most of the affiliate marketers get paid.

• Pay per sale: You get a percentage of the sale price when the consumer purchases the product through you. This is the most popular payment structure. How does it work? For example, if you promote a product worth Rs.2000 that has a commission rate of 10%, you will earn Rs.200 for every successful sale that you refer. It’s that easy!

• Pay per lead: You get paid only if you convert the prospects to leads, meaning you only get paid for qualified leads. A “lead” can refer to any action that the merchant finds valuable, like filling out a form (entering email IDs or numbers)or going to the merchant website and subscribing to something. You get paid for generating interest around the merchant, not necessarily leading to sales. This type of payment structure is quite common in industries like SaaS, education and insurance.

• Pay per click: You are paid on the basis of how much engagement (clicks) you generate. In this case, you need to direct traffic from your website/channel to the merchant’s website. There are various ways you get paid in the PPC model: one is when a consumer buys stuff or takes an action through your affiliate link, and the other is when you generate a bunch of clicks or engagement.

• Pay per install: This is usually suitable for software apps wherein you are paid every time you direct a user to the merchant’s website and they install the software. For example, you might earn $1 every time a user downloads an app via your affiliate link.

How Much Do Affiliate Marketers Earn? 

According to Glassdoor, the estimated total pay for Affiliate marketers is Rs.70,240 per month while the average salary is Rs.20,000. However, these numbers represent a median and affiliate marketers can earn an average of 1.2 lakhs to 12 lakhs per annum. Beginners will make less while they are learning the ropes, whereas experienced affiliate marketers can earn more than 1 lakh a month or more.

How to Be a Successful Affiliate Marketer? (Tips and Hacks)

Affiliate marketing is more than just sharing links. It requires long-term commitment and hard work. Here is how you can become a successful affiliate marketer if you just lock in.

Avoid Shortcuts, Focus on Quality

Many beginners think the more traffic they can get, the more commission they will earn. They become greedy and resort to unethical means like bot traffic. However, this kind of traffic provides no value to the merchant, and honestly, it won’t convert. So rather than buying fake traffic, focus on getting quality traffic, and target audiences that are genuinely interested in your recommendations and will buy your suggested products.

Be in Tune with Your Audience’s Needs

Pay attention to what your audience is looking for, and religiously follow relevant discussions on Twitter, Facebook, Quora and Reddit. Spot trending questions and pain points and then offer genuine solutions. You can share the solution with your affiliate link so people will want to check it out. Remember, people are more likely to take your recommendations when they feel understood.

Go for Higher Conversion Rates not Higher Commissions

Newbie affiliate marketers get excited about affiliate programs with high payouts. However, you need to find ones that have a higher conversion rate so you can get a steady stream of commission. You can research programs with higher conversion rates even if the commission per sale is lower. A Rs.100,000 per sale commission may sound appealing, but if the conversion rate is 0.2%, it would require a huge number of clicks to make any money.

Build an Audience for the Long Haul

Try to build a loyal brand following. Grow your presence across all platforms like blogs, YouTube channels, or social media pages. Stay connected with the audience and build a community. Interact with them rather than pushing products. Rather than focusing more on how to make money off the audience, try creating quality content and attracting relevant audiences. This way, you can get high-converting leads for companies and build a long-term, recurring income.

The Future of Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing still remains a chief cornerstone of digital marketing. However, its success will depend on how the industry embraces the change. For example, affiliate marketers can use AI to optimize the process by automating repetitive tasks, improving content quality and tracking their performance. With AI, you can personalize campaigns, predict consumer behavior, manage ad spending and adjust commission structures. Another change in the industry is the ad inflation. The CPM rates for digital ads and affiliate placements have gone up mainly due to rising competition and stagnant inventories. However, you can deal with the rising costs if you refine your targeting, revamp keyword strategies and use AI for smarter budget allocation. Ultimately, the future of affiliate marketing will favor those who embrace innovation and change.

Conclusion

While affiliate marketing may seem like an interesting passive income stream, it needs your time and effort. You need to create relevant content that convinces the target audience to make a purchase. If you already have an audience that trusts your word, it is easier to earn that commission. Do your research and pick affiliate programs and networks that are good for you. If you want to convert your affiliate links to cash, GrabCash is also a great place to start. So, keep putting in the work and go grab that cash!

FAQs

1. What does an affiliate marketer do?
An affiliate marketer promotes the products of a company on their platform (blog, YouTube channel, Instagram, TikTok, and more) by sharing the unique affiliate link and earning commission for each sale.

2. Is affiliate marketing legal in India?
Yes, affiliate marketing is legal in India. It won’t be an issue if you stick to fair business practices and are transparent about affiliations.

3. Can I learn affiliate marketing for free?
You can start affiliate marketing without taking any course. However, there are free affiliate marketing courses you can take on Udemy and Coursera to know more about the process and get better guidance.