As the post-pandemic world drifts online, the proper affiliate programme can help you earn hundreds of thousands of pounds, especially when it comes to the high-ticket affiliate niches. And the educational niche is no exception. This market is full of opportunities. Today, you’ll learn the peculiarities of the education affiliate marketing in the UK and how to succeed in this niche.

How Does Education Affiliate Marketing Work?

The education niche for affiliate marketing follows the general rules: publishers and affiliates promote advertisers’ products in exchange for a commission.

Here’s what sets education affiliate marketing programmes apart from most niches:

Consider the peculiarities of the affiliate marketing education niche while creating a suitable promo. After all, getting high-intent leads in this niche is far more complex than generating traffic for the e-commerce offers.

Affiliate Marketing Education: Another Pot of Gold for Affiliates

Online education is a highly-qualified niche with high cheques. Commissions in education affiliate programmes may reach 30%, with an ROI of up to 900%. However, we encourage you to weigh the specifics of each education sub-niche before even initiating the campaign.

Use this table as your starting point for the marketing analysis:

Affiliate marketing in education can be challenging for some sub-niches. For instance, you should hire extra experts to verify the validity of your marketing statements in healthcare or legal studies.

Let’s Talk Numbers: CPA, CPL, and CPC for the E-Learning 

One of the burning questions is how much you need to spend to acquire or sell one customer in e-learning affiliate programmes. To determine it, use metrics like cost-per-action, cost-per-lead, and cost-per-click.

Customers from the United Kingdom are on roughly the same level as those from Germany, Australia, and Canada. Meanwhile, the average annual expenditure per student from primary to secondary education in the United Kingdom is approximately £10,000. It makes the education niche extremely attractive both for advertisers and merchants.

Education Affiliate Marketing: Markets, Niches, and Audiences

Just a few decades ago, traditional education was the primary option for affiliate marketers. But as of late 2024, online learning bursts into the market, changing once and for all affiliate marketing education niche.

It’s expected to grow to a tremendous $280 billion (almost £225 billion) globally by 2029, tripling from the 2017 results.

Driving Growth with AI: How Artificial Intelligence Shapes the Future of Education Marketing

Almost 50% of Public First survey responders agreed that children need to learn AI tools, which may help them learn faster. 61% of respondents believed that it would be impossible to stop children from using AI services, and 47% think that banning these tools is as pointless as banning the calculator.

Source: Public First

It makes AI and education inseparable as more UK students implement those tools in their routines. However, 63% of respondents want to ban AI tools, at least for exams.

There is no wonder that generative AI in education has pros and cons. It’s fast, but it gathers up info from the whole internet, including untrustworthy platforms. It explains information with details, but sometimes, “facts” can be made up, as the tool will try to fill in the blanks randomly.

We’ve gathered the pros and cons of AI in education in a table to ease your understanding of this technology.

AI and machine learning in education will eventually earn their stable place, and you, as an affiliate marketer, should consider this info in your campaigns.

 Education offers and their targeted audience

There are dozens of sub-niches in the e-learning affiliate programmes. It provides you with the freedom to choose any of them. Meanwhile, it may become too hard to pick suitable options. We’ve gathered seven common sub-niches and their target audience to ease your choice.

There is plenty of space in the education niche for affiliate marketing businesses. People naturally tend to learn new things, while others like to educate those individuals. You can benefit from those desires by promoting educational companies to potential leads.

Top Education Affiliate Programmes: A Selection for Affiliates

Udemy

Udemy is an online learning service that offers business and lifestyle courses alongside an affiliate programme for websites with at least 500 unique monthly visits and 500 followers on socials.

The initial commission starts from 10%. The cookie’s lifespan is 7 days. 

Udemy Education Affiliate Marketing Programme – Application page

MasterClass

MasterClass is an e-learning service that provides classes by well-known experts across industries. The list of instructors includes Neil deGrasse Tyson, Melinda Gates, James Cameron, and more.

Masterclass runs affiliate marketing education programmes via Skimlinks and Impact for various GEOs. Currently, Skimlinks covers Canada, Australia, Italy and the US. Meanwhile, Impact network works globally, including the UK. The default commission on both services is 25% of the amount of the order’s sale. 

Teachable

Teachable is a service where anyone can create short education courses and share helpful digital materials.

Like other services above, it has an affiliate programme with up to 30% commission and a 30-day cookie lifespan. It has a recurring payment feature. 

Teachable Education Affiliate Marketing Programme – Application page

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning has over 15,000 short online courses in business, technology and creative industries. It’s a global platform available in English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese.

Anyone with a LinkedIn affiliate account can earn a 10% commission on a free trial sign-up and 35% on the online course purchase. The cookie lifespan is a traditional 30 days.

How to apply for the LinkedIn Learning Affiliate Programme

Skillshare

Skillshare is an online educational hub with thousands of online courses and projects in creative and lifestyle niches. The platform runs an affiliate programme that offers up to 40% commission (until it reaches £50) for every referred customer.

The cookie lifespan is 30 days. All publishers can track their referrals in real time.

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone is one of the most popular language-learning platforms. Users can learn more than 20 languages from Indo-European, Turkic, Sino-Teetian and Austronesian families here.

It also has an affiliate platform where publishers can get a 7% commission without a minimum payout. Cookies last for 30 days.

The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review is an online tutoring service that connects tutors with students who prepare for standardised tests. As an affiliate, you can earn up to a 7% commission on referral sales within the Princeton Review affiliate programme. While this number may not seem as tremendous as you think, the average £700 cheque can still make a £50 commission. 

Princeton Education Affiliate Marketing – Application page

Udacity

Udacity is a platform with a variety of technology-related online courses. It runs an affiliate programme with a 24% enrolment fee and a traditional 30-day cookie lifespan.

It has a sub-affiliate network, where publishers earn 1% of the sub-publisher’s commissions. If you climb up to the maximum revenue share tier, you can earn up to 10% of commission from your sub-publishers.

Udacity Education Affiliate Marketing Programme – Application page

Coursera

Coursera is a leading eLearning platform with online degree programmes from the best universities (including the University of London, Imperial College London, etc), online courses, and professional certificates.

Affiliates can earn up to a 15% to 45% commission on over 4,000 online courses, with a cookie duration window of 30 days. 

Kaplan

Kaplan is known as a worldwide provider of language courses. It also offers a Kaplan Test Prep Affiliate Programme, offering up to a 5% commission with a cookie duration window of 30 days.

Application page

Take Your Education Affiliate Marketing to the Next Level With Lynx & Call Logic

It’s crucial to professionally handle your campaigns with advanced tools like Lynx – affiliate marketing software that covers all your needs, automating every bit of the campaign.

Discover those three key benefits of Lynx:

• Real-time performance tracking: Implement new trends among the first to become the most productive affiliate in your niche.
• Referral journey control: Inspect whether your traffic meets the advertiser’s expectations.
• Exhaustive lead insights: Tailor your promo to perfectly meet leads’ demographic and psychographic portrait.

Here is the live-action screenshot of the tool’s homepage: 

Synergise Education Affiliate Marketing With Other Traffic Channels

Even the best education affiliate programmes won’t show themselves in full beauty if you refuse to use additional channels. We recommend you coordinate your marketing efforts with organic search traffic and paid traffic acquisition channels:

Source: Promodo

Luckily, marketing suits like Phonexa can help you manage all your affiliate campaigns in one place.

Fine-Tune and Automate Your Education Affiliate Marketing Efforts

While Lynx remains a splendid service, it shows its full strength combined with other Phonexa products. The toolkit covers all aspects of education affiliate marketing, from organic to paid campaigns to buying or selling leads.

Here are the eight tools you get at a single price (use this online price calculator):

Build your plan now to grow your affiliate income, or book a demo to learn more about Phonexa.

Frequently Asked Questions

How might AI and Chat GPT affect education?

Many students already use generative tools to write their essays. Educational institutions may implement anti-AI measures, such as examining texts with AI detectors, asking for video essays, or other ways to prove that students understand the material.

What are the pros and cons of AI in education?

AI-based tools can provide personalised learning opportunities tailored to student’s needs. They can automate administrative work, freeing up teachers’ time. Meanwhile, these services can perpetuate biases in the data they are trained on, and they can’t still replace human interactions.

Is using AI in education considered plagiarism?

AI and plagiarism in education are closely tied, as most generative tools simply gather all info available online to create an article. However, if you use these tools only for general research, adding more information from your own deep research, thoughts, and conclusions, the work will be considered unique.

Is it possible to get an AI-based education?

As of late 2024, there are no fully AI-based education tools, as people still create course structures and most of the tasks manually. So, we can’t examine AI education pros and cons, as there are no fully automated services.

What are the pros and cons of using AI in education?

AI in education and learning can provide personalised experiences, adjusting course structure and tasks to student’s needs. Meanwhile, even the best AI tools won’t replace human interactions. 

How lucrative is the world of affiliate marketing? In the current digital era, where internet collaborations combine creativity and financial potential, entrepreneurs are finding a multitude of lucrative prospects.

Affiliate marketing has skyrocketed, going from a 2016 business worth $13 billion to one worth more than $17 billion by 2023. However, what is ahead? Experts in the field anticipate a significant increase to $40 billion by 2030, highlighting the positive trend of the business.

Explore the worldwide income from affiliate marketing niches, as reported by affiliates who contributed to the generated earnings.

Source: Statista

The topic of the optimum compensation rate is at the core of affiliate marketing. It’s critical to strike the correct balance. Marketers need to provide rates that are both financially sustainable over the long run and appealing enough to encourage recommendations.

As we explore the different payment models that partner marketing companies use, we’ll uncover everything from conventional revenue sharing to innovative strategies. When compared to performance-based incentives, how effective are multi-tier systems? How can we increase profits while cultivating long-term relationships?

In this article, you will learn how affiliate marketing companies compensate their partners with affiliate commissions and how to adapt to the ever-changing industry. In affiliate marketing, knowledge is power, and success is paved with well-informed choices.

The Principles and Role of Affiliate Marketing

Imagine for a second if you could turn your enthusiasm for things you like into a source of income. Affiliate marketing is a new and exciting way to make money online that is changing the game.

What is online affiliate marketing, though? Individuals use this performance-based digital approach to market products or services on behalf of businesses, receiving commissions for each sale they bring in via this digital approach.

Commission affiliate marketing’s main participants are:

In what ways does this ecosystem work? To increase brand exposure and reach a wider audience, brands collaborate with affiliates, who are often influencer marketing representatives. 

Affiliates increase the brand’s internet traffic in exchange for commissions on leads or purchases. In the meanwhile, affiliate marketing networks act as intermediaries, handling tracking, commission payouts, and reporting. Advertisers and affiliates benefit from the system’s reliance on high-intent clients and effective leads.

What is driving the popularity of this model? First of all, it provides prospective marketers with a low barrier to entry. Affiliates don’t require high-end stores or a big budget to promote products or services. They may reach a wide audience, generate leads, and earn big incentives by using a variety of channels, such as blogs, social media, or even emails.

As you explore affiliate marketing, you will discover that it is a win-win situation. The companies get more customers, clients discover better solutions, and affiliates earn commissions for recommendations.

But what makes affiliate marketing truly appealing? Consider these key advantages:

1. Businesses may minimise financial risk using a performance-based strategy that entails businesses only paying when the desired actions are generated.

2. Affiliates frequently have preexisting audiences, which opens up new markets for firms to approach.

3. When new affiliates generate conversions and join the program, the possibility of brand visibility grows and the potential for enhanced sales.

4. Affiliates use a wide range of marketing strategies, including email marketing, social media marketing, and content marketing, to increase brand awareness for their clients.

5. Online affiliate marketing has the ability to help companies grow worldwide, even if they don’t have a physical presence in other countries.

6. Businesses face a minimal risk of ineffectual investment, as affiliate marketing operates on a pay-for-performance basis, requiring payment only when conversions occur.

7. Affiliate managers require advanced tracking instruments to estimate the effectiveness of affiliate marketing campaigns. In order to improve outcomes, this includes monitoring the efficacy of diverse affiliates, traffic sources, and advertising strategies.

8. Partner relationships between affiliate parties strengthen through affiliate marketing, which facilitates collaboration on other projects and cross-promotions.

9. Backlinks and affiliate-generated content can be advantageous to a business’s search engine optimisation efforts.

Be much as it may, with great opportunity comes great responsibility. While all parties involved gain from affiliate marketing, affiliate fraud is causing unproductive businesses to fall short of fraud security requirements. Affiliate networks must provide a fraud-free environment and engage advertisers and affiliates with compelling value propositions. But what exactly does this involve?

1. Operators should use advanced fraud detection and compliance algorithms to counteract this phenomenon.

2. In order to prevent affiliate fraud, it is necessary to comprehend the numerous types of fraud and to implement automated affiliate marketing software.

3. Networks and brands must track, validate, and monitor affiliates’ efforts in order to eliminate or avoid affiliate fraud.

4. The integration of fraud detection software can substantially improve the protection against affiliate fraud.

Affiliate marketing compliance is essential for the prevention of fraud. It is beneficial to adhere to regulations such as the GDPR, FTC, PCI DSS, CCPA, CAN-SPAM Act, and intellectual property rights in order to establish trust and protect against legal issues.

Compliance encompasses the following:

• Initial screening
• Predictive modelling
• Monitoring
• Fraud detection
• Reporting mechanisms
• Audits
• Penalties

Affiliate commission rates are among the main benefits of affiliate marketing. They encourage affiliates to promote the merchant’s services and products and foster mutually advantageous outcomes.

What Is a Commission for Affiliates?

Affiliate commissions are remuneration given to dedicated affiliate managers in exchange for their effective advertising campaigns. Affiliates get payment from merchants for any leads, sales, or other conversions that they bring in. However, what does a normal affiliate commission consist of?

Actually, there isn’t a universally applicable solution. Factors including product value, industry standards, and the competitive environment may cause affiliate revenue rates to fluctuate substantially. These rates may be structured as:

• A percentage of the sale amount
• A fixed amount per lead
• A combination of both models

Companies can accurately attribute sales or leads to specific affiliates by tracking affiliate commissions through codes or unique affiliate links.

Which affiliate commission is considered good? To find out, let’s have a look at the many benefits of affiliate commissions in digital marketing:

1. Cost-effective advertising: Affiliate marketing businesses profit from a performance-based strategy as they only have to pay for real outcomes. 
2. Motivated promoters: Affiliates put their time and energy into the program because they are motivated to make money. More successful advertising efforts are generally the result of these interests aligning.
3. Data-driven insights: The affiliate model shows you which affiliates bring in the most money. In what ways may businesses benefit from this data? They may use it to improve their promotional strategies over time.
4. Mutually beneficial partnerships: Affiliates may build solid connections with companies whose products resonate with their audience, leading to mutually lucrative collaborations. Better, more genuine advertising is usually the outcome of this kind of collaboration.
5. Passive income potential: By allowing affiliates to monetise their online presence or audience, this approach has the potential to provide a consistent flow of passive revenue.

The result? It is a win-win scenario where businesses have increased exposure and sales, and affiliates are paid for generating successful conversions.

Effective Affiliate Commission Models for Long-Term Development

Affiliates should evaluate their skill set, company objectives, and the services or products they are advertising to determine the best commission structure for them.

Percentage-Based Commissions for Affiliates

A percentage-based commission in affiliate marketing allows for a dynamic earning potential to develop in relation to performance by rewarding affiliates with a piece of each sale they bring in via their marketing efforts.

In contrast to fixed-rate commission schemes, which pay affiliates a set fixed amount for each sale or action, percentage-based models link profits to the value of each sale. 

How much is the percentage paid by affiliate programs?

The exact percentage that an affiliate receives is determined by the conditions of each program negotiated between the affiliate and the business, agreements that have been signed, and the affiliate’s connection with the merchant. 

Affiliates have an incentive to target high-value sales and engage with eligible clients because of the percentage-based structure, which increases the likelihood that these customers will make large purchases.

Recurring Commissions

What if affiliates could earn not just from initial sales but from ongoing customer relationships? Under this scheme, affiliates get commissions on both the first sale and follow-up payments or renewals made by the client they recommended. 

In subscription-based businesses, where keeping customers is crucial, recurring commissions are common. Here are some common uses:

• Software subscriptions
• Membership sites
• Ongoing service providers (e.g., web hosting, email marketing platforms)

The advantages of recurring affiliate programs include:

• Commissions may be earned by affiliates for months or even years following the first recommendation, allowing for a passive income stream.
• Affiliates in this model are financially motivated to market products or services that provide excellent customer satisfaction in order to retain subscribers for the long haul.
• The potential for increased client lifetime value

Nevertheless, one must take into account potential challenges:

• Income may begin slowly and increase gradually as customers renew.
• The process involves tracking client subscriptions and handling potential cancellations.

Tiered Commission

This approach offers different commission rates, with higher-performing affiliates receiving larger percentages.

Commission rates are increased for affiliates who accomplish superior performance levels, such as generating more sales or referrals.

Affiliate commissions promote affiliates to excel and optimise their promotional efforts. The tiered commission structure is particularly effective for affiliate marketing programs that:

• High-ticket affiliate marketing products
• Offerings that are subscription-based
• An opportunity for affiliates to influence sales volume significantly

It is of the utmost importance to adhere to fair and transparent standards when establishing performance criteria and commission rates for affiliates.

One-Time Affiliate Commissions

One-time commissions are payments that affiliates receive for each sale they generate without any additional incentives. Further commissions are not earned by the affiliate after the initial sale, even if the consumer makes subsequent purchases or subscribes to a service.

When is this model typically employed?

• Non-subscription products
• Single-purchase services
• One-off transactions

The primary benefits for affiliates include:

• Commissions are received as soon as a sale is completed.
• Since each sale only receives a single payment, tracking is made simple.
• Commission computations are made easier by the clear-cut structure, which promotes transparency.

Disadvantages to Consider:

• Limited revenue potential from a single sale
• There is less motivation for affiliates to preserve customer ties

One-Time vs. Recurring Affiliate Commission

Selecting one of these most common commission types relies on a number of variables, such as your strategy and the kind of product or service you’re marketing.

The decision you make should ultimately be in line with your marketing goals, the products or services you are advertising, and your plan for creating a steady affiliate revenue stream.

What Does a “Super Affiliate” Mean?

The term “super affiliate” is applied to an affiliate marketer who has reached a high level of success and development and who is able to produce a sizable volume of sales and referrals for the products or services they advertise.

Due to their exceptional performance, super affiliates frequently negotiate exclusive commission rates or terms with paying affiliate programs. The popular term “super affiliate commissions” is frequently used to describe these exclusive rates.

Commissions paid out to super affiliates by affiliate programs and merchants might vary greatly depending on the terms agreed upon by both parties. Super affiliates bring exceptional value to the table; hence, their commissions are higher than average sales commission rates.

Here are some points to consider regarding super affiliate marketing:

1. Special agreements with affiliate programs are common among super affiliates. Bonuses, commission systems with tiered commission structures, or higher commission percentages can be in store for them.
2. In order to be eligible for super affiliate commissions, super affiliates may be required to meet certain performance requirements before distribution. Sales volume, referral volume, or other performance indicators may serve as the basis for these thresholds.
3. Affiliate programs recognise the long-term benefits of having super affiliates as partners and are prepared to reward them with even larger commissions. The higher commission rate is advantageous to both parties since a terrific affiliate marketing blog regularly brings in significant cash.
4. Super affiliate commissions may be contingent upon their ability to sustain a specific level of performance. However, if the super affiliate’s performance declines, the special commission rate will most likely be re-evaluated.
5. Showing your marketing strategies, past successes, and ability to influence the affiliate program’s sales are all important when negotiating super affiliate commissions.
6. Some affiliate programs celebrate and reward their “super affiliates” in public. This gives them more visibility and respect in the affiliate marketing community.

Becoming a great super affiliate takes a lot of effort, expertise, and unparalleled dedication. Being proficient in all aspects of marketing enables super affiliates to:

• Have a thorough understanding of their target audience
• Use cutting-edge advertising strategies
• Invest a substantial amount of resources and time in affiliate marketing efforts

As you reach exceptional levels of results, you can look for ways to negotiate better super affiliate commissions with affiliate commission programs that recognise your efforts.

What Is the Average Commission Rate for Affiliates?

The affiliate program’s terms, the products or services being advertised, and the industry all have a substantial impact on the average sales commission rates per industry. As a result, it causes a wide range of average sales commission rates.

How much does an affiliate marketing commission usually cost? Take a look at how the charges rate depending on the niche:

In order to stay informed about the most recent commission rates, affiliate marketers need to keep an eye on the programs they’re interested in.

To grow your affiliate business, you need to make sure you have the right stack, which includes a comprehensive affiliate marketing solution. Lynx, an affiliate software for tracking clicks, is one example of Phonexa’s single operating solution that focuses on lead-employing and optimising customer paths.

1. Its easy-to-use dashboard consolidates conversion rates, affiliate progress, campaign ROI, and impressions, thereby offering a panoramic marketing view.

2. Performance tracking lets you look at affiliate traffic and advertiser offers in real time, facilitating quick adjustments to get the results you want.

3. Precise Targeting is another noteworthy highlight, as it employs location data and demographic insights to secure leads that are consistent with the preferences of advertisers.

By incorporating data-driven insights and streamlined management for scalable success, Lynx redefines affiliate marketing efforts and equips businesses with control and insights.

Commissions From Affiliate Programs: Factors to Consider

Affiliate commissions are an essential component of affiliate marketing, and when affiliate marketers look at and choose affiliate commission schemes, they should consider some points.

Explore a top-notch lead management system if you are a merchant or affiliate marketer seeking to gain value and insights from every lead. Some of the main features of Phonexa’s LMS Sync include:

• Lead analytics: Leverage web campaign data with advanced analytics to boost revenue and business growth.
• Lead tracking: In order to increase revenue, distinguish your business by attributing inbound leads.
• Lead distribution: Automate lead-to-customer conversion to cut down on wait times and streamline workflows.
• Real-time reporting: Make informed decisions by accessing reports that are clear, concise, and accessible.

LMS Sync software is the preferred choice of modern businesses for its ability to increase earnings, automated distribution, multi-channel marketing suite, and in-depth lead traffic and campaign performance statistics.

In order to identify the most exceptional affiliate program that offers considerable rewards, it is crucial to consider the following key factors:

Profit Margin Calculation for an Affiliate Program

The profit margin for an affiliate program is estimated by considering the affiliate commission and the costs associated with generating the referred sales.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to profit margin calculation for affiliates:

1. Obtain the affiliate program’s commission rate, which is typically a fixed amount for each referral or a percentage of the sale price.
2. Learn how much the product or service you’re advertising costs through the partner program.
3. To determine the Gross Commission for each transaction, multiply the product price by the affiliate commission rate.
4. Consider any expenses that are associated with the promotion of the affiliate product, such as website hosting, advertising, and content creation costs.
5. To ascertain the Net Profit, subtract the total costs from the Gross Commission. After expenses are taken into account, this represents your actual earnings.
6. To represent the profit as a percentage of the affiliate revenue, compute the profit margin using the following formula: (Net Profit / Product Price) * 100 = Profit Margin.

Positive profit margins suggest that the affiliate program generates substantial profit, while negative margins indicate that the affiliate receives less than it expends.

Skilful Affiliate Marketing: Unleash Your Business’s Full Potential

Affiliate marketing continues to be the most effective approach for promoting products and services. Phonexa offers an effective solution for businesses in a variety of industries to achieve remarkable success through the use of adept automated affiliate marketing software.

Entry to an economical solution is available for a mere $100 per month, which includes a variety of state-of-the-art products, such as:

The Selection of Affiliate Commission Models in a Dynamic Market

Affiliate marketing remains a multipurpose opportunity for entrepreneurs in the constantly changing landscape of online partnerships and income generation. Exploring a variety of affiliate commission models, in turn, functions as a compass, directing individuals towards sustainable development and maximised ROI.

There are a multitude of opportunities to connect, collaborate, and profit in commission affiliate marketing, from the traditional revenue-sharing model to the innovative multi-tier and performance-based structures.

Through the application of knowledge and comprehension, individuals can effectively navigate this ever-evolving industry, leveraging the potential of affiliate commissions to establish a mutually beneficial relationship between businesses, clients, and affiliates.

Success in digital entrepreneurship is based on innovation and teamwork, and as we progress, affiliate revenue structures will change.

Maximise your affiliate marketing output with Phonexa’s single operational solution, which is specifically designed for partner and performance marketing. Book a demo to investigate the potential of improving your affiliate marketing endeavours and participate in a Product Tour today.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an affiliate commission, and how is it gained?

The compensation affiliates receive for effective advertising efforts that result in desired actions, such as sales, leads, or visits, is referred to as an affiliate commission.

How does a commission operate in affiliate marketing?

Affiliates earn commissions through the promotion of products or services for businesses and the generation of conversions through distinctive tracking links.

What payment models are the most profitable for affiliates?

Several affiliate commissions are commonly encountered, such as:

1. Percentage-based commission: Affiliates receive a percentage of the sale amount for each referral.

2. One-time commission (fixed amount): Affiliates receive a predetermined sum for each referral, irrespective of the selling price.

3. Tiered commission: Increases in commission rates are contingent upon affiliate performance levels.

4. Recurrent commission: Affiliates receive a percentage of the recurring payments referred consumers make.

What are the advantages of recurring and one-time affiliate commissions?

Affiliate commissions that are paid once offer immediate earnings for each sale and simplified tracking while recurring affiliate commissions provide ongoing passive income from customer subscriptions.

Recurring commissions are used in subscription-based services, while single-purchase products are more suitable for one-time commissions.

When evaluating affiliate programs, what factors should affiliates take into account?

During your search for the most profitable and appropriate affiliate commission programs, it is important to take into account the following:

• Rate of commission
• Quality of the product
• Conversion rate
• Duration of cookie
• Value of the Average Order
• Promotional materials
• Support for affiliates
• Reporting and tracking
• Schedule for payment
• Payment methods
• Program reputation
• Policies and terms
• Market demand
• Landscape of competition
• Long-term viability

Аffiliate marketing is one of the most effective ways to keep a steady stream of high-intent leads besides earned media. The numbers don’t lie: affiliate marketing spending in the United Kingdom reached £1.1 billion, where UK publishers see an incredible 229% sales boom from affiliate marketing.

Thus, many marketers want to join this lucrative opportunity. However, one question constantly weighs on the minds of merchants: should I create an affiliate programme on my own, or should I join an established affiliate marketing network and draw customers from there?

Without any further ado, let’s review both options.

Learn affiliate marketing through and through with Phonexa’s Affiliate Marketing Podcast.

Affiliate Network Definition and Operating Principles

An affiliate network, or affiliate marketing network, is a platform that connects businesses willing to buy traffic (known as advertisers or merchants) with companies willing to sell traffic (known as affiliates or publishers). These platforms act as intermediaries, facilitating the partnership and tracking the performance of the affiliate marketing campaigns.  

There are various platforms: B2B affiliate networks, B2C networks, and even B2D platforms. The general process of joining a network (whether it is a health affiliate programme, retail, real estate or any other affiliate) looks the same:

1. Advertiser joins network: A business looking to promote its products or services joins a global affiliate network. They create an affiliate programme, setting terms like commission rates, payment methods, and tracking cookies.  
2. Affiliate joins network: Individuals or entities interested in earning commissions by promoting products or services join the same network. They can browse available programmes on affiliate network platforms and choose programmes that align with their interests or audience.  
3. Affiliate promotes products: The affiliate creates content (e.g., blog posts, social media posts, videos) to promote the advertiser’s products or services. They include unique affiliate links within their content. These links track clicks and conversions.  
4. Customer makes targeted action: When a customer clicks on the affiliate link and makes a targeted action, the affiliate CPA network tracks it and attributes it to the affiliate.  
5. Affiliate earns commission: The advertiser pays the affiliate network a commission based on the agreed-upon terms. The network then pays the affiliate their commission.  

Source: Understanding Affiliate Marketing Ecosystem

The Pros of Joining an Affiliate Marketing Network

An advanced affiliate marketing network allows you to pinpoint target audience characteristics (demographics, psychographics, etc.) and run an affiliate programme to collect perfect leads for your case.

The Cons of Joining an Affiliate Marketing Network

Joining an affiliate network is the easiest of the options, but you should still be aware of potential challenges along the way: 

• Fierce competition: There are dozens of advertisers in the same network. All things being equal, the highest price per lead wins a competition and gains a potential customer. It can lower the cost-effectiveness even of the best affiliate network. 
• Lack of control: Despite the strict screening most affiliates undergo, you may not always guarantee the quality of the traffic source. Muddy schemes like cookie stuffing, brand bidding, or cookie dropping might harm your potential campaigns.
• Commission costs: Affiliate marketing networks can eat away your profits quite significantly, charging up to 30% of the affiliate’s commission earnings. For every $1,000 paid in affiliate commissions, you might have to leave $300 on the table.

Finally, it may not be the best idea to rely on a single affiliate marketing network as your primary traffic channel. Marketing is a constantly changing industry, so what could work today may become irrelevant tomorrow.

Why Choose Joining an Affiliate Network Over Creating an Affiliate Programme?

Running affiliate programmes will work best for small businesses with limited resources, companies under time pressure, those unwilling to spend their resources on affiliate programmes, and those trying to figure out how things work before committing to an independent affiliate programme.

Source: Understanding Affiliate Marketing Ecosystem

Can You Start Running an Affiliate Programme on Your Own?

Creating your own affiliate programme is challenging but still possible. Top affiliate marketing networks like Amazon Associates, Awin, and ShareASale unite hundreds of thousands of affiliates, with smaller brands also running independent affiliate programmes.

Affiliate programme management is easier than you thought. Many platforms offer automation features that can streamline tedious tasks like tracking sales, paying commissions, and generating reports.

Affiliate Network As A Way to Grow Your Brand Name

Starting your affiliate programme is a great, affordable way to increase brand awareness and generate leads. By leveraging the efforts of affiliates who promote your products or services, you can tap into new audiences, increase visibility and enhance your company’s credibility.

 Affiliates often include backlinks to your website, which can improve your search engine rankings. It’s easy to scale up or down your affiliate programme based on your marketing goals and budget.

Use this guideline to keep track of affiliate programmes to ensure you’ll get the most out of this marketing practice.

Step 1 – Set Your Goals

The first thing you should do is decide what you want to achieve. Base your decision on your value proposition, the current state of the market, and the analysis of your affiliate network.

Whether you are to tap into complex markets – say, an insurance affiliate programme or less competitive markets like digital goods or beauty, you must quantify the numbers in the first place.

Here are some statistics that might help you choose the right affiliate market, according to the Affiliate Marketing Benchmark Report from Influencer Marketing Hub:

• The three most popular affiliate markets are retail (44%), telecom & media (25%), and travel & leisure (16%).
• The most rewarding affiliate categories are SaaS affiliate programmes (up to 70% commission from the sale amount), finance (up to 40%), eLearning (up to 30%), and beauty & health (up to 30%).
• For 67% of marketers, affiliate fraud is a concern, with 69.1% having experienced it at least once in their career.

Wonder how well you are protected from affiliate fraud? Complete this fraud prevention quiz.

Source: Affiliate Marketing Benchmark Report

Step 2 – Choose Your Payment Model

Once you choose a preferable network, it’s time to determine your payment model. The most common are the next 4:

• Pay-per-lead
• Pay-per-sale
• Pay-per-click
• Pay-per-action

Depending on your business objectives, you are free to combine multiple commission types and objectives, from cost-per-lead programmes to pay-per-call affiliate network programmes to hybrid programmes where every affiliate can choose what they are paid for.

Source: Affiliate Marketing Benchmark Report

Step 3 – Choose Your Affiliate Software

With affiliate marketing SaaS software growing increasingly popular – 73% of marketers prefer it to affiliate network software – there’s almost no viable alternative to renting your software from a third-party provider.

Even though you have less control over such software because you don’t own it in the background, white label affiliate software appears as your own proprietary platform on the affiliate’s side while perfectly serving your marketing goals.

The market offers affiliate software of any type, from simple open-source affiliate tracking software that helps you monitor links to multi-tier affiliate software to comprehensive solutions like Phonexa’s Lynx that synergise affiliate programmes with your other marketing efforts.

Book a demo to learn more about Lynx and how it blends into Phonexa’s performance marketing ecosystem, or order your all-encompassing affiliate marketing software suite if you already know the tool’s benefits for your case. 

Step 4 – Design Creative Materials

Promoting through an affiliate programme goes far beyond placing a link on the publisher’s website. You should look for affiliates whose promo channels suit your strategy. At the same time, you need to ensure that their content fits your strategy and use approved promo materials.

For instance, Instagram and Pinterest users are more likely to react to quality images, whereas TikTok audiences are most susceptible to visual storytelling.

Source: Statista

To stand out from the crowd and increase the quality of inbound affiliate traffic, develop creatives for every type of affiliate you are going to partner with. It could be links, banners, product images, email templates, landing pages, infographics, case studies, testimonials, product data feeds, etc.

If you want to build an affiliate network and simplify things for your publishers, let them use your affiliate software and assign a dedicated affiliate programme manager to help them set up and properly run a promo campaign for your business.

Step 5 – Launch Your Affiliate Marketing Programme and Onboard Affiliates

Double-check the agreement of the white label affiliate programme before you kick things off. You need to ensure that all parties understand all peculiarities of the collaboration, including affiliate programme compliance with all regulations. Pay attention to the following:

• Definition & interpretation of the terms used in the agreement
• Application process and acceptance
• Payment terms and commission structure
• Affiliate programme compliance
• Consequences of programme violation

Some niches like healthcare, business, finance and insurance need special attention. With those industries, one wrong word may lead to huge charges. As an advertiser, you need to ensure that an affiliate agreement is enforceable, clear, and comprehensive.

Write down penalties for an affiliate programme violation. It might be a good idea to consult with a legal professional to make sure you are on the safe side.

Source: Understanding Affiliate Marketing Ecosystem

The Hard Choice: To Create an Affiliate Programme, Or To Join an Affiliate Network? 

Those who want full control over their affiliate marketing campaigns or are looking for more direct relationships with affiliates will appreciate the idea of developing their affiliate programme. However, you need to be sure that you have enough resources to manage the programme.

Lastly, owning an affiliate programme and enrolling in third-party programmes run by affiliate network platforms are not mutually exclusive. You can combine both strategies to boost your exposure and leverage your online promotion strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an affiliate network?

An affiliate network is a platform that connects businesses (advertisers) with entities (affiliates) that promote their products or services. As an advertiser, you join the network and ask affiliates to promote your product. Affiliate joins the same network, agrees on your terms and starts to create content to promote your product, earning commissions from leads’ targeted actions.

What are network affiliates?

Network affiliates are individuals or entities that promote the products or services of businesses within an affiliate network. They earn a commission for each sale or lead generated through their efforts. The most common affiliates are website owners, content creators, influencers, and email marketers.

Can I use my own affiliate link?

In most networks, you can use your own link to track performance. But it’s rare that you can earn commissions from using your own affiliate link. However, in some networks, this practice can be considered a violation of network rules. So, we recommend you to read its terms and conditions.

How to create your own affiliate programme?

The first step in developing an affiliate network is to define your goals, choose a niche and select a network where you can create your own programme. The next step is to set rules, commission rates, tracking methods and develop marketing materials. Later, recruit affiliates by offering attractive incentives. Track program results and provide constant support to affiliates.

What are sub-affiliate networks?

These are networks where affiliates can recruit additional affiliates ( “sub-affiliates” or “downline affiliates”) to promote products or services. When a customer makes a targeted action through a sub-affiliate link, the multi-tier affiliate software tracks it and both affiliate and sub-affiliate earn a commission.

Blogs have won the number one position as an affiliate marketing channel, and the commercial potential of a well-made affiliate marketing blog is vast. You can grow your bottom line exponentially by creating how-to articles, pro guides, or visually appealing infographics with the proper affiliate program and strategically placed affiliate links.

Affiliate blogging is open to anyone who creates customer-centric content with a unique value proposition. If you’re a blogger, you can share your personal experiences about the product in question; if you’ve been in the game a while, you teach affiliate marketing online, how to write an affiliate blog, and anything else you’re good at.

So, we’ve created a comprehensive list of compelling affiliate marketing blogs run by affiliate marketing professionals Neil Patel, Spencer Haws, Matthew Woodward, and more. These individuals have made their mark and now set the bar for what’s possible when you’re passionate, driven, and knowledgeable in your niche.

Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Blogging, and Affiliate Links

Rewarding someone for recommending a business isn’t unusual, and it’s easy to see why. Many companies offer the “refer-a-friend” scheme to bring in extra cash.

Affiliate marketing works much the same way, only on a larger scale. Companies provide financial incentives to websites, influencers, and others who can send customers their way using affiliate links or discount codes. It’s typically commission-based (you get a cut of the sale), but you can also set a fixed fee per sale (or lead), depending on what you’re selling.

The Upsides of Affiliate Marketing

For Advertisers

Affiliate marketing for bloggers is a cracking way for brands to use word-of-mouth to boost sales, revenue, and brand awareness without breaking the bank. 

Brands pay based on performance, so no sales mean no payout—much better than traditional marketing routes like paid ads, where you’re rolling the dice a bit more.

Are you ready to access all the premium features? Select your subscription plan now or book a meeting to discover how Phonexa can enhance your affiliate marketing business.

For Affiliates

For affiliates and influencers, affiliate marketing is an excellent tool to earn a bit of extra income (or even your primary income) from your website or social media pages. Once the content is live, it can be a source of passive income, as people stumble across it and make purchases from the brands you’ve given a nod to, earning you a tidy commission.

Affiliate marketing has always had a low entry barrier, meaning just about anyone can jump in. The start-up costs can be next to nothing if you’ve already got an audience. 

• If you’re an influencer or have a website, you can start promoting brands in an affiliate post at no extra cost. 
• If you’re starting from scratch, you’ll need to shell out a bit to get your site up and running and visible in the search engine results with blog affiliates.

The Downsides of Affiliate Marketing

For Advertisers

Affiliate marketing is a steep learning curve at first. The silver lining is there’s loads of information online to help you run an affiliate program smoothly. That said, there are no guarantees—your program’s success hinges on strong affiliate recruitment, well-crafted campaigns, and building solid relationships to drive those all-important sales.

For Affiliates

The competition can be fierce for affiliates. If you’re running a content site, getting your SEO spot on is crucial to landing on the first page of search results.

There’s no surefire way to guarantee earnings through affiliate programs. You’re not in control of the affiliate program, so if a brand changes its commission rates, you have no say (though you could promote a different brand, ask for a higher rate, or stop promoting them altogether).

The perks often outweigh the drawbacks. So, what’s next on your to-do list?

How To Get Started with Affiliate Marketing

For Advertisers

Once your tracking is in place, it’s time to gather affiliates and build solid relationships with them. Before long, you should start seeing the sales come through—well done! Your affiliate program is officially driving growth for your business.

Learn more about automatic tracking in affiliate programs.

For Affiliates

If you’ve already got an audience, the next step is to find brands that resonate with your followers and apply to their affiliate programs. 

Once approved, you can start promoting them using your affiliate links for bloggers, discount codes, or any other resources they provide (banners, data feeds, social media posts, etc.). You’ll be given access to your affiliate program or network login, where you can keep track of sales and see how much commission you’ve earned. It’s a brilliant idea to have a chat with brands about running custom affiliate campaigns to help maximise their revenue—and yours!

Why You Should Be Reading Affiliate Marketing Bloggers  

If you’re just starting out or are a pro in the game, keeping up with a reliable affiliate blog example is an absolute must.

Why, you ask?  

Because the industry’s always shifting, with new tools cropping up and strategies constantly changing. There’s always something fresh to sink your teeth into.

The people behind the scenes of such blogs really know their stuff—they’ve got hands-on experience with everything they’re writing about. So, whether you’re trying to find influencers for your brand, coming up with a catchy Shopify store name, or building an email list, you’re in safe hands.

By reading these blogs on a regular basis and following their tips and tricks, you can boost your earnings and see even better results. That’s why staying clued up on affiliate marketing and learning how to make money from it should be part of your daily routine.

Right then, let’s get down to business—how can you learn more about the trade from an affiliate marketing blog?

But What If I Run an Affiliate Network?  

If you’re running an affiliate network and keen to up your game across the board, click here to leap straight to the ultimate guide on boosting ROI with your publishers and blog affiliates.  

Find the best affiliate marketing programs at Phonexa! Don’t postpone—take a product tour now!

And now, without further ado—cue the fanfare—here’s our roundup of 12 top-notch affiliate marketing blogs.

12 Outstanding Affiliate Blog Examples 

Neil Patel

Neil Patel hardly needs an introduction, with 4.7 million monthly website visits. As co-founder of Neil Patel Digital and one of the most well-known digital marketers, he draws a significant amount of traffic to his affiliate marketing blog—42% from search and a hefty 52.22% from direct entries, with referrals making up a small 1.85% of the overall site traffic.

Neil Patel’s blog has in focus digital marketing, offering in-depth insights on a range of topics—content marketing, social media, email, affiliate marketing, SEO, paid advertising, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, analytics, and more.

One key takeaway from Neil’’s affiliate marketing blog is his hands-on approach. He consistently provides practical advice and tools to help readers apply theory to real-world situations.

Don’t hesitate to learn about these 8 affiliate marketing tools to generate more leads.

He caters to all levels of expertise, varying the complexity of his content from straightforward, step-by-step guides to more niche, platform-specific advice. Neil’s affiliate blog example will definitely keep you updated on the latest affiliate marketing trends. 

One thing that stands out is the sheer number of ads on his site—from full-screen pop-ups like the “Want More SEO Traffic?” banner for affiliate marketing SEO tools to multiple on-page promotions. You might ponder that these might not be textbook examples of marketing best practices, but Neil knows what he’s doing. With his strong reputation in digital and affiliate marketing, he’s able to make aggressive marketing work in his favour. 

At the heart of Neil’s offering is Ubersuggest, an SEO tool for keyword research, domain overviews, site audits, backlink tracking, and competitor analysis. Subscriptions start at $12 per month, which gets you one domain, 150 daily searches, 5 competitor domains, 125 tracked keywords, and 1,000 webpage scans. All in all, Neils is the one one should follow for affiliate marketing tips.

Lee-Ann Johnstone

Unlike Neil’s example, Lee-Ann Johnstone focuses solely on helping affiliates learn and grow through her affiliate marketing blog and website. This blog has around 23,000 monthly visitors, Lee-Ann’s blog doesn’t have so many visitors, but it does provide some valuable marketing top affiliate content to learn from.

In addition to her affiliate marketing blog, Lee-Ann hosts niche events to connect with aspiring affiliate marketers and teach marketing best practices. Besides, she’s in charge of The Affiliate Marketing Podcast show, providing training and mentorship to those new.

Jay Schwedelson

Jay Schwedelson, the founder of SubjectLine.com, is a true genius who merged email subject lines with affiliate marketing, offering a free online tool to create, design, evaluate, and score email subject lines.

Related read: Your ultimate guide to affiliate email marketing.

Jay’s approach to his affiliate marketing blog might be called creative. Let’s take, for instance, a hashtag window. There, you can pull related blogs by clicking the hashtag. This makes it a wonderful affiliate blog example to follow.

iAmAttila

Another affiliate blog example is Attila O’dree, a full-time affiliate marketer and owner of the blog iAmAtilla, devoted to the synergy of paid traffic and affiliate marketing.

IAmAtilla is arguably the best blog for affiliate marketing to learn about paid traffic sources—Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, Mobile, and Native—within the realm of affiliate marketing. Navigating 33 pages of blog content, you can find everything you need to make money blogging, including guides, tutorials, tips, and so much more.

Pat Flynn

Pat Flynn is a serial entrepreneur and creator of The Smart Passive Income Blog, a website educating aspiring digital entrepreneurs to draw passive income from multiple streams providing the best affiliate marketing industry insights. In contrast to many affiliate marketing bloggers, Pat Flynn focuses on in-depth long reads.

Matthew Woodward

Matthew Woodward is known as an award-winning SEO professional who leads Search Logistics, a blog writing about SEO, case studies, content creation, on-page SEO, link building, and more.

Each SEO category has hundreds of blogs with graphics, useful videos, and practical marketing software and tools covering affiliate marketing SEO topics. What’s more, the blog provides checklists, traffic boosters, and backlink strategies instead of intrusive pop-ups.

Luke Kling

Luke Kling is a renowned digital marketer and founder of two successful marketing blogs: affLIFT and FPTraffic. The latter works as a social media scheduling tool for LinkedIn, Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. Shawn Collins

Affiliate Summit

Shawn Collins is a co-founder of Affiliate Summit, a global marketing conference. Affiliate Summit offers networking opportunities, hosts educational sessions, and features 13 pages of useful content for affiliate marketing bloggers.

In terms of his legacy, Shawn has shared his extensive expertise in a book titled Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants, designed for online vendors and affiliate networks. This book is available on Amazon for $13.64 in paperback, ideal for those looking to improve their conversion rates.

Missy Ward

When discussing Affiliate Summit, it’s important to highlight Missy Ward, the co-founder and an exceptional affiliate marketer. Her affiliate blog example receives 17,100 monthly visits and features an impressive 110 pages of content that are definitely worth checking out.

Zac Johnson

Zac Johnson is a self-taught entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in digital marketing and blogging. His affiliate marketing blog covers topics around blogging, social media, and podcasting, with priority given to affiliate marketing. The blog highlights Zac’s career journey and personal insights across various aspects of digital and affiliate marketing.

Spencer Haws

Spencer Haws is an online entrepreneur, blogger, podcaster, and founder of Niche Pursuits—an affiliate website blog and platform for aspiring entrepreneurs willing to create and develop a successful online business. The blog provides educational resources, case studies, product reviews, and other helpful content around e-commerce, marketing, affiliate marketing blogging, and moneymaking.

Why Affiliate Marketing?

These days, more and more people—particularly those with young families—are looking for ways to generate long-term passive income or find work that allows them to manage their own schedules. This gives them the chance to spend more quality time with their loved ones.

Not very keen on starting a business of your own? No worries! You can still jump on the blog affiliate programs and earn a regular commission by reselling products or services. It’s a good way to bring in passive income without having to shell out any money beforehand. 

Just find a niche you love, set up a website, join an affiliate program, and take full advantage of this golden opportunity!

Bring It Home with Phonexa

As an affiliate marketing blogger, you can tie up all the loose ends between generated leads, calls, clicks, and revenue with Phonexa’s comprehensive affiliate marketing software suite.

This unique all-in-one ecosystem includes 8 proprietary digital marketing solutions to meet all your marketing blog needs:

Take a product tour to turn your affiliate marketing blogging into an overnight success with Phonexa. 

Frequently Asked Questions

For more details, visit this guide to affiliate blogging.

Did you know phone calls are equally popular among all age groups? Around 29% of millennials, 31% of Generation Z, and 32% of baby boomers contact companies via phone, a great income source to tap into if you are an affiliate marketer.

Indeed, pay-per-call affiliate marketing – generating and selling calls as an affiliate or buying and converting calls as an advertiser – is a goldmine for those who know how to acquire phone calls at scale while optimizing the journey of every client.

via GIPHY

And I’m going to lead you through this journey, starting with the basics of pay-per-call marketing and expanding into how you can maximise your phone lead acquisition and conversion potential.

Pay-Per-Call Affiliate Marketing Explained

Pay-per-call marketing – buying or selling phone calls – isn’t different from buying or selling web leads: advertisers run an affiliate program while affiliates generate phone calls within these programs. More often than not, the partnership between affiliates and advertisers is mediated by an affiliate network that creates a market for both sides, connecting the former with the latter.

Likewise, an affiliate network may provide software that attributes the referred clients to their affiliates, collects real-time and strategic insights on the traffic, and helps connect the right caller to the right live operator. Alternatively, you can get this software from a pay-per-call service provider like Phonexa.

Here are some of the best pay-per-call niches:

Pay-per-call marketing is omnipresent, covering hundreds of industries and niches. For the mentioned niches, though, selling and buying call traffic is especially profitable.

How Pay-Per-Call Affiliate Marketing Works

With pay-per-call affiliate marketing, you can set up the acquisition process once and reap its benefits for a long time, especially if you partner with an affiliate network or several networks to ensure the traffic you need is always there.

Moreover, in most cases, you can buy phone calls AND web leads within the same affiliate network and route the most profitable callers to your best-performance sales reps while factoring in the caller’s location, language, and other demographic factors.

The same goes for affiliates. You can sell your traffic to relevant advertisers within your affiliate network while ensuring the clients you generate are routed to a matching business.

Now, let’s explore how affiliate marketing works in detail.

Phase 1 – Affiliate Marketers Join an Affiliate Network

Advertisers and affiliates can partner directly, but it’s much easier to join an affiliate network that provides hundreds of potential partners and thousands of leads. For example, Amazon Associates unites over 900,000 affiliates, ShareASale – 700,000, and Awin – 225,000.

Source: Statista

Smaller pay-per-call companies can also win their places under the sun, especially when it comes to pay-per-call local lead generation. They can provide advanced tracking technologies, lower fees, high-quality traffic, high conversion rates, etc.

Phase 2 – Advertisers and Affiliates Set Their Goals

For advertisers, setting goals boils down to writing an affiliate program that lists all the terms & conditions for the traffic they want to get: the payment model – pay per click, pay per sale, pay per lead, etc. – the commission structure, the payment terms, and possible limitations like only accepting calls from specific states.

Affiliates can choose the products they want to promote based on their niche, commission size, and other nuances. Likewise, pay-per-call networks usually provide customisable creative materials – banners, landing pages, call guides, scripts, etc. – and call tracking numbers.

Phase 3 – The Choice of Call Tracking Numbers

There are numerous ways to initiate a call, from click-to-call ads on social media, blogs, and search results to traditional advertising channels like TV, but it’s also important that the generated call is attributed to you. For that, call tracking numbers are used.

➥   Call tracking numbers are unique numbers issued by advertisers in order to attribute incoming traffic to the right affiliate and gain insights into this traffic.

Here are the main types of call tracking numbers:

Сall tracking numbers can be static and dynamic. Static numbers are the same for every caller, while dynamic numbers change depending on the caller’s location, source, or other details.

The technology used in dynamic call tracking numbers is called dynamic number insertion (DNI), allowing advertisers to segment inbound calls while routing them to the best-fitting agent. On the caller’s side, nothing happens: the same smooth call experience.

Phase 4 – Affiliates Generate Call Traffic

After receiving call tracking numbers, affiliates can promote them to their audience, albeit with possible limitations. Depending on the affiliate program, advertisers may only accept calls from specific traffic sources, demographics, etc.

Pay-per-call networks unite hundreds of advertisers, so affiliates can sell calls of different origins, qualities, and intents. At the same time, traffic with a lower expected conversion rate is usually cheaper than calls likelier to convert.

Phase 5 – Qualified Calls Connect to Advertisers

An important part of pay-per-call affiliate marketing is that all incoming calls are vetted before being delivered to the advertisers. Next, a vetted call goes directly to a live operator or an IVR system for qualification.

Speaking of an IVR system, it can be of tremendous help in the context of call routing, especially if you’ve designed a call distribution tree that takes into account all essential details of your campaigns: caller location, language, gender, etc. as well as the availability, expertise, and performance of your agents.

Phase 6 – Affiliates Receive Their Share of the Profits

Phone calls that match the advertiser’s parameters are sold to the advertiser. However, not all calls that came through count as a conversion; for example, an advertiser may only pay for the calls that lasted 30 or 60 seconds, not counting shorter calls as conversions.

Is Pay-Per-Call Better Than Pay-Per-Lead and Pay-Per-Click?

Phone calls are not inherently better than web leads or clicks. Phone calls have higher conversion rates, but they are also more difficult to generate and are more expensive. So it’s more about how well you can convert what you buy: calls, leads, or clicks.

Buying phone calls is an easier choice when you need high-intent leads. Callers are usually purchase-prone buyers who might only need a final nudge. For the same reason, phone calls show better results in high-value sales.

The Advantages of Pay-Per-Call Affiliate Marketing

Buying phone calls may be more expensive than web leads or clicks, but it’ll surely pay off if you have strong sales agents, call tracking software, and an IVR system that qualifies callers and collects marketable caller insights before the call.

Here are some core advantages of pay-per-call affiliate marketing:

Many pay-per-call affiliate programs provide extra benefits to affiliates: high commissions, tiered affiliate structures, two-way incentives (when the referred clients also get a bonus), customisable creative materials, call tracking software, and more.

The commission size varies from 1% to 50% per sale and more. However, I wouldn’t recommend judging a program by its commission size only – make sure the other conditions allow you to consistently generate and sell high-quality traffic.

Here are some obstacles you might have to overcome to generate pay-per-call traffic:

The good news is that most disadvantages of generating or buying calls can be mitigated by choosing the right pay-per-call numbers and affiliate software.

Unleashing Your Pay-Per-Call Potential in 3 Steps

1.  Choose a Profitable Niche You’re Strong At

Affiliate marketing spans hundreds of niches, but not all have the same revenue potential. Niches like insurance, finance, home services, and solar are incredible for affiliate marketing – for example, the finance industry is growing by around 11% per year – whereas low-cost retail products might not be a good fit.

If you don’t have any preferences, choose a broader niche with high commercial value and low competition. Besides, make sure you have at least some interest in the niche.

2.  Choose the Right Pay-Per-Call Affiliate Program

I’ve already touched on a few of the factors to consider when choosing your affiliate program:

• Commissions and expected conversion rates
• Background, reputation, and trust
• Features like tiered rewards and two-way incentives
• Creative materials and call tracking software

One item deserving special attention is software.

Call Logic Software for Affiliates and Advertisers

Phonexa’s underlying product for phone calls, Call Logic, includes everything you need to acquire and convert more calls: IVR, call tracking, analytics, predictive modelling, and more.

No less important, Call Logic includes call recording software for pay-per-call campaigns, so you can access every call for reevaluation. Likewise, you can choose what calls or parts you want to record; for example, calls from specific locations or when a keyword is mentioned.

The Call Logic product is only a small part of Phonexa’s bigger affiliate & performance marketing software suite, but it already has enough to take your phone calls to the next level. For more dedicated marketers, you might also need a Cloud PBX phone system.

Cloud PBX Software for Affiliates and Advertisers

Phonexa’s VoIP-driven virtual Cloud PBX is a fully-fledged private phone system that will help you unroll a cloud call centre at a fraction of the price of installing a traditional landline phone system.

Having set up Cloud PBX once – without additional installation costs – you can process dozens and hundreds of inbound and outbound calls simultaneously while giving your agents a head start in the conversation and synergising call insights with seven other products.

Ping Post Call 2.0 Software for Affiliate Networks

To beat the competition, pay-per-call affiliate networks implement advanced lead distribution technologies like ping tree, which allows advertisers to receive a part of the caller’s information before they buy the call.

Here’s how ping tree marketplaces work:

One of the major problems with older systems is that affiliates don’t get much info about advertisers, which significantly reduces their profits. Phonexa’s Ping Post Calls 2.0 solves this problem by unlocking four crucial pieces of information for affiliates: bidding structure, pricing method, the buyer’s phone number, and how long the call should last to count as a sale (call duration to sell).

3.  Make Sure the Most Suitable Live Operator Takes the Call

As the call volume grows, you need an IVR system to pre-qualify callers and independently solve smaller requests like subscription renewal or payment confirmation.

In addition to having an IVR system, you also need a call routing system that ensures optimal call distribution for your business. A lot of factors should be taken into account, so you’ll have to configure your call routing tree individually while factoring in all your campaigns.

Your Best Software Suite for Generating and Converting Phone Calls at Phonexa

Phonexa offers an eight-in-one performance marketing software suite that covers your affiliate and traditional marketing campaigns from top to bottom. Whether you are an affiliate, advertiser, or affiliate network representative, you can grow immensely from eight well-coordinated solutions around web leads and phone calls.

Here’s more about Phonexa:

Here are the eight proprietary solutions you will get for your pay-per-call and traditional marketing campaigns, all at a single price starting at £100 per month (price calculator):

Take a product tour to learn more about Phonexa, or build your plan now.

Frequently Asked Questions