Affiliate Networks: How to Find Marketing Partners

Affiliate networks provide an easy and efficient way to pair advertisers with publishers who can reach their target markets. If you’re a publisher looking for partners, using an affiliate network can be the quickest path to earning commission.

We’re about to  cover the essentials to start using affiliate networks, so grab your notebooks, folks! We’ll run through the basics, show you how affiliate networks work, and finish off with a list of the top affiliate networks out there for you to join. 

Let’s get started.

What is an affiliate network?

An affiliate network is a website or app which lets advertisers find publishers who can promote content to their target audiences. Publishers participating in affiliate networks are known as affiliates. Advertisers participating in affiliate networks may be merchants or ad agencies representing merchants.

Generally speaking, this is a win-win-win situation for all parties involved. 

Advertisers receive access to affiliates’ promotional resources, enabling them to sell more products and services while avoiding the time and labor it would take to locate affiliate partners manually. At the same time, affiliates earn commissions while enjoying efficient access to advertisers without having to invest resources in locating them. Affiliate network providers earn fees from advertisers and, in some cases, from the affiliates as well. 

See? Win-win-win – and what’s there not to love about that?

How affiliate networks work

Publishers and advertisers must register for each network. Registration is subject to an approval process to prevent fraud and comply with regulations and policies.

Once approved, publishers fill out profiles and receive access to directories of advertisers and products matching designated criteria, like industry information. Approved advertisers receive a listing in these directories. And here, publishers and advertisers can begin forming partnerships.

Affiliate network platforms facilitate partnerships between publishers and advertisers by providing tools, including:

• Dashboards for account management and affiliate program management
• Profile databases to match publishers with advertisers
• Marketing tools, such as affiliate links which can be embedded in content
• Sales tracking tools, such as unique IDs assigned to publishers and associated cookies
• Reporting tools to document sales
• Payment processing for affiliate commissions
• Resources such as tutorials and blog posts on how to succeed in affiliate marketing, covering topics such as affiliate marketing strategies, best niches for affiliate marketing, and influencer strategies

The cookies that are used to track affiliate sales last a set length of time before expiring. These tend to be either 30, 60, 90, or 120 days.

Advertisers who participate in affiliate networks pay commissions to publishers, as well as fees to affiliate network service providers. Depending on the policy of the affiliate network, these fees can include costs for registration, subscriptions, and fees per sale. Some affiliate networks charge fees to publishers as well.

The difference between affiliate networks and affiliate programs

Affiliate networks differ from conventional affiliate programs in four main ways:

1. Traditional affiliate programs are set up directly between merchants and affiliates, without the use of a third party.
2. Participants in standard affiliate programs must seek out partners manually and one at a time.
3. In conventional affiliate programs, any marketing or sales tracking tools are provided by the merchant, who is responsible for their administration, without any third-party oversight.
4. Traditional affiliate programs are more vulnerable to fraud than affiliate networks.

As these differences suggest, affiliate networks enjoy some advantages in automated efficiency, transparency, and security over traditional affiliate programs. However, both approaches can be profitable, and you can use both together to earn money.

Top affiliate networks

What are today’s best affiliate networks? Here’s our rundown on today’s affiliate marketing networks ranked by market share, according to the latest data from Datanyze. For each of these top affiliate networks, you’ve got an overview of their network, a summary of what niches they handle, and their commission rate – so all your questions are answered.

1. Amazon Associates

Amazon Associates commands nearly half of today’s affiliate network market share (46.86%), which reflects the size of Amazon itself. The program allows content creators, publishers, and bloggers to register and monetize traffic. Participants can earn commissions from promoting products and programs sold through Amazon, using link-building tools Amazon provides.

Niches: Niche opportunities span the range of items sold on Amazon, with millions of products available. We’ve all seen the number of categories on there – physical and digital books and music, electronic devices, groceries, beauty products, bathroom and kitchen products, furniture, toys, video games, home and garden, automotive products, pet products, and many more. The list really, truly does go on.

Commission rate: As high as 10% for qualifying purchases and programs.

2. CJ Affiliate

CJ Affiliate ranks behind Amazon Associates as today’s second-largest affiliate network, holding a market share of 7.56%. CJ Affiliate is also owned by the French multinational advertising company,Publicis Groupe – one of the world’s four largest ad agencies. Their advertising partners include top eCommerce companies such as Barnes & Noble, Overstock, IHG, Priceline, Office Depot, Blue Apron, and Intuit.

Niches: Niches available on CJ Affiliate represent 3,800 global brands encompassing all major verticals, including retail, finance, travel, home services, and network services.

Commission rate: Average commission rate varies by brand and product.

3. Rakuten Advertising

Rakuten Advertising trails just behind CJ Affiliate at 7.20% of the market share of the affiliate networking space. Originally started in the U.S. as LinkShare, the network was acquired by Japanese eCommerce company Rakuten as part of an international expansion effort. Rakuten’s advertising partners include brands such as Walmart, Macy’s, Mango, Ray-Ban, Wayfair, Papa John’s, and RetailMeNot.

Niches: Niches showcased on Rakuten include retail, direct-to-consumer (D2C), travel, and finance.

Commission rate: Average commission rate varies by brand and product.

4. ShareASale

ShareASale comes in as today’s fourth-largest affiliate network, with a market share of 6.96%. Based in Chicago and originally independent, ShareASale is now owned by Awin, the next-largest affiliate network in today’s market. Big names like BuzzFeed, Minted, Honey, Reebok, Etsy, Groupon, and RetailMeNot are just a few of ShareASales’ partners. 

Niches: ShareASale niches represent over 15,200 brands across all sectors, with 39 merchant categories including computers, web hosting, health, financial, insurance, legal, family, education, clothing, accessories, automotive, books, and sports.

Commission rate: Average commission rate varies by brand and product.

5. Awin

ShareASale parent Awin ranks as the fifth-largest affiliate network, with a market share of 5.56%. Based in Germany, Awin emerged from a merger of former competitors, with the largest share owned by Axel Springer SE, owner of the highest-circulating newspaper in Europe. Advertising partners include brands such as AliExpress, Hewlett-Packard, Under Armour, Warby Parker, Etsy, MyHeritage DNA, and The Motley Fool.

Niches:

Awin niches represent over 21,200 brands. Industries are organized into major categories including finance and insurance, retail and shopping, telecommunications providers and services, and travel. Within these categories are dozens of subcategories, including credit cards, insurance, loans, childrenswear, electronics, furniture, health and beauty, office supplies, pharmaceuticals, photography, shoes, sports equipment, toys, women’s wear, charities, Internet service providers, airlines, car rental, hotels, travel agencies, and many more.

Commission rate: Average commission rate varies by brand and by product.

How to find and join affiliate networks

There are many affiliate networks in addition to those covered above. You can use a number of methods to find additional affiliate networks, including:

• Reaching out to merchants who sell products of interest to your target audience
• Partnering with thought leaders and influencers
• Networking with social communities
• Hiring affiliate recruitment agencies
• Searching affiliate network directories

Similarweb provides affiliate research tools to help you locate affiliate networking partners who match your needs by empowering you to research affiliates in three main ways: Keyword affiliates, industry affiliates, and competitor affiliates. 

• Pro tip: Keep tabs on affiliates by creating a list of affiliates on Similarweb you want to watch and track how they are performing.

Leverage your content with affiliate networks

The affiliate networks reviewed above represent a fraction of the affiliate opportunities available to content publishers. Affiliate networks offer publishers an efficient, cost-effective way to leverage content for increased revenue. Use the information presented here to help you find suitable advertising partners to grow your profits.

FAQs

How much can you earn from affiliate networks?

You can expect most commissions to range from 5% to 30%. How much you earn will depend on how much traffic you can generate, your conversion rate, and the value of the products you sell as well as your commission rate. You can multiply these variables to estimate how much you would earn at a given traffic level, conversion rate, price point, and commission rate.

What are the best affiliate networks for new affiliate marketers?

Some of the best affiliate networks for beginners include Amazon Associates, Awin, CJ Affiliate, Rakuten Advertising, and ShareASale.

Are any affiliate networks free to join?

Yes. Among the networks reviewed in this article, Amazon Associates, CJ Affiliate, Rakuten Advertising, and ShareASale are free for publishers to join.

What should you know before joining an affiliate network?

Before signing up for an affiliate network or an affiliate arrangement with a particular brand, carefully study the terms and conditions, including duration of tracking cookies, fees, commission rates, methods of payout, and minimum payout thresholds. Typically, you must sell at least $50 worth of products before you become eligible for payouts.

Multiply your affiliate network profits with marketing intelligence

Competitive intelligence can increase your affiliate network profits by helping you identify which markets are hot and which partners are leaders in their niche. Similarweb collects and synthesizes research data from a wide range of sources to provide you with accurate forecast models and competitive marketing intelligence reports. Effortlessly analyze your competitive landscape in order to spot profitable affiliate opportunities. Start your free trial to begin enjoying the benefits of informed competitive analysis.