If you’re new to affiliate marketing, knowing how to begin is always a challenge. Fortunately, plenty of free affiliate marketing programs are designed specifically for beginners. Affiliate marketing has become an easy way to earn passive income online. With minimal investment and the potential for substantial earnings, it’s no wonder that many people are eager to explore it.
Here we will look at the best free affiliate marketing programs for beginners, but first, we need to understand affiliate marketing.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is performance-based marketing where businesses pay affiliates for conversions and revenue generated from their efforts. As an affiliate marketer, you promote products or services and earn a commission for every sale or lead generated by your unique affiliate link. This means you can recommend products to customers and earn money without creating your product or handling customer service.
Here is a list of the best free affiliate marketing programs for beginners:
Semrush
Semrush is one of the oldest affiliate programs, with a significant commission and tools to help affiliates grow. It pays $200 in commission for each subscription deal and $10 for new trials, making it one of the most profitable affiliate programs. The platform has tools to assist affiliates in driving conversions, such as keyword research, competition analysis, and link-building tools.
Moreover, Semrush offers a cookie attribution scheme that rewards you for a new subscription if a referral is canceled and renewed within ten years. This ensures you continue to benefit from your referrals, even if they temporarily leave and return.
CJ Affiliate
CJ Affiliate (formerly known as Commission Junction) is an established affiliate marketing network with a vast selection of products and services to promote. It partners with reputable brands like Priceline, J.Crew, and Barnes & Noble, giving users the chance to earn commissions from products. CJ also pays more than $1.8 billion in affiliate commissions each year.
The network offers a diverse range of brands and products, including all the essential tools for successful affiliate marketing. You’ll have access to excellent support and easy affiliate link creation. What sets CJ Affiliate apart is its detailed metrics, which allow you to quickly determine whether an affiliate program is profitable, saving you valuable time.
ShareASale
ShareASale is a network that has been in business for more than two decades and is home to around 4,000 merchants. If you’re an affiliate marketer looking to partner with emerging brands, then ShareASale is an excellent choice. With a user-friendly platform and detailed performance tracking, it provides some of the best free affiliate programs available.
Additionally, their support team and resources can help you maximize your earning potential and succeed in your affiliate marketing efforts.
ShareASale’s affiliate program provides commission rates based on the merchant’s preferences. ShareASale’s services include access to approximately 40 consumer categories and real-time commission reporting.
ClickBank
ClickBank is one of the industry’s oldest affiliate networks, with over 100,000 affiliates globally and over $6 billion in commissions paid out over the past two decades. Creating an account with ClickBank does not involve a lengthy verification process; you can set up affiliate links and begin earning money as soon as you create an account.
According to their website, you can make up to 90% commission based on what you sell, making it one of the best-paying affiliate programs.
Awin
Awin is a global affiliate marketing network with a diverse selection of advertisers and products. The platform is easy to use and provides tools to help you track your performance and improve your marketing strategies. Awin’s advertising directory allows you to search for any program you want to join or contact the brand directly. You don’t need a website to be a publisher Awin allows affiliates across all social media platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and others.
The program is free to join, but they will need a $5 refundable deposit, which is reimbursed when you meet your payment goal.
Fiverr Affiliates
Fiverr links freelancers and clients and provides multiple opportunities for potential profits. The Fiverr affiliate program is free to join, and affiliates can earn a commission on any first-time buyer they refer to Fiverr. Their commission plan ranges from $15 to $150 per click, depending on the category.
They have areas ranging from eCommerce development to social media marketing. You’ll be able to choose an advertising solution that suits your particular niche.
Rakuten Affiliate
Rakuten Affiliate is a global affiliate marketing network that partners with well-known brands across various industries. The platform offers a range of products to promote, including fashion, electronics, and home goods.
It provides affiliates with advanced tools and reporting features to improve their campaigns, from special matchmaking tools that connect you with the proper companies to a consumer graph tool that allows you to produce more relevant ads for your target population.
Impact
Impact connects affiliate marketers with companies such as Levi’s, Adidas, and more. The platform’s brands are diverse, covering retail, travel, fitness, beauty, financial services, and other industries. You can join and communicate directly with brands for free.
Programs often use a CPA (cost per action) model, which means you’ll be compensated when your audience purchases via your affiliate link.
Amazon Associates
Amazon Associates is popular among beginners and those in the early phases of their affiliate marketing careers. It is simple to sign up for, straightforward, and there are thousands of goods to buy. Aside from that, it is a trusted brand for online purchases.
When someone clicks on your link and makes a purchase, you will receive a commission of up to 10%, depending on the product you are marketing. While the commission rate is smaller compared to other affiliate programs, Amazon is a well-known marketplace. This means getting a high conversion rate may be easier than on other platforms.
Shopify
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that enables you to launch, grow, and manage your business. It allows businesses to create and customise a store to sell online, in person, and through different channels, including social media and marketplaces.
The Shopify Affiliate program supports thousands of global content creators, course educators, influencers, and review sites who help their audiences create successful Shopify companies while earning competitive referral commissions. The service is free to join and allows professionals to monetise their affiliate website traffic.
Choosing the best affiliate marketing program is always difficult because one would always feel there are better programs that pay more commissions for the same amount of effort that you are already putting in. However, with this list, you can start earning passive revenue from your visitors right away and get the benefits of making easy money online.