Influencer affiliate programs are a win-win-win.
Brands get to reach a wider audience. Individual influencers earn commissions from each sale they drive. And their followers get high-quality product recommendations.
With three-fifths of consumers saying they trust recommendations from friends, family, and social media influencers (vs. just two-fifths who say the same about recommendations from brands), the system clearly works.
But if you’re going to earn plenty of passive income from influencer marketing, you need to join the best affiliate programs.
Those that offer the most attractive commissions, provide superb support and sell products that align with your audience’s interests.
Fortunately, we can help you find them.
Read on for our roundup of the best affiliate networks and programs for influencers.
(N.B. if you’re an influencer who’s new to the world of affiliate marketing, we recommend you start by reading our guide on how to become an affiliate marketer.)
Affiliate Programs & Networks for Influencers
- ShareASale
- CJ Affiliate
- Amazon Associates
- Awin
- Rakuten Advertising
- Refersion Marketplace
- Shopstyle
- Rewardstyle/LikeToKnow
- Amazon Influencer
- Magic Links
- Shop Your Likes
- Canva
- TubeBuddy
ShareASale
ShareASale is one of the most popular affiliate networks, with an average of 260 affiliates signing up every day.
It’s a B2C-focused network with more than 21,200 retail affiliate programs across over 39 consumer categories. While some programs are targeted at specific geographies, many are open to customers and affiliates from anywhere in the world.
Commission rates vary depending on the products affiliates promote. Generally, they start at around 5% per sale but climb to 50%+ for some products.
ShareASale offers four payment options:
- Check (subject to a payment threshold of $50)
- Direct deposit
- Bank transfer (subject to a $29 fee per transfer)
- Payoneer
Payments are made on the 20th of every month for commissions earned in the previous month unless the merchant has chosen an extended lock date.
Affiliates can reach out to ShareASale around the clock via its email support system.
The network also offers free access to training webinars, resources, and other helpful marketing materials.
URL: ShareASale affiliate network
Commission rate: Varies
Cookie duration: Varies
CJ Affiliate
CJ Affiliate — formerly Commission Junction — is another affiliate marketing network with a strong focus on retail brands. In fact, it claims to work with 2X as many brands on the IR500 list of North America’s leading eCommerce companies as its nearest competitor.
As with most affiliate networks, commissions vary depending on the affiliate program but start at around 5% per sale.
That might not sound like much, but CJ Affiliate pays out more than $1.8 billion in commissions every year. So if you get your affiliate marketing strategy right, there’s lots of money to be made here. Also, qualified influencers get pre-approval for higher commissions from certain premium and boutique brands.
Payments can be made via paper check, direct deposit, or Payoneer — the latter of which is available in more than 150 currencies.
At this point, things get a little convoluted.
For starters, affiliates must earn at least $50 in commissions before receiving payment.
And for seconds, the payment cycle is a touch confusing.
To simplify things, commissions are typically “locked” the month after they’re generated and are then paid in the next available payment cycle:
- Around the 20th (for all currencies)
- Around the 28th (for USD, GBP, and EUR)
(N.B. visit CJ Affiliate for a full explanation of its payment windows.)
URL: CJ Affiliate network
Commission rate: Varies
Cookie duration: Varies
Amazon Associates
Amazon has an inventory of more than 350 million products, so its affiliate program — Amazon Associates — is a must for lifestyle influencers, mommy bloggers, hardware reviewers, and virtually anybody else who wants to make money through influencer marketing.
So it may not be the best affiliate program in the world (that’s up for debate), but it’s almost certainly the most popular.
The eCommerce behemoth ships to more than 100 countries, and its affiliate program is open to influencers in 52 supported countries and territories.
Amazon’s signup process is pretty simple. Just provide some basic details about your website(s) or app(s), and you’ll be ready to go.
However, there’s one complication. To become an approved Amazon affiliate, you must deliver three sales within your first 180 days as a member.
And those sales can’t be self-generated.
That shouldn’t be too difficult if you’ve already got a big, engaged audience that’s itching to buy. But for micro-influencers with smaller followings, it can be pretty tough.
Fortunately, Amazon’s sky-high conversion rate makes life a lot easier, and you’ll also be able to access all the marketing materials you need.
Commission rates range from 1% to 20% per sale, depending on the product category. All commission payments are made approximately 60 days from the end of the month in which they’re earned by bank account transfer, check, or Amazon gift card.
Amazon technically offers a one-day cookie window, which is pretty terrible.
However, as long as customers click your affiliate link and add to bag within that timeframe, you’ve got another 90 days for them to convert and still earn a commission.
(N.B. For a full verdict on Amazon’s affiliate program, read our Amazon Associates review.)
URL: Amazon Associates affiliate program
Commission rate: 1% – 20%
Cookie duration: 1 day
Awin
Awin is a global affiliate marketing network that also owns ShareASale, having acquired the rival network back in 2017.
It’s home to 21,200 advertisers across mostly consumer-facing niches — including travel, retail, finance, and telecoms — and has more than 240,000 active publishers, who generated 194 million sales in 2021 alone.
With Awin, it’s possible to monetize your influencer marketing campaigns by transforming any product link or image into a trackable link using that platform’s deep link generator.
Awin also runs a weekly publisher newsletter containing all the latest advertiser promotions and vouchers.
Commission rates vary by the affiliate program, with payments made via bank transfer, wire transfer, and Payoneer.
The network operates a minimum payment threshold of:
- £20 for affiliates GBP payments
- €20 for EUR payments
- $20 for USD payments
For all other currencies, the threshold is equivalent to $20.
URL: Awin affiliate network
Commission rate: Varies
Cookie duration: Varies
Rakuten Advertising
Another of the big affiliate marketing networks, Rakuten specializes in working with brands in the retail, direct-to-consumer, finance, and travel niches.
It’s clearly good at what it does because it’s been voted mThink’s best affiliate network for 11 years in a row.
What’s so great about Rakuten?
As a huge name, it has tons of clout, which helps it attract major brands. And it also offers excellent support and a host of educational tools to help affiliates earn more money.
Signing up with Rakuten is a cinch. Just fill out some basic information about you and your website and you’re good to go.
Commission payments are made via direct deposit, PayPal, or check, with a minimum threshold of $50.
All payments are issued on a NET 60 basis, which means you’ll receive your commissions 60 days after you earned them.
(N.B. Want to learn more about affiliate marketing with Rakuten? Check out our review of the Rakuten affiliate network.)
URL: Rakuten Advertising affiliate network
Commission rate: Varies
Cookie duration: Varies
Refersion Marketplace
Refersion Marketplace is an affiliate network comprising many influencers and other affiliate marketers who are actively searching for partnerships with merchants in four main niches:
- Health & Wellness
- Food & Beverage
- Fashion & Beauty
- Home & Furnishings
More than 25,000+ affiliates use the platform because it works directly with brands, which means the platform often pays higher commissions than “traditional” affiliate networks and influencer marketing platforms.
How high are those commissions?
As ever, they vary from one affiliate program to the next. Rates start at around 5% and climb as high as 70% per sale for some products.
Commissions can be paid via multiple payment methods, including PayPal, gift card, and bank transfer.
URL: Refersion Marketplace
Commission rate: Varies
Cookie duration: Varies
Shopstyle Collective
ShopStyle Collective is a dedicated platform for fashion-focused affiliate marketing campaigns.
It offers two of the best affiliate programs for influencers:
- Standard: A CPC affiliate program aimed at newcomers to influencer affiliate marketing.
- Advanced: A CPA program that pays a percentage of every order, targeted at experienced influencers with established audiences and marketing strategies.
The affiliate network is used by thousands of brands to find influencers and reach new audiences, with each retailer choosing its own commission rates and cookie windows.
The CPA affiliate program’s commissions are calculated on the total checkout price minus shipping and taxes.
Sales are typically confirmed within 60 – 90 days, with commissions paid monthly via PayPal provided you meet the threshold of US$25, CA$25, £25 GBP, €25 EUROS, or AUD$2 (whichever is applicable to your account).
To join ShopStyle Collective as an influencer, you must:
- Be at least 18 years of age
- Have a library of original, shoppable influencer content
- Have built an engaged target audience
- Consistently create a new blog and/or social media posts
- Have an Instagram Business or Creator account with a connected Facebook Business Page
Be aware that once you’re approved, ShopStyle can still terminate your account if you don’t drive any purchase actions or generate less than $50 in earnings over a six-month period.
In that case, your outstanding balance will be paid within 30 days, but ShopStyle will deduct $5 as an admin fee.
Hopefully, that won’t happen because ShopStyle Collective offers lots of marketing materials and tools to help you drive sales, including dedicated Android and iOS apps that let you create affiliate links and monitor performance on the go.
URL: Shopstyle Collective affiliate network
Commission rate: Varies
Cookie duration: Varies
LTK (Formerly Rewardstyle/LikeToKnow)
Formerly two separate influencer affiliate marketing networks (rewardStyle and LIKEtoKNOW.it), LTK is home to more than 6,000 brands, 200,000+ creators, and millions of shoppers.
The platform is a must for lifestyle influencers, with coverage across all major lifestyle categories — from travel to technology — and a host of top brands, including eBay, Selfridges, and Wayfair.
LTK affiliates, known as Creators, get access to:
- Their own personalized shop with visibility to 300,000 monthly shoppers using the LTK App.
- Retargeting capabilities to re-engage your audience.
- Simple tools for creating special links and collections.
- Small business support and one-on-one growth consulting.
- Content creation technology to help you craft shoppable influencer content, even on closed social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat.
To be approved as an LTK Creator, you’ll need to have a public social media profile, an engaged following on at least one platform, and a bunch of high-quality influencer content.
Commission rates and cookie windows vary between brands, with payments made every two weeks on Fridays, as long as you hit the $100 threshold.
URL: LTK affiliate network
Commission rate: Varies
Cookie duration: Varies
Amazon Influencer Program
As its name suggests, the Amazon Influencer Program is Amazon’s dedicated influencer affiliate program.
It’s essentially an extension of Amazon Associates built with social media influencers in mind. Everything’s the same as on Amazon Associates, from the commission rates to the real-time reporting via Associates Central. Still, you also get your own page on Amazon with a vanity URL (amazon.com/shop/influencerhandle).
Whenever a customer visits your page and buys, you’ll receive the same commission as if they clicked your affiliate link and made a purchase.
This is particularly helpful when affiliates promote products verbally or via platforms on which hyperlinking isn’t possible, such as Instagram posts.
The Amazon Influencer Program is currently available in eight countries:
- US
- UK
- India
- Canada
- France
- Spain
- Italy
- Germany
(N.B. learn more about affiliate marketing on Amazon with our guide to making money with the Amazon affiliate program.)
URL: Amazon Influencer Program
Commission rate: 1% – 20%
Cookie duration: 1 day
MagicLinks
MagicLinks is an affiliate network that helps top brands and retailers like ASOS, Glossier, and Nordstrom with finding influencers in their niches.
Unlike most affiliate networks, MagicLinks specifically aims at YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok video influencers.
As a MagicLinks creator, you’ll get the opportunity to work with more than 5,000 brands in five consumer categories:
- Lifestyle
- Beauty
- Fashion
- Home
- Tech
Brands set their own commission rates and cookie windows. But MagicLinks makes it easy to find the best affiliate programs on its platform by ranking retail partners on a scale of 0 – 5 based on 12 factors, including commission, cookie length, and affiliate overwriting solutions.
Payments are made via PayPal on the 1st of the month, provided you’ve earned at least $50 in locked commissions.
URL: MagicLinks affiliate network
Commission rate: Varies
Cookie duration: Varies
ShopYourLikes
ShopYourLikes (SYL) is another on the list of retail-focused affiliate marketing networks.
The platform is home to 100+ retailers and 2,500+ influencers and has generated over $500 million in sales. Big names like Walmart, Target, and Macy’s are among those retailers.
SYL is a CPC affiliate network, which means influencers get paid for every valid click they drive.
Clicks and sales are tracked to determine your earning per click, which fluctuates over time and across each different retailer. The best performers who drive the most converting clicks earn the highest commissions.
Payments are made via PayPal and are generally issued around 45 days from the end of the month, provided you’ve generated at least $25 in sales.
URL: ShopYourLikes affiliate network
Commission rate: Varies
Cookie duration: Varies
Canva
Canva is one of the world’s most popular graphic design platforms, helping users create banners, graphics, ebooks, and more using pre-built templates and assets.
It currently has 18 million users and is growing every day.
While Canva has a free tier, its referral program pays design influencers to drive sales of its premium plan, Canva Pro — priced at $12.99 or $119.99 per year for one person.
Commission rates vary depending on the length of the plan you sell:
- Monthly plan: Pays a monthly 80% commission for the first two months of their membership.
- Annual plan: Pays a one-off 25% commission when the user is charged for their annual membership.
According to Canva, about 25% of users who visit a landing page create a free Canva account, with 23% of them going on to start a free Canva Pro trial.
Of those trialists, 56% end up buying a paid subscription.
Canva is looking to work with design influencers, educators who teach graphic design online, and people with design-related websites generating more than one million monthly visits.
It pays commissions via PayPal or e-transfer for all sales that convert within the 30-day cookie window.
Support services are available 24/7 through email and live chat.
Sign up for Canva’s affiliate program by joining the Impact affiliate network.
URL: Canva affiliate program
Commission rate: 80% on monthly plans, 25% on annual plans
Cookie duration: 30 days
TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy offers a suite of tools to help content creators drive more YouTube video views and subscribers.
It’s used by more than 10 million YouTube creators and brands, including Adobe, the BBC, and Fox Sports.
Like Canva, TubeBuddy offers a free tier, but you’ll earn commissions from promoting its paid plans, which start at $4.99 per month or $47.88 per year.
For every sale you drive, you’ll earn a 30% recurring commission for the life of the account, with a lifetime cookie window.
TubeBuddy has three affiliate tiers — Standard, VIP, and Super. All pay the same commission, but higher tiers offer more perks:
- Standard: Unlocked automatically. Has a $10 payment threshold.
- VIP: Unlocked after 50 sales. Has a $10 minimum payout and offers a free one-year star level upgrade for TubeBuddy account.
- Super: Unlocked after 250 referrals. No minimum payout. Offers a free lifetime legend level upgrade for your TubeBuddy account.
All commissions are paid via PayPal once the license has been active for more than 30 days, with payments issued between the 1st – 15th of each month.
URL: TubeBuddy affiliate program
Commission rate: 30% recurring
Cookie duration: Lifetime
Check out our list with best affiliate programs for YouTube.
Is Influencer Affiliate Marketing Right For You?
Influencers have a head start in the affiliate marketing game.
Most affiliates spend a bunch of time building a target audience. And while some are earning a ton of passive income every day, the majority never get anywhere close.
As an influencer, you’ve already got a bought-in following. That’s a huge advantage.
But it’s not just about how many followers you have or how much user-generated content you create.
You also need a consistent, scalable traffic source that’s not wholly reliant on social media platforms and their constant algorithmic changes.
In short, you need a website.
If you think that sounds complicated, don’t worry, because we can help.
Sign up for our free training and we’ll teach you seven secrets to make new sites 83% more successful!
https://www.badadeal.com/13-best-influencer-affiliate-programs-networks-in-2022/?feed_id=3327
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