Affiliate marketing is becoming an increasingly popular means of making money for online entrepreneurs around the world, whether as a side gig or a full-time job. The flexibility and convenience of promoting items on an affiliate site and generating a commission for every sale make this strategy especially appealing.
While there are various pros and cons to affiliate marketing, many marketers are drawn to this means of earning extra side income every month due to the ease of beginning.
If you’ve been thinking of venturing into affiliate sales yourself, you couldn’t have picked a better time to start! These days, affiliates (also known as publishers) have all kinds of tools and platforms at their disposal to make affiliate marketing easier than ever before and to support their efforts in obtaining a higher commission payout.
That being said, besides the particular affiliate program you sign up with, one of the main factors that can affect your commission rate and overall success in this form of sales is what items you decide to advertise.
What are the best affiliate products to promote?
To inspire your future efforts in affiliate marketing here are some of the best things to promote on your site to maximize your income.
1. Phone accessories
With mobile phones being ubiquitous these days, it’s no surprise that consumer demand for phone accessories is still quite high. In fact, as noted by Statista, the worldwide mobile phone accessories market is predicted to amount to $310.1 billion in 2023 and reach $413.2 billion by 2030!
In addition, affiliates who want to promote these types of products will find that they have a plethora of choices at their fingertips:
- screen protectors,
- cases,
- power banks,
- car chargers,
- phone holders,
- PopSockets
- wireless headphones and earbuds,
- car mounts,
- external speakers,
- etc.
With the extensive range of accessories available, it’s important to do your research when deciding what to promote with your affiliate marketing business. As with most product options, it’s generally best to prioritize high-quality items from reliable brands rather than less-expensive knock-offs to build trust with your audience.
Furthermore, many of the top manufacturers already have affiliate marketing programs in place, allowing you to compare the commission rates each program offers and select the most favorable option(s) in terms of payment possibilities you can earn for your business.
2. Skincare
Another popular product category to consider when it comes to affiliate marketing is skincare. According to Terakeet, global consumer spending for the beauty industry, which includes skincare along with other cosmetic goods, equaled $483 billion in 2020 and is estimated to amount to a whopping $716 billion by 2025.
With the large variety of products available at nearly any price point, you’ll be able to find items that suit whatever audience you’re hoping to attract. Serums, creams and lotions, body scrubs, masks, face washes, bar soaps, and oils are just some of the many options from which to choose.
Not sure what kinds of skincare items to promote? Keep in mind that a growing number of shoppers are starting to pay greater attention to what they apply to their skin, prioritizing organic and natural concoctions that are free from harmful ingredients. In addition, many consumers are opting to purchase from skincare brands that use sustainable and eco-friendly business practices.
3. Virtual-reality gear
The use of virtual reality (VR) has grown exponentially in recent years, with consumers and brands alike taking advantage of this advanced technology. Products involving VR create a simulated experience for users to enjoy and immerse themselves in.
As this radically advancing form of technology continues to improve, the demand for VR gear is likely to increase as well, making items in this niche advantageous for affiliates looking to boost their commissions, whether for B2C or B2B affiliate marketing.
Whether you opt to promote things like headsets, software, or other VR-related gear and services on your website, you’ll have your pick of affiliate programs from which to choose. What’s more, the prices for VR products tend to be more expensive than other kinds of affiliate goods, which means the sales commission you earn per item you help sell can potentially be quite high.
4. Home automation
With the many advances made in technology as of late and people’s growing amount of time spent at home, the home-automation product niche offers many opportunities for online entrepreneurs looking to earn hefty commissions and make a living with affiliate marketing.
Based on a study by Statista, the
number of households featuring smart-home devices was approximately 307.8 million in 2022 and is predicted to reach over 672.5 million in 2027. The list of devices you might consider promoting in this product category include items such as video doorbells, speakers, locks, lighting, TVs, and other goods.
Note that the primary barriers to purchase concerning home-automation products are consumers’ worries over security and privacy issues. In order to encourage product sales and boost your commissions, it’ll therefore be best for you to discuss these concerns and alleviate your audience’s fears when promoting these items.
5. Travel products
Whether people are traveling near or far, there are all kinds of products available to make their journeys easier and more enjoyable. This offers publishers who wish to advertise travel-related goods on their website loads of flexibility in terms of the types and number of products they promote.
As with any of the product ideas mentioned in this article, understanding your audience and choosing the items that’ll best meet their specific needs is key to your affiliate marketing success with this niche. For example, are you going to be targeting people who are searching for products to make their daily commutes more comfortable? Or perhaps instead you want to market to shoppers interested in gear designed to help with international travel?
From there, you can begin to narrow down what goods will likely be most beneficial for these users. Backpacks, luggage, water bottles, travel pillows, electronic devices, etc. are all great places to start.
6. Fashion
If you want to make the fashion industry your focus in affiliate marketing, you’ll have a countless number of product options to pick from to advertise on your site!
You can be as broad or specific as you like with your offers: women’s clothing, men’s clothing, fast fashion, slow fashion, beachwear, designer handbags, plus-size fashion, etc.
However, regardless of the particular niche you choose and the customer segment you wish to target, keep in mind that the fashion industry is constantly evolving. In order to be successful with marketing these goods and not get left behind by your competition, you’ll need to be able to keep up with the latest trends and adapt your offers accordingly.
Besides the great range of fashion-related goods available to market, there are also all kinds of affiliate programs you can sign up with. Whether you opt to collaborate with a well-known retailer, an emerging brand, or multiple businesses, take note of the details of their affiliate program offers, as they can vary widely in terms of the payout schedule and commission rate they provide.
7. Pet supplies
For more and more shoppers, pets are thought of as members of the family rather than as just furry or feathered additions to the home. People enjoy giving their pets the very best and treating them to high-quality food, treats, toys, carriers, grooming products, bedding, and even Halloween costumes!
If you’re an animal-loving online entrepreneur, promoting pet supplies on your affiliate marketing website may be a great option for you, as there’s a wide range of brands offering these kinds of products for sale.
Note that this is a niche where consumers often do a lot of product research before making a purchase. Support your audience and strengthen trust by offering informative content on your website that can help them with their buying decisions. This in turn can incite them to click on your product links and generate more sales and therefore commissions for you.
8. Gaming
Although the growth of the video gaming industry has slowed a bit since the boom it experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Statista notes that worldwide revenue from this industry is expected to increase by approximately 53.7% from 2022 to 2027, reaching $533 billion by the end of this period.
A relatively new niche compared to others on this list, gaming products are quickly becoming some of the best-selling items for affiliates to advertise due to innovations in both technology and the products themselves.
From promoting online, mobile, and physical games to goods that support gaming activities, such as controllers, consoles, chairs, headsets, controller skins, and more, there are all kinds of opportunities for affiliates in the gaming industry. Affiliate marketers can help encourage sales by creating and sharing various forms of content to build a loyal following, including reaction videos, product reviews, gaming tutorials, etc.
9. Jewelry
Varying from casual designs to intricate pieces, jewelry is a product category that’s in high demand with consumers around the world. Data from a study by Polaris Research states that the global jewelry market was valued at approximately $237.7 billion in 2021 and is predicted to grow to around $459.4 billion by 2030.
Due to the plethora of different types of jewelry available for sale, the jewelry market offers publishers lots of flexibility to earn commissions on the items they help sell to shoppers. Whether you wish to advertise necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, watches, or other accessories, you’re bound to find an interested audience.
Keep in mind that while sharing high-quality product photos is important for any items that are for sale online, this is all-the-more crucial when it comes to smaller, detailed goods like jewelry. It’s therefore key that you present whatever jewelry pieces you’re promoting in the best way possible in the photos you share, via your website or on social media.
10. Digital courses
Demand for digital courses rose significantly during COVID-19 lockdowns, when people were looking for ways to further their education or simply learn a new skill while being stuck inside. While most lockdown restrictions have lessened now, digital courses continue to be popular with consumers. In fact, as determined by a Forbes study, the value of the e-learning market is predicted to amount to $325 billion by 2025!
Besides the growing customer demand for digital courses, an increasing number of experts and instructors are heading online as a way to reach a larger audience. Whether they share their content on an e-learning platform that’s well known in the industry, such as Coursera, Udemy, and Skillshare, or on their own website, they can further expand their reach and grow their sales by partnering with affiliates to promote their work.
To be successful advertising this kind of product via affiliate marketing, be sure to research the market and look for topics that are in high demand with learners and programs that offer a great commission rate. Partnering with an e-learning platform or multiple platforms can give you the best variety of courses from which to choose.
11. Baby care
Baby care is an affiliate marketing niche that will forever endure. Although trends and consumer preferences are going to change, the need for goods to take care of a baby won’t ever disappear, making these products ideal for affiliates in the days and even years to come.
The list of items required for babies is extensive: diapers, cribs, bedding, strollers, clothing, toys, formula, books, monitors, and much more. With so many options for sale on the market, it’ll be essential for you to narrow down to a specific niche and have a good understanding of the audience of soon-to-be or new parents you’re hoping to attract to your affiliate site to stand out from the vast amount of competition.
Although the niche of baby care offers loads of opportunities for affiliate marketing, you can also opt to expand the products you advertise online, highlighting items for toddlers as well to appeal to an even wider customer base.
12. Wearable devices
These days, more and more consumers are prioritizing their health and incorporating more physical activity into daily lives. With this increasing interest in fitness and wellbeing, the demand for wearable devices that help support achieving users’ health goals has grown as well, making these items an excellent choice for affiliate marketers.
Promoting products in this niche can involve partnering with brands that make various devices, such as health monitors, fitness trackers, and smartwatches. What’s more, these items often come with a wide range of features and capabilities to accommodate an array of customer wants and needs.
The large number of options available gives affiliates and shoppers more flexibility and boosts the chances of attracting product sales, therefore leading to an attractive commission payout.
13. Gardening products
Cultivating a gorgeous garden is not just a hobby that can help alleviate stress and add beauty to one’s living space—it can also increase a home’s monetary value. Though the popularity of gardening and other DIY hobbies skyrocketed during the pandemic, many people continue to enjoy these activities today.
Why not take advantage of this by focusing on the gardening industry and promoting goods that’ll appeal to green-thumbed shoppers and gardening enthusiasts all over the world on your affiliate marketing site?
You can advertise things like gardening tools and equipment, plants, floral arrangements, insect repellent, seeds, gloves, etc. You might also consider promoting plant subscription boxes, which provide customers with a new plant or batch of seeds every month or few months.
As with many of the ideas mentioned in this article, you can further encourage the sale of the items you’re promoting (and therefore earn more commissions) by creating content on your website that’ll prove helpful to your audience. An infographic on when to start planting seeds, a step-by-step video tutorial about how to keep orchids alive, a detailed blog post on natural ways to deter animals from eating your plants… The possibilities are endless!
What comes next? Steps after choosing your affiliate products
Once you know what products you’d like to promote online, there are a few steps to take afterwards to start your adventure in affiliate marketing and ensure that you’re on the path to success!
Sign up with your favorite affiliate marketing program
After you have a good idea of what products you’ll be advertising, you’ll need to find and sign up with an affiliate program that sells the items that you want to promote and will best support the goals and vision you have for your affiliate marketing venture. During this step, be sure to take your time when researching the large variety of options out there.
Check out specific brands in your chosen niche to see if they offer their own affiliate program. For example, if you’d like to promote skincare products, you might take a look at the Herbivore Affiliate Program if you want to focus on natural goods or perhaps Sephora Affiliates if you want a broader range of items from which to choose.
Don’t forget to also consider sites like Amazon, which offers its Amazon Associates program for affiliate marketing. With this program, you’ll have an extensive product catalog at your disposal. What’s more, because Amazon is so well known and trusted, many shoppers will be more likely to click on your product links and purchase from the site, granting you a higher commission payout!
As you evaluate different affiliate programs, you’ll want to see what kinds of commission rates they offer and what their payout schedules look like, meaning when commissions are paid to affiliates. While some programs allow publishers to be paid every month or on certain days no matter how much they’ve earned in commissions, others may have a payout threshold, say $25, that the affiliate must have generated in order to get paid.
You’ll also want to determine what specific regulations they have in place concerning how they require affiliates to promote their products and if they allow affiliates to register with additional affiliate programs besides their own.
Note that to help you make money with affiliate marketing and generate as much income as possible, it’s best to sign up with multiple programs if you can. This will of course give you the opportunity to earn more commissions, but it’ll also give you more flexibility and protection in case a company decides to stop offering its affiliate program or abruptly changes its commission rate or payment schedule.
Create your affiliate website with Evolup
Next, you’ll want to get to work on creating your affiliate website. Make this step as easy as possible by choosing the Evolup all-in-one solution for affiliate site creation!
Evolup allows you to quickly build your affiliate website, providing you with numerous design templates to help you create a professional site that suits your brand, regardless of the type of affiliate marketing you’re interested in. You can also avail of the platform’s powerful AI feature to help you generate high-quality content for your site in seconds. Whether you’d like assistance with deciding on your product niche, your brand name, or slogan or writing blog posts, titles and meta descriptions and other kinds of text content, Evolup’s AI will save you loads of time!
In addition, the Evolup platform is compatible with all affiliate marketing programs, including Amazon Associates, and makes it simple for you to add the products you wish to promote, link your tracking IDs, and start to earn commissions.
By selecting Evolup to build your affiliate site, you’ll also have access to 400+ pre-integrated tools designed to increase conversions and 50+ technical SEO optimizations to boost your visibility on search engines like Google. To further facilitate your success in affiliate marketing, the platform offers helpful affiliate marketing tips and guidance from our dedicated Business Coaches and free training on a variety of topics to guide you in your journey as an online entrepreneur.
Discover Evolup with a 7-day free trial and see for yourself how it’s the perfect ally for achieving your affiliate goals!
Spread the word about your new affiliate business
Even if you have the most fabulous website around, you won’t bring in any product sales from your affiliate links if shoppers aren’t aware that your site is ready to welcome them!
This is where having a great marketing strategy comes in handy.
Employing different marketing levers to spread the world about your affiliate website can help you achieve the various goals you may have for your business. The best methods for your brand will depend on your particular audience and your marketing budget, but fortunately, you have numerous free or low-cost options from which to choose in addition to paid advertising.
For instance, social media is a wonderful place to start promoting your business. Select the social networks that are most relevant to your audience and share a mixture of informative and entertaining content to better connect with your followers.
Another key tactic that you’ll definitely want to use for your marketing efforts is to create high-quality blog content on a regular basis. Well-written blog posts that make it possible for your site visitors to solve a problem or learn something new can do wonders for boosting your brand’s authority and building trust with your target market, which will then make it easier for you to sell the items you’re advertising.
Email marketing is also a particularly effective strategy in affiliate marketing, as it serves as a great way to earn loyalty from your subscribers and make them want to return to your site time and time and again. Whether you opt to send email newsletters once a week or once a month, aim to be consistent so that your readers know when to expect your messages to arrive in their inbox.
Don’t forget to also make SEO a priority for your affiliate site. Although it can take more time to see results with this method than other tactics, it’s crucial for improving your rankings on search engines and sustaining your business for the long haul.
