Rakuten affiliate network review and presentation [2024]

Rakuten affiliate marketing: Benefits for brands

With more than 25 years' experience and over 150,000 partners worldwide, Rakuten Advertising offers a wide choice of affiliate websites and blogs in a variety of sectors for different types of affiliate marketing. Companies or advertisers can promote products and services in fields as varied as fashion, beauty, technology, and food.

One of the advantages of Rakuten Advertising is the speed of setting up a company’s affiliate program, which can be launched in less than a month.The platform's professionals guide advertisers through every stage of the process, from strategy setup to creation of advertising banners and drafting of the terms and conditions.

Rakuten Advertising’s available affiliate programs

While the ROI for advertisers can clearly be interesting with a Rakuten affiliate campaign, affiliates also have every chance of making their content shine to generate maximum commissions. Their global reach covers more than 190 countries.

What’s more, 95% of the Rakuten network is made up of exclusive brands. This means you can offer unique products or services to your audience, giving your medium a competitive edge, whether you have a blog, influential social networks, or a website. You can promote exclusive offers that aren't available on other advertising networks, increasing the value of your content for your readers through demanding and unique partnerships!

Exclusive brands in their network include such coveted programs as Macy’s, IKEA, LEGO, Microsoft, and Hilton.

In addition, discovering affiliate programs on Rakuten Advertising is pretty straightforward thanks to the user-friendly interface. By navigating to Programs and Categories, you can effortlessly locate programs that align with your niche.

You also have the option to use the search box located in the top right-hand corner of the interface. Simply enter a keyword related to a product or niche, and you'll be presented with a list of matching affiliate programs.

The next step entails applying to each program on an individual basis. Some programs may approve your application automatically, while others may conduct a manual review before granting approval.

The subsequent steps are quite simple. The interface allows you to create links with ease, either by generating HTML code or by selecting a banner that complements your site's design. Your site visitors can then click on each link you add to your site or social media account to be directed to the advertiser’s site, where they can purchase the product or service in question, allowing you to earn a commission for the sale.

Signing up with the Rakuten affiliate network

If you wish to join the platform as a publisher, simply fill out a signup form. Note that it's necessary to own a website that attracts a reasonable amount of traffic. Generally, the application process is uncomplicated, and sites of all sizes tend to receive quick approval (usually within 5 working days).

Be sure to take the time to create a professional-looking affiliate site before you sign up with Rakuten Advertising. This can help prevent any potential snags during the review process, ensuring that you get approved as quickly as possible for an account on the platform.

To join the network, you will need to provide different kinds of essential details, including the following:

• Company information: Provide info pertaining to your business, such as the country in which you’re based, entity type, business name, etc.
• Contact and account information: First, add your name and email address. Then, select a password and a security question and corresponding answer.  
• Primary website information: Add your site’s name, URL, and the date it was established; choose your primary business model; pick a range regarding the number of monthly visitors and page views your site receives; and include a brief description of your site.  

Payments on Rakuten Advertising

Rakuten Advertising has paid out over a billion dollars in commissions to all its affiliate partners. Publishers can therefore rest assured that they are fairly remunerated for their work, while advertisers can rest assured that they’re receiving an excellent return on investment!

• Payment threshold

A payment threshold is the minimum amount of earned commissions an affiliate must accumulate before they can withdraw or receive their earnings. The payment threshold on Rakuten’s network is $50, but you can modify this to be a higher amount if you prefer.

• Payment methods

Rakuten offers various payment methods on its platform. Affiliates can opt to get paid via check, direct deposit (bank transfer), or PayPal. Note that depending on where you live, not all of these payment methods may be available to you, however. 

• Payment timeframe

Affiliates who join Rakuten Advertising can expect to be paid commissions 60 days after they earn them. 

For example, say that a customer clicks on your link and makes a purchase, earning you a commission in March. The advertiser who made money from that sale will be invoiced by Rakuten in early April and will need to authorize the invoice by April 30th. Then, the advertiser must send a payment for that invoice by May 31st. You as the affiliate would be paid by Rakuten shortly afterwards.

User support

Personalized support is also at the heart of Rakuten Advertising's offering, with a team of experts present in over 100 regions worldwide. These professionals help advertisers optimize their affiliate programs and maximize their return on investment.

Affiliates with Rakuten Advertising will likely find the knowledge base to be a valuable resource for most inquiries, serving effectively as a help center for publishers.

However, should that not suffice, international chat or email support is available, along with toll-free phone assistance in Canada, the UK, and the US.

Rakuten Advertising pros and cons

Here’s a quick summary of Rakuten Advertising’s specific advantages and disadvantages to help you better determine if it’s the right affiliate network for you!

Pros

When it comes to reasons to give the network a try, one of the top benefits is that Rakuten has attracted quite a few well-known companies, giving you plenty of brands and products from which to choose. The sign-up procedure is relatively easy, as is creating an affiliate link or banner for your site. What’s more, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, you’ll probably find Rakuten Advertising’s dashboard and features simple to use.

Cons

Despite the many perks that Rakuten Advertising offers, there are a few downsides as well. For one thing, some affiliate reviews report delayed payments on the platform. In addition, although the network has an easy-to-use interface, it’ll likely still take a bit of time for you to learn your way around it. That being said, the platform has recently rolled out a beta version of an updated publisher dashboard for a much more modern look.

Get in touch with the best advertisers via Rakuten

To become an affiliate on the Rakuten Advertising affiliate network, simply click on the "Become a publisher" button and fill out the form, before being guided to your dashboard.

You’ll then have access to partner advertisers and current campaigns. All the content for each company’s campaign is already on the platform: it's up to you to apply and get approved for affiliate programs and then share the best offers with your network.

Communications and marketing: Promote the best products

To multiply commissions, the aim is to promote the right goods to the right online users, so as to turn these visitors into customers!

To do this, affiliates need to promote their offerings to their target audience: blog, social networks, newsletter, affiliate site, and SEO... All the most relevant levers and those with the greatest reach will be beneficial in highlighting current offers.

Sharing high-quality, informative content is key when it comes to building trust with your audience and making money with affiliate marketing. Product reviews and comparisons, buying guides, video tutorials, how-to guides, listicles, infographics, and case studies are some great examples of content that can do wonders for boosting your authority in your field and getting consumers to click on your affiliate links. 

But don't forget to monitor your data in real time: it's important to track and analyze the performance of your marketing campaigns to measure their effectiveness and make improvements. By monitoring the results of your marketing efforts through the data collected and reviewed in your Rakuten Advertising administration space, you can identify what's working well and what can be improved.

All you have to do is identify the best offers on the market and promote them on your Evolup affiliate site! With the help of artificial intelligence and compatibility with all affiliate programs and networks, such as Rakuten Advertising, you can make your affiliate adventure a success in no time.