How to choose great Affiliate Products to Promote (2021)

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links, which means if you click and go through my product links, I’ll receive a small commission for my efforts with no additional cost incurred to you. It’s a win-win ?


Thousands of publishers are making huge revenue with Affiliate Marketing by fulfilling the needs of their audience.

Are you struggling and not sure how to choose great affiliate products to promote? to your audience. I am going to guide you and help you with that. It is a very common problem, and I know this because I have faced a similar issue too. I was confused about what products are related to my niche and going to help my visitors.

Firstly, it is important to understand and select products highly relevant to your niche. If you still haven’t decided on a niche, you need to first decide that. Once you have narrowed down the niche, you can choose some great affiliate products to promote. 

Wondering how to do this?

My article will guide you how you can choose the best affiliate products in your niche and which affiliate program is preferred for which kind of products.

So, get ready to promote some great affiliate marketing products for your audience.

How to choose great Affiliate Products to Promote
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How to choose great affiliate products for your audience

There are certain guidelines you should follow before you shortlist the product you wish to promote. 

Let’s have a look!

Choose a Niche Affiliate Product

A niche affiliate product is any product that is related to the topics that you blog about or you make your content around. The best affiliate marketing products to promote are those which are relevant to your niche, always! 

Example– Your blog caters to an audience who wants to engulf information regarding smartphones. In such a case, you can market products such as smartphones, mobile covers, smartphone batteries, or other mobile accessories as part of your Affiliate Program, as they will be extremely relevant to your blog niche. Your chances of successfully selling to them will increase manifold. 

Similarly, suppose you are promoting dog food products and run a blog on electric appliances. In that case, you cannot expect it to work for you because your blog audience is on your blog for electric appliance-related updates and knowledge. They might or might not be interested in pet products and pet food. Thus, your chances of successfully selling to them will decrease significantly. 

Point to ponder upon- 

Promoting products that are related to your blog can open the doorways to success. Many time marketers choose the products that are of a relevant niche, but they still aren’t able to sell those products. For example, if you are getting 150 clicks on your affiliate campaign but aren’t have many sales, you need to rethink your conversion strategy. 

At such times, you can try to think out of the box and be a little creative as well.  

For instance, let’s say that you write blogs specifically related to vehicle care. So, now there’s no need to limit yourself to promoting products related to vehicle care. Instead, you can unleash your wings by promoting products related to vehicle insurance, vehicle events, and others. 

Therefore, it is important to also find the hottest selling product related to your niche. Start listing hot selling products in a relevant niche and start earning big money along with boosting your conversion rates instantly!

The inclination to your Audience

‘Which are the great affiliate products for your audience?’ 

The second step in affiliate marketing is the answer to the above question. I know you might have read up on this before, but let me take you down the memory lane as it is worth revisiting. 

Below are some steps and suggestions to address the question mentioned above-

Create a customer avatar:

create buyer persona
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Image Source: Optin Monster

You need to be utmost specific here and try creating a buyer persona that is as real as possible. If you have a consumer base already, that’s a cherry on the cake. Use it appropriately to determine ‘Who your target audience is?’

Research Time- One way to perform research is to directly ask your audience what they are looking for via surveys or mails. You can also witness what’s on the trending list by monitoring your competitors. Also, do check if there’s a problem that’s troubling your desired user base, in addition, if you have the solution to address that particular problem, congrats it’s a ‘Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner’ for you. 

Good Commissions

There are numerous great affiliate products to promote in millions of categories and having varying pay-outs. So, what is another aspect you must consider before choosing a product? Obviously, the pay-out! It is one of the most basic and important factors that will help you choose the perfect product to market. Let’s have a look at this with an example. 

For instance, there will be products ranging from $1 per sale to $300 per sale.

Tip– Pick up products that pay more, even if you successfully convert only 2-3 customers into potential buyers. It is always worth the effort that way!

I pass on the responsibility to my favourite subject, Mathematics, which will try to make you understand the calculations and how it can help you to fetch a great deal- 

Pay-out per sale: $1 

Number of products sold: 100 

Commission Earned: $100 

Pay-out per sale: $100 

Number of products sold: 2 

Commission Earned: $200 

Question Time, Guys!

Q. Is it easier to sell a particular item to 2 people or an item to 100 people? 

Are you looking for an answer? 

I will instead leave it up to you guys to decide! 

The above calculations lead to the below mantra-  

‘Smart Work > Hard Work.’

Types of Commission:

One Time Commission– The merchant pays the marketers for a one-time sale. The One Time Commission can range anywhere from 10% – 100% (if you are lucky). 

Recurring Commission- 

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‘Your Bank Account No. XXXX has been credited with $$$$ Amount.’

You can discover such messages after waking up from a sound sleep through the magic called ‘Recurring Commissions.’ Surprised? Don’t be! 

The merchant pays the marketer recurring payments whenever a referred customer pays or buys the product via your link. 

Harsh Truth– Number of Recurring Affiliate Products = 1/3rd of the Number of One Time Affiliate Products.

Bottom Line:

1. Best Combo = One Time Affiliate Products + Recurring Affiliate Products

Always Remember- Never commit the mistake to skip any one type (One Time or Recurring) of Affiliate Products. Always keep a healthy balance of both types when you choose the product. 

Therefore, it is recommended that you at least promote one recurring program along with one-time commission-based programs. It is best to have a healthy balance of both to build a growing passive income with affiliate marketing.

2. Good Commissions > More Money. 

It is evident that you cannot choose to promote a product that costs you more than the money it makes for you. Personally, I choose products that give me a commission between the range of 50% to 75%

Sometimes, physical products don’t offer meaty commissions. Here, you need to go with the demand for the products to capitalize.

Products from established brands

All merchants start their respective businesses at some time or other. However, it is advisable to work with long-established brands with high traffic and a good reputation.

Popular brands will be a sure shot advantage for your online marketing campaign. This will help build the quickest route to success for you in Affiliate Marketing. 

Do your research and ensure that they checklist all of the points mentioned beneath- 

  • Vendor Support in terms of email support or live chat.
  • Should provide a landing page for use.
  • Have high-quality products that are hot-selling.
  • Should provide banners, tools and other resources to place on your blog.
  • Do check out about the duration of the cookie period.

Disclaimer: Do not get hold of new merchants, even if they are offering products at high commission rates. Always take a step forward after carrying out the necessary research. 

Another reason for choosing brands over newbies is that the new players might not offer you a landing page to access the conversion metrics. Let’s find more about it in the next section.

Check their Landing Page

It is a crucial must-have to have a converting landing page. Ensure the landing page is compelling enough and must have a video, rather than only a text landing page. Analyze the whole landing page yourself and ask yourself whether you will buy that product?

Also, the road to your commission goes through the referrals process. Therefore, ensuring no flaws in tracking the affiliate’s referrals is an essential part of Affiliate product selection, as stated in the previous section. The above task is fulfilled by the landing page, which recognizes Affiliate’s Link and tracks it down.

What is a landing page?

A landing page is a webpage that the user ‘lands’ on after clicking your affiliate product’s link! It needs to be impressive, isn’t it?

What do you need to do as an Affiliate Marketer?

Correctly set up all the links.

Check each link for the merchant’s website and make sure that they have the correct code attached.  

Ensure that the merchant is recognizing and tracking your Affiliate Link properly 

The landing page can also earn you commission for the work of redirecting a customer to the merchant’s website, known as ‘upselling’

How upselling works? 

When a consumer clicks on the link provided by you, they are directed to the merchant’s sales page, where they are exposed to various other products. This will enable your potential buyer to get interested in other related products. Basically, the merchant pays you for directing the traffic from your website to their website.

Refund Policy

The ‘Refund Policy’ is an essential factor to consider before investing your time in promoting or advertising it as an Affiliate Marketer.  

‘Why will the consumer purchase a product that is not equipped with the refund policy?’

‘What if the product is malfunctioning, or misplaced?’ 

No-refunds
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The above questions raise eyebrows that in what circumstances will a merchant not equip his/her product with a refund policy, which leaves us with two possible reasons for doing so- 

  • Either the product is of low-quality or not worth buying.
  • The vendor, itself, has absolutely zero confidence in the product.

Recommendation- Never promote or advertise the product with no refund policy, however great the deal or commission is. Doing this might question your reliability as a marketer, and a section of your audience might even unfollow you if an unfortunate event arises.

Great affiliate products for your audience will always have a refund policy attached to it. This is because the vendors who are sure about their products will indeed offer a refund policy.

Places to find the best Products

You need to enrol in Affiliate Programs to start advertising and promoting affiliate products. I have got you covered with a diverse list of popular affiliate networks where you will easily find products to promote that will be related to your niche. 

Let’s have a look at the list below:

Amazon Associates

Amazon Associates is one of the largest Affiliate Programs in the world. Almost every blogger and social media marketer has been an amazon affiliate. It is the most renowned, robust, and reliable Affiliate Networks as compared to other Affiliate Options to promote physical products. 

Best Features

  • Almost all category of goods and products are available. So, no matter what niche you are into, you will find the relevant products out here. Also, Amazon is the most popular eCommerce store online, which is preferred globally by senior citizens, young folks and children alike! 
  • A broad range of niches to choose from, be it books – physical or kindle version, gym equipment, software, video games, electronics appliances, food products, stationery, apparel, watches, shoes, jewellery and groceries! – You will never run out of options. 
  • If you are not keen on physical products. There is good news for you! It also offers special programs which you can promote like Amazon Business, Audible membership, and Prime paid membership (Amazon Affiliate Links).
  • It is a powerful platform that has a great reach. It attracts many sellers to register and become an Amazon Seller. This way, you will always have many options to choose from.
  • It is the best platform if you want to promote physical products. There is a very less chance that there will be a better program which will have a reach as wide as Amazon for small to large physical products. 

ClickBank

ClickBank is one of the largest affiliate network and sales platforms on the web. Affiliate Marketers should consider ClickBank irrespective of whether they are a newbie into the business or are experienced players. Let’s see the reasons below.

Best Features

  • Number of Vendors – 12000. This simply means that you have 12000 different vendors with a range of products available to select from. 
  • It also has a large pool of niches, so even if you are promoting something as small as AAA batteries, you will find it here!
  • Products and vendors are increasing day by day. So, if one product doesn’t work out, you can always choose another one. 
  • You can easily promote any product with their available categories like health & fitness products, self-help, parenting & family, spirituality, games, e-business and e-marketing. Especially their e-business and e-marketing product range is worth exploring.
  • If you are keen on promoting digital products, this is a good option rather than Amazon (which is the best for physical products)

Limitations

  • A vast amount of valueless junk products is available. This can lead to wastage of time. 
  • Not recommended for novices as they are more likely to be incompetent against high-powered and long-established affiliate marketers. 

ShareASale

ShareASale is a famous Affiliate Marketing Program that functions by providing commissions to Affiliates who promote, advertise, and sell merchant’s products available on their website. It is in the business since the year 2000. It has a wide range of programs available through which you can earn an income.

Best Features

  • One of the biggest networks of merchants is available on their platform. 
  • It has merchants in varying categories like fashion, home & garden, business, health, food, art & music, sports, recreation and wedding, to name a few. So if you are looking for products in any of these niches, you will surely find it on ShareAsale platform. 
  • Unique products are offered that are not common elsewhere. So, if you are looking for some unique products, please try ShareASale, you will surely find something remarkable there. 

Limitations

  • One of the biggest sad news is that it doesn’t allow affiliate approval for new marketers.

JVZoo

JVZoo is a marketplace to promote, advertise, and sell digital products online. Merchants on JVZoo can easily list their products to advertise and sell with a JVZoo site where marketers can earn money by promoting those listed items. It has been in business since 2011, that is approximately 9 years till now. It is a trusted and well-known brand which you can bank on. 

Best Features- 

  • More than 60000 exclusive products are available to choose from.
  • Allows you to create a bonus for your desired items
  • Best resources for novice Affiliates. It is really easy to list your products, promote them and end up selling them.
  • Wide variety of categories are available. It is the best platform if you wish to promote digital products.
  • On average, approximately 6500 products are sold in a day on its platform. 

Commission Junction

Commission Junction, popularly known as CJ Affiliates, has one of the merchants’ biggest selections for marketers to choose from, boasting some of the globe’s finest brands. 

Best Features-

  • Easy to use and navigate, which means it will be easier to browse a huge range of products on the website. 
  • A massive number of advertisers or merchants you can choose from
  • It boasts of premium brands like CNN, Time and Buzz feed in the publishing category.
  • Big names like Priceline, Overstock, Barnes & Noble also advertise on the platform.

Rakuten Affiliate Network

Rakuten Affiliate Network is without the shadow of doubt one of the best affiliate networks there. Founded in 1996, this network now has more than 1000 online advertisers. Whether you are just a beginner or a large scale affiliate marketer, Rakuten network is ideal for all.

Best Features-

  • More than 1000 merchants to choose from including many top names and household brands.
  • Newbie friendly dashboard and interface. Creating banners and links in a straightforward process.
  • Joining the Rakuten affiliate network is just a few minute process by filling a simple form online.
  • Get payment worldwide in 25 different available currencies.

Limitations

  • They don’t show the EPC for any merchants programs – this is totally confounding.
  • No Paypal option is available. You can only get paid via direct deposit or check.

eBay Partner network

ebay Partner Network
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ebay Partner Network

eBay Partner Network offers Affiliate Marketing in addition to the general marketplace we all are aware of. It is one of the largest auctions and shopping websites with many options to choose from EPN or eBay Partner Network.

Features- 

  • Great affiliate Products to promote are available on their network as it is one of the biggest marketplaces and is a trusted brand. 
  • EPN helps marketers to generate a lot of traffic from eBay users across the globe. Major trusted global brands like Reebok, Adidas, JBL and Philips already sell there. 
  • Social Network Promotions for the products you choose can be easily done.
  • An extensive collection of items to choose from right from household products to complicated tools and equipments.

This was all about which affiliate programs can cater to your product requirements. But if you are new to affiliate marketing, you might have certain doubts. Are you facing any trouble searching for the affiliate program that suits you? Don’t worry, as I have got you covered about some of the best affiliate programs available online for beginners

Wrapping Up

Hard work doesn’t matter if you don’t have the right tools with you. This is where most marketers fail, they put in all the effort in promotion but with the wrong niche or product! It is important to select the right niche, program and the best products to promote.

So, save your precious time, efforts and money by opting for the best affiliate marketing program which will give you a wide range of options in the product line that you choose to promote! 

Do share this article with your friends and family to make them aware of affiliate marketing and how they can easily choose the perfect product to endorse! 

If you have any feedback, comment or experience that you would like to share – please feel free to reach out via the comment section! Keep reading my posts for more informative articles in relation to affiliate marketing.

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