6 Affiliate Marketing Examples to Start Making Money

Affiliate marketing has emerged as a powerful revenue-generating strategy for many businesses and individuals. How do these affiliate marketing programs work in real-life? In this guide, we will explore some great affiliate marketing examples that will help you deep-dive into how affiliate marketing works.

6 Affiliate marketing examples

There are numerous examples of affiliate marketing including various programs, networks, stores and groups and communities. Here is the list of some of the most common affiliate marketing examples:

1. Affiliate marketing through websites/blogs

Companies like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, or CJ Affiliate provide platforms where affiliates can find a wide range of products and services to promote. Affiliates can choose from various niches and programs within these networks. Amazon is one of the most popular types of affiliate marketing program where individuals and businesses earn commissions by promoting Amazon products.

Examples of successful Amazon associates program:

1. Tom’s Hardware

Tom's Hardware is a website that provides educational content about computer hardware. They offer the latest news, reviews, and comparisons on various topics like monitors, laptops, GPUs (graphics cards), headphones, and keyboards. They have comprehensive and detailed pages for products available on Amazon and redirect the user to Amazon in case they are interested in buying a certain product.

2. Homegrounds

Homegrounds is an educational hub for coffee lovers. It teaches the users about brewing and enjoying good-quality coffee. With this, they also recommend coffee-related products like coffee beans, brewing machines and tools that would suit their target audience with relevant links to Amazon. This is how they get commissions based on the sales made through the affiliate links.

2. Affiliate marketing on social media

Just like bloggers, content creators and influencers utilize affiliate marketing programs to promote products on their websites and get commission based on the conversions made. This is one of the most popular affiliate marketing examples, thanks to the growing popularity of content creation especially on social mediastack.

Here's an example of Thedronegirl on Instagram who promotes drones on her account and shares affiliate links with the audience.

Just like any other product affiliate marketing, SaaS affiliate programs are also one of the most profitable affiliate marketing programs you can opt for and it's just as simple as other affiliate programs. The company you partner with will provide you with a unique affiliate link you can use on your website. You will earn a commission each time a purchase is made using your affiliate link.

At Mailmodo, you can sign up for a high-ticket affiliate program and supercharge your earnings. You just need to register for it, educate the audience about the product and get paid monthly everytime your referral becomes a customer.

3. Affiliate marketing through emails

Affiliate marketers build email lists and send newsletters or product recommendations to their subscribers. They include affiliate links in these emails, and when subscribers make purchases, the affiliate marketer earns commissions. Here is an example of AppSumo promoting Oviond, a marketing data platform through email affiliate marketing:

Source: Tapfiliate

4. E-commerce based affiliate marketing

In the context of an affiliate store, the publisher creates content in the form of product listings within a store that closely resembles a genuine e-commerce platform. Instead of featuring their own products for sale, they showcase products from various retailers and guide visitors to these retailers' websites via their affiliate links. When visitors make a purchase, the retailer compensates the publisher with a commission, and the retailer takes care of the order fulfillment process directly with the customer.

Here’s an example of Wirecutter, an e-commerce store leveraging affiliate marketing. This is a review website that helps you compare the products and find the best price across various platforms.

5. Product videos

Videos are a great way to pique your audiences’ interest and sell products to them, especially when you know how to create affiliate links. Many content creators on Youtube and Instagram use videos to create content on a certain product in a creative manner and provide a link in the description/bio if the audience wants to buy it. This way, the users’ problem is solved with engaging content, the creator gets commission when the user buys the product and the business gets more sales.

There are numerous examples of people using videos for affiliate marketing. Here’s an example of Marques Brownlee who creates engaging content for his audience on electronic products and gives a special link in the description for his audience:

6. Affiliate marketing through online communities/ groups

Online forums and groups on Reddit, Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram centered around specific interests or hobbies can also engage in affiliate marketing by sharing product recommendations and affiliate links with their members. These groups regularly share products on sale or at discounted prices with affiliate links.

Here’s an example of SaaS community on Reddit sharing information, deals and offers:

Source: r/Saas

Takeaway

These were some real-life affiliate marketing examples including affiliate networks, social media affiliating, product recommendations on videos and blogs and many more ways to promote products and earn high commissions. Take inspiration and get started with affiliate marketing.