Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It? Can You Really Make Money in 2024?

Some people dream of being professional athletes or pop stars.

Some people dream of space travel (I'm looking at you, Bezos).

Others want a life with passive income and plenty of free time to do the things they love.

Travel. Work anywhere there is internet. See family and friends. Lay on the couch in your boxer shorts all day watching The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Do whatever the mood takes you.

The affiliate marketing industry makes it possible to do just that.

But while affiliate marketers dream, others are just waking up.

Building a successful affiliate marketing business is hard.

And there are no guarantees.

So we return to the question:

Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It

Is affiliate marketing worth it if you have a strategy to promote products and services that are relevant and valuable to your readers? Affiliate marketing can be a source of high passive income, with some successful affiliate marketers making over $100, 000 a month. But it takes hard work, patience, and consistency to succeed.

To be successful in affiliate marketing, it's important to pick a niche that you're really interested in. Of course, you also want to pick a niche that has a lot of potential for affiliate sales.

Because the more sales you make, the more money you'll make (usually).

Our founders Gael and Mark have spoken extensively about how to find a profitable niche on the Hacker Authority podcast.

They definitely know what they're talking about.

Once you've found a strong niche, you can start creating high-quality content targeting high intent keywords.

We did this with our niche-focused authority site, which we sold for the mid-$6 million mark just a year and a half after launching.

And it's the same method used by one of our authority hacker members, Shane Dutka, when he sold his Home & Garden blog, which he launched two years ago, for a seven-figure sum.

Read more

Discover affiliate marketing tips to boost your success

There are plenty of other affiliate marketing success stories out there.)

The top-level answer is, yes, you can definitely take on affiliate marketing jobs.

But the question: "Is affiliate marketing worth it?"

1 You’re An “Expert” In Your Chosen Niche

While the word "expert" gets thrown around too easily these days, it's definitely easier to build an audience if you have some unique insight.

You've probably read about it extensively. Maybe it's been a lifelong hobby. Maybe you've done it for a living.

Whatever the case may be, if you know more about your niche than the average person, people are more likely to read your content and trust your recommendations.

Industry expertise isn't a prerequisite for affiliate marketing.

We've had plenty of success stories from niches they barely knew anything about, so don't worry if you're just an enthusiastic amateur.

2 You Have Personal Experience Using Your Affiliate Products

This is more important.

You can definitely get by without being an industry expert.

But it's hard for new affiliates to do so without some hands-on experience with the products they're promoting.

This kind of practical knowledge has major benefits:

• You know exactly what's good about the product
• You can do your own initial review, rather than "borrowing" someone else's opinion
• It sounds more trustworthy and ethical
• You can record yourself using the product as a video review. This is important because 55% of adult adults watch product review videos to make purchasing decisions.
• You can ask important questions to manufacturers and retailers to make your reviews more detailed and specific.

Introducing your product may also get you access to private Facebook groups and forums that connect you with hundreds of thousands of users.

All in the name of making your content more unique and useful.

3 You Already Have An (Engaged) Audience

Search engines are volatile.

Just one update to Google's algorithm can cut your search traffic in half overnight.

The same goes for social media.

Organic reach has been declining for years, making it increasingly difficult for affiliate marketers to reach their target audience.

So it's super helpful if you already have access to an audience that is actively engaged with your content.

Such an audience could come from:

• Email marketing. If you have a large email list, you can be sure that your content will be seen. (Check out our 9-step guide on how to build an email list for affiliate marketing)
• Social media channels. Sure, organic reach isn't what it used to be, but if your Instagram or YouTube channel has a lot of followers who are interested in your content, it will almost certainly drive more affiliate sales.
• Traffic search. If you already have your own site that brings a lot of traffic, you are ready to make money with affiliate marketing.

Again, none of them are essential conditions for successful affiliates.

You don't have to panic if you don't have anything, as everyone has to start from somewhere.

But these are certainly helpful.

4 You Own a Complementary Product

If you advertise a product that matches your product, it's definitely a good thing.

The people who use your product can benefit from other products, so there is clearly cros s-promotional opportunity.

5 Your Niche Has a High EPC

A click unit price (EPC) is an important data for any marketing partner.

This indicates how much you can earn on average when someone clicks your affiliate link.

It's a very simple equation:

EPC = Fee by product sales / Number of clicks on your introduction link

In general, the higher the EPC, the higher the budget for product promotion.

This brings digital marketing tactics such as paid and social media ads.

However, don't forget to check T and C first, as all affiliate programs do not allow paid searches.

When Is Affiliate Marketing Not Worth It?

Of course, we like affiliate marketing.

We are also affiliates, and newcomers make money with the help of learning the kno w-how of affiliate games.

But we must accept that affiliate marketing may not be a wise choice:

1 You’re Expecting Overnight Success

Contrary to some malicious online courses, affiliate marketing is not a business model overnight.

To get a stable income, you need a few months or years of effort.

Let's look at the data.

According to AHREFS, only 0. 3%of pages ranked in the top 10 with a voluminous keyword within one year.

Even the volume keywords of 5, 000 to 20, 000 times per month are only one page in five pages in the first page of SERP within one year.

Obviously, search is not the only source of traffic.

However, it is clear that if it takes such a long time to build a powerful ranking, it will not be a billionaire the moment you launch the first affiliate campaign.

2 You Promote Poor-Quality Affiliate Products

It is very difficult to recommend affiliate products just because a large commission is paid.

However, it is worth a lon g-term perspective.

If the review is advertising a bad product, it will lose its reputation.

You may be able to get sales quickly, but there is a risk of keeping readers away in the process.

That's why it is important to actually experience the product before recommending affiliate products.

If you don't buy money and buy it yourself, don't let others buy it, no matter how attractive reward.

Also, if you claim that you can get incredible rewards, even if it looks terrible (or website), remember that it may always be an affiliate marketing fraud. 。

Fortunately, there are many very good and completely legitimate affiliate programs in the world, so you don't have to rely on fraud for lo w-quality products.

Read more

3 You Only See the Affiliate Product As a Revenue Stream

Everything returns to my point of choosing a really interested niche.

The reality is that affiliate offers are constantly changing.

You can see the Amazon affiliate program, which reduced the affiliate sales commission in April 2020.

If you choose to advertise a product just because the reward is high, what if the reward rate changes?

Do you abandon all affiliate marketing business and start over?

Changes are reality for affiliates.

If you just jump to an offer from your partner to make money quickly, you can't get a stable income source.

And the best way to keep the cuts is needed is to focus on niches where you feel passionate.

That way, even if the reward is reduced in the short term, you can secure your own income source.

4 Your Chosen Vendor Doesn’t Follow FTC Guidelines

Since 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines have led to legal requirements for all affiliates to disclose specific affiliate marketing and use exemption.

Basically, this requires clearly stating that when people buy products we advertise, we make money.

The same is true for vendors.

If they don't display the necessary disclosure, this is a big concern.

In other words, affiliate platforms and FTCs themselves can close them.

If so, you will say goodbye to paying the commission.

Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing

By the way, we have talked a lot about affiliate marketing use cases (and not use cases).

So is affiliate marketing worth it?

The following is not in order:

Pro: You Can Build an Affiliate Marketing Business Without Launching a Product or Service

One is a great inventor.

They can identify the market gap and quickly find a way to fill it.

There are also born marketers.

They understand the audience, create, sell, sell, and sell content.

If you fall into the latter category, you have the tools to be a successful affiliate marketer.

This means you can build a business without having to spend months or years developing a product from scratch.

Pro: No Need to Worry About Logistics

Selling a product is a real headache.

Logistically, it can quickly become a full-time job in itself.

But as a partner, you don't have to worry about any of this.

It's not your responsibility.

Pro: You Can Easily Monetize Your Existing Website

It's very simple:

If you already have a website and want to earn passive income, you can use affiliate marketing.

Of course, you need to create content and choose the right affiliate offers, but the barrier to entry is pretty low.

Pro: Startup Costs Are Low

Getting started with affiliate marketing costs just as much as creating a website.

You need to buy a domain name and pay for hosting.

You might also pay for email marketing software and spend your advertising budget on social media posts.

And that's it!

In fact, affiliate marketing is possible even without a website (although we don't recommend it).

Pro: Affiliate Marketing Is Extremely Convenient

You've probably already noticed that you don't need to physically develop a product yourself.

This is very convenient.

But that's not all that's great about the affiliate marketing business model.

It's quick and easy to browse affiliate platforms and marketplaces to find new partners and products that match your audience's interests.

Want to create a new revenue stream or enter a new market?

Just look for relevant affiliate products and create content to promote them.

And One More Pro for Luck: It’s Super Scalable

An affiliate marketing business is definitely easier to scale than a "normal" business selling your own products.

Handling around 100. 000 searches per second, there are practically an infinite number of keywords to chase.

And once you start making money, you can hire a content team to target more keywords.

You can invest in paid channels.

You can create new campaigns to promote new products.

You can launch new sites.

There's no limit to how big you can scale.

Con: You’re Effectively Building a Business for Someone Else

Unfortunately, the reality of life is that even the most successful affiliate marketers always make more for others than they make for themselves.

After all, the salespeople you meet in the affiliate market are (probably) not stupid. They won't pay you more commission than they can afford.

Even if 50 % of sales are cut, it must be because you will get a lot of additional income from the customers you have introduced.

When talking to other affiliates, one of the most dissatisfactions I often hear is that I can't control the product.

Con: No Say In Product Development

You may come up with a genius strategy to advertise products and services on YouTube channels and blogs.

However, sellers change prices, discontinue products, and delete useful functions.

Similarly, it is necessary to r e-understand the marketing strategy and the entire business model.

Affiliate Marketing was a relatively niche field.

Con: You Could Be Competing Against Big Names

However, as many huge publishers are struggling to find a new source of revenue, affiliates are now very popular.

Let's look at the Forbes' affiliate disclosure:

This is a huge site with DR94.

And they are not unique.

Everyone is making money from affiliate marketing, from BuzzFeed to Techno Radar and New York Times.

Suddenly, if you see one or more of these sites aiming for the same keywords as you, it will be difficult to compete.

It is difficult to persuade that if you know that you are earning a passive income by advertising the product on your site, you are thinking about their profits first.

Con: Building Trust Is Hard

This is very unfair.

After all, you took the time to create hig h-quality content.

You should make money from there.

In fact, every industry has a bad apple, and affiliate marketing is the same.

With such a scammer, we will have to work more to gain the trust of viewers.

Up to this point, almost everything we needed to determine affiliate marketing.

The Affiliate Marketing Industry in Numbers

However, please see the interesting affiliate marketing statistics before making a decision:

The world's affiliate marketing industry is more than $ 17 billion.

• The world's affiliate marketing industry is expected to grow to $ 27. 78 billion by 2027.
• 81%of brands use affiliate programs to increase their brand awareness and increase sales.
• 94%of publications use a partner marketing program.
• Affiliate Marketing accounts for 16 % of all Internet orders in the United States.
• 31%of web publishers say that affiliate marketing is the most important source of income.
• read more

Read more

Conclusion: Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It in 2024

On the other hand, if you’ve heard that becoming an affiliate is a license to print money with minimal effort, you’re in for a disappointment.

All I can say is that affiliate marketing definitely works for us, and I have the screenshots to prove it!

So, the bottom line?

Is affiliate marketing worth it for you?

If so, you’re in the right place, because we can help you build a high-performing affiliate site!

Sign up for our free training and we’ll show you how.

Can you really make money with affiliate marketing?

FAQs

It is really possible to make money with affiliate marketing.

While most affiliates don’t make millions of dollars, we know plenty of people who make alternative income from their work or use affiliate marketing as a side hustle to earn some extra pocket money.

If you’re ready to put in the work to find a great niche, build a website, and create great content, it’s entirely possible to create a steady income stream.

Will affiliate marketing still be profitable in 2024?

By the end of 2022, affiliate marketing spending in the United States alone is expected to exceed $8 billion, up from $5. 4 billion in 2017. To us, that seems pretty profitable.

Affiliate marketing is certainly more competitive than it used to be, but that's mainly because the costs are relatively low.

Affiliates don't have to worry about making products, managing logistics, or dealing with customer complaints. So, once you establish a revenue stream, it doesn't cost much to maintain (or even grow) it.

How long does it take to make money with affiliate marketing?

The time it takes to make money with affiliate marketing usually depends on the traffic source you use. If you use paid advertising, it might only take a few days before you start earning.

But if you're trying to get ranked in Google to promote your affiliate offers, it usually takes a few months because Google's ranking process takes time.

However, it is easier to make a profit using Google traffic since you are not paying for it.