While standard YouTube monetization pays creators between $20-40 for every 1000 views on average, only some are satisfied with the revenue. This is why YouTube Affiliate Programs are said to be a perfect side hustle to boost the creator’s income.
I have written several articles on social media earnings, and that has helped me with critical insights into how affiliate programs work for every platform. In this article, I will discuss the top 11 YouTube Affiliate Programs, which I have ranked based on maximum cookie duration and commission rate.
In addition, I will discuss the top strategies to gain more affiliate sales, the eligibility criteria to join the affiliate program, and many more.
So, let’s dive into which affiliate program you should promote in your videos and multiply your YouTube income!
Top 10 Most Preferred YouTube Affiliate Programs For 2024
Let’s go through the list of the ten best Affiliate Programs for YouTube from my selection and their basic information:-
| Affiliate Programs | Commission Rate – Per Sale | Cookie Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Clickbank | Around 50% | 60 Days |
| Booking.com | 25 to 40 % on the referred bookings | One-time use |
| Thinkific | Lifetime recurring commission – 30% | 90 Days |
| Reclaim.ai | Recurring 25% for up to one year | 90 Days |
| Etsy | 4% | 30 Days |
| Shopify | 1-time Bounty payment is equivalent to 200% of the monthly subscription. | 30 Days |
| Zappos | 7% | 30 Days |
| Target | Up to 8% of each purchase | 7 Days |
| eBay Partner Network | 1 to 4 % | 24 Hours |
| Commission Junction | 5 to 10 % | Varies from merchant to merchant |
| Amazon Associates | 1 to 10 % | 24 Hours |
Now that we have skimped through the basics of the top affiliate programs for YouTube, let’s go through the detailed overview of each of them:-
1. Clickbank
| Mode of Payment | Direct Deposits, PayPal, Checks, and Bank Transfer |
| Payout Threshold | $10 Minimum |
| Best For | Social Influencers, Content Creators, and Review Sites |
Once upon a time, specializing in digital products, Clickbank shifted its focus to features like physical goods. These goods have over 4K products, with which you can reap a hefty revenue irrespective of whether you sell digital or physical goods.
So far, the program has paid over $4 Billion in commission rates.
2. Booking.com
| Mode of Payment | Wire Transfer and PayPal |
| Payout Threshold | $20 Minimum |
| Best For | Travel Bloggers, Review Sites, Directories, and Content Creators |
If you are a travel blogger, you must partner with bookings.com, as the service offers convenient travel stays that include luxurious accommodations and meals. For people looking for more affordable options, Bookings.com also offers hostel stays.
In fact, you would receive a commission worth 20 to 45% upon every sale you make.
3. Thinkific
| Mode of Payment | Stripe or Paypal |
| Payout Threshold | $25 Minimum |
| Best For | Digital Marketers, Digital Entrepreneurs, Web Educators, and Content Creators |
Are you looking for a program that helps create and provide online courses that are of top-notch quality? Then look no further and partner with Thinkific!
The affiliate program offers a user-friendly interface with interactive quizzes, easily uploadable content, customizable designs, and flexible payment options. Its commission rate potentially earns you $1700 per referral.
4. Reclaim.ai
| Mode of Payment | Paypal, Stripe, and Direct Deposit |
| Payout Threshold | $5 Minimum |
| Best For | Consultants, Podcasters, Bloggers, and Social Influencers |
An organizer is necessary if your schedule is packed and you need it. With the help of reclaim.ai, you can easily sort out meetings and tasks. You can even manage a bigger team of people, including freelancers, in-house employees, and more.
So, schedule your weekly tasks in advance and then reschedule them at your convenience.
The program also features attracts over 26% of new visitors within 5 minutes of signing up for the program. Overall, Reclaim.ai increases your productivity and maintains an overall work-life balance.
5. Etsy Affiliate Program
| Mode of Payment | Check, International Wire, and Wire Transfer |
| Payout Threshold | $20 Minimum |
| Best For | Entrepreneurs, Social Influencers, and Review Sites |
Considering the unique, creative, and hand-made products, Etsy is known for selling one-of-a-kind products that independent creators design.
Most YouTubers have an easy time promoting as they prefer endorsing their products, including Digital art, Tarot cards, and hand-crafted jewelry.
6. Shopify Affiliate Program
| Mode of Payment | PayPal or Wire Transfer |
| Payout Threshold | $10 Minimum |
| Best For | Publisher, Bloggers, and Content Creators |
The e-commerce platform encourages users to start their own businesses by offering ready-made templates and a wide range of customization.
Its easy-to-use interface allows you to sell your products and further promote your business – all users need to do is sign up for Shopify’s Standard Plan, which is $39/ Month.
7. Zappos
| Mode of Payment | Check, Direct Deposit, and Payoneer |
| Payout Threshold | No Minimum Payouts |
| Best For | Review Channels, Fashion Experts, Content Creators, and Social Experts |
Initially, the Zappos was a core shoe-selling brand. However, in recent years, the Amazon-owned service has started selling clothes and accessories.
If your YouTube channel is dedicated to high-end fashion brands, Zappos is an incredible affiliate program to partner with! It offers access to over 1500 brands, including shoe brands like Vans, Clarks, Nike, and more.
8. Target
| Mode of Payment | PayPal, Direct Deposit, ACH Transfer, Wire Transfer, and Check. |
| Payout Threshold | $10 Minimum |
| Best For | Bloggers, Review Sites, Content Creators, and Social Influencers |
The retail house has over 2000 stores across the USA, including games, skincare, clothes, etc., and generates monthly sales in Billions. So, if you create content around everyday products as listed above, then Target is the perfect affiliate program for you!
Although the program heavily influences the US audience, you can still tie up with the target if you are created to target a non-US audience.
9. eBay Partner Network
| Mode of Payment | Electronic funds or Paypal |
| Payout Threshold | $10 Minimum |
| Best For | Bloggers, Review Sites, Content Creators, and Social Influencers |
Like Amazon, eBay is a retail service offering products from various brands.
In addition, you get access to over 1.4 Billion products, out of which only 20% are old, and the rest are fresh sets of pieces. You will find niches like electronics, clothes, kids’ toys, books, and many more.
10. Commission Junction
| Mode of Payment | Direct Deposit, Check, and Payoneer |
| Payout Threshold | $50 Minimum |
| Best For | Social Influencers, Content Creators, Review Sites, and Publishers |
The network program works as TikTok’s creators’ fund, where brands and YouTubers unite.
With the help of Commission Junction, you can promote multiple brands, like Zappos, Barnes & Noble, etc., too, all at the same time. After joining the program, creators get access to thousands of brands, and you can further move ahead with your desired choice.
11. Amazon Associates
| Mode of Payment | Check, Wire Transfer, and Amazon Gift Certificates |
| Payout Threshold | $10 minimum for wire transfer, and $100 for Checks |
| Best For | Social Influencers, Content Creators, and Review Sites |
The beginner-friendly marketing program offers a variety of products such as books, electronics, household appliances, and clothes.
With its easy-to-sign-up feature, Amazon Associates is considered the better choice for most marketers, as the program is not limited to one specific niche.
Things To Keep In Mind Before Choosing An Affiliate Program For Your Audience
Before proceeding with any Affiliate Marketing Program, go through the following pointers and see whether they offer you the best service with greater benefits.
- Make sure the affiliate program aligns with the content you create.
- Be open and transparent with your viewers about the program you are marketing.
- Choose programs with higher cookie duration.
- The commission structure should be greater for better revenue.
- Brands that offer you a wide range of resources for promotions.
- The payment mode should have a wide range and be flexible to most viewers.
YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program: What’s Included?
The YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program helps your subscribers find the products they would be interested in and buy further. This would also give you a certain amount of commission.
With the help of this official YouTube Affiliate program, you get the following benefits!
1. Pushing Your Viewers To Buy The Promoted Product
When you show a product in a video, viewers quickly track down the brand.
This is especially true when you have higher authority, as your audience loves purchasing things you use. Therefore, when endorsing a product, linking all the details is essential.
For example, price, website link, and mention the code in case of active discount.
2. Invest Time In Creating Better YouTube Content
YouTube Studio has simplified tagging products, reviewing earnings, and gaining insights. In that case, the time that you have saved can be utilized to create more compelling content.
3. Increase Your YouTube Earnings
Since the affiliate program is primarily for “Shopping,” you can create content for various brands. If your promoting methods are apt and you gain a good amount of sales, this further exposes you to similar brands.
If a competitive brand starts approaching you for their product, they would naturally bid you a higher price. It would cause your existing brand to lure you with more money.
In this case, the ball is in your court. Thus, you have created more opportunities to earn higher.
Eligibility Criteria For the YouTube Affiliate Program
Check out the minimum qualifications to sign up for the YouTube Affiliate Program – for example, the Shopping Affiliate Program.
- Your channel must be under the YouTube Partnered Program.
- Your channel must have over 15K subscribers.
- You must reside in the USA.
- Your channel must not be a Music channel, including Vevo, music labels, or even an independent artist.
- Your channels should not be a kids’ channel or even many videos dedicated to young hearts.
- Your channel should not have an active violation of community guidelines.
3 Methods To Join YouTube Affiliate Program
Once qualified to join the YouTube Affiliate Programs, choose either of the methods below and follow its respective steps!
- Android: YouTube Studio > Earn (from the bottom menu) > Get Started > Turn On (from the bottom of the screen) > Review and accept the terms and conditions.
- Computer: YouTube Studio > Earn (from the left side) > Programs > Join Now > Review and accept the terms and conditions.
- iOS and iPad: YouTube Studio > Earn (from the bottom menu) > Get Started > Turn On (from the bottom of the screen) > Review and accept the terms and conditions.
After that, simply copy the affiliate link of any of your desired programs and paste it into the YouTube video’s description box.
7 Key Strategies To Gain More YouTube Affiliate Sales!
Check my top-performing strategies to increase the sales for your affiliate links:-
- Use eye-catching thumbnails
- Add chapter markers/ time stamps for viewers to skip through the video
- Optimize for YouTube Search with in-demand keywords in your description box and title
- Create related playlists to keep your viewers engaged on your channel only
- Produce YouTube Shorts to increase the traffic of your channel in less than 60 seconds
- Embed YouTube videos in blog content
- Be transparent with your affiliate links and ensure they align with the type of content you create.
Ideas For Your YouTube Affiliate Videos
Check out some ideas that would help you create better and more innovative YouTube videos for adding affiliate links:-
- Trending Videos such as viral challenges, discussing the latest celebrity drama, etc.
- Unboxing Videos and giving users 100% genuine feedback.
- Tutorials of things you are good at, such as a natural makeup look, how to add display pictures on your Mac device, and so on.
- Product Review Videos are where you test the product in front of the camera and give real-time feedback. Try to provide personalized feedback and let them know how other users may or may not like certain features.
- Compare two or more products where you are giving pros and cons and give a final verdict on which product you prefer the most!
YouTube Affiliate Program vs YouTube Partnered Program
Many people had concerns about whether they could monetize from both the YouTube Partnered Program and the YouTube Affiliate Programs. The answer is yes, you can!
- Unlike the YouTube Affiliate Program, the YouTube Partner Program requires at least 1000 subscribers with 4000 public watch hours in the last twelve months or 10 million public short views in the last 90 days.
- In contrast, YouTube Affiliate Marketing is easier to begin with by looking at the eligibility criteria discussed above.
Therefore, you should focus on earning from both mediums. Beginners can start with YAP (YouTube Affiliate Program), and once they are qualified for YPP (YouTube Partner Program), they can join the partnered program and earn more.
7 Tips To Create More Catchy And Engaging Content
Check out my seven tried and tested tips to create more appealing content!
- Share your expertise on the product.
- Provide educational content
- Getting readers to purchase the product
- Create visually pleasing content
- Share the benefits of the suggested program
- Provide valid testimonials
- Build a connection with your audience
Related Reads:
Conclusion: With a 50% Commission Rate, Click Bank Is The Best YouTube Affiliate Program
As much as creators earn through YouTube’s Partnered program, ad-sense only pays them between $0.2 to $0.8 per view on average.
Unfortunately, the revenue isn’t enough for smaller creators, so seeking YouTube Affiliate Programs to promote their service and gain extra revenue is the second best option. Now, considering the number of programs, choosing one Affiliate for you can be overwhelming.
Therefore, check out my top three recommendations to make your process less tiring:-
- Click Bank: 60 days of cookie duration with 50% commission.
- Booking.com: 25 to 40 % of booking commission with a one-time use cookie.
- Thinkific: 30% of lifetime recurring commission with 90 days of the cookie duration.
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up on either of the affiliate programs mentioned above and start earning from the YouTube sales.
FAQs
Google offers an official affiliate program for YouTube, which is Shopping. However, many third-party affiliate programs exist, such as Amazon Associate, Etsy, and Shopify.
The commission rate of each affiliate varies from product to product. Despite that, the average earning of a YouTube Affiliate is between 1 to 50 %.
You can affiliate a product on YouTube by putting the information in the description box or promoting it verbally. There is a secret third way, where you can affiliate through annotations.
You can indeed sell affiliate products on YouTube, earning a commission. So, remember, the more sales you convert, the higher your revenue for that particular product will be.
