Keeping up with all the shifts in the world of content creation and marketing can be tricky, especially when you're trying to find the best ways to monetize your audience. Since UGC dominates social media platforms, traditional income streams like sponsored posts and one-time brand partnerships feel both outdated and might come across as hard-sell.
That’s why many creators are turning to affiliate marketing, which lets them use the content they already provide as a source of passive income while also maintaining the authenticity of their personal brand. If you’re completely new to affiliate marketing, we promise you’ll know where to start by the end of the article!
Copyfolio's affiliate program is easy, rewarding and perfect to start with!
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate partnerships are long-term collaborations between a brand and a creator, where the creator is entitled to a commission after each lead or sale they bring for the brand using their own existing network. Affiliate programs use unique referral links or promotion codes to track their partners’ sales. It’s a win-win situation for everyone: the brand gets more recognition, the creator earns money, and their audience benefits from discovering new tools or products.
Affiliate partnerships VS. sponsored content
Before jumping into a step-by-step guide of starting out as an affiliate, we wanted to show you some advantages of this type of collaboration compared to other types of branded content.
Passive income
When a creator closes a deal for a sponsored post, there is always a fixed amount of payout they receive after their work. Unlike these one-time payments, financial opportunities are much wider with affiliate partnerships, because it allows you to earn indefinitely as long as the content is live, remains relevant and performs well.
For example, a well-prepared and SEO friendly blogpost can generate commissions for you even after a long time after posting, providing passive income. Or, if your post hits the spot and goes viral on TikTok or Instagram, your affiliate earnings can go far beyond than a single sponsored post payout. Many programs even offer unlimited referrals, opening the door for scalable income.
Long-term relationships
The biggest value that content creators can give to their audience is authenticity - that’s why content creators have to be extremely mindful of keeping this relationship with their audience honest, especially when choosing the brands they partner up with.
If a creator has several different brands (even conflicting ones) appearing in their feeds, it makes their followers think they are just there for the money, and they are being exploited. Settling a long-term partnership with a single or a few brands shows the audience that they are shown a sincere recommendation rather than being sold to.
Creative freedom
When a content creator signs an affiliate contract, they usually receive some assets from the brand – maybe a set of USPs, creatives, or graphic elements. Other than that, the affiliates have control over their content. The freedom of getting to decide what, how and where to post rather than following rigid brand guidelines results in more authentic, UGC-style content that resonates with the audience.
Encountering a piece of content that feels less like an ad and more like a genuine recommendation feels like a breath of fresh air in the oversaturated world of content these days, also giving the chance for the creator to keep their own tone of voice. Affiliate content doesn’t feel like a hard sell – just a natural extension of the valuable insights you already provide.
Super easy to start with
No fancy equipment, upfront investment or advanced technical skills are needed to start out as an affiliate marketer. It’s nice to have an audience to start with, but you can also build that along the way with authentic content and good SEO. Most affiliate programs have a really easy onboarding experience and only basic screening before they are ready to sing the contract. All you need is creativity and a unique voice in your niche!
Affiliate community
Brands often support their affiliates with resources like creative assets, content inspiration, constant support and updates about the brand. Sometimes even on top of that, brands create a space to connect and share insights with other affiliate partners. What’s better than having a community behind you where all the secrets of content marketing are talked about?
How to start affiliate marketing?
Be clear about your niche
If you already have an audience, then you probably know exactly what kind of content they like and resonate with, which will be a great guide for you to tailor your chosen brands to their interests. Again, a win-win situation: if you choose a great brand fit for your viewers or readers, they will find your content relatable, and they will engage with it – which also means a bigger potential for conversion that generates commissions for you.
If you’re completely new, we recommend you to be specific in finding a niche that you decide to promote – it will not only help you narrow down your brand options and make the content creation process easier, but a higher-converting, loyal audience is more likely to find you.
Find brands to work with
There are many platforms out there that gather affiliate programs for you to browse from. If you already have some specific brands in mind, check out their website if they already offer an affiliate program. Your dream company doesn’t have one? Take your time to drop them a message, maybe they have some unique opportunities for you! If you found the best fits, move forward with applying and signing the affiliate contract. These steps can vary at different companies, but it's very important to establish a great relationship with the brand, so make sure you allocate some time to get familiar with each brand’s terms.
Create content
And now comes the fun part! If all the administration is done, what’s left is to hit the record button. The content you post is only up to you – one thing to always keep in mind though is to be authentic, relatable and always try to show the brand that you promote in the best light possible.
We’ve also created a YouTube video with extra tips on affiliate success – check it out!
Copyfolio’s affiliate program
If you create content for writers, marketers, or people working in social media, we have an affiliate program that’s very simple to start with if you’re new to affiliate marketing. Copyfolio is a portfolio website and blog builder tool, which is super easy and effortless to use and can help your audience boost their careers and online presence.
Copyfolio’s affiliate program works with flat commissions, which means you get a fixed $30 after each subscriber you bring to the product, without a limit on the number of your referrals. We also give 20% off for your users the first time they upgrade, which will even make it easier to get those sweet commissions!
Check out our affiliate page for more information, or contact us on affiliate@copyfol.io!
