The Best Affiliate Marketing Platforms for E-commerce Brands

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a digital marketing strategy where an online merchant compensates an influencer or creator (the affiliate partner) with a commission for sales generated as a result of the promotion by the affiliate of the product. It is a form of revenue sharing.

Benefits of Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing provides a low-risk marketing strategy that can be easily scaled with your business. Here’s an overview of the benefits:

• Limited initial investment
• Low risk
• Ability to target a specific audience

What is an Affiliate Marketing Platform?

Affiliate marketing platforms (also known as affiliate marketing networks) are websites that connect businesses with influencers and content creators to establish affiliate partnerships.

Best Affiliate Marketing Platforms

Affiliate marketing platforms offer a wide range of features at varying prices. Some are tailored for businesses in specific industries. The best affiliate marketing platform for your business depends on your budget, target audience, and goals. Here are 10 of the most popular affiliate marketing networks along with their advantages and disadvantages:

Shopify Collabs

Shopify Collabs helps connect with affiliate partners and offers customizable affiliate links and codes. Qualified partners can also apply to join the Collabs network, streamlining the affiliate marketing process for brands and creators.

Features:

• Automatic payouts via PayPal or direct transfer
• Advanced reporting
• Simplified partnerships with the Collabs network
• Affiliate link generator
• No startup or monthly fees

Pricing:

2.9% payment processing fee on commission payments

CJ Affiliate

Founded in 1998, CJ Affiliate is one of the oldest affiliate marketing networks in the market. The platform serves businesses that sell both digital and physical products. Finance, travel, software, and retail are particularly popular categories. CJ Affiliate verifies influencer activities before making upfront payments and offers compliance monitoring and ongoing fraud detection services.

Features:

• Custom commission rates
• Payment to affiliate partners via direct transfer or Payoneer
• Integrations with Shopify, WordPress, and Adobe Ecommerce (Magento)
• Fraud detection and monitoring
• Advanced reporting and tracking
• User-friendly interface

Pricing:

Contact the CJ Affiliate team

Upfluence

Upfluence can help you find affiliate partners, create promotional codes, affiliate links, and track commission payments. You can pay affiliate partners directly within the platform, and international payments facilitate collaboration with partners around the globe. Upfluence also provides contact templates, making it easy to reach out to influencers on the platform.

Features:

• Integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Adobe Ecommerce (Magento)
• Automated payments
• International payments
• Social listening tool
• Contact templates
• Analytics dashboard

Pricing:

Contact the Upfluence team

Trackdesk

Trackdesk offers advanced automation features to help you recruit and pay affiliate partners and track their income and performance. Although the platform does not include native payment functionality, it integrates with PayPal and Stripe to secure transactions.

Features:

• Integrations with Shopify, PayPal, Stripe, and Wix
• Advanced automation features
• Flexible commission structures
• Automated recruitment tools
• Real-time reporting
• Allows unlimited affiliate partnerships

Pricing:

• Free for monthly revenue up to $5,000
• $79 per month for monthly revenue up to $19,999
• Custom pricing for unlimited monthly revenue

LeadDyno

LeadDyno allows you to customize an affiliate site with the look and feel of your brand, and paid plans also include a custom domain name and personalized setup support. The platform also offers automatic email functions that allow you to invite customers to join your affiliate partner program. When enabled, the email function invites new customers to automatically join your affiliate partner program. You can customize the email and include a one-click signup link in the body of the email.

Features:

• Custom recruitment portal
• Flexible commissions
• Integrated payments via PayPal and Coinbase
• More than 25 direct integrations, including Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce
• Affiliate dashboard and real-time tracking
• Unlimited affiliate partners
• 30-day free trial

Pricing:

• Four
• Payment levels: $49-749 per month

Affiliatly

Affiliatly offers an affordable option for recruiting and managing affiliate partners. Pricing is based on the number of affiliates rather than revenue, so it can be particularly effective for businesses with smaller affiliate programs. You can also upload creative assets to the site to make it easier for affiliates to promote products.

Features:

• Automatic payments via PayPal
• Tracking via link, QR code, or coupon code
• Advanced reporting
• Allows for up to two tiers of affiliates
• 90-day free trial
• Integration with Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and SquareSpace

Pricing:

• Six pricing tiers, including: $16 per month for up to 50 affiliates, $129 per month for unlimited affiliates

Rewardful

Rewardful is designed specifically to support affiliate programs for companies offering software as a service (SaaS) with a commission structure that adapts to scenarios such as subscription upgrades, discounts, free trials, refunds, and cancellations. Although direct integration with e-commerce is limited to Stripe and Paddle, all plans provide access to the API, allowing you to set up integrations with other platforms. Paid plans include a custom domain and unlimited team member access to the platform.

Features:

• PayPal payment integrations
• Fraud detection
• Subscription-focused commission parameters
• Multi-currency support
• User-friendly interface

Pricing:

• Three pricing levels, including: $49 per month for up to $7,500 in monthly affiliate revenue, $149 per month for over $15,000 in monthly affiliate revenue

ShareASale

ShareASale is a well-known affiliate marketing platform with over 270,000 affiliate members, making it a great starting point for building affiliate partnerships. In 2022, over $17 billion in affiliate sales were generated through the platform. ShareASale pre-screens affiliates and offers fraud protection, supporting targeted access to affiliates based on performance data, category, and relevance to your brand. You can also segment active affiliates into groups and run reports or modify commission terms or provide assets based on the group.

Features:

• Real-time performance updates
• Advanced reporting
• Customizable commissions
• In-platform payments

Pricing:

• $625 sign-up fee
• $125 minimum deposit
• $35 monthly access fee
• 20% recurring commission fee

PartnerStack

PartnerStack helps you recruit, activate, track, and reward affiliate partners with a particular focus on companies offering software as a service (SaaS). Its reporting features include revenue and payment tracking. It also allows you to track customer progress through the sales pipeline.

Features:

• Advanced analytics
• In-platform recruiting features
• Affiliate partner groups
• Automatic payments
• Integration with Salesforce, Hubspot, and Stripe
• Email automation for communication with affiliates
• Incentive goals for top affiliates
• Customize the recruiting process

Pricing:

Contact the PartnerStack team

Everflow

Everflow can help you manage affiliate marketing campaigns along with other marketing efforts, including media buying and influencer marketing programs. Although Everflow requires you to learn its platform more deeply than many other affiliate marketing networks, the platform connects each business with a dedicated account manager, and customer support is available 24/7.

Features:

• Advanced performance analytics and tracking
• 24/7 customer support
• Affiliate partner groups
• Integration with Shopify, Salesforce, and Facebook
• Integrated payments
• Support for other marketing use cases

Pricing:

Starting at $750 per month

Frequently Asked Questions about Affiliate Marketing Platforms

How do you choose the right platform for you?

The best affiliate marketing platform for your affiliate marketing efforts depends on your budget, goals, and intended use. If you’re just getting started, look for features like direct integration with e-commerce, payment, automated recruiting, and fraud detection.

Do

Can multiple affiliate marketing platforms be used at the same time?

Yes. If you use multiple affiliate marketing platforms, make sure to consider the pricing terms to ensure that costs are not duplicated. Many platforms charge monthly fees instead of a percentage of earnings.

How can you become an affiliate partner?

The following four steps can help you earn affiliate income:

1. Build your audience
2. Join an influencer marketing platform
3. Reach out to brands directly
4. Share affiliate links with your audience

Source: https://www.shopify.com/blog/affiliate-marketing-platforms

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