Many aspiring YouTubers consider affiliate marketing to earn revenue from their channels. It is a business opportunity that doesn’t require any upfront investment rather than time and has been proven a profitable source of income for some. However, as easy as it may seem, you need to know a couple of things before you kick off your YouTube affiliate marketing venture. That’s why we set out to provide all the info experienced marketers wish they knew before they started with affiliate marketing on YouTube.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is an advertising model in which you promote a product or service and earn a commission for the sales that you generate. For example, you can join an affiliate program for a clothing brand and promote their products on your YouTube channel. If someone buys a product using one of your links, you earn a commission from the sale.
When done right, affiliate marketing can be more than worthwhile. Even though it is a passive income for most marketers, the best of them make serious money with it.
Is Affiliate Marketing Allowed on YouTube?
By all means, combining affiliate marketing with YouTube is allowed, and this should be the least of your worries. Instead, it is more important to ensure that your viewers support your new business venture. You need to do your best to introduce your promotional content in a subtle and entertaining way that won’t be off-putting to your followers.
For this reason, it is best to promote products related to your content. For example, promoting cookware sets on a cooking channel won’t feel as forced as promoting them on a gaming channel would.
How Do I Become an Affiliate on YouTube?
If you already have a YouTube channel, you just need to find the right products and services you want to advertise. Though, this might be easier said than done. Considering everything we said about your product matching your content, you need to research thoroughly.
The good news is that with countless companies offering programs online, you don’t need to invest a penny to get started with affiliate marketing. One simple Google search like “affiliate marketing program + your niche” can give you hundreds of results. Just sign up, paste the affiliate links on your YouTube channel, and voila, you are now a YouTube affiliate.
If you don’t have a YouTube channel or want to create a new one strictly for YouTube affiliate marketing, here are a few useful tips.
How Do I Create a YouTube Channel for Affiliate Marketing?
The actual creation of an affiliate marketing YouTube channel is a pretty straightforward process that can be done in a few minutes. However, it requires a lot of planning and decision-making before you even get started.
You need to choose a niche that fits both your personality and the product or service you will promote. Ideally, you want to build your channel around a topic you are passionate about. This way, you will genuinely get excited about the products you advertise, and your audience will recognize and appreciate your enthusiasm.
Once you have turned your idea into a detailed blueprint and collected the necessary graphic materials, you can create your channel. Remember that even though you created this channel for affiliate marketing purposes, you still need to create quality videos that provide value to your viewers.
Which YouTube Channel Is Best for Affiliate Marketing?
The sky is the limit when it comes to affiliate marketing on YouTube. It is all down to your creativity and your imagination. You can run a successful YouTube affiliate program with any given topic as long as you’re passionate about it and willing to make an effort.
About 34% of YouTubers promote at least one brand or a product, so anything is acceptable. However, if you are having a hard time deciding what category of videos you should be making, there are three types of channels that traditionally do well with YouTube affiliate marketing:
- Product reviews/Unboxing videos — it is easy to find context for promotion when you are already reviewing a product or a service. Almost as good as a cheat code for justifying affiliate links on YouTube.
- Tutorials/How to videos — almost all videos in this category include a necessary ingredients/tools/services section. This provides you with a great opportunity to naturally promote your product and refer your viewers to your links.
- Best of videos — works in the same way as in reviews, only you get to promote multiple products in one video. Please note that you will need some credibility so users can trust your judgment for videos of this type.
How to Add Affiliate Links to YouTube
The description section is the perfect place to add affiliate links to a YouTube video. It makes sure they are not forceful and intrusive while keeping them handy for a quick purchase. The YouTube video description character limit is 5,000 — more than enough to give you room to add all the links you want and provide a brief description of the products.
Make sure you disclose the links in your videos and explain to your viewers that they support you and your channel by using them to make a purchase.
How to Do Affiliate Marketing on YouTube — Best Practices
By now, you should be getting an idea of what a YouTube affiliate marketing program should look like. This means you are ready to learn about some of the essential principles of affiliate marketing for YouTube that have been proved to be the right approach to this business.
Honesty is the best policy.
Be frank with your viewers. Don’t try to hide the fact that you are getting paid to promote certain brands. Instead, explain that you are trying a new way to earn revenue for your channel, and they will appreciate your honesty. You might even get a few extra sales from fans who want to support you and wouldn’t buy the product otherwise.
Great content is the best sales tool in the world.
YouTube affiliates are primarily YouTubers, and the sales come second. Always prioritize content quality over everything else. Your viewers came to your channel to watch your videos, not commercials. Avoid sounding too “salesy” and focus on what made your subscribers like you in the first place before your YouTube affiliate program.
Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.
Nowadays, people don’t listen to a sales pitch. They have the tools to research and educate themselves about the product. Instead of telling them why this offer is great, explain how happy you are with the purchase. Think of it as leaving a positive customer feedback comment. Speaking of comments, remember to always respond to the questions in your videos.
Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.
Just like any other web-based occupation, SEO ranking is vital for your YouTube affiliate marketing program as well. This is why you need to optimize your videos for search engines and viewers. Use titles and descriptions rich with keywords and utilize tags to make sure your content reaches people who are more likely to make a purchase.
The Bottom Line
YouTube affiliate marketing can be a great way to earn extra cash or even make a full-time income. Affiliate marketing statistics show that YouTube makeup superstar James Charles makes about $20 million per year through his affiliate links. That said, your focus should always be on creating great content that your viewers will enjoy. By following the best practices outlined above, you can create a successful affiliate marketing channel on YouTube.
