Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways to earn online. The prospect of making money from the comfort of their own home is appealing to many people. However, is the affiliate marketing salary good enough to substitute the benefits of a “real job” or just a productive pastime that can bring you some extra cash?
We will look for the answer in relevant data, such as how much the average affiliate marketer makes and the maximum affiliate marketing income potential. Before diving into all that, let’s define affiliate marketing and how affiliate marketers make their money.
How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
The advertising model in which companies hire third-party individuals to promote their products or services and pay them commissions for every sale they generate is affiliate marketing. Therefore, affiliate marketers make money only when someone uses their link to make a purchase, and no sale means no affiliate marketing income.
Unlike “regular” jobs, the affiliate marketing salary is entirely performance-based. As a result, marketers have to face the risk of ending up with no earnings even after putting in hours of work. At the same time, there is no upper limit on how much you can earn from it. So, in theory, the affiliate marketing earning potential is unlimited.
In practice, however, there are many things that limit the affiliate marketing monthly income. Even the most ambitious marketers still have to take some time off for family, friends, sleep, a day job if they have one, etc. Additionally, when starting an affiliate marketing business with no financial investment, profits may come later than you think.
You would need to have a platform (such as a blog or social media) where you can create engaging content and publish your affiliate links. Building an audience and establishing social media presence is tedious and takes time and dedication. On the bright side, once you reach a certain level of popularity, you can profit from affiliate marketing in your sleep.
How Much Do Affiliate Marketers Make?
In all honesty, there is no foolproof way of assessing the average affiliate marketing income with accuracy. The affiliate marketer salary data we gathered is from reputable websites that keep track of the earnings of professionals from different fields.
However, by no means do they claim that these numbers are 100% precise. They are merely entries from users who decided to share their yearly incomes in an attempt to provide some clarity on how profitable certain professions are. Nevertheless, here is their affiliate marketing salary data.
According to PayScale, the annual affiliate marketing average income is $54,404. This number is based on the information provided by over 7,707 users. Additionally, the least paid 10% of affiliate marketers make less than $40,000, while the most paid earn over $75,000 per year.
GlassDoor’s statistics show slightly higher numbers — the median annual affiliate marketing salary is about $55,994. However, with additional pay that includes cash bonus, commission, tips, and profit sharing–US marketers earn $77,619 per annum. The lowest salary reported on the website is $48,000, and the highest is $129,000 per year.
A couple of other websites show similar amounts, so we can agree that the average affiliate marketer makes an income close to the average salary in the US. However, the most successful influencers turn in considerably larger profits. For example, the popular Millionaire Mentor, Jason Stone, made $7 million in just one year through affiliate marketing.
Learn more: Affiliate Marketing Statistics
One last fact we’d like to mention is that most affiliate marketers give up on the business before ever earning a dollar. The likely reasons behind their failures are high expectations, taking a wrong approach, and underestimating the level of persistency needed for success.
Affiliate Marketing Salary Factors
Ultimately, your affiliate marketing pay is decided by the number of sales you generate and the size of your commissions. However, those two variables are dependent on a number of things.
To get enough sales, affiliate marketers must drive loads of traffic to their platforms. The more people see your links, the higher the chance someone will use them to make a purchase. In addition, it is important to reach the people that are likely to buy the product or service you are promoting, commonly known as the target audience.
The type of product you are promoting also impacts the number of your sales and, therefore, your affiliate marketing income. While it is easier to sell less expensive items, the commissions you earn from them are small as well. Promoting low-priced items is called low-ticket affiliate marketing, and it is best suited for beginners.
While they require a ton of purchases to reach the average affiliate marketing income, low-ticket programs can help new marketers make a name for themselves. Before you can sell expensive products with hefty commissions, you need to have some credibility and earn the trust of your audience so that they care for your recommendations.
Once you have established yourself as a trustworthy promotor, you can move on to luxury items and go for the high ticket affiliate marketing salary. Please note that not everyone buys expensive products, and you will need to target a select group of people to be successful. However, if you manage to convince just a few people to buy a $10,000 watch through your link, you already made some serious money.
The Bottom Line
In summation, not only that it has the income potential to replace your day job, affiliate marketing can allow you to earn more than ever before. However, you can expect plenty of hard work and a few disappointments before you can hope to establish a nice passive income for yourself.You just need to have the right mindstate, be determined to succeed, and always improve your marketing strategy. Your affiliate marketing salary is completely based on your performance, so your efforts are the main factor that decides your earnings in this business.
