Ultimate Guide To YouTube Affiliate Marketing (7 Easy Steps)
Last Updated on May 17, 2023 by Jordan Alexo
Making money online through YouTube videos is a dream for many people. For some, affiliate marketing may be the answer they are looking for to make this dream a reality!
But what is affiliate marketing? What are the best videos to market your products and make money? Where can you find the right products for you?
In this guide, we will answer all of these questions and more. This comprehensive guide will show you everything you need to know about making money with YouTube affiliate marketing.
What Is YouTube Affiliate Marketing, And Does It Work?
Affiliate marketing is online marketing where you promote someone else’s product or service and earn a commission when someone buys it.
When you partner with a company or product owner, you are given an affiliate link that helps track how many people visit and buy from you.
As an affiliate marketer, your job is to get people to click on your link and buy the product or service. Any time someone buys from you, you earn a commission. The seller establishes the commission rate.
You can create affiliate videos showcasing the product, linking to the product in the video description, or using affiliate links in annotations.
Why Is Affiliate Marketing Awesome?
Although I have developed my online courses, I still love affiliate marketing. You have many advantages, which is why affiliate marketing is extremely popular. This includes:
Easy to get started: Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest ways to get started in online marketing. There are no complex products to create or confusing processes to learn. You just need to focus on getting more and more people to buy through your affiliate links.
Freedom and flexibility: With affiliate marketing, you have the freedom and flexibility to promote any product or service that you want. You’re not limited by what the company offers or how they want you to promote their products.
Automated income: Once your affiliate links are set up, the income from sales flows automatically into your account without any additional work on your part. You don’t need to deal with annoying customers or refunds, etc.
Scalable income: As your audience grows, so does your potential for earning larger commissions. Most companies increase their commission rate for successful affiliates.
Transferable Skills: If you know how to promote products from other people successfully, you can easily transfer those skills to promote your products in the future.
Why Is YouTube Great For Affiliate Marketing?
YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine and receives over 30 million, daily visitors. People watch over 5 billion videos on YouTube every single day.
YouTube is a great platform for affiliate marketing because:
- There are no restrictions on what you can promote.
- You can build a loyal following of viewers who will trust your recommendations.
- Your videos can rank high in YouTube and Google search results.
- You can make passive income from your videos through ads and affiliate links.
- How to Get Started With YouTube Affiliate Marketing
- You can target any audience with your videos.
Why Must You Kill These 2 Ideas Before You Start?
Let’s talk about two misleading ideas widely spread that will stop you dead in your tracks.
1) Your Passions May Not Be Monetizable
Most people fail with affiliate marketing because they start with the wrong mindset. Often they build a YouTube channel around their passions. I don’t blame them because there’s a lot of terrible online advice from reputable people.
It sounds appealing to the ear, but your passion or expertise may not always be profitable. See, your passion may not be very common. Or, it may be something super popular, like an entertainment niche, but where you can’t find things to promote.
Note: You should select a crowded niche with endless products to sell. A niche with many products is a niche with many customers.
2) It’s a Business!
The second reason people fail is they don’t take affiliate marketing seriously. Often people spend months creating high-quality and informative videos. One day, they wake up and decide to switch gears.
So, they make a YouTube video promoting a product they enjoy, and what happens? Hundreds of people watch the video, and many of them leave angry comments or thumbs down. The worse part is they make no money.
When you only provide free content, you attract people just looking for something for free.
From day one, you should act as though your channel is a business. This means creating videos to sell something.
How To Get Started with YouTube Affiliate Marketing?
Now that you understand YouTube affiliate marketing, it’s time to get started! Follow these simple steps:
STEP 1) Choose a Niche With Many Products to Promote
STEP 2) List 10 Products You’d Like To Promote
STEP 3) Create Your YouTube Channel
STEP 4) Make Your First Video
STEP 5) Optimize Your Videos for Maximum Views
STEP 6) Keep Track And Optimize Your Strategies
STEP 7) Don’t Give Up!
Let’s take a closer look at each step so you can start today.
STEP 1) Choose a Niche With Many Products to Promote
You have many niches out there, but the best ones to make money include:
- Diet and fitness
- Make money online
- Parenting and families
- Pets
- Technology
Although these niches may seem saturated initially, you can find many products. This is why some products have fewer competitors. You can easily make videos about them and make some commissions.
Should You Promote Digital or Physical Products?
I enjoy promoting digital products, which include:
- Online courses
- PC software
- Ebooks
- Memberships
- Mobile apps, etc.
Often these products have higher commission rates, sometimes up to 70%, because they have no production, shipping, and storage expenses.
So, imagine if someone bought a product through your link costing $100 with a 60% commission rate, you’d earn $60.
The downside is digital products do not sell as well as physical ones. You can also promote physical items like:
- Desktops
- Refrigerators
- Clothing
- TV sets
- Tents
- Backpacks, and more.
Physical products have far lower commission rates, sometimes as low as 5%.
The upside is that people are more likely to buy physical goods than digital items. If you want to promote physical goods, I recommend finding expensive products so you can still earn decent commissions.
In most niches, you can sell digital and physical products. For example, you could promote an online video course on how to build six-pack abs in the fitness niche. And a cookbook with recipes to help people get leaner faster.
So, it’s really up to you and the type of channel you’d like to build.
STEP 2) List 10 Products You’d Like To Promote
Now that you know how to select a niche, it’s time to create a list of products you can promote.
You want to have at least ten products before creating your channel. This way, you can start promoting right away and not worry about running out of things to sell. So, where can you find products to promote as an affiliate?
1 – Search For Companies’ Affiliate Programs
Nearly every company has an affiliate or partnership program. Usually, you can find information about these programs on their website. If you know the brand you want to promote, go to their website and look for a tab that says “affiliate” or “partnership.”
If you aren’t certain which companies are in your niche, search for “niche+affiliate program” on Google. For example, “fitness affiliate program” or “parenting affiliate program.”
This will bring up a list of companies with affiliate programs.
2 – Join an Affiliate Network
An affiliate network is a platform that connects companies with affiliates. It’s free to join, and you can start promoting right away.
Some networks are better for specific niches. For example, ClickBank is great for digital products in nearly any niche, while Amazon Associates is perfect for physical goods.
Some of the most popular affiliate networks are:
Clickbank: Clickbank is a digital marketplace where thousands of affiliate marketers can find products to promote. It’s one of the most popular affiliate networks and has been around for over 20 years.
Clickbank is a great place to find products to promote because they have many products in many different niches.
ShareASale: is a leading affiliate marketing network connecting thousands of merchants with affiliates worldwide. It has been in business since 2000 and is headquartered in the Chicago, Illinois, area.
ShareASale offers a variety of affiliate programs, including digital goods, physical goods, and services.
JVzoo: is a digital marketplace that connects thousands of affiliate marketers with products to promote. It’s one of the most popular affiliate networks and has been around for over 20 years. (needs editing)
3 – Find Products on Amazon
If you want to promote physical goods but don’t want to join an affiliate network, you can find products on Amazon.
Just go to the Amazon website and search for products in your niche. Then, find the “Amazon Associates” link at the bottom of the page and sign up for an account.
Once you’re approved, you can start promoting products on Amazon.
STEP 3) Create Your YouTube Channel
Now that you have a list of products to promote, it’s time to create your YouTube channel.
Creating a channel is easy and only takes a few minutes. Just go to YouTube.com and click “Create a new channel.”
You’ll be asked to sign in with your Google account (if you don’t have one, you can create one for free).
Once you’re signed in, you’ll be asked to choose a name and category for your channel.
Pick a name that’s short, easy to remember, and represents the type of content you’ll be creating.
For example, if you create videos reviewing tents, backpacks, and other camping equipment, you could name your channel “Camping Gear Reviews.”
Once you’ve chosen a name, click “Create Channel.” You may design a nice channel banner using Canva.com for free. This tool has several pre-made templates that you can use.
You can search Fiverr for someone if you aren’t a brilliant designer. Designing a banner for your YouTube channel may cost $5 or a bit more.
So, make your YouTube look as professional as possible. Think about branding and first impressions. For instance, I like to keep my channel and blog looking minimalist.
I only use a few colors, about three to four, and I stick to them on Jordan Alexo’s channel and blog. You won’t notice a huge difference if you visit my channel and blog. In other words, you can easily see they belong to the same person.
At the same time, you want a unique look compared to your competitors. I recommend checking your competitors to see the design of their YouTube channels. This may help you separate yourself from the crowd.
STEP 4) Make Your First Video
Once you’ve designed your YouTube banner, it’s time to start creating videos! But first, look at the equipment and two video types you need to produce.
What Equipment Do You Need To Record Videos?
I don’t recommend going out and spending all your money on equipment. Sometimes, you already have what you need at home, for example, a mobile.
You can use your mobile to record videos. But this depends on the type of channel you have.
This works great if you’re planning on reviewing physical products. You can use your mobile to record a video of you opening the package and explaining the details of that product to your audience.
But if you intend to review software, memberships, ebooks, etc., you may need to buy some equipment. Videos that work well are the ones where you show your computer screen while talking about the product.
I suggest getting a Blue Snowball iCE USB Microphone for your PC. This mic is fairly cheap and provides high-quality sound. Never be inexpensive about your videos’ sound quality. It’s one of those things that makes your audience leave your video and write angry comments.
You may or not show yourself while recording your computer’s screen. Although showing your face always helps connect with your viewers. I used Logitech C920x HD Pro Webcam. I have been using this camera for more than five years with no problems.
You can even use this little webcam to make full-screen HD video. To record your videos, you can use a free software called Screenflow. Just search online, and you’ll easily find it. Once you have some money to invest, you may upgrade to Camtasia.
What Are The Two Types of Videos That Work?
There are two types of videos that work great for affiliate marketing. The first one is a review of the product you’re promoting.
1 – Videos Reviewing Products
As I mentioned, if you’re reviewing physical products, you can use your mobile to film yourself opening the package and talking about what’s inside. If you’re reviewing software or memberships, you’ll need to show your computer screen while discussing the product.
These videos are where you make your money. The idea is to help people by showing them how a product works and if it is worth the purchase.
2 – How-To Videos
The second type of video is a tutorial. You can create a tutorial on how to use the product you’re promoting or something related. For example, if you promote tents, you could create a tutorial on “How to Set Up a Tent in 5 Minutes.”
If you promote a bookkeeping tool, you could create a tutorial on “How to Do Your Bookkeeping in 30 Minutes.”
These types of videos help establish you as an expert in your niche. They also help build trust with your audience. When creating these videos, always keep your target audience in mind.
You want to make sure the videos you create are helpful and provide value. No one wants to watch a 20-minute video that could have been explained in two minutes.
Keep your videos short, sweet, and to the point. Also, don’t forget to include a call to action at the end of each video.
STEP 5) Optimize Your Videos for Maximum Views
You’ve created your first video, and it’s time to start uploading it to YouTube. But before you do that, there are a few things you need to do to make sure your video is optimized for maximum views.
The first thing you want to do is write an engaging title and description. This is what’s going to sell your video to potential viewers.
Your title should be around 60 characters, and your description should be at least 250 words. Now you optimize review and how-to videos differentially.
How To Optimize Video Reviews?
When writing the title for your review videos, you want to include the word “review” and the product’s name. Also, you should add the product name+review at the beginning of the title. This helps your video rank better on YouTube.
You also want to make sure your title is attention-grabbing. For example, if you were reviewing a tent, you could use a title like “REI Groundbreaker 2 Review – Is It The Best Budget Tent?”
Where Should You Include Your Affiliate Link?
Often your affiliate link looks extremely ugly. I suggest using a TinyURL website to make them look shorter and more enticing to the eye. Here’s where you should include your affiliate link to boost your conversion rate:
Video Description: Make sure to include right at the beginning of your description
Cards: Add a card linking to your affiliate offer at the video’s beginning, middle, and end. You can use this function while editing your video on YouTube.
First Comment: Once you publish your video, leave a comment telling people to click on your affiliate link. This will take them to a page with more information about the product. You can pin that comment so it won’t get buried underneath other comments.
Tell People: You should tell people to click on your affiliate link throughout your video.
How To Optimize Informational Videos?
When writing the title for informational videos, you want to use keywords people are searching for on YouTube.
For example, if you were creating a video about Jasper AI writing software, you could use a title like “How To Write High-Quality Blog Post With Jasper In 10 Minutes.”
I like to use numbers such as “5 Steps”, “10 Tips,” and “7 Hacks.” This immediately helps your titles pop up.
You should build how-to guides around your main affiliate offers. For example, I reviewed Jasper AI. But in addition to that review, I also made informational videos about this tool for my audience.
Informational videos will help you grow your audience and build trust with potential buyers. You should also use these videos to ask people to subscribe to your YouTube channel.
STEP 6) Keep Track And Optimize Your Strategies
You should keep track of your progress and adjust your strategy as needed. This means setting up some goals and metrics to track.
Some things you may want to track include:
- Number of views per video
- Number of subscribers
- Number of likes and dislikes
- Number of comments
- Click-through rate (CTR) on your YouTube affiliate links
- Revenue generated from affiliate sales
You go to your channel analytics to research this information. This gives you an idea of what’s working and what’s not. Based on this data, you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
You should also pay attention to your niche’s most successful affiliate marketers. See why their content works, their video titles, thumbnails, etc.
Of course, you don’t want to imitate them, but just get an idea of what’s working in your niche.
STEP 7) Don’t Give Up!
People quit way too soon! Often most people produce one or two videos and expect to make money overnight. However, that’s not how things work!
Your first videos probably won’t receive many views. Anyway, you must keep pushing. The key is to be consistent with your content. The more videos you produce, the better your chances of success.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money on YouTube. However, it’s not easy. You need to put in the work and be patient. But if you do, you can start making passive income from your YouTube channel.
Last Thoughts
Affiliate marketing through YouTube videos can be a great way to make money, but it takes time and effort to see results.
By creating informative videos about your affiliate products and using the tips in this guide, you can start generating revenue from your YouTube channel.
Keep track of your progress and adjust your strategy to maximize your success.
Don’t give up on affiliate marketing through YouTube videos; you can see great results with hard work and patience!
If you found this guide helpful, please share it with your followers on social media! Thanks for reading, and good luck with your affiliate marketing journey.
Do you have any tips for YouTube affiliate marketing? Let us know in the comments below! Thanks for reading!
Ultimate Guide To YouTube Affiliate Marketing – FAQ
Let’s take a closer look at some frequently asked questions about YouTube affiliate marketing.
1 – Where Can You Learn More About YouTube Affiliate Marketing?
I enjoy watching videos to learn more about affiliate marketing. My preferred channels are:
- Jordan Alexo: Of course, I should mention my channel.
- Adam Enfroy: Fantastic and brutally honest content.
- Income School: Entertaining and educational information
2 – Do You Need Affiliate Marketing Training To Be Successful?
I have taken several courses about self-publishing and, lately, affiliate marketing. I admit that the information found in them changed my financial life. So, I’m a big supporter of investing in high-quality online courses.
If you want premium content, you won’t find it freely available. I’m not saying there’s not good information out there! However, the secret sauce that will skyrocket your business will be found in online courses.
Not all online courses are good, so be careful! Often I spend a week or two researching someone before I purchase their course. You can also find inexpensive online courses on Udemy.
3 – How Do You Track Your Affiliate Sales?
Each affiliate marketing program has its dashboard. Clickbank, JVzoo has one, as well as individual brands. You can log in to these dashboards and see important data, such as:
- Number of clicks
- Number of sales
- Sales amount
- Your commission
