Want to make money with zero effort? Join an affiliate program and get a unique link to share with your audience. Whether it's a blog post, YouTube video or something else, all you have to do is include the affiliate link and if someone takes action and buys the product, you'll get a commission!
Let's say: When a user comes to your website and clicks on the link, they will be redirected to the product website. When they decide to buy the product, you get a commission just for directing them there!
# What is affiliate marketing?
In affiliate marketing (opens new window), you promote another company’s products or services (the company is referred to as the “merchant”). You earn a commission each time a purchase is made using your affiliate links.
The affiliate program or tool is the website or service that allows the affiliate and merchant to collaborate. The merchant provides the products, while the affiliate marketer can use the platform to choose links, see stats, and track their success.
What is an affiliate program? Let’s talk about affiliate marketing and see what you can learn from it. There are two basic types of affiliates that can be utilized in affiliate marketing, affiliate sellers and affiliate buyers. An affiliate seller is someone who creates the product or service you are promoting. The affiliate website you are signed up to provides you with a link to the product. There is an affiliate program on the product that you participate in, so you receive a share of the revenue the seller receives from selling the product or service.
# What is SaaS?
Software as a Service (opens new window), also known as SaaS, is a cloud-based service where instead of downloading software your desktop PC or business network to run and update, you instead access an application via an internet browser. The software application could be anything from office software to unified communications among a wide range of other business apps that are available. The major disadvantage is that they ordinarily require an internet connection to function, but the increasing wide availability of broadband deals and high-speed phone networks such as 5G makes this less of an issue.
In a nutshell: SaaS means that you can subscribe to software products for a monthly or yearly fee. What about accounting software for example?
# What are SaaS affiliate programs?
Similar to the typical affiliate program, SaaS affiliate programs are platform-specific and focus on promoting particular business applications to generate revenue. Most popular, with descriptions and links to a review or demo (e.g. YouTube Video) of a SaaS application that offers affiliate marketing services.
# How to get started with a SaaS affiliate program?
Becoming an affiliate with an SaaS provider is relatively straightforward. In fact, many reputable SaaS platforms offer a wide range of features, such as the ability to choose specific referral links, easy tracking of sales, discount coupons, and more. Some SaaS companies also provide you with a simple setup process that allows you to complete some basic tasks. Once you have entered your information, you’re ready to start promoting the service. Choosing a SaaS provider to promote If you’re just starting out, you may want to choose an affiliate program that supports multiple SaaS products. If your target audience is SaaS users, you may want to choose a platform that specializes in one specific type of product, such as CRM, marketing automation, or ecommerce software.
# Best SaaS Affliate Programs
# 1. Sleekplan
Sleekplan helps customers understand what's needed in a product from user feedback and features voting to idea management. We aim to be the one stop place for all your customer feedback requirements, not just another feature voting tool.
# 2. WP Engine
WP Engine (opens new window) is a top WordPress hosting company in the world. Their prices are a little higher than you would see with their budget competitors, but they offer you faster speeds and better security. Best of all, WP Engine affiliates get to earn $200 or 100% of their referrals' first month of hosting!
# 3. Shopify
Shopify (opens new window) is an eCommerce platform that helps entrepreneurs start their own online stores. These stores can sell a variety of products and services. Shopify provides these entrepreneurs with:
- A large selection of templates for their store.
- A complete e-commerce platform that features everything they need from a payment system to fulfillment and shipping options
- A point-of-sales system for brick and mortar shops to sell online
- An inventory management system
- Services that include analytics, web design, marketing strategies, etc.,
While Shopify doesn't go into details about their affiliate sign-up page, they do mention that affiliates earn an average of $58 per referral. The affiliate earns 2x the monthly cost of the plan your referral chooses, and it gets paid ($120) when your referral pays for their monthly plan 2 months after you signed up as an affiliate
# 4. InstaPage
Instapage (opens new window) is a landing page builder with a focus on conversions that allows you to personalize your landing pages and choose from various templates, provide experiments, sync your ads and collaborate with your team.
Instapage is a good tool but due to its high price-tag its not really for beginners.
Instapage offers 5 different pricing options, including a plan starting at $399 per month. The most advanced plan starts at over $2,000 per month, with an average cost of $1,275.
# 5. SEMRush
SEMRush (opens new window) is a mythic search engine tool and content planner all-in-one. It’s one of the most popular tools for keyword research.
We offer 3 plans, priced from $120 per month to $450. We also offer a free trial of 7 days.
The SEMRush affiliate program is unlike most others, you are paid for trials and not just for sales - and for each trial that leads to a sale.
# Conclusion
Affiliate programs are a great way to leverage affiliate marketing to get your company name out there. Take the time to research affiliate marketing programs, compare them, and find the best affiliate marketing network for you.