Top Niche Industries to Form Affiliate Partnerships With in 2022
What is an affiliate partnership?
By definition, a partnership is a formal arrangement by two or more parties to manage and operate a business and share its profits.
And I think those last three words are key, especially when it comes to affiliate partnerships. You share its profits.
Essentially, you agree to promote a big brand's (or merchant's) product or service and in exchange, they pay you a commission of each sale that you refer. That is an affiliate partnership.
So as an affiliate, you have all of the benefits of an entrepreneur or business owner, except that you don't have to deal with the behind-the-scenes operations such as customer service, shipping, or inventory management. It's truly a logistically genius idea.
How to Become An Affiliate Partner
In order to be in a position to form affiliate relationships with these merchants that you want to refer products for, you'll need to make sure that you have a couple core qualities.
You, the affiliate, will want to have the following:
1. A content plan.
This doesn't mean you have to have boatloads of content already created, and be a content-creating machine, but it DOES mean that you have to be well on your way. This should be a goal of yours, if you want to form affiliate partnership that are worth a hoot.
2. An engaged audience.
And I'm not saying a huge Beyonce-sized following. I'm saying an ENGAGED audience. You post prompting questions, and they respond. You are actively creating relationships with the people that will (hopefully) eventually work with you.
3. A brand.
No, this doesn't mean a fancy, top-of-the-line website or expensive brand package that you had to take out a loan for. I'm talking about your branding in a sense that you want to have goals and opinions. You talk about your values, and what you stand for. You are clear on what makes you different from people who are competing with you to promote the same types of offers.
You will want to look for the following attributes of a merchant partner:
1. A product or service that you love.
You either have had success using this yourself or your clients have had success with it. Affiliate partnerships are built on relationships, not simply posting products willy nilly so that you can see what one sticks, even though it has nothing to do with your core content.
2. Worthwhile payouts.
You'll want to check out stats on your potential partner, such as their AOV (average order value), Commission (amount of money they pay you for every sale), Cookie duration (how long you have to refer a sale), and potentially even their rating (check out Knoji.com to look at affiliate program listings and how they are rated by affiliates)
3. An active affiliate manager.
Whether it's the business owner himself that is actively managing their program, or if they have hired one, you'll need to have someone to contact with any questions. Especially if you are new to the affiliate game, because you will likely have questions. Programs that are not managed properly or even neglected aren't going to be worthwhile affiliate relationships for you.
Here's how you'll join your future affiliate marketing programs:
1. Fill out an application.
This can be on an affiliate network (ShareASale, ClickBank, CJ.com, Impact.com, and many others), on the merchants website, or if they are a startup, it could be a simple phone call with them.
2. Get your affiliate link.
The larger programs will likely have a dashboard that you can log in to and grab your unique tracking link. If it's a startup, it might be more of a manual process, such as a text field when your referred customers input your name as they checkout.
3. Promote your affiliate product or service.
You'll want to utilize both social media, and the platforms where your content is hosted. Stick to what you know here, and don't try to do all the things. Provide quality information on the affiliate products you are referring, letting your audience know how this can help them and make their lives easier.
what is an affiliate marketing niche?
Now that we have the basics down for how you'll go about getting accepted into affiliate marketing programs, and start making passive income, let's dive a little deeper into the tactics on how to be successful with affiliate marketing.
A niche is a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service. So when we are thinking of different categories, the niches are the really granular, specific subcategories that you'll want to target.
Think of Amazon's website--or any e-commerce website that sells a variety of items--we've all been there, right? They probably have almost 50 categories listed on their homepage. When you click a specific category, say "Health & Household" for example, you are then given another set of sub-categories. I can continue to click on their subcategories until I'm taken down a rabbit hole of super specific items for a super specific type of person.
Health & Household >> Household cleaning >> Bathroom cleaners >> Household soap scum removers
Voila!
And then I'm given a list of products. This is a niche product.
So why have a niche?
A niche speaks to an individual's specific problem. Yes, I need to buy a household cleaner off Amazon, but I don't have a problem with my windows needing cleaned, dusting my old wooden hutch, carpet cleaner, dish soap, or any thing BUT removing soap scum from my bathroom. So just get me straight to the soap scum remover, and I'm more likely to buy.
Refer back to this analogy as you move forward with choosing your affiliate marketing niche. What specific problems does your audience have? Don't think high-level here, think deep.
How to Choose An Affiliate Marketing Niche
Now we know what to look for, and so I want you to know that there are so many tools and resources out there that you will want to lean on.
SEO Tools for Keyword Research
SEO is so important as it relates to affiliate marketing. Even if you aren't incorporating SEO into your content, you'll at least want to have a general understanding of the importance of SEO as you choose your affiliate marketing niche. There are a ton of free and paid tools out there that make this a heck of a lot easier. I suggest using Yoast, Keywords Everywhere, Ubersuggest, and
AnswerThePublic.com to niche down your affiliate categories.
Using Amazon's Book List
Another free way to find out what problems you can solve for people is to use Amazon's original core business: books. Go to
Amazon.com, select "Books" from the drop down, and search your niche. For example, when I search "health" , I am seeing lots of books on holistic wellness, nutrition, natural medicine, and many other sub-categories. I can then click through and see where each of those books fall on the "Best Sellers Rank" as well as what keywords they are using. Obviously the higher the best sellers ranking number, the less popular the book is. This is truly an untapped area for keyword research because utilizing books for personal development is very much alive.
Using Google, Pinterest and YouTube.
All three of these are search engines. Yes, they can sometimes double as social platforms, and other things, but people use these sites to find solutions to their problems. So you will want to find out what problems people are wanting solved. This is an example of reverse engineering.
Simply go to Google, Pinterest or YouTube, and start to type in keywords from your proposed affiliate product or service. Before you click "enter" you will notice that words start to populate for you. These are examples of top results that people are searching for. Google will also give you additional resources at the bottom of your search page, showing you what other similar questions people are asking.
Which affiliate marketing niches work?
What niches do and do not work largely depends on matching up an appropriate niche with your specific audience. Which is why we need to avoid following the advice of in-your-face affiliate marketers who promise unachievable results because their "strategy" consists of posting random, spammy-looking links haphazardly all over your social media platforms. You are better off having a solid strategy and putting in the up-front work to make lasting affiliate relationships and a stable affiliate income. Posting your affiliate links on instagram, Facebook or TikTok, and relying solely on the platform for your content, and then getting shutdown because you are being perceived as spammy sounds downright depressing.
Most Profitable Niches for Affiliate Marketing in 2022
Affiliate marketing competition is gaining, so making sure that you find a profitable niche is more important than ever. And remember, don't go apply to a random affiliate program and start promoting a product or service that is entirely unrelated to what your audience wants and will purchase. I've diversified the niche categories for you, so this will be a great starting place for you to drill down even further. Enjoy!
Let's dive into this year's most profitable niches, based upon my research and experience.
1. Single Parenting
Including motherhood, fatherhood, resources, and tips on how to raise children with one parent. The pandemic is making it even harder to raise children without the help of a significant other, so people are looking for support.
2. Retirement
This also includes budget and money management for young people wanting to alter their life plan financially. Baby boomers are wanting to retire ASAP; Gen X are trying to figure out how to retire earlier than expected; Gen Y are changing their careers to fit the needs of early retirement; and Gen Z are seeking to take unconventional jobs in order to be able to retire early. It's a hot topic. The pandemic has done a number on the mindset around working, increasing the desire to retire.
3. Beauty & Personal Care
Including grooming & style, aging, skin ailments and herbal remedies. We all want to look good and prioritize self-care while working from home.
4. Home Schooling
Including how homeschooling works, home schooling expenses, effects on socialization, lesson planning for educators, and sub-categories such as science & tech, math, and reading & writing.
5. Budget Cooking
Tips, ideas, and recipes to cook on a budget. Groceries are at an all-time high, with no sight of prices decreasing, and people are downright worried. They want to be able to feed their family for less money.
6. Home Improvement
including home design & construction, interior design, DIY (do-it-yourself) home improvement and projects that working people or stay-at-home parents can do while they are at home all day.
7. Relationships
Family health, communication, social skills, marriage, conflict management, love & romance are all going to be popular categories this year. Not only are marriages suffering because of the pandemic, but people who are single are looking for love now, more than ever.
I hope that these categories give you a little jump-start, and spark some creative ideas on where you can incorporate Affiliate Marketing into your business model, earning you a nice little paycheck every single month.
If you have any other ideas on niche affiliate markets that have worked well for you, or ones that you'd like to experiment with, drop me a line. I'd love to hear your thoughts and predictions as well.
>> If you have any additional affiliate marketing topics you'd like me to cover, post a comment and I'll add it to my queue!
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