8 Best Ways to Promote Affiliate Links + 10 Places to Post Links for Free

According to DemandSage, affiliate marketing drives 16% of e-commerce sales in Canada and the United States. It’s a popular approach among many influencers, webmasters, and blog owners as an opportunity to make a passive income, allowing them to monetize existing content.

However, simply joining an affiliate program isn’t enough to start earning money. You need a strategic and well-structured approach for success. Let’s find out how to promote affiliate links and where to promote affiliate links to get effective results.

How to Promote Affiliate Links

People don’t just run around clicking links. They must be prompted with creative and attractive content to buy something through your promotions. But how to post affiliate links and make sure they’re noticed?

Here’s what you could try out:

• In-depth blogs that cover topics related to your affiliated products and services. If you have a blog about iGaming, you could easily integrate a link to a casino and users would click on it and maybe even sign up, completing the required action.
• Video content on YouTube or Twitch with detailed reviews and integrations. If you stream video games, you could occasionally show your gaming setup and prompt users to buy the same.
• Social media posts reviewing or integrating products. Ben Sweeny, an Instagram influencer who shares corporate stories, often integrates ads to corporate products in his posts. This allows him to earn a commission from sales because his integrations are already aimed at potentially interested users with an increased chance of conversion.

There are hundreds of ways to promote affiliate links and your creativity is the only limit.

Where to Promote Affiliate Links

While content is key to promoting any offer and service, it may be difficult to understand how and where to post affiliate marketing links to earn money. We gathered the most popular placement options based on the experience of many marketers.

1. Website

If you have a website that drives organic views, it’s basically a potential gold mine. 77% of Internet users read blogs. They are your potential income. But how do you monetize them? You’ll have to write many posts with useful information.

For example, you could write an article on the topic “how to create a site for free” with a detailed guide. It should include profound descriptions of all the steps, showing users all possible options to achieve their goals. You can integrate referral links to website builder tools, prompting users to click and sign up.

Here are some types of materials to use in your strategy:

• Reviews;
• Comparisons;
• “Alternative to” articles;
• “How to” guides;
• “10 best” guides.

Even high-authority websites like Forbes Advisor use similar strategies to earn a commission. Remember that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires you to inform users about paid endorsements. The same goes for many other organizations. Even Google requires a disclosure policy.

Many marketers use cloaking to hide their affiliate IDs from users – this isn’t a good practice. Some use it to make long links look more user-friendly and appealing to visitors, and this option is acceptable as long as you disclose promotions. We recently covered link cloaking plugins for WordPress. It’s a must-have for your web page.

2. Email

If you have a personal blog, you probably ask users to subscribe to your mailing list to keep them updated about new articles. Most marketers have ready-made email lists with potential customers. You can use various databases for email marketing to get your first leads.

As soon as you get a list of subscribers, you should create a series of emails promoting relevant products or services. Make sure that your promotions are related to your audience’s interests. Otherwise, it could backfire and lead to no results.

For instance, many e-Commerce businesses send their customers product listings with discounts and special offers. Clicking any image leads users to the product page and ensures they can buy the item in a matter of clicks.

However, that’s not the only way to make a profit. Some marketers send out high-quality educational or informative emails with organically integrated promotions. This approach is less salesy and keeps users interested, significantly reducing unsubscribe rates.

3. Social Media

Users spend around 2 hours and 23 minutes daily on Instagram, Facebook, and other sites, making them a perfect option to engage your audience. Have you ever seen a bunch of reels on Instagram from different accounts promoting identical beautiful products in an aesthetic setting? That was affiliate marketing.

Here’s an example of three different accounts promoting the same product:

• Option #1.
• Option #2.
• Option #3.

This specific painting was popular among influencers in 2023. They created visually appealing recordings and created a sense of urgency, prompting users to buy it quickly. Most called it an “Amazon find”. The LED painting was intensively promoted by affiliate marketers and attracted many customers.

The most popular resources include:

• Instagram;
• Facebook;
• Twitter;
• TikTok;
• Pinterest.

Each resource has its specifics and requirements, so make sure your promotions don’t violate their policies. And don’t forget to disclose paid advertising.

4. Video Content

88% of marketers consider videos an important part of their strategy. It’s a great tool to increase engagement, share more information with your subscribers, and sell more goods. Things get even better when you discover the possibility of repurposing your old blog content.

Here are some ideas for your channel:

• “How to” guides;
• Product usage guides;
• Unboxing;
• Reviews.

You shouldn’t necessarily focus on the promotional part. Even a single 10-second mention during your stream with a link in the description can prompt users to complete an action. 

5. Forums

76% of users participate in online communities. Quora and Reddit are the largest in the field with many topics and subtopics where you can engage with potential leads. They are also well-indexed by search engines because they help people find relevant information.

The challenge with forums is their strict rules against affiliate promotions. For instance, Quora can ban your account for publishing them. Answers must contain only relevant promos without an affiliate ID.

Marketers found a way to outsmart these regulations:

1. Create a website on Google Sites or any other tool.
2. Index it on Google Analytics.
3. Find a relevant question.
4. Write a blog post with a detailed answer and integrate your promo.
5. Write an answer on the forum and mention users can get detailed info on the web page.

Considering Google has a good domain authority, using Google Sites won’t be considered spam. However, it’s also necessary to avoid mentioning the resource in every answer to prevent getting detected by the anti-spam algorithms. You can do it once every five answers to be safe.

6. Podcast or Webinar

Global podcast listeners are expected to reach 504.9 million by the end of 2024. This is a huge audience that’s easy to convert if you advertise relevant offers. The usual approach for podcasts and webinars is to include links in chats and side notes with an additional prompt during your speech.

For instance, Pat Flynn uses an affiliate link to his guest’s book Launch on Amazon.

Even if users click on it during the podcast and close the page, the cookies will remain in their browser and the link will be active for a while. So late buyers will also bring you a commission.

7. Online Course

Adding affiliate links to online courses is a way to provide users with additional value while making an income. You can mention tools and services related to the course material. This also increases the chance of conversion as your students are already at the bottom of the sales funnel.

For instance, if you have a blog about accounting, you can create a free online bookkeeping course. You will mention various software and tools across the course. That’s where your promos would work best.

Here are some important takeaways:

• Don’t overload users with info: an abundance of options reduces clicks;
• Be transparent about your promotions: you must comply with the industry’s policies.

And, of course, use only relevant ads. That’s the only way they work and increase conversions.

8. Paid Advertising

Paid advertising is a great way to target specific audiences and maintain full control over your links. You’ll be able to reach out to users most interested in your offers. However, you’ll have to spend money.

Google Ads is the best tool for this approach. You’ll be able to create promotions that appear in search results and across other sites, allowing you to gain maximum visibility. This also includes running retargeting campaigns on users who showed a primary interest in your offers by visiting your web page. Using Meta for business will allow you to do the same on Instagram and Facebook, covering various channels. 

Not all programs allow you to run paid campaigns or use branded images for them. Remember to always check your partner’s policies before promoting anything.

How to Promote Affiliate Links Without a Website

As we previously noted, there are various places to share your affiliate programs online. Most don’t require a web page to start earning money on affiliate marketing. However, promoting affiliate programs isn’t limited to the online world.

If you work with local goods within a physical location, you can hand out flyers or use posters with an affiliate QR code. You can create one with Adobe’s free QR code generator. It could also include a certain promo code that would let businesses know these customers came from you.

Here’s a template of a flyer with a QR code that can include an affiliate ID.

Where To Promote Affiliate Links For Free: 10 Best Places

35.5% of affiliate marketers use Instagram, Facebook, and other similar sites as a primary traffic source to promote links. The reasons are simple: it’s a source of creativity. We’ve gathered the best places to promote affiliate links for free.

1. Youtube

This site has over 2.70 billion active users in 2024. That’s almost a quarter of the world’s population, making it the perfect resource to make a living. There are two ways to use this service for your promotions:

• As a creator: you can mention products in videos and publish affiliate promos in descriptions;
• As a user: you can share them in the comment section.

If you want to use the comment section, ensure your comments bring value to users and share important information along with the promo. That’s important to avoid irritating users and prevent being flagged as spam.

2. Instagram

Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users as of January 2024. This platform focuses on engaging visuals and that’s the main approach most marketers use. Here are some ideas:

• Using your own account: publish photos and recordings with the promoted products;
• Partnering with an influencer: paying influencers to share your promotions.

You’ll need a tool like LinkTree to share promos in your bio and keep them all on one screen for your users.

3. Facebook

Facebook has 3,049 million monthly active users and is the largest resource to push your offers. The platform mostly focuses on long-form texts, so it’s a good choice to publish detailed reviews. There are communities for all niches, so you can create a Facebook Group or add offers in the comments section under relevant topics. 

4. Tiktok

TikTok boasts over 1,562 million users and the number is constantly growing. It’s popular for its focus on high-quality videos covering all kinds of topics. You can add a link to your profile after upgrading to a business account with 1,000+ followers. 

As you’re only limited to a single link, you should use LinkTree or your own web page with all promotions.

5. Pinterest

Pinterest has 482 million users and it’s well-known for being an endless feed of inspiration. Some pins keep on generating traffic for many years, so consistent updates aren’t that important here. You can place links directly in the pin’s URL field or description. However, avoid using cloaking as it violates Pinterest’s community guidelines. Users must understand where they’ll be taken.

6. Reddit

Reddit has over 73.1 million active daily users and is one of the largest forums on the Internet. You can find niche-specific subreddits to promote products to potentially interested users. Don’t forget that each subreddit has its own community guidelines and some might not welcome promotions of any kind.

A rule of thumb for all forums is to provide users with maximum value. Only valuable comments get attention and aren’t marked as spam. If you manage to help someone out, they will be eager to purchase a promoted product or service.

7. Medium

Medium boasts 100 million active daily users and is the perfect alternative to making a web page. It allows users to create open-source blogs and publish their materials for free, building authority and recognition. The rules are standard for all blogs: disclose your promotions and you’ll be fine.

8. Twitter

Twitter, also known as X, has over 619 million monthly users. It’s popular for all sorts of discussions, including single posts and lengthy threads with detailed reviews. You can add affiliate links to any threads and it won’t violate Twitter’s policies. But the golden rule is still there: no spam!

9. Dribbble

Dribble has conquered the hearts of 6 million active users and it’s easily integrated into Twitter (X) tweets. You can attract users here with good-looking visuals. Although you can’t post affiliate links in posts, there’s still a possibility to insert a link in the profile section leading to your web page with all promotions.

10. LinkedIn

LinkedIn has over 1 billion members and it’s the perfect place to find professionals of all industries. You can publish text and visuals, sharing all kinds of products and services. The most popular approach is using social selling to advertise industry-related services and tools for professionals.

Most Popular Social Media in 2024

According to Statista

How To Track Affiliate Links

Tracking the effectiveness of your campaigns is vital to understanding their results. Some of the most popular tracking tools include:

• Google Tag Manager for measuring website visits and visitor behavior;
• Google Analytics to analyze your site’s views and monitor tags;
• LinkTrack and Peerclick for simple monitoring and reporting.

Don’t forget to use unique ones for each offer and add tracking codes with your ID to keep the data clear and understandable.

Here’s a detailed guide on tracking affiliate links using Google Analytics 4:

Summary

We covered the best ways to promote affiliate links across multiple resources. You can easily reach out to millions of people and advertise your offers. But there are some things to remember: disclose promotions, provide value, and avoid spamming. Then your efforts will be successful.

FAQ

Ratmir Turchaninov

7+ years in the copywriting area. Expertize in EdTech, education, and sports. I also understand the IT industry. My experience includes creating blog posts, social media publications, landing pages, emails, and proofreading. Additionally, I've managed a small team at A2ZFile and provided recommendations for designers in other projects. I can work individually or be a team player – both options are possible.

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