Blogging popularized affiliate marketing. Historically, companies needed to create their own ads and pay for views.
The rise of the internet and blogging changed this. Not only could the average person generate creative for a product in their blogs, but they also had built-in traffic of readers. Companies could now pay bloggers for both the creation and distribution of an ad. Meanwhile, regular people got paid to write about whatever they wanted on the internet.
You can still do this in 2025. But maybe the thought of writing and doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to drive traffic to your own website doesn't sound appealing. Fortunately, there are other ways to make money from affiliate marketing without using a traditional blog.
How Affiliate Marketing Works
Maybe you've never heard of affiliate marketing. Let's first go over the mechanics of how you make money with it.
First, a company creates an offer. This involves offering a commission for either a view or sale on their site. Most companies pay for a sale (attribution) rather than paying for a view (pay-per-click). This means that if someone clicks on your affiliate link, the company will only pay you IF the customer actually makes a purchase. There are several attribution methods that you might come across:
- Last touch attribution: Payout goes to the most recent affiliate interaction.
- First touch attribution: Payout goes to the first affiliate a customer interacted with.
- Multi-touch attribution: Payout is split evenly between affiliates in a customer journey.
- Weighted attribution: Similar to multi-touch, but different interactions are weighted differently.
Once a company offers you a deal, they give you a link or code that helps them identify when to attribute a sale to you. Your job is to promote this offer to people. When someone purchases the product after seeing your content, you get a small commission on that sale (there's some nuance here that we’ll get into in the Bonus section).
Example: Emily is a social media influencer who creates videos about fitness and wellness. She partners with a supplement company that offers a 20% commission per sale. In her videos, Emily highlights her favorite protein powder and includes a discount code in her bio. When her audience clicks the link and purchases the product, Emily earns a commission while the company gains a new customer.
As an Affiliate Marketer, your role is to generate awareness about an offer, then get people to use your offer so that you can earn the commission on their sale.
1: Determine Where to Build a Community
We now understand how affiliate marketing works, but you don’t want to start a blog. Before marketing an affiliate offer, you must first decide where you will promote it.
I titled this section "Build a Community" because having a loyal audience is often more effective, but there are ways to generate traffic without a community.
Communities
A community is a group of people who interact with each other around a shared interest. You want to build a community where you can talk about something you enjoy, and that community enjoys engaging with that topic.
Here are some platforms where you can grow a community:
- Social Media (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter/X, etc.)
- Pinterest Boards
- Facebook Groups
- Subreddits
Not Communities
If you don’t want to build a community, you can promote your offers in other ways:
- Paid ads
- Pinterest SEO
- Social Media Virality (one-off viral content instead of community building)
You might notice that some of these overlap with the community section! That’s because some people leverage social media for building a dedicated audience, while others focus on getting lots of views without necessarily creating repeat viewers or followers.
2: Grow Your Audience
Once you have determined where to post your affiliate links, you need to start growing. This is not a guide on how to go viral on social media, so make sure to check out resources on how to gain followers and increase engagement on your chosen platform.
3: How to Find Affiliate Programs
There are two main ways to become an affiliate:
1. Work 1:1 with a Company
This involves reaching out to companies directly and negotiating an affiliate deal. If you have a large audience, companies may even reach out to you.
2. Join an Affiliate Platform
For beginners, using an affiliate platform is the easiest way to get started. These platforms connect affiliates with brands, allowing you to browse offers and apply for programs with minimal effort.
Popular Affiliate Platforms:
Once you are on one of these platforms, look for products that you already use and believe in!
4: Generate Affiliate Links
This step is straightforward, especially if you’re using an affiliate platform. You will be given a special tracking link to use in your promotions to ensure that sales are correctly attributed to you.
You can also use services like Bitly or Epicenter to shorten your links and track their performance.
5: Embed Affiliate Links into Your Content
Once you have your affiliate links, you need to strategically integrate them into your content. Here are a few effective ways to do this:
- Video Descriptions: If you create content on TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram, always include your link in the video description or bio.
- Captions & Call-to-Actions: Encourage viewers to check out the link in your bio or pinned comment.
- Pinned Comments: On platforms like YouTube or Instagram, pin a comment with your affiliate link for visibility.
- Story Highlights & Link Stickers: Instagram allows you to add affiliate links to stories and save them as highlights.
Bonus: Tools to Improve Your Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing isn't always easy. Social media platforms do everything they can to keep users engaged on their platform, making it difficult to get users to click on your links. Many people will exit the app and Google the product instead, which means you lose the commission for that sale.
Here are a couple of tools to help you overcome this:
Link-in-Bio Tools
If you have an audience, one of the best ways to keep your affiliate links accessible is to use a link-in-bio tool like Linktree, Beacons, or Stan. This allows you to display multiple affiliate links in one place so your followers can always find them.
WinWin Browser Extension
Another great tool is the WinWin browser extension. When your audience installs it, they can automatically see your affiliate links while shopping online—even if it’s months after they saw your content. This helps creators reclaim revenue lost to social media platforms by ensuring followers can always access their deals.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is no longer just for bloggers. Whether you're a social media influencer, Pinterest marketer, or someone who runs paid ads, you can leverage affiliate programs to generate revenue. The key is choosing the right platform, growing your audience, and using smart tools to maximize your commissions.
So what are you waiting for? Start building your affiliate income today!
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