Are you interested in making money with your content and community while you’re asleep or on vacation? Of course, you are! Today’s article delivers 13 profitable affiliate marketing niches that you can leverage to increase passive income for your blog.
Like I always say, marketing and content creation takes hard work. Though you can make money while you’re asleep with affiliate marketing, you’re going to have to put in some sweat on the front end and the back end.
Are you going to be among the 10 percent of affiliate marketers that produce 90 percent of affiliate sales (according to AM Navigator)? That’s my goal and I know that you do it too.
Disclaimer: InspireFirst can not guarantee your success with the affiliate programs that are cited in this article. We also have no control over any changes with the cited affiliate programs.
Affiliate marketing definition
Let’s start by defining a couple terms. Affiliate marketing is an online advertising model where a company pays a commission to third-party publishers (affiliates) that generate traffic, leads and/or sales for the company’s products and services. It’s a win-win!
Here is an example:
My favorite keyword research tool, SEMrush, offers its affiliates a commission for successfully promoting it to potential customers. Affiliates are provided banner ads, an affiliate link generator and other tools for promoting SEMrush.
An affiliate marketing niche is simply an industry category for different kinds of affiliate marketing programs.
The WHY for affiliate marketing
You might be wondering, “Why is affiliate marketing important for my business?” Affiliate marketing is important because it can dramatically increase your bottom line because of its scalability. Also, it’s not always feasible to build your own products and services when you’re just starting out. Affiliate marketing allows you to focus on creating content and building a strong community to recommend products and services to.
81 percent of marketers and 84 percent of publishers (some of you fit both categories) leverage the revenue generating power of affiliate marketing (according to Web Market Support).
You, the affiliate, aren’t the only one to benefit…the merchants are doing quite well too. Affiliate programs generate 15 to 30 percent of all sales for advertisers according to Authority Hacker.
What are the profitable affiliate marketing niches?
There are thousands of companies, brands and retailers that use affiliate marketing programs to increase their brand awareness and sales revenue. I’m helping you see how the programs are organized into buckets or niches. No matter if you’re a food, fashion or fitness blogger, there are affiliate marketing programs that would be great for you and your business.
The affiliate marketing niches that I’m covering in this article are:
- Health and Wellness
- Fitness
- Beauty
- Fashion
- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
- Technology / Gadget / Electronics
- Books
- DIY / Hobbies / Crafts
- Home Improvement
- Pets
- Outdoor Gear
- Christian Faith
- Investment / Money Management / Financial
How do you pick an affiliate marketing niche?
With so many affiliate marketing niche choices out there, you might be wondering which one to go with. You have to know your business goals and target market/reader in order to make this decision as easy as possible.
It’s nice to make money with affiliate marketing, but money shouldn’t be your motivation. You should pick a niche that you’re passionate about. Pick a niche that you know about so that you can be inspired to write and publish content consistently.
So to effectively pick a program within an affiliate marketing niche, you must:
- Know your passion
- Consider your business goals
- Launch and consistently publish a blog on a topic that attracts a specific reader
- Conduct general market research
- Research all of the niches that connects with your passion and goals
If you do these five steps, you’ll pick a niche that’s perfect for you and your blog. In some cases, a blog’s content will fit with multiple affiliate marketing niches.
Power Tip: Crush It within Your Affiliate Marketing Niche with Keyword Research
Don’t go into blogging blindly. In-depth keyword research is necessary in order to produce quality content for your chosen niche.
Consider your strategy when doing keyword research. Are you seeking low competition keywords or are you in a position to go after more competitive keywords because of your website’s high Domain Authority? Either way, you’ll need to be diligent with your keyword research so that you can attract traffic to your blog posts with affiliate marketing offers and links within them.
Here’s an example:
If you’re a health and wellness blogger and joined the Puritan’s Pride affiliate program as one of your go-to health and wellness affiliate marketing programs, you’d might consider the following keywords for your blog:
Low-competition keyword: nutritional supplement manufacturers (SEMrush Keyword Difficulty: 53.2%)
High-competition keyword: puritan’s pride review (SEMrush Keyword Difficulty: 87.6%)
Watch our SEMrush keyword research tutorial video to learn more about keyword research, the keyword difficulty score and much more:
Now let’s get to what you’ve been waiting for! Here are the 13 affiliate marketing niches that will forever change how you will make money online.
Health and Wellness Affiliate Programs
The best health and wellness blogs are created by experienced medical professionals and people with extensive knowledge in health and wellness. They cover physical and mental well-being from a variety of angles — from Alzheimer’s to Zika.
Health and wellness affiliate marketing programs must be chosen with wisdom, after deep research. You’re recommending products and services that are supposed to help people feel better, so due diligence is crucial. Don’t come off like a snake oil salesman through you content and recommendations.
Some sub-niches to consider within health and wellness are:
- Joint pain
- Diet and weight loss
- Hair loss
- Nootropics
- Male enhancement (increasing testosterone)
- Diabetic recipes
- Quitting smoking
- Stress relief
- Insomnia
- Food allergy
- Healthy gut
- Acne
- Cellulite removal
- Tinnitus (ringing in ears)
The Puritan’s Pride affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the health and wellness affiliate marketing niche. More info below:
Puritan’s Pride Affiliate Program
Commission: 5-7%
Cookie (how long you’ll get credit for a referral sale after a visitor uses your link): 21-day
Fitness Affiliate Programs
The fitness affiliate marketing niche has been on fire for a while. Fitness blogs are great for medical professionals, fitness trainers, coaches, athletes, or anyone from any walk of life that’s concerned with fitness.
According to Statista, the global fitness and health industry’s revenue is around $80 billion per year.
The Life Fitness affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the fitness affiliate marketing niche. More info below:
Life Fitness Affiliate Program
Commission: 8%+
Cookie: 30-day
Beauty Affiliate Programs
The beauty blog niche contains blogs that cover skincare, makeup, hair care, perfumes, colognes, toiletries, deodorants, oral cosmetics and more.
According to Statista, the U.S. beauty industry generates around $84 billion per year, making it the most valuable beauty market in the world.
The e.l.f. Cosmetics affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the beauty affiliate marketing niche. More info below:
e.l.f. Cosmetics Affiliate Program (at Rakuten)
Commission: 5%
Fashion Affiliate Programs
The fashion niche is pretty self-explanatory. If your blog covers fitness trends or any type of clothing item, a fashion affiliate program would be perfect for you. The fashion industry includes everything from casual wear, business attire, formal wear, and athletic gear. The sheer volume of affiliate programs is what’s interesting about the fashion affiliate marketing niche. You should be able to easily find a program that works for you.
The women’s clothing industry alone earns $42 billion globally every year. Where there’s money, there are affiliate marketing opportunities!
The Zappos affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the fashion affiliate marketing niche. More info below:
Commission: 7%
Cookie: 14-day
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Affiliate Programs
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools are all around us. As a blogger, you’re likely a subscriber to one of these handy services. Think about services like ConvertKit for email marketing, SEMrush for keyword research or BigScoots for managed WordPress web hosting (one of the fastest web hosts out there). These are great software solutions (or packaged solutions) that you use and recommend every day. Why not get paid for recommending them to your community?
The SEMrush affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the SaaS affiliate marketing niche. More info below:
Commission: 40%
Cookie: 10-year (WOWSERS!)
Technology / Gadgets / Electronics Affiliate Programs
Everyone loves a fun gadget for work or personal fun. If you’re a tech blogger, you will undoubtedly review and recommend electronics and gadgets on your blog. The technology affiliate niche will be hot for the foreseeable future. According to Statista, the U.S. consumer electronics industry is projected to have a market size of $301 billion in 2019.
The Cheat Code: Amazon Associates is the perfect affiliate program for tech bloggers who want to recommend a variety of products within their content. Why? Because everything is there! Sign up for Amazon Associates.
The Microsoft affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the technology affiliate marketing niche. More info below:
Commission: 5-10%
Cookie: 14-day
Book Affiliate Programs
People still read. And people will be reading until this world ends — whether it’s a printed book or on a Kindle or smartphone.
Let’s cut straight to the chase, Amazon is the best marketplace for books. That was their original thing and they’re still great at selling books. Go with Amazon Associates. More info below:
Amazon Associates Affiliate Program
Commission: 4.5%
Cookie: 1-day
DIY / Hobby / Craft Affiliate Programs
Craft / DIY bloggers have a lot going for them. First of all, their content typically involves beautiful, Pinterest-ready images. Secondly, their content is instructional and inspiring. People make great looking products and projects because of the efforts of craft bloggers.
The Zazzle affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the craft affiliate marketing niche. More info below:
Commission: 15-17%
Cookie: 45-day
Home Improvement Affiliate Programs
If you own a home, you understand all that goes into keeping it up. Many lean on the content and recommendations of home improvement blogs to help them keep their home in working order.
According to Statista, home improvement sales are projected to be around $465 billion in 2022. That’s a lot of hammers and nails!
The Home Depot affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the home improvement affiliate marketing niche. More info below:
The Home Depot Affiliate Program
Commission: 2-8%
Cookie: 1-day
Pet Affiliate Programs
Pet owners are always looking for ways to take better care of their furry friends. Pet bloggers are a great resource for inquiring pet owners.
According to The American Pet Products Association, around 85 million U.S. households have a pet. That’s a lot of barking and meows. This means that are great affiliate revenue opportunities for pet bloggers.
The FitBark affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the pet affiliate marketing niche. More info below:
Commission: 12%
Cookie: 60-day
Outdoor Gear Affiliate Programs
Camping, fishing and hunting are just a few activities that’s associated with outdoor gear. Let’s face it, people simply love getting outdoors and enjoying nature.
According to Statista, market penetration within the outdoor apparel industry is expected to be 19.4 percent in 2019 and reach 22.5 percent by 2022.
The Bass Pro Shops affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the outdoor gear affiliate marketing niche. More info below:
Bass Pro Shops Affiliate Program
Commission: up to 5%
Cookie: 14-day
Christian Affiliate Programs
Jesus is the Light of the world. And everlasting life can only come through faith in Him. Promote Christ-glorifying products to your community of readers in partnership with Christian affiliate programs.
The Answers in Genesis affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the Christian affiliate marketing niche.
Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry that’s dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively. Answers in Genesis is also the creators and operators of the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter (a recreation of Noah’s Ark!).
More info below:
Answers in Genesis Affiliate Program
Commission: 12%+
Cookie: 60-day
Investment / Money Management / Financial Affiliate Programs
From people who just opened their first checking account to savvy investors who know their way around the stock market, folks will always look for the best ways to invest and manage their money. Personal finance bloggers have a great opportunity to recommend quality products and services to their readers. Be sure to be very clear about the risks of investing.
Tax prep and business invoicing programs are included in this niche as well.
The Freshbooks affiliate marketing program is a great example of an affiliate program within the financial affiliate marketing niche.
Nao Media is a happy FreshBooks user for invoicing clients and more.
More info below:
Commission: $5 USD per free trial signup plus $55 USD per paid subscriber
Cookie: 120-day
Power Tip: Rakuten Affiliate Marketing for Publishers
You can save yourself some time by signing up for Rakuten for publishers. Rakuten is a Japanese e-commerce and Internet company that partners with major brands for affiliate programs.
With the many major brands on Rakuten, establishing an account there will give you access to all of their quality affiliate opportunities.
Commission Junction (CJ Affiliate), ShareASale and FlexOffers are other good affiliate networks. Of course Amazon Associates is the granddaddy of all affiliate programs.
In Closing: Affiliate Marketing Niches
I hope that this list of affiliate marketing niches will inform and inspire you to produce excellent content and increase your passive income.
Did I forget any good affiliate marketing program niches? Please leave a comment below and let me know.
Remember, affiliate marketing isn’t the only way to earn passive income with your blog. Learn eight life-changing ways to earn passive income online. Enjoy!
This post was proofread by Grammarly Premium.
