When it comes to joining an affiliate program, we usually have two places where the programs hosted. It is a direct in-house affiliate program and affiliate marketplace.
Which is best for affiliates to join, Direct or marketplace affiliate program?
Most beginner affiliate marketers will have this question when joining an affiliate program. Its because affiliate marketing is one of the major sources of income for bloggers.
But both the direct in-house affiliate programs and affiliate networks have their pros and cons. So you need to consider many things when joining an affiliate program to make it more profitable.
Read – Things to consider before choosing an affiliate program
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Join Direct affiliate program or affiliate marketplace
Affiliate marketing is one of the highly booming topics in the online world. And also affiliate marketing is the highly suggested way to make money.
Affiliate marketing is highly emerging and every day many new merchants are entering into affiliate marketing.
The Google trends show that how the term affiliate marketing is getting more popular every year.
Look an interesting study shows, how the spending on affiliate marketing increases each year.
This study shows that affiliate marketing spend increases by 10% every year. It shows the potential and market value of the brand in affiliate marketing.
So there is no explanation needed, to join as an affiliate in major brands and start promoting it.
How to choose: Direct in-house affiliate program or affiliate marketplace
Some larger brands are providing their affiliate programs both in-house and also in the affiliate marketplace. In this kind of scenario, you have to choose the best.
Hosting companies like GreenGeeks and hostinger offer you both an in-house affiliate program and marketplace.
So here are some ideas to decide, whether direct in-house affiliate programs or affiliate network.
Payment method
One of the important things to look out is the payment method. When it comes to affiliate networks, they provide many types of payment options to choose from.
But the in-house affiliate programs will have one or two. Nowadays PayPal is one of the commonly used methods of payment from many affiliate programs.
But Sometimes the transaction charges of Paypal are higher. So you can go with affiliate networks, which provide your suitable payment method.
In some cases, the direct affiliate programs are using older payment methods like check or less known payment software. These things will cause in getting your money.
So in this case, find the payment method used by the affiliate programs.
Read – 7 important plugins every affiliate marketer should have.
The Minimum Payout Limit
Usually, the affiliate programs will have a minimum payout or threshold limit. So you have to reach that amount to get paid.
If the affiliate program has a higher minimum payout, then it takes more to get your payment.
If you can able to make more sales with that program, then you can join individually.
Alternatively, if you have a low traffic website and normally have fewer sales. Then choosing the affiliate marketplace is better.
It’s because, in the marketplace, every product’s sale will be combined to reach the minimum payout limit. So, making one sale on each product alone will help you reach the minimum balance.
High commissions on product
The direct affiliate program is the best way to maintain better relationships with the companies. With a direct program, you and the product-making company is directly attached without an intermediate person.
Many popular in-house affiliate programs are giving higher commissions and bonuses when you make a higher amount of sales. If you make more sales, then your commissions increased.
But mostly through an affiliate network or marketplace, this method will not be followed. You will usually have a fixed commission amount.
Look at a A2 hosting affiliate program. If your number of sales increased, then your commissions also increased.
If you are making more affiliate sales regularly, then you can claim the brands for special discounts for running an exclusive campaign. So you will give high discounts only for your visitors and increase your brand/website presence.
Time Consumption
The in-house affiliate programs will consume more time in managing each account. You have to regularly check out, whether the proper payments made or not.
For example, if you have joined 50 in-house affiliate programs. Then you have to log in to each account every time to track your referral signup.
But in the affiliate marketplace, you can manage all your affiliate signups and track the referral under one dashboard. The payment date also differs for each in-house affiliate program. In the marketplace, you will get paid monthly once on that particular date.
Proper tracking and analytics
On some in-house affiliate programs, the tracking and analytics reports are not good. Proper tracking and analytics are important for any business to develop it.
Sometimes you only show up with a number of converted sign-ups, that lack a number of clicks. These types of half data are not enough to understand and scale up your business.
But the popular affiliate networks like CJ, Share A sale, Click bank and Partnerstack provides a better report with perfect tracking.
Conclusion
In my opinion, joining both direct in-house affiliate programs and the marketplace has better up and downsides. Having a good user-friendly website is enough to get your application accepted as an affiliate in most conditions.
Decide the things with the above conditions, so you can be more productive and profitable. Consider these things to choose a profitable affiliate product.
Join direct affiliate programs on popular and high commission products. Join in affiliate marketplace for low popular and low commission products.
Every successful affiliate marketers will have a combination of both types of affiliate programs. Having these plugins is important for affiliates to boost up their income and productivity.
If you are a beginner, then start your blog in WordPress. When it comes to affiliate marketing, WordPress has many affiliate programs. That also comes with huge earning potential.
I hope this article helps you to decide and join direct affiliate programs or Affiliate marketplace. If you find it useful, kindly share it.
Did you need any other things to consider when joining indirect affiliate programs and marketplace? Comment below.
