Affiliate marketing: what it is and is it worth it?

Working with businesses through affiliate programs is an increasingly popular way to earn money online, driven in part by the surge in popularity of social media and influencers with large followings.

However, they aren’t the only people who can earn big from affiliates. Bloggers, businesses, marketers, and even everyday consumers with the right strategy can cash in too.

Affiliate marketing can prove fruitful, but it’s important to understand the regulatory requirements when using affiliate links, especially before you sign up for the advertising model. 

This article will explore what affiliate marketing is, how to do it, and the regulatory rules you must follow.

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing refers to a business working with a third party to promote its product or service with the aim of generating traffic and sales. 

The third-party publishers are known as the affiliates, and these people earn a commission fee when promoting the business. Affiliates in the modern era can be individuals with huge social media followings, or a blog or profitable affiliate website with a specific niche.

How does affiliate marketing work?

Affiliate marketing works by promoting other people’s products or services. From there, you earn a commission every time someone buys through your unique referral link.

For example, a social media influencer on Instagram may advertise a new lipstick line by a beauty brand for a fee, explaining why it is so great. 

As part of the campaign, the influencer will share an affiliate link to the product to encourage their followers to look into it more and hopefully purchase it. They will earn a small commission every time one of their followers makes this purchase.

Affiliate marketing is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Here’s a quick breakdown of how it typically works:

1. You join an affiliate program: companies like Amazon and Shopify (or a smaller company) offer an affiliate program you can sign up for. Once you’re in, they give you a unique tracking link.
2. You promote their product/service: you share that special link through the relevant channels. This could be your blog, social media (e.g. YouTube or TikTok) or email list — wherever you have an audience.
3. Someone clicks your link: if a customer clicks and makes a purchase (or completes another action, like signing up), the company tracks it back to you through the unique link.
4. You earn a commission: depending on the program’s rules, you’ll either get paid a percentage of the sale or a flat rate. Some pay you once, while others give you recurring commissions if they offer a subscription service.

Types of affiliate marketing

There are three main types of affiliate marketing: unattached, related, and involved. It’s important to understand the difference between these to know which best suits the business model you have in mind. 

You may decide that all three work for you, or perhaps you want to double down on just one – there’s no right or wrong approach, but the former could help you earn more cash.

Unattached affiliate marketing

This refers to a type of affiliate marketing that does not use, endorse, or have any deep knowledge about the products advertised. It’s the most basic form of affiliate marketing, with the primary goal of earning a commission. Examples include Google Ads on a blog or Facebook Ads.

Related affiliate marketing

Related affiliate marketing is where you have an online presence via a podcast, social media, or similar and have affiliate links to products related to your niche. However, such links are for products you don’t use. 

For example, a fashion influencer may talk about a new pair of expensive designer boots that they’ve bought but may share affiliate links to more affordable dupes of the boots because they know they will be more accessible to their followers, and therefore more likely to buy them and earn the influencer commission.

Involved affiliate marketing

As the name suggests, this type of affiliate marketing refers to links to products or services you’ve used – perhaps you post a baking video and link to the hand mixer you’ve used, or maybe you link to a kitchen company you used as part of renovation-related content.

Examples of affiliate marketing

Here are a few examples of how content creators make money through affiliate links. The principles of how you monetise remain the same – it’s mainly a question of where you’re reaching out to an audience.

1. Imagery

Many influencers make money through affiliate deals with brands via photography. They advertise products to their followers via photos shared on social media platforms like Instagram and earn a commission on any sale.

Affiliate marketing for ecommerce businesses in this format is usually done via clickable links on Instagram stories or discount codes put in the descriptions of posts.

2. Video content

Many affiliates use videos shared on YouTube or TikTok Live to promote products and brands. They then provide affiliate links to the product or brand and recoup commission via the use of that link.

Links to the products will be included in the description of the video, and the content creator will earn a percentage of the sale whenever someone viewing the video clicks through and makes a purchase.

3. Blogging

Although not as popular as it once was, especially with the rise of video content, blogging still holds a significant opportunity when it comes to affiliate links. Bloggers simply need to write their posts and then link to products or services in the copy.

Pros and cons of affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing offers a huge potential to make extra income, but there are also some downsides to consider before taking the leap and signing up for an affiliate platform. Let’s look at both the advantages and disadvantages of affiliate marketing.

Pros of affiliate marketing

There are many different perks of joining an affiliate program. These include:

✅ Minimal expenditure

There are very few costs associated with affiliate marketing. There may be small costs related to the content creation that you use your links with, or the affiliate program you sign up for may ask for a fee, but there are no other associated costs.

✅ Easy to set up

Almost anyone can set up affiliate marketing – you simply need to follow some basic steps when signing up for a platform. Of course, it will be more successful in the long run if you already have a following or footfall on your business website or social media platform, but you can work on this if not.

✅ Extensive products and services

You can use this type of marketing for pretty much any service or product, making the earning potential huge. If you wanted to, you could focus your attention solely on the products or services that earn you the highest commission, although these may be things that your audience doesn’t buy as often. 

Cons of affiliate marketing

It’s also important to consider the downsides to affiliate marketing, especially when thinking about launching your own business in this field. These include:

❌ Commission-based payments

Affiliate marketing is commission-based, meaning you usually only earn when someone purchases via your link. So, if no one uses your link, you won’t earn a penny.

❌ Standing out from the crowd

While it’s easy to get set up in affiliate marketing, it’s harder to gain traction. It’s an increasingly crowded market with a lot of great talent fighting for the attention of consumers, so it takes a lot of hard work to stand out from the crowd and encourage followers or users to use your links.

❌ Uncertainty

You may have a successful month earning high levels of commission, and then the next few months may be very quiet. You have to be ready for this level of uncertainty when you’re building a business around affiliate marketing. It isn’t for everyone, and you need to be financially savvy to manage your finances.

Affiliate marketing platforms

To create affiliate links, you need to get set up on an affiliate platform.

There are many platforms to choose from. However, keep in mind that the bigger, more popular ones tend to take a larger cut from your commission, so while they could give you more opportunity, you may end up paying for the luxury.

Some popular affiliate platforms in the UK include:

• Commission Junction (CJ Affiliate): this is one of the world’s largest affiliate networks, with programs and affiliate partners available in many regions around the world.
• Amazon Associates: Amazon needs no introduction, which is why a lot of people trust it and why its affiliate program is top-rated.
• Shopify Affiliate Marketing Program: as one of the world’s largest ecommerce platforms, Shopify has countless small businesses on its books with whom you can set up partnerships. The only downside is that you will be limited to brands selling only on Shopify.
• Like To Know It: LTK is the influencer marketing network for agencies and affiliates to find influencers and creators to promote their clients’ brands. If accepted into the affiliate program, influencers can earn a commission when followers click their LTK links shared on their social media and make a purchase.

How do affiliate marketers make money?

Affiliate marketers make money by earning commission every time someone buys a product or signs up for a service through their unique referral link. The more clicks and conversions you drive, the more you earn.

There’s no cap on how much you can make, but building up that kind of traffic takes time, effort, and consistency, so it’s definitely not a “get rich quick” scheme.

What kind of commissions can you get?

The commission you receive depends on the affiliate platform you are using and the brand you have partnered with. Here’s a quick rundown of how commission works for each platform:

• Shopify: referrals earn commission payments if the merchant signs up to the platform by using your referral link. If you’re in the UK, it’s $150 (approximately £111.88).
• LTK: the average commission rate is between 10-25% but can reach up to 30%. Retailers set their own commission rates for their products.
• Amazon: commission rates vary, but most sit around 3-4%.

You can earn more through direct links (links that go directly to an item) than indirect links, which send the consumer to the search page for an item type, showing multiple options. Let’s look at the commission you can earn for different categories:

Category	Commission-rate
Amazon games (Amazon-branded games only)	20%
Luxury beauty, luxury stores beauty, Amazon Explore	10%
Amazon Haul	7%
Music (digital and physical), handmade, digital video	5%
Physical books, kitchen, automotive	4.5%
Toys, furniture, home, lawn & garden, pets, headphones, non-luxury beauty	3%
Musical instruments, business/industrial supplies, outdoors, tools, sports, baby products, Amazon Coins	3%

As you can see, your earnings could really add up if you achieve a high amount of clicks, and focusing on the more profitable product sectors could prove more fruitful if it suits your platform, too.

Affiliate marketing trends for 2025

Affiliate marketing is changing fast, and if you want to keep earning, it pays to stay in the loop. In 2025, it’s all about leveraging technology, real connections, and promoting stuff people actually care about. Here are some key trends to keep an eye on this year:

1. AI and automation takeover

It won’t come as a shock to anyone that the rise in artificial intelligence (AI) has already disrupted affiliate marketing — from predictive analytics and performance tracking to automated content creation and chatbots.

According to statistics from Hostinger, 79.3% of affiliate marketers are adopting AI-driven content in 2025. Optimising affiliate content for voice search assistants (e.g. Siri or Alexa) is likely to become crucial too, as nearly 50% of searches are now through voice.

2. The rise of micro and nano influencers

Brands are increasingly working with micro and nano influencers — creators with smaller but highly engaged and authentic audiences. These kinds of influencers usually have a strong connection with their followers, which makes people more likely to trust their recommendations.

After all, it was reported that micro influencers (those with around 10,000-100,000 followers) have up to a 60% higher engagement rate than macro influencers (one million followers or more). They also have a 6% engagement rate on TikTok, compared to macro influencers with just 1.5%.

3. More video commerce and live stream shopping

Live commerce is where brands or creators sell products in real-time through live video streams, such as through TikTok, Instagram or YouTube. With this, you can drop affiliate links during the live stream and earn commission from real-time sales.

Live commerce has become so popular in the UK that revenue is expected to reach £65 million by 2030. According to research reported by Fashion Network, 37% of consumers across Europe are buying through live commerce more frequently this year.

4. Sustainability and ethical marketing

Today, more consumers are demanding that brands be aligned with their core values. A 2024 study found that 79% of UK consumers prefer to shop from brands that align with their personal values.

Sustainability has become a significant part of this, so affiliate marketers should prioritise promoting eco-friendly and ethical products to connect with conscious buyers and build trust. An Amazon study of 2,000 British shoppers found that 66% of people would prefer to buy products that have a positive environmental and social impact.

Do you have to disclose that you do affiliate marketing?

When it comes to advertising, some rules and regulations must be followed in the UK. These are set by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) and follow guidelines set by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP). The rules are in place to protect consumers from being mis-sold or falsely misinformed about a product or service.

The CAP code applies to affiliate marketing because it is an agreement to promote a brand’s products in exchange for payment.

To adhere to the CAP code and ensure you aren’t subject to any criminal penalties or complaints to the ASA, you must ensure you are transparent about any affiliate relationships with the products or services you are marketing throughout your content.

Conclusion: is affiliate marketing worth it?

When done correctly, affiliate marketing can be a brilliant way to earn money, be it as a side hustle or as a full-time income for those who are dedicated to the cause.

Thoughtful, engaging, and interesting content is at the heart of success for this type of advertising, as you need to build up intrigue with the relevant audience to encourage them to click your affiliate links. 

For more ways to earn extra money, check out our top ideas for earning a passive income in 2025.