How to create affiliate links to reach a broader audience

Social media marketing is exciting. You get to use your creative skills while building an online community of engaged followers.

But monetizing your content is harder than it seems, requiring long hours and countless emails. As an influencer or content creator, you juggle many roles. A single brand sponsorship can mean embracing your photographer, stylist, copywriting, and marketing skills. And besides the heavy workload, working with third parties gets messy. Late payments and imposed creative restrictions can make you feel powerless.

But you can take back some of your creative freedom and earning potential with affiliate marketing. Read on to learn how to create affiliate links and the best practices for maximizing your impact as an affiliate marketer.

What’s affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing involves businesses rewarding affiliates, like partners, for generating sales, sign-ups, or website visits. A content creator is an affiliate if they promote a brand in their content, and they gain money every time the business makes money from these promotions. A fashion designer might integrate links from clothing companies into their style blogs, for instance, or a music-focused content creator might share posts about an instrument’s details that leads to the product site.

What are affiliate links, and how do affiliate links work?

Affiliate links, specifically, drive traffic to a website, usually a product page, to earn affiliates income. Depending on the deal, creators might earn profit for generating website visits or only when someone purchases a product through their link.

Here’s a brief explanation of how to get affiliate links:

• A company determines the terms and commission details, including how soon customers need to make a purchase using the affiliate link for the affiliate to earn a commission and how much they’ll make per engagement.
• The company creates unique affiliate links as URLs for every affiliate marketer to track traffic and sales.
• The company pays affiliates directly (typically monthly) based on engagement metrics like total sales, website visits, and sign-ups.

Each affiliate link contains the store’s domain and a unique tracking code. This code belongs to an individual affiliate, and this creator can embed this link into their content, directing traffic to specific stores and products.

Here are a few common affiliate link types:

• Copy links appear as hyperlinked text in content like landing pages, social and blog posts, and email copy. Each link leads directly to a specific page or product, and affiliates earn a commission on website traffic generated, sign-ups, or merchandise sales.
• Affiliate coupon codes provide discounts on products or services. When customers purchase merchandise using an affiliate coupon code – often stylized as the creator’s name, like LINKTREE10 – the affiliate earns a commission on the total sale.
• Banner ad links are embedded into an affiliate’s platform content to direct visitors to external site pages. Visitors who click on banner ads are tagged with the affiliate’s unique tracking code, so the affiliate earns a commission upon purchase.
• Geo-targeted links direct customers to localized versions of the merchant’s website. This enables affiliates to promote their unique links to their global audience.

And getting these links is worthwhile — becoming an affiliate offers the following benefits:

• Creative freedom over monetizing content
• The ability to monetize existing content
• Limited risk and low ongoing costs
• Earnings for sharing products affiliates really support or enjoy

6 affiliate link best practices

Becoming an affiliate is more than copying and pasting URLs into your content, and it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. To reap the most from your efforts, follow these tips and best practices regarding how to set up affiliate links successfully.

1. Build trust with your audience

Buyers purchase from brands they trust — so you need to build trust in your personal brand to ensure they click your links. Start by consistently sharing content and responding to follower questions and comments to foster strong follower relationships. With time, viewers will want any product you put your name behind.

Be positive, but don’t sugar-coat what you’re promoting. Honesty is the best way to create a trustworthy reputation.

2. Use the right language

For audience members to click affiliate links, they need to make it to the part of the content that contains the URL. This means writing captivating copy or creating compelling videos that encourage readers to reach the end.

Tone also comes into play when crafting compelling copy that encourages click-throughs. To drive readers to click affiliate links, make the product, service, or website you’re advertising intriguing. If you’re not excited about what you’re promoting, your audience won’t be, either. Only promote products you believe in — your copy or content will speak for itself.

You might include these links in a blog post or in your Linktree to send followers to the product page.

3. Add anchor text in written copy

Anchor text is the clickable phrase your affiliate link is attached to. This text is usually a contrasting color with an underline to signal to readers that it’s clickable.

Instead of inserting the entire bare link into your copy, such as: “This www.domain.com/affiliate# is very comfortable,” anchor text allows you to write “This blue sweater is very comfortable” with the words “blue sweater” leading to the product page.

Make anchor text descriptive enough to indicate where the clickable link leads without overpowering the paragraph with colorful text.

4. Monitor quantity

Too many affiliate links throughout your content can distract readers and make your copy too sales-oriented. Add 1–3 relevant links per piece for a better reading experience, and don’t mention too many products in a TikTok or Instagram post.

If, for example, you post an apartment tour, include a series of links to your affiliate products to your Linktree or the description of the video — but don’t link every single item possible to avoid overwhelming viewers.

5. Disclose your affiliate marketing

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires affiliates to disclose their affiliate marketing agreement with viewers. Add a short disclosure to your content outlining your earning potential when users interact with your affiliate links to follow FTC guidelines and build trust with audience members, who will also value your transparency.

6. Stay on brand

Use affiliate links that resonate with your content type and target audience to increase your earning potential. Affiliate links should never seem out of place or forced, and using links unrelated to your niche can seem unauthentic, in turn losing your audience’s trust.

Frequently asked questions

Ready to nail your affiliate marketing strategy? Start strong by learning where to promote affiliate links and how to join an affiliate marketing program in our FAQ section.

How can I join an affiliate marketing program?

Businesses often advertise their affiliate marketing programs on their website with a direct sign-up sheet. If you see other content creators using brand affiliate links, simply ask the company if you qualify for their affiliate marketing program. Rules vary depending on the program, but the Amazon Associate program is a popular option for creators.

Where can I promote my affiliate links?

You can promote affiliate links throughout your online content, including the following types:

• Website copy
• Blog posts
• Email campaigns
• Platform banners
• Link-in-bio tools
• Pinterest

What kind of blogs should I write to use affiliate links?

No matter your blog’s niche, you can incorporate affiliate links into your copy. Some ideas include product reviews and comparison and product use tutorials. A food blogger might explain a recipe while recommending cookware, and a tech-focused article might compare various remote-work accessories.

Broaden your reach with Linktree

Affiliate linking is a great way to monetize your online presence to earn an income from your content. And there are countless affiliate marketing programs for new content creators, such as Amazon and eBay. Just be authentic, build an audience, and link away.

Turn to our blog to discover more ways to make money from your content, like adding a Linktree link-in-bio to lead viewers to purchasing sites.