Amazon will be lowering their affiliate commission rates on April 21, 2020. Amazon has done this before and if you have been with Amazon Associates when this has happened you know the pain. Lower commission rates mean less money in your pocket. In this article, I will discuss the current changes Amazon has applied to its affiliate program, talk about some tips on what you should do about it and suggest an affiliate course and alternative affiliate networks and programs you may want to consider joining.
The Email That Ended Amazon Associates Affiliate Program For Me
A few days ago I received the following email from Amazon Associates.
This email does not look like it harkens the end of the Amazon Affiliate program but, if you follow the What’s Changed link in it, you will see the damage they have done. Just check out the images below to see the changes.
New Amazon Associates Commission Rates
Below is an image of the page the What’s Changed link brought me to.
Changes In Amazon Associates Commission Rates
Below is an image of the drops in each of the changed product categories.
Options For Affiliates
You could move to promoting higher ticket Amazon products to make up for the lower commission rates, however this is something many other affiliates have already done. With this change in rates, the competition for these products will only increase in the future.
Diversify Your Affiliate Link Portfolio
If you want to continue to promote Amazon products I do suggest at least diversifying what you promote. To do this simply start adding affiliate links to your content from different sources than Amazon. There is no telling how much longer the Amazon Affiliate Program will be around. When it does inevitably disappear you’ll be happy that you diversified your affiliate link portfolio.
If at all possible you should consider fazing out Amazon affiliate links and replacing old Amazon affiliate links with affiliate links to other online stores that sell the same products.
Find New Affiliate Programs
Another option is to find new affiliate networks and programs to promote. To do this you should search for other affiliate programs that sell the same types of products you are already promoting for Amazon but with better commission rates. Finding these programs can be as simple as googling a big box store name and the words “affiliate program”.
Promote What You Use
You should also look into affiliate programs for tools, programs, products and courses that you use or have used that you could promote to your audience.
Other Affiliate Programs
There are tons of affiliate programs out there! I solidly suggest you take this decrease in Amazon Associates commissions as the kick in the butt you need to start exploring them.
I write a LOT about affiliate networks and programs on this blog. Consider looking around or following my site to say up to date.
Clickbank Affiliate Network
Clickbank is a pretty great place to find affiliate offers for several different types of digital products. A very attractive aspect of Clickbank is the high commission rates that some of these affiliate programs offer. Depending upon the program you can even earn recurring commissions!
You can sign up for Clickbank through the link below.
https://accounts.clickbank.com/master/makebank.html
If you would like to learn all about Clickbank from two of Clickbank’s top-performing affiliates consider checking out Clickbank University. Clickbank University is an online course that has been around since 2014 and has taught over 20,000 customers. The current version, Clickbank University 2.0 has been fully updated with all new training.
I took this course to get myself oriented on this affiliate network when I first started using Clickbank and I found it to be very helpful.
I suggest this course for multiple reasons.
- I took this course myself.
- This course will help you gain a better understanding off what Clickbank is and how you can take advantage of it.
- Once you have taken this course you can promote it using Clickbank!
- You can earn a 75% commission for every customer you refer to this course.
My affiliate link for Clickbank University is below if you want to check it out. I do earn commissions on sales made through this affiliate link at no extra cost to you.
https://09730qv7g1dr1bwymjtfyq3uc6.hop.clickbank.net/
Conclusion
As an affiliate marketer I suggest taking this change as a sign that Amazon just does not value you as much as it used to. I think now would be a good time to consider exploring new and different affiliate networks and programs.
If you would like to start looking into affiliate programs other than Amazon take a gander at the blog post I linked below.