Introduction

Affiliate marketing has experienced incredible and consistent growth over the last few years. Among other trends and studies, we can confirm this because affiliate marketing intent search is increasing over time. According to Google Trends, in the last 5 years, the search term “affiliate marketing” in the United States has increased by +400%. Additionally, we can predict that brands and companies will increase affiliate marketing investment in 2023. This is due to a study that estimates total spending to be around $10 billion. So in this article we aim to bring you the best traffic sources for affiliate marketing.

What are traffic sources in Affiliate Marketing

A traffic source refers to any platform or medium through which visitors can find your website, offer page or landing page. Whether you’re an affiliate or publisher, your main duty is to drive the most qualified traffic to your affiliate link. Therefore, it is imperative to choose the right traffic source according to your audience, niche and targeting factors. 

Moreover, traffic sources can be divided into two main categories: Organic and Paid.

Organic traffic

Organic traffic sources come from unpaid techniques, which most commonly refer to search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. In addition, organic traffic can be generated through social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc.

Paid traffic

On the other hand, paid traffic refers to the technique of paying to send traffic to your website, landing page or offer page. In affiliate marketing, organic traffic and paid traffic are both used, but depending on the objective, one of these types of traffic may be recommended.

Tips to choose the best traffic sources for affiliate marketing campaigns

1# Focus on quality traffic 

Your goal is to generate the maximum number of conversions, so it is fundamental to drive the most relevant audience to your offer link. Quality traffic improves conversion rates, generates leads and maximizes revenues. Therefore, focus on quality traffic to drive conversions and increase profits.

2# Choose a reliable platform 

The following factors should be considered:

• Regulations, restrictions and rules

Every traffic source has guidelines and regulations. Check the regulations of the advertising platform and traffic sources you want to promote your offers to know what is prohibited. Therefore, you don’t get banned from a traffic source or send fraudulent traffic to your affiliate campaign. 

• Niche and target audience

In the same way that companies operate in different niches and audiences, the same applies to traffic sources and ad networks. Thus, some traffic sources are better tailored to specific niches and audiences.

• Targeting options

Targeting allows you to tailor your campaign to the audience. Different traffic sources offer different targeting options, for example:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Device type
• Web browser
• Operating system
  

• Technical support 

Even if you have experience with affiliate marketing, it is always useful to have some technical support for your campaign. Working with an ad network is not always that simple, so even making a slight change to your offer can change performance, therefore it is indeed critical to have a support team to contact in order to ensure everything runs smoothly.

3# Test & optimize

As with any affiliate campaign, it is crucial at the beginning to test and evaluate all factors that affect the traffic sources. This includes the approach, creatives, ad formats, placement, etc. In order to identify the best angles. In addition, it is imperative to do A/B testing to analyze the conversion data. 

10 best traffic sources for affiliate marketing in 2023

1. Social Media

Although it depends on the product niche and audience, the following are the best platforms to promote your affiliate offer:

• TikTok
• Youtube
• Instagram
• Facebook groups
• Pinterest

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization helps you rank organically at the top of search engines for specific keywords and search intent. Working with SEO will provide you with the most relevant and qualified traffic for your offers in the medium and long term. Find out more about how to rank higher in the search engines in this article.

3. Blog Posting 

Blog posting is one of the most effective SEO strategies to reach the best audience for your business. You can monetize your blog with affiliate marketing by placing product links from your blog content to the sales site. In this article, you can find the steps and some fantastic tips to monetize your blog with affiliate marketing. 

4. Email Marketing 

Email marketing continues to be a powerful and effective digital marketing channel and it is estimated to reach almost $11 billion worldwide by 2023, according to Statista.

5. Product Reviews

Content is king and product reviews matter a lot. Their influence has increased in the past few years, and today, according to a study, 93% of users say online reviews have had an impact on their buying decisions. Search engine optimization and product reviews go hand-in-hand, so it is vital to work them in tandem.

6. Online Communities

Online communities are the place where it is most convenient to connect with other marketers and generate leads. In addition, and more importantly, online communities are very active and care about other users. This helps you build a network of current customers and potential new ones. The following are two famous online communities where you can get started:

• Reddit
• Quora

7. Push Ads

Push notifications are a powerful mobile-first advertising channel through which a clickable pop-up message appears in your browser regardless of your device. If you’re interested in push notifications, read our article where we explain top tips, best practices and the most profitable verticals.

8. Native Ads

Native advertising is a form of paid advertising designed to look like the content of a platform or site. You can get very creative with this format because your ad creative can be designed to appear to be like a website’s editorial, bringing you more clicks. 

9. Display Advertising

Display advertising is a process of online advertising that involves placing ads on relevant sites for your product niche and target audience. The most common ad formats are banners, but they can also be other visual formats, such as rich media or videos.

10. Popunders Ads

Popunder ads are non-intrusive windows that open at the bottom of the browser’s visible field, so they are not seen and closed immediately. Definitely, this is the most suitable ad format if you’re getting started with affiliate marketing because it has an affordable cost and it is a large full-screen sized creative that is suitable for all devices. 

Final thoughts 

As we mentioned above, there are many traffic sources to promote your affiliate marketing campaigns. It is necessary to consider the key aspects before deciding on the most profitable choice. Even though each traffic source has its own advantages and disadvantages, it is imperative to study and test them thoroughly to find the best traffic sources for affiliate marketing.