ShareASale made over $200 million in sales in 2021!
The platform’s success comes from connecting more than 270,000 active affiliates with 3,900+ merchants across 40 different categories. ShareASale has earned its reputation as one of the most trusted names in affiliate marketing since 2000.
ShareASale provides an attractive starting point for newcomers and experienced marketers who want to grow their income streams. Beginners can succeed easily with zero startup costs, intuitive tools, and flexible payment options.
This piece will show you the essential steps to start with ShareASale. You’ll learn everything from signup and merchant selection to launching your first successful campaign. Let’s explore!
Understanding ShareASale Affiliate Marketing Basics
Let me explain how ShareASale works as an affiliate marketing platform. The network connects merchants with content creators, bloggers, and marketers who want to earn money by promoting products online.
What is ShareASale and How Does it Work
ShareASale has set industry standards for almost 25 years. The platform’s process works simply – merchants list their products, and affiliates promote them through trackable links. The system handles all tracking, coverage, and payment processing between merchants and affiliates.
Key Benefits for Beginner Affiliates
ShareASale offers several attractive features for newcomers:
- Access to over 4,800 merchants from all industries
- Up-to-the-minute data analysis of clicks, sales, and commissions
- Monthly payments with a $50 minimum threshold
- Complete reporting tools to analyze performance
ShareASale Affiliate Requirements
Earning potential starts after meeting some simple requirements. ShareASale needs:
- An active, content-rich website or social media presence
- Content free from hate speech and adult material
- A valid Tax ID or social security number
- Compliance with FTC’s guidelines for affiliate disclosure
The platform provides promotional tools and resources to help users succeed. Its user-friendly interface helps beginners start earning quickly.
Step-by-Step ShareASale Sign Up Process
Here are the practical steps to join ShareASale and start your affiliate marketing experience.
Creating Your ShareASale Account
The original signup process takes about 5-7 minutes to complete. You need to:
- Visit ShareASale.com and click “Affiliate Sign Up”
- Create username and password
- Select your country from the dropdown menu
- Enter website information and promotional strategies
- Provide contact details and payment priorities
Completing Profile Requirements
Your profile helps merchants review partnership opportunities. A complete profile should have:
- A professional logo or profile picture
- Links to your main website and social channels
- Clear details about your promotional methods
- Monthly visitor statistics and regions where you’re active
Getting Approved as an Affiliate
The ShareASale compliance team will review your application within 7-10 business days. They might ask you for more information during this time.
A live website with quality content will boost your approval chances. Using your domain’s business email address can speed up the process.
You’ll get a confirmation email once approved (check your spam folder). You can then log into your account and start learning about merchant programs that match your niche.
Choosing Your First Merchant Programs
Picking the right merchants are the foundations of our success on ShareASale. Let’s discover how we can make smart choices that match our goals.
How to Research Profitable Niches
ShareASale gives us 39 product categories to explore. The Power Rank page shows top-performing merchants and helps us start our research. We should look for programs that earn steadily and have low reversal rates.
Evaluating Commission Structures
ShareASale’s commission rates change by a lot across niches:
- Fashion and Beauty: 5-20% commission
- Health and Wellness: 10-30% commission
- Technology: 3-10% commission
- Home and Garden: 5-15% commission
- Finance and Insurance: Up to 30% commission
Notwithstanding that, commission rates aren’t everything. Product pricing, demand, and conversion rates are vital factors that determine our potential earnings.
Tips for Getting Merchant Approval
Most merchants will review our application carefully, though some offer instant approval. Here are proven ways to boost our approval odds:
- Complete our profile with detailed promotional methods
- Make sure our website works well and has rich content
- Keep a clear niche focus that matches the merchant
- Provide accurate contact information
- Reach out personally if you get rejected at first
Merchants will take a good look at our website to see if we match their brand. They’ll review our content quality, marketing approach, and overall professional image.
Setting Up Your First Promotion Campaign
Let’s look at ShareASale’s promotional tools that will help us succeed after selecting our merchants.
Creating Effective Affiliate Links
The Custom Link tool is our main resource to generate trackable affiliate links. We can create standard links and License Plate Links – shortened URLs that work great on social media platforms. Here’s how to create affiliate links that work:
- Access the Custom Link tool in your dashboard
- Enter the merchant’s product URL
- Select deep linking options for specific pages
- Choose License Plate format for social sharing
- Add tracking parameters if needed
Essential Promotional Tools
ShareASale gives you the sophisticated promotional tools you need. The Make-A-Page feature and Product Showcase widget need special attention. These tools help us:
- Create custom product tables and displays
- Design engaging product showcases
- Generate dynamic content feeds
- Develop responsive promotional layouts
The Product Discovery Bookmarklet makes it easy to find relevant products while browsing merchant websites.
Tracking and Analytics Basics
Performance monitoring helps us optimize results. ShareASale’s tracking system relies on two key components:
- Conversion tracking pixel – Records sales and commissions
- Master Tag – Improves click attribution accuracy
The platform captures important transaction data including:
- Order amounts and IDs
- Product SKUs and quantities
- Commission calculations
- Customer status (new vs. returning)
You can analyze your performance through detailed reports that show clicks, sales, and earnings. The platform also provides tools to track coupon usage and monitor specific promotional campaigns.
Conclusion
ShareASale is a proven platform for affiliate marketing success that offers opportunities in a variety of niches. Your success on the platform depends on careful merchant selection, strategic promotional campaigns and consistent performance tracking.
ShareASale provides all the tools you need for affiliate marketing success – from custom link generation to detailed analytics. The platform’s user-friendly interface and its big merchant network create an ideal starting point for both beginners and experienced marketers.
This guide helps you understand the complete process from account creation through campaign setup. The next step involves selecting your first merchant partners and launching targeted promotional campaigns using ShareASale’s resilient toolkit.
Note that affiliate marketing success requires patience, consistent effort and optimization based on performance data. Start small, test different approaches and scale what works best for your audience and niche.