Who Can Become an Affiliate & How to Get Started

Affiliate marketing has gone from side hustle to serious empire-building. In 2025, it’s no longer about just placing links—it’s about mastering traffic, creating trust, and locking in partnerships that scale. The question isn’t “Can you make money in affiliate marketing?” — it’s “How far can you take it?”

Affiliate marketing has grown into one of the most powerful channels in performance marketing. It works because it’s accessible: anyone with the right traffic and the right strategy can build sustainable revenue streams. But in 2025, competition is fierce. Success isn’t about sending random clicks — it’s about delivering quality traffic, building trust, and aligning with strong partnerships.

At Yep Ads, we’ve spent over 15 years helping affiliates scale across Search, Native, Push, Email, and Social, working with 6.5K+ brands and partners in 140+ countries. We know what it takes to stand out — and more importantly, who thrives in this space.

Key Takeaways

• Affiliate marketing in 2025 is accessible to anyone, but success comes from strategy, not randomness.
• Top-performing affiliates are creators, media buyers, email marketers, publishers, and comparison/review sites.
• Getting started requires picking a niche, choosing a trusted network, testing campaigns, and scaling what works.
• Search, Native, Push, Email, and Social remain the most powerful traffic channels, each with unique strengths.
• The best affiliates to partner with are transparent, creative, and focused on long-term scaling.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Why Affiliate Marketing Still Works in 2025
2. Who Can Become an Affiliate?
3. How to Get Started as an Affiliate Marketer
4. Types of Affiliate Traffic That Matter in 2025
5. The Affiliates We Love to Work With
6. Final Thoughts: Building Sustainable Affiliate Success

Who Can Become an Affiliate?

Affiliate marketing is open to almost anyone, but the top performers usually fall into a few categories:

• Media Buyers: Affiliates who run paid campaigns on Facebook, Google, Native, or TikTok. They excel at scaling traffic quickly with precise targeting and creative testing.
• Email Marketers: Affiliates with strong subscriber lists who can segment, personalize, and deliver high ROI campaigns directly into inboxes.
• Publishers & App Owners: Platforms that already attract users at scale (comparison sites, review blogs, apps, or tools) and monetize their audiences with relevant offers.
• Review & Comparison Sites: High-intent websites ranking for search terms like best VPN for students or home warranty reviews 2025. These users are primed to convert.
• Content Creators: Bloggers, YouTubers, TikTokers, or Instagram influencers who build trust with an engaged community. Their recommendations drive action because they’re authentic and relatable.

The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you don’t need a million followers. You need to understand your audience and pick the right verticals and traffic sources.

How Do You Become an Affiliate Marketer?

Becoming an affiliate is a process of learning, testing, and scaling. Here’s a proven roadmap:

1. Pick a Niche: Focus on something you know or want to specialize in (tech, health, lifestyle, finance, education). Niches with buyer intent are more sustainable.
2. Choose a Network or Program: Join trusted networks like Yep Ads that offer vetted advertisers, timely payments, and hands-on support.
3. Select Traffic Sources: Decide where you’ll drive users (Search, Native, Email, Social, etc.). Each has its strengths depending on your vertical.
4. Launch and Test: Start small with campaigns, monitor metrics, and experiment with creatives and targeting.
5. Optimize and Scale: Double down on what works, cut what doesn’t, and expand into more geos or channels.

The affiliates who thrive aren’t the ones running one-off campaigns. They treat affiliate marketing like a business.

Types of Affiliate Traffic in 2025

Affiliates succeed by matching the right offer with the right traffic source. Let’s break down the most effective types of traffic this year:

Search: Capturing High-Intent Buyers

Search is the most direct path to purchase. Whether it’s paid search (Google Ads) or ranking on content sites, users are already looking for solutions.

• Content Sites: User reviews, ratings, comparison sites, exclusive deals.
• Search Arbitrage: Website traffic, visibility, profitability via keyword/niche targeting.
• Paid Search: Targeted ads with measurable results, detailed metrics, Google Ads optimization.

Why it works:

• High-intent queries like “best Black Friday VPN deal” signal buyers ready to convert.
• Seasonal long-tail keywords (e.g., “holiday home warranty offers”) drive cheaper, more specific conversions.
• Paid search campaigns allow precise targeting with measurable results.

Yep Ads Advantage: Access to high-spending Google accounts and expertise in search arbitrage and content site placements, giving affiliates scalable growth options.

Best for: Cybersecurity, insurance, finance, e-commerce

Native Ads: Seamless Engagement

Native ads blend into websites and feel less disruptive than display ads. They look like part of the content, which means higher trust and more clicks.

Paid Native Ads: Ads blending into site content.

Why it works:

• Seamless integration makes ads feel natural and engaging.
• Enhances brand perception by placing offers alongside trusted content.
• Better targeting allows affiliates to reach audiences at the right time.
• Strong ROI due to high CTRs and content relevance.

Yep Ads Advantage: Improved e-commerce–focused native campaigns bought internally, with optimized targeting strategies.

Best for: E-commerce, health & wellness, lifestyle products

Push Notifications: Instant Conversions

Push traffic delivers notifications directly to a user’s device. It’s fast, personal, and impossible to ignore.

Notifications are delivered to the user’s device via web/app.

Why it works:

• Instant engagement: users see notifications in real-time.
• Personalized messaging based on behaviour and location.
• Cost-effective with high retention rates.
• Perfect for time-sensitive promotions and re-engagement.

Yep Ads Advantage: We generate over a billion push notifications annually, giving affiliates unmatched scale and targeting precision.

Best for: Flash sales, entertainment, app installs, sweepstakes

Email: Still the ROI Leader

Email is the backbone of affiliate marketing, with ROI averaging $36 for every $1 spent. It’s personal, scalable, and data-driven.

Why it works:

• Direct customer engagement with personalized offers.
• Strong brand awareness and retention.
• Data-driven segmentation allows smarter targeting.
• Cost-effective with unlimited scalability.

Yep Ads Advantage: Exclusive in-house email lists and O&O inventory ensure affiliates can reach audiences at scale while maintaining compliance.

Best for: E-commerce, subscriptions, finance, wellness

Social Traffic: Scale Through Storytelling

TikTok

• Targets Gen Z & Millennials with high engagement short-form video.
• Trends go viral quickly, delivering massive exposure.
• Influencer tie-ins amplify reach.

Yep Ads Advantage: Our in-house design team builds creatives tailored to TikTok trends, ensuring growth and virality.

Facebook & Instagram

• Huge user base across demographics.
• Advanced targeting by interest, behavior, and demographics.
• Retargeting cart abandoners during peak shopping seasons.
• Video, carousel, and static formats drive conversions.

Yep Ads Advantage: High-spending accounts + in-house creatives for scaling fast.

YouTube

• Dominates video content and SEO rankings.
• Engages audiences with comments, likes, and shares.
• Variety of ad formats for any budget or campaign.

Yep Ads Advantage: Years of experience crafting high-performing YouTube creatives for both organic and paid growth.

Best for: Gifts, gadgets, lifestyle, health & beauty, streaming

The Affiliates We Love to Work With

Not all affiliates are the same, and the ones who grow with us usually share these traits:

• Proven traffic in at least one channel (Search, Social, Email, Native, Push).
• Transparency and compliance to keep partnerships sustainable.
• Creativity in testing new funnels, ad formats, and messaging angles.
• Long-term focus on scaling offers, not just quick wins.

We want affiliates who think big, test smart, and are motivated to grow consistently.

Final Thoughts

Affiliate marketing in 2025 is thriving, but success isn’t about doing everything. It’s about choosing the right vertical, the right traffic source, and the right partner.

At Yep Ads, we help affiliates scale smarter with exclusive offers, in-house media buying, and proprietary traffic channels. If you’re ready to grow, partner with Yep Ads and let’s build campaigns that deliver.

FAQs About Becoming an Affiliate

1. Do I need a large audience to start affiliate marketing?
   No. You don’t need millions of followers. Even smaller audiences can convert well if they’re engaged and trust your recommendations.
2. How much money can I make as an affiliate?
   Earnings vary widely. Some affiliates make a few hundred dollars a month, while others scale to six or seven figures. Success depends on traffic quality, niche choice, and optimization.
3. Which traffic source is best for beginners?
   Email and content-driven search traffic are the easiest entry points. Paid channels like Facebook, Native, or Push require more testing and budget but can scale faster.
4. What skills do I need to succeed as an affiliate?
   Strong marketing fundamentals: audience understanding, ad testing, funnel building, and data analysis. Creativity and consistency are just as important as technical skills.
5. Why work with a network like Yep Ads instead of going direct?
   Networks like Yep Ads provide vetted advertisers, reliable payments, compliance support, and access to exclusive traffic sources — giving affiliates a trusted ecosystem to scale campaigns.