We are sure you’ve seen TikTok clips and Instagram Reels of online ‘influencers’ telling you how easy it is to make passive income online or to become rich and famous with simple affiliate marketing, but there is more to it than just posting a few links to ecommerce sites on a website or blog. It takes a lot of time to build a large following that would then become a tool for you to use as an affiliate marketer. There are also different rules to follow. 

What is affiliate marketing?

In simple terms, affiliate marketing is just another term used for the promotion of products and/or services. The idea is that a company is promoted through another company’s blog, website, social media channel, or these days, their podcast. There is the advertiser on one side of the process, looking for their products to be promoted, and the publisher on the other side of the process who creates content and shares the ad within their own posts. 

Examples of affiliate marketing sectors

Finding your niche is a big and important step with affiliate marketing. Choosing a niche that fits with your character, interests, and persona will help you to become successful. A genuine interest in an area will make it much more likely that you can promote products and services in an authentic way. Let’s look at a few of the options: 

Gambling affiliates

A gambling affiliate network, as an example of an affiliate industry, is where publishers (affiliates) are connected with affiliate programs that allow them to promote offers and content that is related to gambling like Play North and their affiliate program. As there is a new and growing market in the Netherlands for consumers to bet on the go, or to play online casino games on their mobile phones, it can be a profitable market for affiliates in the country. 

SaaS and technology

This is one of the top niche areas for 2024 and a massive market. Technology is integral to our everyday lives, and with the fast evolution of tech, new products and services reach the market all the time, including many Software as a Service (SaaS) products, tech gadgets, wearable tech, and software apps.

Education and e-learning

In a post-covid world this is a sector that is set to boom in popularity. It is all about creating highly engaging, innovative and motivating content for both young students and adult learners to benefit from. This content is about inspiring people to pursue continuous learning and to develop and grow in different key areas of their lives. 

How to get started in affiliate marketing

Should you be looking to be successful as an affiliate in the Netherlands it is important to know there is a journey to follow and signposts for you to look out for. There is no clear road to success but there are some things that you need to do and plenty of hard work to put in (show me any successful job that doesn’t require hard work and dedication!).

To make money from affiliate marketing you need to:

• Register with KVK (Netherlands Chamber of Commerce) or update your business activities if you are already registered
• Check your taxes and insurance if your work might include overseas projects
• Build your website visitors and potential reach, as this boosts your attractiveness to advertisers
• Find an affiliate network that links advertisers and publishers
• Decide on what you want to promote and why
• Sign up to an affiliate network that makes the most sense for you. You’ll need a domain name to sign up, so make sure you have a functioning website and that it meets advertising rules
• Make sure you understand the terms and conditions of the networks you are involved with, so that you follow rules and work within the set parameters
• Choose an advertiser to work with and be sure on what the percentage of sales price is available for promoting products
• Link to a product as high up the page in whatever content you publish, as this is more likely to entice clicks from interested readers
• Optimise content so that it is more likely to be found in search engines (SEO is important)
• Make content readable, engaging, and shareable
• Think about utilising social media channels to promote content and collaborate further with the advertiser

All of the above steps take time and patience. Always check back, try new things out, and be willing to learn constantly, as this is the way to find out about new niche markets, and where you can optimise your own performance within a wide range of areas to gain those percentage points of improvement that add up to an overall improvement.

These are just some of the steps that you can take to have the best chance of success as an affiliate in the Netherlands. It is never a quick journey to mega money and stardom, but with due diligence, a hard work ethic, and creative thinking, you can be successful and make some money through affiliate marketing.