Affiliate marketing for beginners, for people who make videos
An affiliate link is a redirect that stores your ID on someone's device. Almost everything that decides whether you get paid — the tracking window, the attribution rule, the disclosure — follows from that one fact.
8 minute read
What actually happens when someone taps your link
An affiliate link is an ordinary web address with your account ID attached. When someone taps it they do not go straight to the shop. They pass through the network's redirect, which records the click, stores your ID on that person's device or browser, and forwards them on. If they buy before that stored ID expires, the network matches the order back to you, bills the merchant, and pays you once the returns window closes. That storage period is the tracking window, and it is the single number that decides most of your income. Amazon's is famously short, but Amazon keeps its actual window and its commission rates inside the Associates account rather than in the public Operating Agreement it last updated in October 2025, so any figure you read on a third-party blog is unofficial and can change.
Last click wins, which is why the window matters
Nearly every programme pays on last click. A viewer taps your link on Tuesday, thinks about it, then hits a cashback extension or a coupon site on Thursday and buys — the coupon site was the last click, so the coupon site is paid, even though you did the persuading. That is why creator affiliate income is lumpy in a way that has very little to do with how good the video was. impact.com's 2025 benchmark report, drawn from 2,368 North American retail brands and close to a billion transactions, shows how differently partner types behave: content review partners generated 18% of clicks but only 9% of transactions, while influencers accounted for 6% of clicks and 6% of transactions. Clicks and sales are not the same currency.
Where a video creator can realistically put a link
The description works, but converts poorly, because getting there takes a deliberate tap that most viewers never make. A pinned comment does better on YouTube. A link-in-bio page adds another hop and loses people at each one. The two surfaces that genuinely convert are in-platform product tagging and email. YouTube said in March 2026 it was opening its Shopping affiliate programme to any Partner Programme channel with at least 500 subscribers, a much lower bar than before. TikTok's Seller Center puts its affiliate threshold at 1,000 followers, with anyone under 5,000 spending at least 30 days in a limited pilot. Email is the quiet winner, because the link sits inline with the sentence recommending it — which is exactly where the FTC wants your disclosure anyway.
Which programmes are worth signing up for
Four kinds are worth knowing. Amazon Associates gives you almost every physical product from one account, at low single-digit rates in most categories and with a short window: good for breadth, weak for income. In-platform shops such as TikTok Shop and YouTube Shopping skip the redirect entirely and pay whatever commission the seller has set, so rates swing enormously between listings. Networks such as impact.com, Awin, ShareASale and CJ are where individual brands run their own programmes; you apply per brand and get a real dashboard. And direct programmes run by software companies are the ones creators most often overlook, because a recurring commission on a subscription keeps paying while a one-off product sale does not. Start with things you already use and already mention unprompted.
The disclosure rule most beginner guides get wrong
This is where the average affiliate guide is simply incorrect. The FTC finalised a revised set of Endorsement Guides in June 2023, and the staff brochure Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers is blunt about video: if you make an endorsement in a video, the disclosure should be in the video, not just in the description uploaded with it. The FTC's longer FAQ goes further. A YouTube description is not enough on its own, because many people watch without ever seeing that page. A TikTok caption is small, low-contrast and competing with everything else on screen, so it is very unlikely to be clear and conspicuous. A disclosure only on your profile, only at the end, or behind a 'more' tap is likely to be missed entirely.
The words matter as much as the placement
The second half of the rule is what you actually say, and it is where link-in-bio pages fall down. The FTC states that 'affiliate link' on its own may not be adequate, because consumers might not understand it means you are paid. 'Commissionable link' gets a flat no. 'Paid link' sitting right beside the link is adequate, and so is a sentence like 'I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post'. Vague shorthand — sp, spon, collab, a bare 'thanks' or 'ambassador' — does not comply. 'Ad', 'sponsored' and 'advertisement' do. A platform's built-in paid-partnership toggle might not be enough by itself, so add your own. On a live stream, repeat the disclosure periodically for people who join halfway through.
What you can realistically earn
The honest numbers are duller than this search results page suggests. impact.com's 2025 report found average affiliate order value rose 4% to $123 while conversion rates fell 6% and transactions fell 5% year on year — more clicks, fewer sales, slightly larger baskets. At a $123 basket and a 5% rate, one sale earns you about six dollars; in Amazon's lower-paying categories it is closer to one or two. The wider context is the NeoReach and Influencer Marketing Hub Creator Earnings Report 2025, which surveyed over 3,000 creators with 1.1 billion combined followers and found 50.71% earning under $15,000 a year across everything they do, up from 48.1% in 2023. Affiliate revenue is a supplement for most people, not a salary.
Affiliate income works best as one line in a mix
Treat links as one revenue line rather than the plan. They pair well with what you already publish: a genuine recommendation inside a video you were making anyway costs nothing extra and keeps earning as the back catalogue grows. That argues for consistency and volume far more than for clever link placement. The practical constraint is usually output — you need enough clips in circulation for a six-dollar commission to add up to anything. Batching helps: one recording session, a week of clips, and the disclosure burned in as on-screen text at the moment you mention the product. FrameOS cuts long recordings into captioned clips if that is your bottleneck — 300 credits for 3 days · no card.
FAQ
Do I have to say I use affiliate links in the video itself?
Yes, if the recommendation happens in the video. The FTC's Disclosures 101 brochure says a disclosure for a video endorsement should be in the video and not just in the description uploaded with it, and its FAQ adds that a YouTube description alone is not enough because many viewers never see that page. Say it out loud and put it on screen; the description is a supplement, not the disclosure.
Is writing 'affiliate link' enough of a disclosure?
Probably not, according to the FTC — consumers may not understand that an affiliate link means you are paid. 'Commissionable link' is explicitly not adequate. 'Paid link' placed right next to the link is, and so is a plain sentence such as 'I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post'. Put it beside the link, never buried in a block of hashtags.
How long does an affiliate cookie last?
It depends entirely on the programme, from a single day to a month or more. Amazon keeps its tracking window and its commission rates in the Commission Income Statement inside your Associates account rather than in the public Operating Agreement, so the figures quoted on third-party blogs are unofficial and can change without notice. Read the terms in your own dashboard instead.
How much do beginner affiliate creators actually earn?
Less than most guides imply. impact.com's 2025 benchmark put average affiliate order value at $123 with conversion rates down 6% year on year, so a typical sale pays a few dollars. The NeoReach and Influencer Marketing Hub Creator Earnings Report 2025 found more than half of creators earning under $15,000 a year across all their income streams combined.
Sources
- Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers · Federal Trade Commission
- FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking · Federal Trade Commission
- Affiliate Benchmark 2025: Fewer Buys, Higher Order Value · impact.com
- Creator Earnings Report 2025 · NeoReach and Influencer Marketing Hub
- Expanding YouTube Shopping to creators with 500+ subscribers · YouTube
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