Affiliate marketing pays you commission on tracked sales: you recommend a product, your link or code records who bought, and a percentage lands with you. It's the one monetisation rail with no threshold at all, which makes it most small accounts' first real income.
A tagged link or a discount code ties each sale to you. Programmes (Amazon's, brand-direct, or network-brokered) define the percentage and the payout schedule.
The tracking is the whole business: no link, no credit. Which is why affiliate creators guard their bio link real estate and put codes in every caption and pinned comment.
Commissions pay on CONVERSION, not reach. A 3,000-follower account whose niche trusts its picks out-earns a 300,000-follower account people scroll past.
That inverts the usual growth maths: for affiliate income, engagement quality is the revenue driver and the follower count is just the funnel's top. Review, tutorial and comparison content is the natural home, because the link extends the content instead of interrupting it.
Zero, formally: programmes like Amazon's accept small accounts. Income tracks audience trust, so it grows with your niche authority rather than your count.
Programme-defined percentages, from a few percent on big-brand goods to much more on digital products. High-trust niches with expensive products earn the serious money.
Yes, in most markets: disclosure rules cover commissions like any paid promotion. A simple note satisfies both regulators and audiences.
Related terms
Every definition lives in the full glossary, and the services behind the vocabulary are on the services page.