AWIN Affiliate Program Review: Is It Worth Joining?

One of the biggest pain points for affiliate marketers is keeping track of everything and making sure you actually receive the commission you’re owed. For this reason, affiliate networks are a popular option for publishers large and small. So, if you’re looking for an affiliate network to join that does everything for you, the Awin affiliate program should be at the top of your list. It’s undoubtedly the easiest way to monetize your existing content without changing every link to an affiliate link.

I’ve been using Awin for over five years now, so this review is long overdue! And in this review, I’ll walk you through how Awin works and outline the pros and cons of using this popular platform. And, if, after reading this review, you’re still unsure if Awin is the one for you, I’ll also list some popular Awin alternatives at the end.

Awin Affiliate program overview

The Awin affiliate network connects a global community of publishers with over 25,000 different affiliate programs. Publishers benefit from a hands-off approach to managing their affiliate payouts, while advertisers benefit from sustainable growth thanks to these online partnerships, which can increase engagement and help gain new customers for the brand.

It effectively acts as a middleman between publishers and brands, making it easy to find affiliate programs you can join and get paid your commissions reliably every month.

It’s incredibly easy to use, and once you’ve installed the Convert-a-link plugin, every single link on your site that is part of the AWIN affiliate program will automatically be converted to an affiliate link.

TWO ways to make money with AWIN

There are two ways to make money with the Awin affiliate program.

1. Firstly, you can join as a publisher and make money by promoting any brands in the Awin affiliate program. There are thousands of brands to choose from, so no matter your blogging niche, you can find products and services you can promote.
2. The other way to make money with the Awin affiliate program is to promote Awin itself as an affiliate partner. You can promote it to other publishers or brands who want to boost their eCommerce sales by using affiliates to help sell their products. This is great for business and money bloggers or anyone who teaches others how to make money online.

Regardless of what you want to promote, the Awin affiliate program is a great way to make money online. If you're new to affiliate marketing, it's definitely worth checking out our blog post on how to promote an affiliate link.

How the AWIN affiliate program works

The Awin affiliate program is suitable for a variety of different publisher types, including:

• Bloggers
• YouTubers
• Social media influencers
• Editorial and Media sites
• Technology partners

Firstly, you will need to sign up for Awin to gain access to the affiliate programs. The sign-up process is really easy!

You will be taken through the verification process once you’ve filled out the signup forms. This is usually a $1 online payment, which will be refunded in your first publisher payout. This shows Awin that you are who you say you are and helps ensure that only legitimate publishers can work with Awin.

You can sometimes bypass the application fee by using an Invitation Code from an existing Awin publisher.

Once you’ve signed up, you can start joining the different affiliate programs on the Awin affiliate network.

It’s easy to search and browse the different affiliate programs available from your user dashboard. Simply type a keyword into the search bar, and Awin will list the related affiliate programs. You can also sort the results to bring the programs with the highest conversion rate to the top.

WordPress users can also use the convert-a-link plugin, which automatically converts eligible links into affiliate links. This is a brilliant tool for publishers who talk about a wide variety of different products, as it means you don’t need to sign up for every individual affiliate program.

If a visitor to your site clicks on one of your links, and that product is a part of the AWIN affiliate program, AWIN will automatically sign you up for the affiliate program. You don’t need to do anything at all on your end.

Reporting and Analytics

Awin's reports will show you exactly how much money you make from each affiliate partnership.

There are several different reports to choose from, and you can view a report for the day, week, month, or year, giving you real insights into which brand partnerships are working best for you.

When you view a report, you can also dive deeper see:

• Click date
• Transaction date
• The time between click and transaction
• Click reference
• URL
• Sale Amount
• Commission

These insights will let you know which brands are making you the most money so you can double down on what's working best for you.

How much does it cost to Join the AWIN affiliate program

To join the AWIN affiliate program, you must pay a $1 signup fee. However, this will be refunded to you in your first publisher payout, so AWIN is actually free to join.

AWIN Affiliate Program Commission Rates

Each brand that is part of the AWIN affiliate program sets its own commission rates and cookie duration. You can see the commission rates if you click on the following:

Advertisers >> Programme Commission Rates

This will give you a list of all of the commission rates for the programs you are a part of in one place.

Most product-based affiliate programs sit within the 2%-10% commission range. That being said, there are some outliers, particularly for digital products and services. It’s definitely worth checking the commission rates before you start promoting one company over another.

Some brands also offer a fixed amount of commission per sale. For example, if you promote the AWIN affiliate program itself, you will get a fixed fee of $30 for every revenue-generating publisher you refer when they get their first payout.

You can also earn flat-rate commissions from things like in-person services. Boiler installation services are a great example, with some companies paying a flat fee of around $70 for every completed referral. 

You can view the commission rates of affiliate programs that you haven’t joined yet by clicking:

Advertisers >> Join Affiliate Programs 

You can search for a particular affiliate program and click on the advertisers to see more details, including the commission rate and cookie duration.

How Long Does it Take To Get Paid?

AWIN pays publishers twice a month, usually on the first or the 15th of the month.

Before AWIN can pay you, the advertiser must review and approve the transaction. Once it has been approved, it will show up in the ‘Uncleared’ on your dashboard until the advertiser has paid AWIN.

You will also notice that each advertiser has a color-coded 'payment status'.

• GREEN. The advertiser is within their credit limit, and the affiliate will be paid on time regardless of when the advertiser pays Awin. These are the best advertisers to work with!
• ORANGE. The advertiser has exceeded their payment or credit limit. This means the affiliate will only be paid their commissions once the advertiser has paid Awin. 
• RED. The advertiser has excessive credit levels or has declared bankruptcy. You should not be promoting these advertisers.

I promote advertisers with either a green or orange payment status, and I've always been paid my commissions in a reasonable amount of time.

Next to the 'Payment Status' column, you will also see the average payment time of that brand. This is the average number of days it takes for a publisher to be paid by a brand. You can use this information to help you decide which affiliate programs you want to join.

The Pros and Cons of the AWIN Affiliate Program

As with everything, the Awin global affiliate program has it's own pros and cons. It's important to consider all of these and decide if any are dealbreakers for you. Let's take a look.

Conclusion: Is the AWIN Affiliate Program Worth Your Time?

Yes! The Awin affiliate program is a must for anyone new to affiliate marketing as well as seasoned professionals.

Joining only takes about 15 minutes. After that, it pretty much takes care of itself, and you can start promoting products safely knowing that every sale will be accurately tracked and your commissions will be paid.

You won’t have to worry about manually creating affiliate links if you are a blogger or niche site owner. The convert-a-link plugin will automatically detect any eligible links on your blog and convert them for you.

AWIN Affiliate Program Alternatives Worth Considering

If you're still undecided after reading this review, you might want to try one of these Awin alternatives. You might also want to take a look at some of our best affiliate marketing tips to grow your revenue as quickly as possible,

ShareASale

Although ShareAsale is technically part of Awin, it operates as a completely separate business. The good news is that if there is a merchant you want to use that is on ShareASale but not Awin, you can join both platforms.

ShareASale is a popular alternative to Awin for bloggers and publishers who want a quick and easy way to monetize their content. With over 25,000 merchants to choose from, there’s something here for everyone.

Once you have signed up to the ShareASale affiliate program and added it to your site, ShareASale will automatically scan your site for eligible links and turn them into affiliate links.

Payouts are once a month on the 20th of the month for the previous month’s commissions. This means you will get paid your commissions from November on the 20th of December.

ShareASale is completely free to join.

CJ Affiliate

Formerly known as Commission Junction, CJ affiliate is one of the most popular affiliate networks around and is trusted by some of the world’s largest brands.

The signup process for CJ Affiliate takes a little longer than Awin, but once you’re in, you’ll find an intuitive dashboard that gives you access to everything you need to track your commissions.

It’s completely free to join, and payouts are once a month, usually on the 20th or 28th, depending on your currency.

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