Which is the Best Social Media Platform for Affiliate Marketing?

As an affiliate marketer, you’ve got to maximize your time and expand your reach. To grow your audience, the best thing to do is choose the right platform. Ideally, you will be able to create content that can be used across multiple platforms. But still, you won’t be able to put every post on every website. So how do you know which is best for you?

Here’s a caveat: it does depend a lot on your content! For example, gamers should make sure they are on Twitch because of its specialty in live streaming, and beauty gurus will probably want a TikTok to quickly show off an attractive look. Consider these nuances in light of your own area of expertise as you read on!

Let’s start with a platform that’s a bit out of left field, but is quickly growing its social media capabilities. You know it, I know it, let’s say it together: Amazon. It’s a monopoly for all things commercial doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. 

For physical products, there is no better place to stake your claim than with Amazon. Amazon’s Affiliate program has always been a powerhouse, but it is morphing into a social media platform in its own right. You will have noticed recently that Amazon has turned to its “Amazon Influencer” program which promotes content creators everywhere on its site, from the home page to individual product pages. If you don’t already have an Amazon storefront, you’ll probably want to set that up ASAP. 

There are so many affiliate sites that you can choose from, but the ease of having such a huge audience that already has Prime can be priceless. If you’re a Shared Vision user, this is also an amazing site to take advantage of everything our tool has to offer. We recognize the ubiquity of Amazon and will always integrate it flawlessly with our features. 

However, the one downside to Amazon is that its commission rates are generally very low, although some categories might be exceptions. If you find that you have a very niche audience where particular brands can provide you with higher commissions on your products, you might want to put more of your time curating those links.

YouTube is another heavy hitter when it comes to social media. Sure, a static picture on Instagram or even a quick video on TikTok take less time, which can lead to more content, but less isn’t necessarily more. 

At Shared Vision, we recognize quality over quantity, and that is what YouTube provides. If you want to build a relationship with your audience, it’s worth it to spend the extra effort for a well-curated, deep dive, long-form video on YouTube.

If you can create a treasure trove of information that people can spend time digging into and discovering products they want, you’re definitely going to want to keep a YouTube channel up to date. Another bonus is that if you create a YouTube video on a certain question or type of product, you can quickly have that video on hand to send the link to further build that connection. 

Unfortunately, along with the harder work to create a long-form video, there’s also an obstacle to monetize your channel: YouTube has to accept you into their Partner Program. To do this you must have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of content watched per year, along with other strict content rules that may or may not work for your brand. Also, Google (YouTube’s owner) will not let you choose what type of ads will show in your videos, which might not be clear to your audience.

With all the flashy social media platforms out there now, you might think having a blog is so 2009. 

You would be wrong. 

Your own website might not be its own social media platform, but links to it can still be shared across the internet, not only on social media, but also in Google searches. Once someone lands on your website or blog, you have complete control over that content. You can make it as professional as possible, and organize it in a way that they will always see your most important content and products right up front. You’ll be able to go into even deeper dives than on YouTube, and offer the content in a multitude of ways, from the written word, to PDFs, to videos. 

You have total control here, can archive your content so it’s easy to find, and give your audience your truest self. Make sure to use Shared Vision’s embedded shopping lists to generate sales, too!

TikTok is great for its viral potential and engagement that constantly puts your video in front of new potential followers. You can quickly rack up an audience with little effort, which isn’t anything to laugh at! Plus, with almost 2 billion users, it’s not just teens and tweens that are doom scrolling their feeds.
Even so, this platform might not be the best for everyone. The low video upload quality and quick form content in general will lead to a less professional brand, and there are a lot fewer ways to monetize. For example, a May 2023 article from AdAge claims that in a survey, YouTube creators claimed to earn $500 per month on average, while TikTokers only claimed 40% of that.

While Instagram doesn’t have the deep-dive capabilities of YouTube, it does combine the shopper-friendly tools (according to Shopify, 44% of Instagram users shop weekly) of YouTube with the endless-scroll accessibility of TikTok. The set up of an Instagram post allows for links that aren’t necessarily as user-friendly on TikTok, or a TV-YouTube watcher. 

Instagram easily integrates with Facebook thanks to its shared owner Meta, which means you can basically double the platform which minimal effort. We would be remiss not to mention Instagram’s hashtag game, which is #fire and exposes your posts to an audience who are specifically looking for that topic without relying on the mysterious algorithm to put your content in front of them. Finally, the ability to post either a higher-effort video or a lower-effort photo gives this platform great flexibility.

Unlike the other points in this list, you’ve probably seen a lot of articles saying, “Is Pinterest affiliate marketing even worth it?” Well, that depends. Let’s start with the negatives: Pinterest has a smaller audience than everything else on this list, it uses its own search algorithm so you’ll need to do separate SEO, and it can be very expensive to advertise on.

With that being said, depending on the type of products you are marketing, the downsides of Pinterest can actually be a plus. Pinterest is excellent for recipes, fashion, and home décor, so if these especially visual areas are part of your affiliate marketing plan, you might want to consider Pinterest posts in your social media line up.

These are only the biggest social media platforms available to you, but keep in mind that you should always customize your strategies to your own content.
Remember that as an affiliate marketer, Shared Vision’s data analytics, shopping carts, and broken link fixing can give your content a boost across all of these platforms. If you haven’t already, you can sign up now by clicking here.