If you ever thought about joining the affiliate marketing business, you might have asked yourself the question of how to choose your niche for affiliate marketing.
This is one of the first decisions you need to make when starting and therefore it’s important to understand what you should consider when picking your niche.
What is a niche?
A niche, or more specifically a niche market, is a segment of a market and focuses on a specific product and audience.
Let’s take an example. In the market for pet food there can be different niches. Niche A could be dog food, niche B cat food and niche C could be bird food, etc. These examples are still very broad and can have several products and audiences.
Each of these niches can be further narrowed down. Taking the example of dog food, it could be further limited to dog food for puppies and even more specific to hypoallergenic dog food for puppies.
You see, we just narrowed down a fairly broad niche (dog food) to a very specific and targeted niche (hypoallergenic dog food for puppies)
Why do I need to pick a niche for affiliate marketing?
You might wonder why you need a niche for affiliate marketing and why you should not just try to be an affiliate for whatever product out there.
Well, the answer is the following..
The goal of affiliate marketing is that someone clicks on your affiliate link, e.g. in a review or blog post about some 3rd party’s product, which should then result in a purchase. Since the acquisition was done via your affiliate link, you will receive a commission.
In order to get as many clicks on your affiliate links as possible, your reviews or blog posts or affiliate marketing campaigns need to be visible for as many interested people as possible. One way to achieve this is by ranking in google’s search engine on page #1 for specific keywords.
The thing is that our friend Google only shows relevant and trustworthy websites on their first page. That means you need to be a trusted expert for the specific products you advertise.
Being an expert in a specific niche makes it easier to be successful in affiliate marketing.
That being said, it doesn’t mean that you have to be an expert in a specific niche right away. Rather, you need to become an authority in your chosen area.
In order to achieve this, you need to invest a lot of time reading and writing about the specific topics and products.
How do I know which affiliate marketing niche is the right one for me?
If you followed what I wrote above, then you might wonder how you could possibly make a decision about which niche to pick for your affiliate marketing efforts. I saw many people struggling with this question and even deciding not to start to be an affiliate, because they could not come up with a good and profitable niche.
Let me tell you right away something..
Don’t go for the most profitable niche just because it sounds like making a lot of money.
Instead, choose a niche about something that you are already interested in.
Yes, you read right. Believe me, you will do yourself a big favor picking a field that you feel genuinely interested in.
Here are the reasons why:
- You will need to research A LOT about products, news, articles, etc.
- You will need to write A LOT of blog posts, articles, reviews, etc.
- You will need to invest a A LOT of time and efforts in your specific niche.
Now, imagine you choose the most profitable affiliate marketing niche that is out there, but it just is the most boring topic you can think of. Every blog post you will write is a torture, every article you read makes you want to quit right away. Sounds good? NO, obviously not..
Therefore, pick a topic that you already like. You don’t even have to be an expert in the field or know everything. You just need to be interested and willing to invest a lot of time in it.
Ask yourself the following question:
- Am I willing to write a lot of blog posts about [MY NICHE] in the upcoming months/years?
- Am I willing to review a lot of products in [MY NICHE]?
If you answered the above mentioned questions with a yes, then you can be happy – you might have found the perfect niche. If you answered with a no, then it might be worth it to check out some other alternatives first.
How do I know if my niche is profitable?
Don’t worry too much about this. Almost every niche can be profitable, because there are thousands of products than can be advertised via affiliate marketing.
Every niche can potentially bring you a constant and passive income. Therefore, rather focus on something you are willing to invest a lot of time and efforts into, without worrying too much if you can actually earn money with it.
What if I don’t know which affiliate marketing niche to pick?
That can happen. Don’t worry, you are not the first one and for sure you won’t be the last one that doesn’t know which affiliate marketing niche to pick.
If you are really stuck and you have no idea what field you want to go for, then you can try other alternatives.
There are a lot of affiliate marketing trainings out there, that can…
- …give you further ideas and methods on how to come up with niche ideas
- …offer their own affiliate programs. In this case, you would start in the niche for affiliate marketing or how to make money online and promote a specific affiliate program based on tutorials and trainings you receive.
The niches can be often a bit more competitive, but there are great trainings out there that teach you step-by-step what to do.
If you are totally stuck with your niche ideas, then I recommend that you check out Wealthy Affiliate and their affiliate bootcamp. You can join for free to get a first glimpse and if you like it you have the chance to upgrade to a premium membership to have access to all features.
So, that’s it for today. I hope that this article can help you finding the perfect niche for you.
Leave a comment below and let us know if you struggle with ideas, or if you maybe already found your perfect affiliate marketing niche.
Cheers,
Dominik
Great way to raise interest in your blog. You start by advising people on how to choose a niche for their affiliate marketing program. I am willing to bet that a lot of people, even those working as an affiliate marketer did not realize what was a niche. I just learned myself recently what that is. Choosing a niche is fun, and the idea you emitted, to size it down to a small niche for more popularity makes sense. This is a professional method for introducing new affiliate marketers to the business since once they have chosen their niche, they will be able to arrive faster at the goals they set out for themselves.
Hi Joss,
thank you for your comment. I am glad that you found my post interesting and useful.
Cheers,
Dominik