If you ask for a credible source of high-quality content, most people would think of Medium.
This content-based platform is dedicated to global authors who want to promote themselves through compelling stories and even make money on Medium.
How so?
As readers access your publications and find them intriguing enough, they are more likely to complete your incorporated call-to-actions.
Those doing affiliate marketing on Medium take this opportunity to gain audience trust and encourage them to purchase via affiliate links.
You will find out how to turn interested users into eager shoppers right here in this article.
Affiliate Marketing on Medium: Success-proven Tips for Success
Balance quality content with promotion
Medium has a specific audience that enjoys reading valuable content like thought pieces and stories.
So, is it a good idea to throw them a series of Amazon affiliate links from your very first publications?
If you want to build a strong relationship with your Medium readers, keep in mind to become an engaging storyteller first. That way, you will not shy people away from reading your content.
The best way to start affiliate marketing on Medium is to research how successful affiliate marketers in your niche approach audiences. Write thoughtful pieces on the platform and look for their reactions like “clapping” and “responding” to these posts.
This means people are interested in your publications. You can now consider republishing affiliate articles with tracking URLs from your website to Medium and measure the results.
Keeping track of your results is quite important, though. They give you insights on audience response to decide whether to continue republishing or create new stories.
Tips on making your Medium content look good:
- Titles and subtitles: Create a big-sized and compelling title, then add a subtitle to begin your story.
- Text formatting: Choose which letter or sentence to bold, italic, or underline for highlight. You can also make it a heading, subheading, quote, or drop cap.
- Add creatives: Make your post more visually engaging by adding images, videos, or previews from another site.
- Use external tools: Helpful online writing tools like Grammarly or Hemingway App can leverage your writing skills.
Engage audience for lasting relationships
Check out what other users are writing about on Medium.
More than just reading their publications, you should form a habit of interacting with many users and their stories every day.
For instance, look for 3-5 writers in your industry with insightful articles, read them, and respond to those you find interesting. Comment your personal points of view with these stories, and think about sharing them on your social media.
Why?
This helps you provide fresh content for your target audiences and expose well-deserved Medium profiles. That way, you can create a win-win situation where other writers are happy to share your publications on their social channels.
Plus, imagine how that little gesture helps you build a powerful network of fellow writers and loyal followers.
Extra note on the 4 main types of Medium audiences to focus on:
- Self-publishing: Post stories to your current followers on the platform.
- Publications: These are shared spaces on Medium for various stories written by different authors around a common topic. Having your articles posted in a publication boosts its views.
- External distribution: This network values high-quality content. If your stories are compelling, it might recommend them to more audiences.
- Search engines: These tools, such as Google, rank your stories and allow anyone using search engines to read them. This is the broadest audience since it covers the entire Internet.
Align partner program with goals
A part of affiliate marketing on Medium involves joining its Partner Program. The program is built to reward your most original and meaningful stories on the platform.
Besides the public story mode, where anyone can read your content, the Partner Program offers a better solution to monetize your publications.
Member-only stories require readers to subscribe to view the entire article (along with included affiliate links) instead of a sneak peek. This technique is known as “paywall,” restricting content access to a specific group that pays to read.
But wait, doesn’t that mean fewer people will see your Medium posts?
It is true that paywalling limits your number of audiences, but those willing to spend money for content are the real decision-makers. They are the high-quality traffic that will likely click on your affiliate links in these stories and purchase a product/service.
Ask yourself, would you rather have 40 viewers with only 2 to 3 customers buying from your referral URLs or 8 secure slots that will definitely convert into sales?
Remember – what matters most when using this platform for affiliate marketing is your affiliate sales. Content creation, interactions, and views are merely boosters to help you achieve this goal.
Not to mention the usual distribution bonus for Medium authors from this program. Becoming their partner can bring you a lot more benefits than affiliate marketing alone.
Craft Medium strategy for inbound marketing
Those using Medium for affiliate marketing must keep this in mind: This platform is not the perfect place to make plenty of commission sales.
But that does not mean you cannot utilize this channel for your affiliate marketing business. Each marketing channel is profitable if assigned to the right stages in a sales funnel. This lets you drive traffic interested in your affiliate products and ready to buy.
Example of an engaging outro with affiliate links on Medium
Following this model, you can put Medium in the Prospecting and Qualification stages.
As suggested, publish your stories and republish old content to attract more audiences. From there, decide how to bring potential customers down to this sales funnel and get them to click on your links.
Another tip: Encourage readers to follow and subscribe to your profile so that your articles go straight to their dashboards.
What is more – you can create landing pages on your own website for each promoted product on Medium. When people click on your affiliate links in Medium articles, they will be redirected to these landing pages to sign up and learn more.
Landing pages are also effective in moving your readers from this publishing network to your site, where you have full control of posted content.
After followers subscribe, put them into an email marketing list and send them regular emails about your affiliate product promotion. Doing this lets you segment customers based on their interests, resulting in a higher conversion rate and more sales!
What is Medium?
So, what kind of network is Medium?
It is a reputable online publishing platform made for 2 reasons: publishing and reading high-quality content.
It unites different types of authors, including professionals, amateur writers, and content enthusiasts, to join provocative discussions for diverse viewpoints on multiple topics.
Like WordPress.com, you only need to sign up for an account here; everything is ready. After signing up on the platform, you can upload content right away without worrying about technical issues – they are all taken care of and made convenient for your use.
Audiences will react and comment on your stories by “clapping” and “responding.” You can also read posts from other users you follow and the recommended content on the dashboard based on your interest.
Most users are impressed by how this platform makes it hassle-free to write and publish. Thus, doing affiliate marketing on Medium is an excellent opportunity to reach a broad audience worldwide.
Rather than promoting products or services, what you should focus on in building a Medium profile is long-lasting relationships with your content. And through that stable connection, it is easier for customers to trust your suggestions and convert them into sales.
Why Should You Do Affiliate Marketing on Medium?
Since this channel ranks in the world’s top 300 most visited websites, affiliate marketing on Medium can help you tap into exciting chances.
High credibility
If you want customers to make a purchase after reading your content, you need to establish a high level of credibility. People trust credible authors with trustworthy articles, and Medium specifically ensures that.
Ready-to-use platform
Medium is a robust built-in space with everything you need in store. You can complete all the customization and formatting right here, as well as revise its analytics to track and improve your performance.
Huge audience
For a 10-year-old platform like this, having 100+ million monthly active users is impressive. That means your Medium posts can potentially reach a lot of people and gain you thousands of followers.
Earn a passive income
When a reader clicks on your affiliate links and buys a product, you will earn a commission from your brand partner. By adding these URLs to your Medium blog posts, you get a chance to make money online.
Networking and experience
Affiliate marketers can find other authors, industry experts, and influencers to network on Medium. Your published stories and experience work as your “profile picture” to share with others.
How to Start Affiliate Marketing on Medium?
Affiliate marketing on Medium sounds like exciting work, right?
Besides joining its affiliate program for partners and making money from content distribution, you can also monetize your profile by working with third-party brands.
Eager to give this network a go?
Follow our hassle-free instructions and tips on using Medium for affiliate marketing in the easiest way possible.
Create a Medium account
Head over to the Medium website. Sign up for an account with your email address.
Fill in your full name and select among various interests. This lets the platform know which topic captures your attention.
From there, it will filter relevant content to show on your dashboard. You can choose to read articles related to your niche to see how the well-performing ones do and succeed.
Find and join affiliate programs
This step is separated from Medium but still necessary work.
Since you are an affiliate marketer producing content on this network, you must partner with a third-party brand to promote their products or services.
So, you need to collaborate with another business and join their affiliate program. Choose a niche that is either of your liking or you find profitable.
Most affiliate programs on the market are free to register. You may have to wait a few days to get their approval.
Receive your unique links
Once enrolled in an affiliate program, the brand will assign you unique tracking links.
Then, you will place these URLs into reasonable places in your Medium content. Try to incorporate them in a reader-friendly and not too salesy way.
Quick reminder again (in case you forgot): do not jump into affiliate promotion in your very first posts. Building quality content is essential in developing audience trust.
Add affiliate links to Medium articles
Visit your Medium page > click the Write button to begin making content.
After creating engaging stories, it is time to get your affiliate links on Medium. Insert these URLs into your posts, and readers who click on them will be redirected to your partner brand’s page.
Important note!
A serious thing to remember when doing affiliate marketing on Medium is the affiliate disclosure. You can produce as much content as possible, but the platform has specific restrictions regarding affiliate link promotion on published stories.
According to Medium regulations, users are allowed to include affiliate links in their publications. However, you must disclose somewhere in this post that it includes such URLs.
Fairly speaking, it is not the online channel requesting this. Most affiliate programs ask publishers to inform the audience about links in their content.
It can become a setback for some marketers, though. As people visit this website for authentic stories and ideas sharing, advertising affiliate links in your posts makes them less trusting.
Not to mention that some readers may assume you upload content just to earn commission sales from those affiliate links. It may not be true, but hard to avoid.
In general, there is nothing wrong with promoting affiliate links on Medium. You should balance between promotional content with such links and valuable stories to reach the target audience.
Pros Vs Cons of Doing Affiliate Marketing on Medium?
There are 2 sides to running a business on different platforms, and so does affiliate marketing on Medium. Find out these pros and cons right now!
| Upsides | Disadvantages |
| Easy to use with multiple integrations | The platform owns your content |
| Diverse ways for monetization | Limitations in scaling your business |
| Vast audience base | Affiliate marketing restrictions |
No one can disagree with the fact that Medium is a user-friendly platform. It literally has everything in store, allowing users to sign up and start writing in a couple of minutes.
Aside from affiliate marketing, you can also earn money from Medium readers via its partner program. It pays according to reading time, so if an audience reads your stories, you get a part of their monthly membership fee.
A story view is worth around $0.01-0.02, depending on the reading time and other factors.
Undoubtedly, this is a popular blogging space that attracts over 100 monthly visitors. Not only can you post stories personally on your profile, but you can also get them a slot in relevant publications for better exposure.
In terms of the downsides, first, remember that Medium is a business. If you produce and publish content on this platform, it belongs to them.
It does not require writers to be frequently active, but what you write here helps grow their brand and reputation – not your own.
Moreover, Medium can make sudden changes to the algorithms and rules without notifying users. This means even your successful work is one of their sub-businesses.
As mentioned above, Medium requiring authors to disclose affiliate links in their publications might be an issue for some. They are certainly not a fan of external URLs as the company will not earn any profit from your affiliate efforts.
Beginner-friendly Advices for Newbies With Medium’s Affiliate Marketing
Now that you understand how to get started on this platform.
Check out some of our advice for newbies in affiliate marketing on Medium to get the most out of your blog content:
Write as much as possible
Produce well-performing articles and maintain a regular posting schedule.
Try to upload at least one story a day. This gives audiences the impression that your Medium profile is up-to-date and reliable.
Furthermore, frequent writing will help improve your technique for better content quality over time.
Everyone has to start at some point, so do not hesitate to practice. The more you write, the more you grow and gain experience.
Make every word count and deliver clear messages through each post.
Post on different publications
Besides posting on your own profile, you should aim to get your stories in relevant publications. There are numerous publications on diverse niches available on Medium.
Publications are good for exposing your content to a lot more audiences. It is often ten or hundreds of times more than your readers.
They also let you know what is working well and what is not. If you cannot find a publication on your topic, you should choose a more popular niche on the platform.
Use tags
Which 5 words will you use to describe your story on Medium?
The network allows you to add 5 tags as “relevant keywords” to your articles. That way, interested users can rely on these keywords to find your content.
Before hitting Publishing to upload your publications, you can apply these tags.
Make sure they match your content. Avoid being tempted to throw in popular but irrelevant tags.
Engage with other writers
As a beginner on this channel, you should invest time and effort to become a solid part of the community. This means actively interacting with other authors to leave a footprint in your respective niche.
Clap your favorite stories and leave comments on different writers’ publications. Answers comments on your own posts.
You will be able to network with helpful people who can contribute to your affiliate marketing success here. Do not hesitate to be open and engage with other users.
Promote on social media
So, it is mainly about affiliate marketing on Medium, but you can always share your stories on other social platforms.
This gives you a good headstart, provided you have a decent following on Facebook or Twitter. But it is not the final result to strive for.
In the end, your key to success is high-quality content. When your articles are top-notch, the Medium algorithms and users will favor you.
Accessible for mobile users
No one wants to read a wall of text on social media, especially when using smartphones. A vast group of Medium users is on mobile.
Most newbies make a mistake trying to write their hearts out. What they produce is mostly lengthy, with too much unnecessary information.
Break your chapters into smaller and shorter paragraphs. Take note of this common problem when producing content on online networks in general.
Do not torture your audience with full-screen text.
Ask friends for review
In case you are not that confident in posting regularly, why not ask for a little help?
This is especially important if you are self-publishing. Ask a family member or a friend to view your stories as random readers.
From there, they can point out your strengths, weaknesses, and where to improve. It does not cost you anything, so take this approach for thoughtful reviews and comments.
Alternative Platforms to Medium for Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing on Medium is indeed full of potential, but are there any reputable alternatives to this platform?
If you want to diversify your sources for more experience, our top choices are:
WordPress
WordPress literally sets the standard for a blogging platform. We bet finding one blogger who has never heard of this website is difficult.
There are countless options available for customization here, such as display themes and fonts. You can build a personalized space to share your affiliate marketing stories, success, and tips with a global audience.
LinkedIn articles
More than just a network for job seekers, LinkedIn is a reliable space for networking and sharing experiences. Publishers can find and connect with various profiles, from fresh starters to industry experts, via this platform.
It is also simple to post activity stories and professional articles here. Likewise, you can read and interact with posts from following users.
Affilorama Blog
If you are looking for a similar community-driven channel like Medium, Affilorama Blog is a good choice.
It is specifically dedicated to the growth of global affiliate marketing, allowing marketers to share their stories in this industry easily. You will be able to interact with a passionate, like-minded audience.
Substack
Feel like short social content is not your style?
Substack is a user-friendly publishing system that lets writers send digital newsletters directly to subscribers.
It enables a wide range of platforms for publication, such as email, the web, and the Substack app. That way, your newsletters always reach existing audiences and also new readers.
Blogger by Google
Although not as popular as other Google services, you should give Blogger a try.
Most platforms require you to run a website for blogging, but that is not necessarily the case with this one.
It allows customization based on affiliate marketing needs, so you can easily share your insights without building an entire landing page.
FAQs
How can I use affiliate links on Medium?
Marketers are allowed to do affiliate marketing on Medium under the condition that they follow its strict rules on affiliate link disclosure.
If you want to include an affiliate link in your stories, make sure you explicitly disclose this partnership with your readers to avoid violating Medium’s guidelines.
How to make sure your article ranks on Medium?
In order to increase your Medium post visibility on this platform, follow these tips to help them reach higher ranks.
Select a catchy title, write an appealing introduction, clear and concise paragraphs, add images and other medias, then you are good to go with a powerful call-to-action.
Conclusion
It is not so challenging to do affiliate marketing on Medium, right?
Since this is purely a publishing platform, affiliate marketers should focus on producing top-quality content before trying to sell a product or service. Once you gain enough audience interest and trust, they will find it easier to purchase based on your suggestions.
Apart from posting your own stories regularly, make sure to check out and interact with other authors. A like-minded community is the best support you will ever need in online spaces like this.
In case you want to try similar platforms, we have included fantastic alternatives, too.
