Pay per lead affiliate programs might be less popular than pay-per-sale strategies. However, this method’s more relaxed vibe is a good sign for affiliates and audiences alike.
Businesses require a steady traffic flow they can convince and turn into paying customers. That’s the whole idea about lead generation. Although companies can generate leads, a more efficient strategy is to leverage affiliates or publishers’ extensive reach in the virtual world. But which businesses have the best PPL scheme for affiliates?
Worry no more because we researched 15 of the high-paying PPL affiliate programs to boost your income this year.
Top 15 Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs: Boost Your Income Now!
ClickFunnels
Creating an effective sales funnel is every business owner’s principal goal. Unfortunately, converting casual web surfers and visitors into paying customers isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially for first-time business owners.
You can help them by introducing ClickFunnels!
This platform allows new businesses to automate their sales processes without demanding technical knowledge of web design and programming. They can build their businesses from scratch and deliver unique experiences to potential customers.
And if you can persuade your audiences to try ClickFunnels, they’ll add to the platform’s growing number of satisfied customers (over 100,000 worldwide).
So, why should you become a ClickFunnels affiliate program member?
The affiliate products are easy to promote. After all, many aspiring company owners have inadequate skills to build, operate, and manage a competitive online business. And if they pick PLR Funnels, businesses will have all the perks of a private label,
You can also encourage audiences to try the program for 14 days. They can easily opt-out if they’re not happy.
We must point out that ClickFunnels isn’t a PPL-only business. Hence, its sales-based commission is generous.
Earning several hundred dollars from ClickFunnels’ program should be a breeze.
- Commission: 30% recurring monthly commission
- Cookie Lifespan: 30 days
SEMRush
A successful online business requires excellent visibility or discoverability in the virtual world. The more internet users visit the website, the higher the chances of generating leads and converting to sales.
SEMRush is invaluable to small businesses, marketers, agencies, freelancers, and even global organizations. This SaaS company offers excellent content marketing and visibility management solutions to let your online presence soar.
Over 10 million marketers use SEMRush to perform SEO, SMM, PPC, keyword research, content marketing, competitive research, campaign management, PR, and marketing insights.
You can communicate these services to your audiences and enjoy SEMRush’s generous commission scheme.
Two hundred dollars are in store for every sale. You will also enjoy additional commissions for every trial sign up.
What’s more surprising is SEMRush’s 120-day cookie duration, 400% longer than the industry standard.
SEMRush is worth checking out if you’re a content publisher, creator, search specialist, or marketer. And you can do that today.
- Commission: $10 per trial
- Cookie Lifespan: 120 days
ShareASale
ShareASale is one of the industry’s most trusted affiliate networks, serving merchants and affiliate marketers since 2000. Its dedication to nurturing customer relationships, guiding partners (affiliates) to success, and building innovative technologies is stronger than ever with AWIN’s acquisition of ShareASale in 2017.
This network is perfect for finding high-paying PPL affiliate programs. The platform has over 25,000 brands to partner with, such as Reebok, Etsy, Minted, Nectar, Sun Basket, and AllBirds.
You will also be glad to learn that over 260 affiliates sign up with ShareASale daily, proving this platform’s popularity among online marketers.
Unfortunately, the commission varies depending on the merchant or product you promote. You might want to research the brands to pick those with generous commissions per lead.
On the bright side, you will never have issues receiving your commission because ShareASale offers several payment methods, including ACH, direct transfer, and check.
Did you know ShareASale paid $1.3 billion to affiliates last year? Imagine how much money you’ll make this year with this network.
ShareASale’s intuitive and transparent reporting, exceptional affiliate team support, and stellar user-friendly tools make this platform worth joining.
- Commission: 5% to 30%, depending on merchant
- Cookie Lifespan: 30 days
Canva
Digital creators love Canva! And why not? This platform makes designing and creating stunning creatives seem like child’s play. You can produce artistic images, GIFs, posters, videos, multimedia presentations, booklets, and more without sweat.
Imagine designing an artwork you can monetize or use in your online marketing campaigns. Add a splash of pizzazz to your website, advertising materials, digital content, and other resources without worrying about the learning curve.
That’s your messaging to audiences.
Canva has a lucrative commission scheme for successful affiliate marketers. The company offers a handsome 20% share per lead, maxing at 80%. For example, promoting Canva’s Pro Plan (for up to five people) can net you about $6 to $24 per lead. Imagine you get 100 qualified leads. That’s $600 to $2,400 for you.
Although we commend Canva’s generous commission, getting approved is a lengthy six- to eight-week wait. Most affiliate marketing programs only take three to five days to vet affiliate applications.
Still, Canva is perfect for creative affiliates and publishers wanting to score big while following their passions.
- Commission: 20% to 80% per lead
- Cookie Lifespan: 30 days
National Debt Relief
Did you know that nearly 350 million Americans have debt, 64 million of which are credit cards? And how about those with personal loans, medical bills, business debts, student loans, repossessions, credit lines, and business debts?
Surprisingly, only about 550,000 debtors know National Debt Relief. And you can change this observation by becoming an NDR affiliate.
Promoting this type of affiliate program allows audiences in debt to reduce their debt balances, requiring them to pay less. It’s a win for struggling Americans and an excellent start for your affiliate journey.
NDR offers $27.50 for every qualified debt relief quote request. (Note that NDR requires a $10,000 minimum in unsecured credit card debts for potential clients to qualify.)
But NDR doesn’t stop there. You can have an extra 12% commission from all online marketers you refer.
Audiences will never worry about NDR’s credibility because it has the backing of several reputable organizations, including the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators, Better Business Bureau, and the American Fair Credit Council.
Give NDR a shot.
- Commission: $27.50 per qualified lead
- Cookie Lifespan: 60 days
Buildium
Managing several properties isn’t an easy feat. Property accounting, lease or rent collection, maintenance request management, 1099 e-filing, and tenant screening can give property owners unnecessary headaches.
Buildium can help!
This company offers several products to make a landlord’s job more convenient. It has property-centric accounting software, rental listing syndications, online leasing capabilities, and a maintenance center to keep tenants in constant contact with property managers about their needs.
These features can make promoting Buildium to audiences easy. It’s the perfect platform for real estate bloggers to earn a commission.
Buildium partners with Impact, giving affiliates a 25% commission for every subscription. Even if your audiences only request a 14-day trial or demo, you will still get $10 per order.
Unfortunately, Impact caps the actions at 15 monthly. Hence, you’ll only bring home $150 max. We recommend persuading your audiences to subscribe to Buildium’s monthly subscriptions.
- Commission: $10 per trial and demo request, 25% per monthly subscription
- Cookie Lifespan: 60 days
CIT Bank
CIT Bank is worth affiliating with if you have an audience comprising small businesses, entrepreneurs, medium-sized companies, and personal savers looking for financially agile solutions.
It’s a trustworthy company under First Citizens BancShares, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed Top 20 American financial institution with over $100 billion value. CIT Bank is present in over 600 branches across 22 states, giving your audiences access to the institution’s unique offerings.
Promoting CIT Bank’s products is easy. You can include an affiliate link in your social media and blog posts. And if you have an email list, you can embed the marketing code.
FlexOffers handles CIT Bank’s affiliate program, although other platforms might also carry this brand. You’ll receive a generous $35 to $125 commission for every new signup (depending on the product type).
CIT Bank (through FlexOffers) pays your commission via PayPal, eCheck, physical check, local bank transfer, or wire transfers.
- Commission: $28 to $100, product dependent
- Cookie Lifespan: 30 days
QuickBooks
With a 4% to 7% conversion rate, joining QuickBooks’ affiliate program makes sense. And since the company has a solid partnership with CJ Affiliates, you will enjoy the affiliate network’s impressive marketing resources and support, including a dedicated affiliate management team to guide your campaigns.
But why should you promote QuickBooks?
This company started as a user-friendly accounting program or software empowering small businesses and enterprises to understand their organizations more clearly. It allows entrepreneurs and company leaders to grow their businesses by tracking and organizing financial information.
With over 33 million small enterprises in the US, your potential market is massive.
Unfortunately, QuickBooks only accepts affiliates within the US (at least for now). Moreover, the company expects affiliates to have a working website before signing up. We can only assume QuickBooks doesn’t allow posting on social media and other digital marketing channels.
Still, QuickBooks is worth trying.
- Commission: $5 per trial
- Cookie Lifespan: 45 days
FreshBooks
Although FreshBooks is like QuickBooks, this 2003-established Cloud-based accounting piece of software offers some perks no affiliate will want to miss.
It’s open to affiliates anywhere (except Nigeria, Pakistan, India, and a few others). You can also embed affiliate links in various online marketing channels (i.e., social media, emails, newsletters, webinars, videos, and podcasts). You can optimize your mailing list to improve your chances of bagging more commissions.
However, FreshBooks requires a website or blog as the principal promotional method, with other channels as secondary.
Becoming a FreshBooks affiliate is quick if you have an existing ShareASale account. Otherwise, vetting can take up to three days.
Once in, you can persuade audiences to try FreshBooks for 30 days without paying a dime. Don’t worry because FreshBooks gives you up to $10 for every trial signup. And if the referral loves the experience, you can get up to $200 per subscription.
Join FreshBook’s growing affiliate community today and add a few hundred small businesses to the company’s expanding network of over 30 million happy and contented users.
- Commission: Up to $10 per trial, up to $200 per subscription
- Cookie Lifespan: 120 days
Swagbucks
Here’s a credible lead generation affiliate program worth joining in 2024. It’s perfect for publishers and bloggers catering to audiences looking for home-based online money-making schemes.
Swagbucks is a platform specializing in personalized offers, allowing members to enjoy PayPal cashbacks, gift cards (i.e., Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, and Best Buy), and other perks. They only need to participate and complete market research surveys, play games, shop, or watch videos.
And get this! Members can use their smartphones or any internet-connected device to earn a quick buck.
As of this writing, Swagbucks has shelled over $560 million in donations to its members. And your audiences could be next!
Promoting Swagbucks is a cinch because it doesn’t limit the channels you can use for promotions. You can leverage email addresses in your list, post links on social media, or talk about Swagbucks in your YouTube channel or podcast.
Although its commission per lead is modest, $2.20 is generous enough, considering you don’t need referrals to buy anything.
- Commission: $2.20 per lead
- Cookie Lifespan: 30 days
Acorns
Saving and investing are two essential activities for building and growing wealth. Unfortunately, most investment programs require a large sum. What if you can do it with your spare change?
That’s the message you’ll convey to your audiences when you affiliate with Acorns.
We must point out that Acorns isn’t a bank but a micro-investing solution that members can access through their mobile devices. Over three million people use the Acorns app to help them save some spare change daily, weekly, or monthly to invest.
Acorns offers various investment programs, including Round-Ups, recurring investments, diversified portfolios, IRAs, and children’s investments.
For instance, a $100 initial deposit with $20 weekly contributions can produce $40,507 over two decades for a considerate 6% annual ROI. Not bad!
A $60 standard commission rate awaits affiliates who can refer audiences and open an account with Acorns.
That’s generous!
- Commission: $50 per initial deposit
- Cookie Lifespan: 30 days
Liberty Mutual
A trusted name in the global insurance landscape, Liberty Mutual is Number 86 on the magic Fortune list and the world’s fifth largest casualty and property insurer. It’s present in 29 countries and employs over 50,000 people.
It’s a powerhouse auto, property, business, life, identity theft, and pet insurance company, leveraging its expertise and unique product offerings to bring value to clients.
Liberty Mutual’s impressive insurance product lineup should make your affiliate adventures more worthwhile. Unfortunately, we must point out that it only accepts affiliates promoting its auto, home, and renters insurance offerings.
The good news? You don’t need audiences to secure an insurance policy to get a commission. You only require a validated quote to earn $3 for every renter insurance or $10 for auto or home insurance.
Don’t worry about your target market. The US has over 28 million automobile owners without insurance, while 12% of US homeowners don’t have property insurance.
You can reach out to these people and introduce Liberty Mutual to them.
- Commission: $3 to $10 per quote
- Cookie Lifespan: 30 days
IdentityIQ
Two in five identity theft cases are credit card fraud, costing consumers billions annually. Three in five victims suffer identity theft-related emotional distress, bumping the overall cost.
These figures underscore this market’s potential, making promoting IdentifyIQ and its offerings easy.
You can give your audiences peace of mind by introducing them to IdentityIQ’s robust credit monitoring solution. This platform features enhanced and innovative credit reporting and monitoring technologies to secure consumer identities against theft.
The company also has other solutions, including myScoreIQ (FICO monitoring), Resident-Link (rental payment reporting and monitoring), and CountryWide (prepaid legal services).
Although the PPL commission is modest at only $1 per trial, you can bet your audiences will order the full suite. Once they do, you can increase your earnings to $35 per verified sale.
More importantly, you will sleep better knowing your audiences have peace of mind about their credit.
- Commission: $1 per trial, $35 per sale
- Cookie Lifespan: 30 days
1st Class Medical
Would it surprise you to learn over 16 million Americans have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease like chronic bronchitis and emphysema? Breathing can be challenging for these individuals, making supplemental oxygen necessary for survival.
Although not all 16 million COPD patients require supplemental oxygenation, 1.5 million need breathing support. These individuals need portable oxygen concentrators to continue living with their daily activities.
You can help them by affiliating with 1st Class Medical.
We cannot tell you whether 1st Class Medical has an impressive conversion rate. However, millions of people need the company’s revolutionary portable oxygen concentrators. 1CM guarantees instant approval, zero down payment, and affordable monthly installments.
Marketing or promoting 1CM to your audiences should be easy, ensuring better conversions.
You will also leverage ShareASale’s excellent affiliate support, robust online marketing resources, and easy-to-use affiliate dashboard.
So, help someone breathe normally while enjoying life’s simple pleasures with a 1CM oxygen concentrator today.
- Commission: $20 per lead
- Cookie Lifespan: 30 days
Skillshare
Skillshare is perfect for publishers, social media influencers, podcasters, and bloggers interested in a high-paying B2C affiliate marketing program. This platform is one of the best in the educational technology market segment, delivering high-quality user-generated massive open online courses (MOOCs) to anyone with internet access.
Malcolm Ong and Michael Karnjanaprakorn founded Skillshare in November 2010 to provide a dependable platform for teachers, instructors, and anyone with something worth learning to share.
It’s an online learning community featuring over 28,000 courses and lessons created by 60,000-plus Skillshare members.
Promoting Skillshare to your audiences should be a breeze, considering four of five individuals want to learn new skills. That opens many opportunities to earn up to $67 in Skillshare commissions.
The program supports your marketing campaigns by giving you real-time performance tracking with a custom dashboard.
Moreover, Skillshare doesn’t limit your marketing avenues. You could leverage your blog, website, Facebook, Pinterest, X, and Instagram accounts. It also encourages email marketing to increase your chances of bagging more commissions.
It’s high time you sign up with Skillshare.
- Commission: Up to 40% or $67
- Cookie Lifespan: 30 days
What are Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs and How To They Work?
A pay-per-lead (PPL) affiliate program is a business strategy utilizing a third party’s (you, the affiliate) online reach and marketing abilities. Instead of the company promoting the products, affiliates are at the forefront.
They create content (i.e., product reviews, comparisons, informative articles, social media posts, how-to videos, and more) about the promoted product while embedding affiliate links in the digital content.
The company’s landing page opens when audiences click on marketing links. And if they perform any predetermined “lead-generating” action, the business credits it to the affiliate and pays the commission.
It’s like a pay-per-sale affiliate marketing scheme, except the referral doesn’t need to purchase anything for affiliate marketers to earn a commission. Of course, buying a product translates to a higher commission (in most cases) or a top-on bonus.
So, what actions must the referral make to credit a commission to an affiliate?
Although the affiliate company decides the commission-generating lead, most businesses expect referrals to perform any of the following actions.
- Filling up a lead-generation form, including the referral’s name and contact details (i.e., mobile number and email address)
- Creating or opening a member account
- Requesting consultation, demo, or quotation
- Signing up with the business for a free trial for a limited time
- Downloading an eBook, software tool, or other digital creations
- Subscribing to the company’s newsletter or email list
- Scheduling a virtual or physical meeting with the business’s representatives
While lead-generation activities don’t require referrals to buy something, affiliates must be persuasive enough in their promotional campaigns. Otherwise, online marketers and publishers can kiss goodbye to the chance of earning more.
Pros of Joining Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs
Pay-per-lead programs offer several advantages over other affiliate marketing models.
A zero purchase requirement remains a PPL strategy’s most significant strength. People are more likely to try a product or service without paying for it. And if they find the offering more than satisfactory, they can buy the product’s full version.
Hence, PPL programs don’t apply too much pressure on referrals. After all, completing a membership form or subscribing to a weekly newsletter is easier than purchasing a product or joining a monthly subscription plan (which could cost tens of dollars – money that referrals could use on other things).
The lower customer commitment requirements also favor higher lead volume generation. The more leads a company has, the more chances the business has in converting leads into sales. And that translates to higher commissions for affiliates.
Another advantage of PPL programs is you can find them across business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) market segments. That’s about three million B2Bs and 720,000-plus B2Cs in the US alone. So, the potential is there.
Lastly, most PPL programs offer commissions for sales. These platforms can help you earn more through your validated affiliate links, giving you multiple commissions.
How to Start Promoting Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs?
Promoting PPL affiliate programs isn’t different from other online marketing models. The first step requires researching the best program or network to affiliate with. You might want to consider the business’s reputation, offerings, commission scheme, and support system.
Check the PPL program’s dos and don’ts. For instance, some businesses require a working website as the sole traffic source. Hence, you cannot use social media, email marketing, and other channels.
Next, create high-quality and persuasive content about your chosen product. Work your magic in delivering a credible story, allowing audiences and followers to “feel” the need for such offerings.
You can create an unbiased and comprehensive product review or compare it with competitors. Recommend high-quality affiliate products in your website or blog, underscoring the offering’s features and benefits.
Don’t forget to add affiliate links and other promotional resources to your online marketing campaign. For example, many PPL programs provide promo banners, discount codes, and other gimmicks to entice audiences to act on the lead generation request.
Embed the links in any digital content across multiple marketing channels (provided the PPL program doesn’t prohibit them). For example, leverage Facebook Groups or Ads, LinkedIn pages, Instagram, X, Pinterest, TikTok, WhatsApp, Telegram, and other platforms.
Check the PPL program’s conditions if you can post on YouTube, publish on coupon sites, or advertise on podcasts and webinars. Email and SMS marketing remain excellent strategies for promoting PPL products and services.
Build credibility and continue engaging your audiences across marketing channels. Just because they already clicked on a marketing link doesn’t mean your job is over. Although PPL programs are less stressful to promote than PPS schemes, your goal would be to convert referrals into paying customers (not only as leads).
FAQs
- How is pay per lead different from pay per click?
A third party doing the marketing and promotional activities differentiates pay-per-lead (PPL) campaigns from pay-per-click (PPC) strategies. Businesses or entities using PPC are more involved in advertising and promotions. Meanwhile, a company employing a third party (affiliate) to do the marketing will only focus on converting leads to sales.
- How much money can I earn with pay per lead affiliate programs?
Your earning potential from pay-per-lead (PPL) affiliate programs varies across businesses, product offerings, and other factors. However, we can assume the ongoing PPL commission can range from 5% to 40% or $1 to $60 per validated lead. Affiliates must remember that PPL commissions are generally lower than sales-based commission schemes.
- How can I make money with pay per lead affiliate programs?
Making money with pay-per-lead (PPL) affiliate programs requires persuading audiences to perform a lead-generating action. You can earn a commission regardless of whether the referral purchases an offering (although selling guarantees a higher financial reward).
Conclusion
Pay-per-lead (PPL) affiliate programs offer a more convenient strategy for affiliates to monetize their online activities. Although the financial rewards aren’t as lucrative as sales-based customer actions, generating more leads can translate to more opportunities for leads-to-sales conversions. You can hope your referrals will find the experience rewarding so they will buy the product.
Like any affiliate sales and marketing strategy, PPL requires a genuine passion for helping audiences discover high-quality offerings and solutions to their daily pain points. It might be less stressful than persuading people to buy, but PPL still demands encouraging audiences to act.
