Best Affiliate Programs for Designers

TL;DR

• What is an affiliate program?
• Benefits of being an affiliate
• Does affiliate marketing work for designers?
• How we picked the top affiliate programs
• Top affiliate programs
• Get started as an affiliate

What is an affiliate program?

An affiliate program is performance-based marketing where individuals or businesses, known as affiliates, promote products or services on behalf of another company. The affiliates earn a commission for each successful referral or sale they generate through their marketing efforts.

Affiliate programs benefit all parties involved. The company gains exposure and pays only for successful results, while affiliates can earn income by leveraging their marketing skills and audience.

Benefits of being an affiliate

Being an affiliate can have many benefits for designers. We listed up only a couple of the advantages and perks below.

Passive Income: Being an affiliate allows you to generate passive income by promoting relevant products or services and earning commissions on successful referrals.

Networking and Collaboration: Affiliation with reputable programs fosters connections with like-minded individuals in the design community, encouraging knowledge-sharing and collaboration.

Exclusive Benefits: Affiliates gain access to exclusive discounts, early product releases, and insider insights, enhancing their access to cutting-edge tools and industry trends.

Credibility and Authority: As you showcase your recommended products, you can bolster your credibility and authority within the design community, potentially leading to more opportunities and recognition for your work.

Does affiliate marketing work for designers?

In short, affiliate programs can work!

Affiliate programs can offer designers a fantastic opportunity to boost your income and broaden your revenue streams. Basically, they can reduce the risks associated with relying solely on client projects or a single income source.

With a large selection of readily available services, you can choose affiliate programs that align with your work - your niche as a designer, and you can promote services and products you may already be using.

However, success in affiliate marketing requires more than just joining and promoting the service. Here are some helpful tips to point you in the right direction of succeeding as an affiliate.

1. Become an expert in your niche community.

Know more about the service you are offering than the average person. People trust the experts when they have shown that they know what they are talking about. Know the ins and outs of that service.

2. Show personal experience using the service.

People will see that the service being promoted is valuable and essential when you can show multiple ways the service has helped you.

3. Have an engaged audience already.

Of course, not a prerequisite for success, but a big help would be already having an audience you regularly communicate with. This can be via e-mail marketing, social media channels, and search traffic.

For more ways to earn passive and active income, check out our other post, How to Make More Money as a Designer.

How we picked the top affiliate programs

We scoured the internet to find the five best affiliate programs for designers. We hope to help you find the best program(s) for all your affiliate program needs!

• Commission: We reviewed programs that partner with designers and offer competitive and fair commission pricing.
  
  
  
• Product Quality: Quality matters to you and us. We want the product and service we share to be something that you will resonate with, as well as something you probably already use! It is much easier to work and share a product or tool with your audience if you genuinely love it and believe in its value.
• Brand Reputation: The reputation of a brand matters. Whether that’s the more well-known or respected brand, we also included brands that resonate with our beliefs and ethics - those that our designers and consumers align with. It is easier to sell a respected brand than one that’s not!
• Payment Methods: We looked at payment methods in terms of the payment threshold (minimum and maximum) and the terms of frequency in payments.
• Discounts for Audience: Your audience matters, which is why we looked at the discounts the affiliate program offers for your users. The discounts help with gaining interest from your audience as well as keeping retention rates high.

Our top affiliate programs for designers

Adobe Affiliate Program

Adobe affiliate program for designers

Commission Rate: 8.33% - 85% Per Lead

Adobe offers a comprehensive range of design products for individuals, businesses, students and teachers, schools & universities to become affiliates.

Adobe has a 85% commission on the first monthly payment, and 8.33% for yearly subscriptions. Additionally, Adobe provides a 30-day cookie duration, allowing affiliates to earn commissions on purchases made within that time frame.

With a wide selection of design tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, Adobe enables you to cater to various niches and target audiences.

In summary, Adobe is an excellent affiliate program that offers high commissions and a good cookie duration program. Their popular design products make them a top choice for affiliate marketers promoting high-quality, sought-after services and products.

ProtoPie Affiliate Program

ProtoPie affiliate program

Commission Rate: 40% for the first payment of every referred Basic and Pro plan subscription.

ProtoPie's affiliate program is a great partnership opportunity for individuals and businesses interested in promoting ProtoPie, the powerful prototyping tool for creating interactive prototypes.

The program offers various benefits and incentives for anyone who wants to be an affiliate, and you can earn a 40% commission for the first payment of every referred Basic and Pro Plan subscription.

As an affiliate, you can access the marketing resources, Social Media Channels, Website, and Media kit to effectively promote ProtoPie to their audience.

Additionally, the program offers an exclusive 10% discount that you can share with your audience. You can request it through the contact form on the affiliate page.

Overall, ProtoPie's affiliate program offers one of the best affiliate programs for designers, where you can earn money easily when sharing ProtoPie’s services with your audience.

Canva’s Affiliate Marketing Program

Canva's affiliate program

Commission Rate: 15% Per Annual Lead, 80% Per Monthly Lead for Two Months

Canva is a widely used graphic design software suitable for beginners and advanced users. This affiliate program is geared towards Design influencers, Design educators, and those with large audiences.

What sets Canva's affiliate program apart is its attractive commission rates, depending on the plan. If a consumer signs up through the affiliate link for an annual membership, you can earn 15% for every sale.

If the user signs up for the monthly membership, you can earn an 80% commission for the first two months, which is a great deal.

Additionally, Canva provides a 30-day cookie duration, allowing you to earn commissions on any sales made through your referral link within that time frame.

Framer Partner Program

Framer partner program

Commission Rate: 50% Per Lead, Full Commission for Template Sale

Framer's partner program is a collaboration opportunity for individuals or companies interested in promoting Framer's website builder and sharing their templates to be used.

The program offers attractive benefits and rewards to its partners. Affiliates can earn commissions by referring their audience to Framer and receive a percentage of the revenue generated from those referrals at 50% for each referral. Additionally, when designers choose to make their templates paid, they keep the entire sales commission.

DesignerUp Affiliate Program

Designer Up Affiliate Program.

Commission Rate: 30% per Product (UX/UI) Design Course enrollment. No limit.

DesignerUp is an online design school that creates courses, resources, and tools to empower designers from all walks of life to learn the skills required to design impactful products, get hired, and do better work, all with a mindful approach.

As an affiliate, you can enjoy a generous affiliate commission of up to 30% on each referral, as well as access to your own dashboard with affiliate links and marketing resources to help you effectively reach and engage your audience. Best of all, there is no limit to how much you can make by promoting DesignerUp!

Help spread the power of quality, affordable design education to anyone interested in web design, brand design, graphic design, UX/UI, or product design by joining their affiliate program today!

Webflow Affiliate Program

Webflow affiliate program

Commission Rate: 50% Per Lead for 12 months

The Webflow affiliate program is an opportunity for individuals and businesses with an established 10K or more audience to partner with Webflow, a popular website-building platform.

The program is geared towards various creators: Bloggers, Educators, Web Developers, YouTubers, Media Networks, and Influencers. Affiliates can earn commissions by referring customers to Webflow and receiving 50% of the revenue for 12 months.

Additionally, the affiliate referral link has a 90-day cookie duration. Those that click on your link in that duration will be tied to your account, allowing you to make a commission.

Get started as an affiliate

Don’t wait to get started with an affiliate program! If you’re already using these design programs regularly, an affiliate program is an excellent opportunity.

The best method is to start with a service that you already know the ins and outs of. That way, your review, and recommendation will be 100% authentic to your viewers.

Hopefully, the tips mentioned above and the list of the best affiliate programs will help you earn income in many avenues.

Become a ProtoPie affiliate today!

Do you love ProtoPie and want to earn more money as an affiliate? Then sign up in just a few steps and earn a 40% commission for every customer you refer.

If you aren’t using ProtoPie yet, go ahead and try it for free.