An introduction to high ticket affiliate marketing

All affiliate marketing centres around driving traffic to advertisers to encourage clicks and sales on a wide range of products. What sets high ticket affiliate marketing apart is the focus on products from significantly higher price ranges - sometimes reaching into five figures. Publishers keen to increase the commissions they receive for each successful conversion should read on to find out high ticket affiliate marketing.

What is high ticket affiliate marketing? 

High ticket affiliate marketing is a type of affiliate programme that has large commissions attached. While there is no defined price point at which a product officially becomes high ticket, commissions that provide over £100 per sale can generally be considered in this category. Certain affiliate marketers (publishers) use this technique to earn more profits on fewer sales - focusing on more expensive products or services which therefore generate higher commissions per sale. 

Lower ticket items tend to provide the basis for traditional affiliate marketing. Products with lower price tags result in lower commission amounts, which means you need to make a significant number of sales to form a lucrative business. High ticket affiliate marketing allows you to focus on a few key sales, rather than many small ones.

Popular high ticket affiliate marketing products and niches

• Tech e.g; software and web hosting
• Insurance e.g; car, pet home or life insurance
• Home security e.g; security cameras, smart locks
• Finance and trading e.g. cryptocurrency tools, loan and mortgage services and stock trading.
• Personal care e.g; mental health and therapy
• Education e.g; online training courses, language classes
• Luxury items e.g; jewellery, electronics

How hard is high ticket affiliate marketing?

While high ticket affiliate marketing can make more money per sale than regular affiliate marketing, the number of sales is typically lower and high ticket affiliate programs are much more competitive, demanding additional time and focus dedicated towards securing sales and creating high-quality content.

Effective high ticket sales also demand a deeper knowledge of the product's niche, requiring a more detailed and reactive content strategy to adapt to market changes and ensure consistent engagement with the target audience.

For those switching to high ticket from other types of affiliate marketing may initially struggle to adapt to the cadence, which can be daunting and make upscaling difficult to judge in the initial months, however there are plenty of tools, like affiliate plugins for wordpress, that can be invaluable to help you make the transition and take your programs to the next level.

How to get into high ticket affiliate marketing

Establish a niche & do market research

When you’re first starting out as an affiliate marketer, you must build an audience with specific interests and develop rapport. This will enable you to tailor your affiliate campaign to that niche. To be successful – particularly with high ticket programmes – you need to demonstrate trustworthiness, expertise, and authority in one area.

Build authority and trust for your site

To secure the sale of high value products, it is vital that your site demonstrates that it is trustworthy and that your recommendations will be honest. This can be done by following Google’s E-E-A-T guidance (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trust) to assess the quality of your content.

Begin with an ‘About’ page to show off your knowledge and expertise in the niches your site operates in. Talk about your relevant personal experience and support this with videos and other related informational content across your site. This demonstrates that you are genuine and there is expertise and authority behind your recommendations.

Securing backlinks from authoritative sources, such as national newspapers and industry-specific sites, is another effective method of signalling that your site is a trusted source for information in your niche.

Choose programmes you believe in

Once you’ve established your niche, it’s time to start reviewing and promoting products and services that fall into it. Pick your high ticket programmes with care. Choose ones that you truly believe in, study the market and research the seller. For the campaign to be worth your time and energy, you need confidence that it will be profitable in the long run. To get this, you need to believe that the product or service you’re vouching for will provide value for your audience and be able to communicate this to them effectively.

With Awin’s Advertiser Directory, you can easily explore the profiles of every advertiser you’re interested in on the network. If you don’t have an advertiser in mind, you can just browse businesses by industry until you find the right match for you. By looking through an advertiser’s merchant profile you can quickly find and compare commission rates, allowing you to identify high ticket affiliate programmes with ease and start promoting the brands you love.

Test different marketing strategies

When it comes to high ticket affiliate marketing, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. You’ll need to be creative and find what works best for you, your audience, and the product or service you’re promoting. Test a variety of marketing strategies and stay on top of current trends to remain competitive. Many advertisers provide a range of promotional content such as banner ads to help you get started. There are also often dedicated affiliate support teams on hand who can help you refine your approach. Working closely with the brand you’re promoting and doing your best to foster a spirit of partnership will only make you a more successful affiliate partner in the long run. 

• Use video to reach audiences across platforms & show products in action
• Focus higher up the sales funnel (Awareness and Research, not just targeting those that are ready to buy immediately)
• Email marketing
• Honesty about products to build trust
• Avoid poor quality products

Example high ticket affiliate marketing programmes

From health and fitness to business, marketing and entrepreneurship, there are high ticket affiliate programmes for almost every industry. Top Villas UK, BetterLegal, and Avid Webmasters are just a few examples of lucrative high ticket affiliate programmes you can find through Awin and ShareASale. Let’s have a look at a few of them in a bit more detail and see some of the rewards these companies are offering for bringing in new business.

Top Villas UK

As one of the world’s leading luxury villa rental companies, it comes as no surprise that commissions from Top Villas UK would be classified in the high ticket range. Top Villas provides users with a host of great options to choose from, offering luxury villas, condos and townhouses in North America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. With an average order value of £6,400 and earnings starting at 3% per booking, publishers promoting this programme can earn hundreds of pounds for each order they secure. Affiliates with an audience keen on travelling that is willing to treat themselves could earn high commissions by promoting this brand.

Beaches Resorts

Those interested in villa rentals may also want to explore the luxury all-inclusive packages offered by the award-winning Beaches Resorts. With rooms and suites suitable for families, couples and friends – Beaches resolves to be the perfect holiday solution for anyone hoping to visit the Caribbean. Commission rates start at 4% and coupled with average order values of £8,000, publishers will find themselves well compensated for their work. On top of this, Beaches’ affiliates are eligible for performance bonuses and have the chance to win free trips for themselves. The company’s in-house marketing team will assist partners with any questions they may have and with instant access to a library containing thousands of enticing banner ads, publishers will have everything they need to hit the ground running.

Constance Hotels

With hotels and resorts in Mauritius, the Maldives, Seychelles, and Madagascar, Constance Hotels will be well received by anyone considering a luxury break in the Indian Ocean. Their high ticket affiliate programme has a dedicated account manager, giving their partners every chance to succeed – and, with a 6% commission rate, they are well rewarded when they do. Constance Hotels puts an emphasis on providing experiences for its clients. If your audience is made up of people who enjoy the finer things in life they are sure to enjoy the fine dining, diving, leisure, and spa activities Constance Hotels provides.

Equinox+ (US)

Equinox+ gives its users access to live and on demand exercise bike classes via the Equinox+ mobile app and the award winning SoulCycle at home bike. With a 21.5 '' inch touchscreen and surround sound speakers, the SoulCycle takes the immersive, high intensity experience of a gym class and places it directly into its users’ homes. Equinox’s affiliates are tasked with driving users to their website to purchase the SoulCycle which is available for $2,500. Each sale will earn affiliates commissions of $300 and orders that exceed $2,500, by combining the bike with accessories, will see returns of $500. Any content creator that specialises in fitness, exercise, health or wellbeing should consider adding this high ticket affiliate product into their mix.

Avid Webmasters

The web development and digital marketing specialists at Avid Webmasters offer a generous 30% commission on all sales generated through their affiliate programme. The company offers a wide selection of web development, marketing, design, and optimisation solutions that small businesses, entrepreneurs, and anyone hoping to grow their business online will be sure to find useful. Avid Webmasters aims to help its customers generate leads and increase revenue and, with services spanning a price range of $359 to $125,000, there are huge potential earnings to be made by driving affiliate traffic their way.

Time Etc Limited

Time Etc Limited provides its clients with a remote executive assistant designed to handle admin tasks on their behalf. The company describes itself as saving its users more than one million hours so far and has been covered by many well-known media outlets such as Forbes and CNBC. The service has helped over 22,000 companies to date, with standout clients including major companies such as Google, Facebook, and HubSpot. This market sector has grown rapidly with the rise of remote working and publishers promoting this brand will earn $220 per conversion. Time Etc boasts a 45% conversion rate on leads sent its way so affiliates that can reach business owners with a passion for productivity could see great returns by partnering with this advertiser.

BetterLegal

BetterLegal allows business owners to set up LLCs and corporations in a quick and affordable way – promising its clients they will receive their documents within two business days. The fast and simple business formation service is charged at $299 and successful signups for the BetterLegal partner programme will generously grant affiliates with two thirds of the sale price, earning them $200 per sale. Top performing affiliates can also earn bonuses and special offers such as recurring subscription revenue. BetterLegal’s ideal affiliates would be accountants, lawyers, marketing experts, and SEO specialists. If you fit within any of these categories, consider adding their links and banners to your site.

Gusto

As a payroll, benefits, and HR platform, Gusto is a great fit for publishers with an audience of small business owners, accountants, or HR representatives. The platform is used by over 100,000 small businesses in the US and offers $100 for each additional customer or $50 for valid leads brought in by its affiliates. Gusto provides a dedicated in-house affiliate team available to support you with your promotions and has several conversion-optimised landing pages designed to make successful sign ups as seamless as possible. Special offers and incentives are provided every month and the 120-day cookie tracking window means even heavily delayed sales are correctly attributed to you.

Sea Island Forge

Sea Island Forge builds artisan pieces for outdoor fireside gatherings. Their collection of handcrafted cooking tools and fire kettles, made by a team of expert metalsmiths, are unique visual experiences designed to bring people together. The average order value for a  Sea Island Forge design is $3,700 and, with a commission rate of 18%, their publishers will be well rewarded for putting them on their reader’s radar. Publishers with a following of outdoorsy types and BBQ lovers will be well positioned to introduce their audience to the heirloom quality and passionate craftsmanship of the team at Sea Island Forge.

How successful are high ticket affiliate programmes?

Consumer scepticism increases with price and just placing an affiliate link for a high end service in front of your audience has no guarantee of success. A good way to calm any anxieties your readers may have about the products you’re sending their way is by providing product comparisons. By creating content where you review or compare high ticket brands in a particular field, you can provide meaningful recommendations to your audience and show them in practical terms what they are getting for their money. 

Doing this will increase the confidence your audience has in both you and what you’re promoting to them, while also helping you make substantial returns from the qualified traffic you can send to your partners. 

While high ticket affiliate programmes do require more trust from your audience for them to follow through on your suggestions, the process itself is identical to that of any other affiliate product. If you have a following, of any size, with people who will listen to your endorsements, consider endorsing a high ticket affiliate programme.

While salaried affiliate marketers make a typical base pay of $56K - $100K per year,  Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2023 report “The State of Affiliate Marketing” found that just 16.87% of freelancers make $50k or more per year. While it is certainly possible to make a lot of money in this growing sector, success requires careful planning, developing your audience and choosing the right programs for you.

High ticket affiliate marketing is a lucrative industry that could allow you to enjoy commissions that are much larger than average. There is such a wide variety of brands with affiliate marketing campaigns that taking the time to explore some of the higher ticket options available in your chosen field can prove to be a wise investment. If you’re an Awin affiliate publisher you will have access to tens of thousands of brands across all sectors, making it easy for you to find these high ticket programmes and start promoting them.