February 28, 2025
The central premise behind affiliate marketing is the ability to generate income anywhere, at any time, even while you sleep.
Brands use affiliate marketing to increase sales, capture customers’ attention, and improve brand awareness and visibility.
This type of marketing is highly cost-effective and efficient. But the best part is, you can also make money online from affiliate marketing in Kenya.
We delve into the brass tacks on how to achieve that in this guide. But first, let us get a clear picture of what affiliate marketing is.
73% of merchants reported that the affiliate marketing programs they invested in gave them a substantial return on investment.
Now brands and advertisers have triggered staggering growth in affiliate marketing thanks to their heavy investments in affiliate programs. As a result, the affiliate marketing industry is estimated to be worth $12 billion, and these numbers are expected to rise exponentially in the coming years.
The lucrative gains don’t solely go to merchants and brands. Publishers or affiliate marketers are also happy with the revenue generated through their affiliate programs. Their earnings range from $58K to $284K a year. Moreover, most affiliate marketers are confident that their payments will stay the same or increase in the future.
Affiliate marketing in Kenya is not a new concept. If you’re an avid YouTube user and follow a couple of Kenyan-based creators on the platform, you’ve probably heard them urging you to use their Jumia code to buy certain products or to click a link in their description box to sign up for a service. This is an excellent example of affiliate marketing in Kenya.
This blog will delve deeper into affiliate marketing in Kenya. We’ll tell you everything you need to know to get started, tips for success, how affiliate marketing works, some successful affiliate marketing programs you can join in Kenya, and much more.
Affiliate marketing is a marketing strategy in which brands or companies pay third-party publishers to promote their services or products. An affiliate marketer is typically rewarded a commission for a specific result. Usually a sale. Although some brands may reward you for a click to the website, users sign up for free trials, downloads for an app, or any other lead generation.
Making money online through high ticket affiliate programs is an easy venture to undertake. There is no need for substantial monetary investment as most affiliate programs are free to join.
If you start affiliate marketing and do it well, you’ll be well on your way to a lucrative passive income earning.
Yes, affiliate marketing is one of Kenyan’s most popular ways to generate passive income or make money online.
If you run a website, boast a large social media following, or can access a substantial email list, you can leverage this to earn real income.
There are countless affiliate marketing programs in Kenya. Some of the most popular include the Jumia affiliate program, Kilimall Affiliate Program, and Betin Kenya Affiliate Program.
Depending on your agreement, these programs may pay you a fixed commission for every sale you make or a monthly recurring commission.
A recurring commission means you’ll continually get a cut of the profit as long as your referrals keep renewing their services with the brand. This can be a great source of passive income as it will require no further action.
As an affiliate marketer, your job is to promote and refer products by sharing them on your social media platforms, website, blog, or podcast.
When a prospect purchases through your unique referral link, the transaction is recorded, and you’ll be paid a percentage.
Affiliate marketing involves three parties to make it work:
Sellers and product creators span large conglomerates, solo entrepreneurs, merchants, vendors, or small startups who have created products they would like marketed.
The product can be a software solution like an app, a physical product like fitness wear, or a service like food delivery.
Also, you don’t have to be the product owner to pay for an affiliate program. For example, suppose you are an eCommerce seller with a dropshipping business or an eCommerce store on Amazon or Jumia. In that case, you can pay for an affiliate site to get a new audience or promote the products in your store.
An Affiliate marketer can be an individual leveraging their social media platform, blog, or website to make sales. There are also affiliate marketing companies.
In any case, an affiliate will appealingly promote the product to persuade the buyers to get over the purchasing hump. They do this by sending emails to clients, posting unique referral links on their social media platforms, or running either banner or text ads.
On the other hand, affiliate marketing companies use articles, graphics, and videos to generate interest in the services or products.
When the audience clicks on affiliate links or ads, they are redirected to the main eCommerce store. If they purchase a product or service, your account will be accredited with an agreed-upon commission.
For the affiliate marketing system to work, there needs to be a sale or a lead-generating conversion from the consumer.
When a consumer interacts with your ad or referral link, they’ll click on the link if they find it useful and check out the seller or product creator’s website.
When they make a purchase, you’ll receive a cut from the revenue earned, which can be up to 10% of the sales price.
Remember that you’ll need to disclose to the consumer that you’ll receive a commission from any sale made if they click the link.
Some social media platforms like YouTube have guidelines to ensure content creators disclose when working with brands, using affiliate links, or receiving gifts.
Usually, you’ll see bloggers giving a disclaimer that certain product links on their websites are affiliate links, and they will get a commission if you make a purchase. Also, you’ll often hear YouTubers say, `this video is sponsored by X.`
In the unattached model, the affiliate doesn’t invest time trying to understand the product or consumer. Instead, they run pay-per-click (PPC) marketing campaigns using their unique referral links, hoping that shoppers will purchase through their link so they can earn a commission.
In this type of business model, although the affiliate isn’t necessarily related to the product or service, they are experts in a related field and boast some authority. A good example would be if you run a fashion blog or create content around fashion and decide to sign up for an affiliate program of a clothing brand you’ve never used before.
In the involved model, the affiliate is an authority figure regarding the product or service. The affiliate has interacted with the product before and is confident about the quality of the product. Instead of running ads, they can leverage their personal experience to try and market the product.
If you’re looking to start affiliate marketing, here are some of the upsides and downsides of affiliate marketing jobs for publishers.
Affiliate marketing comes with a lot of lucrative benefits. Getting started is easy, and you don’t need a lot of financial input upfront. Instead, you only need to figure out which products resonate best with your audience and figure out a way to get them to buy those products using your links. Here are some other benefits you can expect from affiliate marketing.
Affiliate programs are free to join. You can sign up with an established affiliate service or product to start earning income through referral links.
As an affiliate marketer, you’re not involved in order fulfillment, product development, or handling customer complaints. Instead, your task is to market the product and make as many sales as possible.
With affiliate marketing, you can quickly scale your business and exponentially increase your earnings without increasing your overhead costs. To do so, perhaps you can introduce new products to your audience, run a set of campaigns to try and build trust with different audiences, or sign up for other affiliate programs.
Affiliate marketing can be a great source of passive income. Once you’ve established yourself as an authority figure in the set of products or services you’re affiliated with, people will keep clicking your link without further input from you.
If you’re a niched-down content creator, you’ve already established yourself as an authority figure.
If you’re an unattached affiliate marketer, you’ll need some financial input up front to try and generate traffic for your affiliate product.
In both scenarios, the return on investment will be substantial, primarily if you work with some of the highest paying affiliate programs.
Whether you want to work part-time or full-time, there’s an affiliate marketing program.
The number of hours you work as an affiliate marketer will depend on the type of business or product you promote. Some products and services require little input, so a few hours a week will do. Other products may require more input time, so you’ll need to work longer hours.
Another flexibility of affiliate marketing is the type of product to promote. For example, if you don’t like certain products from a brand, you can choose not to promote those products and opt for something else.
Affiliate marketing can be an excellent way to meet and connect with professionals in the same field as you. This network of professionals can be a source of exciting opportunities for you in the future.
You’ll only make money with affiliate marketing when your audience takes a desired action. You don’t get fixed monthly or weekly payments. All your earnings are commission based.
Creating trust and establishing yourself as an authority figure will take time. You’ll also need to try different things to see what works best with your audience.
For example, which products do they most relate to? Which marketing channels lead to more conversions? Is it blogging, youtube videos, PPCs, or social media platforms?
Here are some affiliate marketing channels you can leverage to earn an income as an affiliate marketer.
Did you know that 65% of affiliate marketers generate traffic to their merchant’s websites through blogging?
Most blog affiliates are both niche and SEO experts. As a result, the content they create has the potential to reach massive audiences.
Whether they specialize in fashion, food, or health and wellness, they can craft meticulous content and carefully sprinkle their blogs with referral codes and affiliate links.
This, in turn, leads to a lot of conversions for the eCommerce store. This is why brands love to work with blog affiliates.
Review sites play a vital role as an affiliate marketing channel. Ninety-three percent of consumers say online reviews significantly influence whether or not they’ll buy a product.
For this reason, brands love to work with expert reviewers who have huge followings on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, or Twitch. These reviewers make reviews of the products on their platforms and add some affiliate links and referral codes.
This type of affiliate marketing channel leverages influencers’ sway on their audiences. Usually, social media influencers have thousands of followers who like to keep track of their every move through their posts and other content.
When brands rope in influencers, they give them special codes to track their performance and increase audience engagement through the discounted prices that come with using the code.
If you’re looking to start affiliate marketing, here are some of the best affiliate marketing programs in Kenya you can look into.
Why Join?
Printing Nairobi is a leading provider of printing and branding solutions in Kenya, offering services such as business cards, banners, flyers, signage, and customized merchandise. The affiliate program is ideal for content creators, digital marketers, and business consultants who can refer clients in need of printing services.
How to Join
Why Join?
HostPinnacle is one of Kenya’s top web hosting providers, offering domain registration and hosting services. It’s perfect for bloggers and website developers who recommend hosting solutions.
Why Join?
This program is ideal for bloggers and influencers in the travel and adventure niche. You can earn commissions by referring customers to book holiday packages and safaris.
Jumia’s affiliate program is one of Kenya’s best affiliate marketing programs. You can earn up to 11% commission for every sale prospects make.
In addition, the Jumia affiliate program allows you to promote your affiliate link or ads anywhere, not just on the website or blog you registered with.
The challenge here will be navigating their substantial inventory to find products that best suit your audience.
Kilimall is another popular shopping site in Kenya. Kilimall affiliate program pays up to 8% commission for successful purchases. They even offer training material to help you grow your affiliate marketing skills. So this may be the best program to join as a new affiliate marketer.
Why Join?
Travelstart is a leading online travel agency, helping travelers book flights at discounted rates. If you have an audience interested in travel and tourism, this program is a great way to monetize your platform.
Why Join?
Sage provides business management solutions such as accounting and payroll software. If you have an audience of entrepreneurs and businesses, this program can be a lucrative option.
DomainRacer is a popular web hosting platform that can offer you a hosting package. The hosting company hosts thousands of businesses on its servers and boasts a lucrative affiliate program. For every client you get to sign up to use their services, you make about Ksh 2,000.
Why Join?
Collanet Africa is an online learning platform offering courses in tech, finance, and business. If you have an audience interested in self-improvement and digital skills, this affiliate program is a great fit.
Travelstart provides international traveling solutions for both local and international travelers. Travelstart affiliate program pays lucrative rates for referring customers to use its services. For each local client you get, they’ll pay you ksh400. For every overseas client you get to use their services, they’ll pay you ksh1200.
iPay Africa has a lucrative affiliate program that pays recurring commissions on the transaction fees merchants pay to use the platform. The commission can range from 2.5% to 10% throughout the merchant’s transacting lifetime.
Why Join?Brandcart is an online shopping platform similar to Kilimall. You can earn commissions by promoting fashion, electronics, and household products.
Hubspot is a sales and marketing software with and boasts high paying affiliate programs. The program has three earning levels.
With the starter package, you can make up to $250 for every conversion you make. The professional package gets you $500 for every conversion.
Finally, at the enterprise level, you’ll be paid $1000 for every prospect you convert into a service user.
Here are four easy steps that will fast-track your affiliate marketing success:
You first need to select a platform on which you’ll build out your audience and establish yourself as an authority figure.
You can start with the platform you’re most comfortable with to help create the best content for your audience. Here are some platforms you can consider;
When choosing a niche, go for something you’re familiar with, knowledgeable in, and passionate about.
As a result, choosing products and brands to work with will be a no-brainer.
This will allow the audience to view you as an authority figure and trust your opinions and suggestions on the matter.
As an affiliate marketer, recommending a lousy product or service to your audience can cause irreparable damage to your affiliate business.
So it would help if you took your time to carefully evaluate products and services before recommending them to your audience.
The services and products you recommend must be genuine and solve their intended problems.
If you’re having trouble finding the perfect product, there are a ton of affiliate marketplaces you can scour to find brands and products to work with. Here are a few:
After working hard to establish yourself as an authority figure in your specific niche, it’s time to pair up with the perfect affiliate network.
Look for a program with products that perfectly align with your niche. For example, it would make little sense if you decided to promote beauty products as a food influencer. On the other hand, products like cookware, gourmet ingredients, and meal kits will be best suited to your platform.
Also, pairing a service or product with a platform that best fits it is always great. For example, Instagram will be great for advertising image-heavy products like decor, makeup, and clothing items. However, for comprehensive purchases like software services, you’re better off marketing it through a youtube video or a blog post.
To exponentially increase your likelihood of conversion, you’ll need to have a good rapport with the audience. You do this by constantly giving them valuable and actionable content. As time goes by, they begin to view you as an authority in the specific field. So when you recommend a product to them, it would be a no-brainer purchase item.
When starting affiliate marketing, you’ll first need to establish yourself in a specific niche. Here, only recommend products that you’re sure your audience will love.
When you’re looking to scale up your affiliate marketing business, you can leverage this good faith to get your audience to buy different products that are out of your scope of expertise.
As an affiliate marketer, don’t just rely on one platform. Do email campaigns, post blogs, and leverage Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram to reach out to audiences. Keep experimenting until you find the platform that gets you the most conversions.
Your level of influence can’t save your reputation after promoting and getting your audience to buy a lousy product. So always study a product, and if possible, use it before recommending it to your audience.
Affiliate marketing is brimming with fierce competition. You’ll do well to keep up with trends in the industry. If possible, take a course or two to learn some of the constantly created marketing techniques.
Kenya is the fastest-growing economy in East and Central Africa.
With most international companies and eCommerce stores breaking ground in the country, exponential growth in the digital realm, more so affiliate marketing, is inevitable.
The tips we’ve given above will get you well on your way to curving a sizable chunk of the affiliate marketing pie.
Affiliate marketing is worth it in Kenya. You can make from $10,000 to $1,000,000 annually, depending on the products you’re promoting and your marketing efforts.
Anyone can join an affiliate program, including bloggers, content creators, digital marketers, social media influencers, and business owners. As long as you have an audience or a platform where you can promote products or services, you can participate and earn commissions.
A website is not necessary to be successful in affiliate marketing. Many affiliates promote their links through social media platforms, WhatsApp groups, email newsletters, and even personal referrals. However, having a blog or a website can increase credibility and long-term earnings.
Earnings vary depending on the commission rate, the number of successful referrals, and how well an affiliate promotes the products or services. Some affiliates earn a few hundred shillings per month, while others make thousands through strategic marketing efforts.
Affiliate programs use tracking links and cookies to monitor sales. When someone clicks your affiliate link, a cookie is stored in their browser, ensuring that if they make a purchase within the specified cookie duration, the sale is credited to you.
The duration of tracking, also known as cookie duration, varies by program. Some programs track sales for as little as 7 days, while others may track referrals for 30 to 60 days. If the customer makes a purchase within that timeframe, the commission is awarded to the affiliate.
Affiliate programs have different payout structures. Some pay monthly, while others pay once an affiliate reaches a minimum payout threshold. Payments are usually made via M-Pesa, PayPal, or bank transfer, depending on the program’s policy.
Yes, affiliates can join and promote multiple programs simultaneously. However, it’s important to focus on programs relevant to your audience to maximize conversions and earnings.
Most affiliate programs prohibit self-referrals. The goal of affiliate marketing is to attract new customers, so referring yourself for commissions is considered a violation of program rules.
If a referred customer cancels their purchase or requests a refund, the affiliate commission for that sale is typically reversed. Most programs have a grace period before finalizing payouts to prevent fraudulent commissions.
Most affiliate programs are free to join. Some specialized programs may require membership fees, but these are rare. Always check a program’s terms before signing up to avoid scams.
Some programs allow paid advertising, while others restrict bidding on brand names or running direct ads. It’s important to read the program’s guidelines before using Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or any other paid marketing methods.