BigCommerce, like many other SaaS companies, has an affiliate program. But how good is the BigCommerce affiliate program? What are the specifics, and how much can you actually earn when you become an affiliate? These are all questions we’re going to answer in this article. First, let’s cover some basics regarding affiliate programs in general.
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What Is an Affiliate Program?
Companies commonly offer an affiliate program as a way for you to promote their products in exchange for a commission. Every affiliate program works in different ways, and some are better than others. Nevertheless, they are fast becoming the most common way to make money online, particularly among bloggers.
Affiliate Marketing and Blogging
Once upon a time, bloggers made money from ads within their website, but on-site advertising is a relatively less profitable option these days and far from the only avenue.
Affiliate marketing has gained somewhat in popularity, but to make it work, you’ll first need a quality blog on your website. Consider DropInBlog as an example of an effective blogging platform for e-commerce. It gives you the ability to fine-tune SEO and manage all your blog posts easily, which means you’ll have the best chance of reaching your desired audience. It integrates with a wide range of website builders and e-commerce platforms, and it’s super easy to use.
How Does BigCommerce’s Affiliate Program Work?
BigCommerce, as we all know, is a popular e-commerce platform that’s fast becoming a major rival to Shopify. They allow people with a website to join their affiliate program and start earning commissions on sales from referral links. Of course, they screen all applications based on whether your site drives enough traffic and, more importantly, whether it’s the market they want to target.
If your application is approved, BigCommerce will even supply you with creative materials like premade banners that you can insert on your site. You can choose how you promote BigCommerce products, and the earning potential is pretty decent.
How to Join
It’s very easy to apply to become a part of the BigCommerce affiliate program. You simply have to complete an online application form that asks you for your website URL and a short description of how your website can sell BigCommerce products.
Approval usually only takes a couple of business days, and once approved, you can begin promoting BigCommerce products on your blog or anywhere on your site immediately.
You can also make use of the creative marketing content created by BigCommerce, which means you don’t even have to create the content to place the referral links into.
How Much Can You Earn?
BigCommerce offers surprisingly good commission rates to its affiliates. If your referrals sign up for BigCommerce, you will earn a 200% commission on the first month’s subscription fee for every standard sale.
With every successful registration to the BigCommerce platform, you’ll receive $1.50 (capped at 100 registrations per month). For every enterprise lead, you get $40 (capped at 20 leads per month), and a successful registration for an enterprise plan will get you $1,500.
For product sales, it depends on the plan that is purchased, but you can make between $160 and $600 for each successful product sale derived from your referral link. Another bonus is that the more referrals you drive, the more your commission rate will increase.
Things to Consider
- You have the ability to choose when you get paid, and there’s no minimum payout amount. You can get paid automatically at the same time each month or even on a daily basis.
- Promoting BigCommerce is very convenient because they provide pre-made content that you can use to start with.
- The functional affiliate dashboard clearly shows you how many clicks you’ve gotten on the various referral links and the earnings you’ve accrued.
- You get access to a personal account manager to help your site grow – if your site grows, that benefits BigCommerce. A win-win situation for all.
- There’s no commitment required to earn a certain amount or make a certain number of referrals – a feature that is particularly nice.
However, there are some questions we’re left with. Firstly, there’s no specific information on the commission tiers, and BigCommerce also doesn’t specify what they want in an affiliate. So, it’s unclear how much your earnings can increase, and you have no idea when you apply if you’re likely to be approved or not.
How Does the BigCommerce Affiliate Program Compare to Others?
BigCommerce has a 90-day cookie tracking as opposed to 30 days with other programs like Shopify and Squarespace. This means that you can earn money on any referrals that result in a successful sale for up to 90 days after the link has been clicked. More time means you have a greater chance of making money.
Getting paid is also much easier with BigCommerce, which allows you to set up a direct deposit. Shopify’s program and others only allow payment through PayPal, for example, and if you’re familiar with PayPal, you’ll know it can charge a lot in fees.
There is no minimum sales amount, either, unlike platforms like Wix. With Wix, for example, you must earn a minimum of $300 each month before you can withdraw your earnings. You also earn a lot less per sale with Wix, which offers a commission of $100 per sale.
FAQs
Is the BigCommerce affiliate program worth it?
In general, the BigCommerce affiliate program has a lot of positives. It’s easy to sign up for, and there’s no limit to payouts. It’s remarkably easy to participate. There is absolutely zero commitment to minimum earning amounts, and there are no restrictions on earning potential. BigCommerce even provides you with all the promotional material you need.
Does it cost anything to join the BigCommerce affiliate program?
It doesn’t cost you to join and be a part of the BigCommerce affiliate program. When you sign up, you’ll provide the URL to your website and a brief explanation as to how you can benefit BigCommerce and sell their products. You can then expect a response within a couple of business days. Then you can get started.
What other platforms have affiliate marketing programs?
You’ll find that many e-commerce platforms offer affiliate programs, but they all vary substantially in the benefits they offer affiliates. Some of the most well-known include:
Final Thoughts
Overall, we’d have to say that BigCommerce’s affiliate program is definitely worthwhile. There’s no commitment required to start, and you can make as much content as you want or nothing at all, as you’re not bound by any sales targets. The same goes for the work that you put into it.
Plus, you get the added bonus of an account manager, which only helps your website grow. So, in a sense, you’re earning money while being a BigCommerce affiliate, but you’re also developing your own website at the same time.
Finally, the commission amounts are actually pretty attractive, so it’s not inconceivable that you could earn enough to justify putting some effort into the project. If you have a blog in the niche, it seems like you’d have nothing to lose in applying to join the BigCommerce affiliate program.