Many online business owners (bloggers, social media influencers, and websites) have turned to affiliate marketing as a way to earn money. In this respect, working with large brands such as Target will create the opportunity to reach millions of people, and therefore, potentially, earn large commissions. However, there are important aspects of the affiliate program to learn before actively promoting Target products.
Affiliate marketing has become one of the largest and fastest growing forms of advertising, and for decades has been one of the most effective ways for companies to increase sales through partnering with content creators and allowing them to refer sales to the company’s site and receive a percentage of those sales as a commission.
While more popular programs such as Amazon Associates and the Walmart Affiliate program are likely the first to come to mind when individuals begin their journey in affiliate marketing, not evaluating how other affiliate programs in your niche work could be a sign of complacency and lost revenue opportunities.
Target, while larger than both Amazon and Walmart, is well known. As one of the top 10 most recognized retailers in the U.S., it sells tens of thousands of products and is a trusted name throughout the U.S.
Getting Started: Target Affiliate Program Basics
Signing-up for the Target Affiliate Program is easy and cost-free. Visit Target’s affiliate website and complete the required information about your website, platform, and content strategy, including your target audience demographics. Note, as the program is competitive, having quality content and a quality audience is key. Upon approval, you will gain access to an abundance of tools and resources.
Resources and Support
Upon being accepted into the Target Affiliate Program, you will discover a variety of tools and resources available to help you succeed:
Product Feed: Over 1 million Target products are listed in a comprehensive product feed that includes detailed descriptions, photos and pricing information. Finding and promoting the right product(s) has never been simpler.
Creative Suite: Thousands of banners, text links and widgets containing various offers and branding from Target are included in the Creative Suite. The integration of the banners, text links and widgets into your content will provide seamless promotion of the featured products.
Tracking Performance: Your click, conversion and commission tracking performance is easily accessible via the robust dashboard provided.
Support: Quality support personnel and helpful resources are available to assist you with any issues or questions related to the Target Affiliate Program.
Commission Structure
So now that we know the basics of the Target Affiliate Program, let us look at the commission structure and how much you can earn. Target’s commission structure is tiered and based on the category of the products you are promoting. The general commission rate is between 1% and 8%.
Below is an example of the commission structure. From the example, you can clearly see the commission rates vary between 1% in the Health and Beauty Category and up to 8% in other categories as you sell more products.
In addition, since the commission structure is tiered, you can earn higher commissions as your sales volume grows. To illustrate, promoting Home and Outdoor Living products start at 5%, but increase to 8% if you generate 10,000 in sales per month. This tiered commission structure rewards long-term commitments and targeted marketing.
BWhat Makes Target an Attractive Affiliate Partner
It’s not just about the commission numbers. There are several advantages to why Target is an attractive affiliate partner:
Brand Recognition: Target has a recognizable brand and loyal customers. This provides the ability to get consumers to convert easier.
Wide Product Offerings: With over 1 million products across various categories, you have an abundance of products to promote to your audience’s needs.
Ongoing Promotions and Sales: Target regularly has great promotions and sales that will give you fresh content to promote to your audience and potentially increase sales.
Target Marketing Initiatives: Target offers Ongoing marketing initiatives and campaigns to promote the affiliate program. These can be used to enhance your promotional activities.
Comparison with Other Affiliate Programs
A comparison of the Target Affiliate Program and some of the largest affiliate networks including Amazon Associates, AliExpress, Walmart Affiliate Program, and the eBay Partner Network shows some important differences in terms of profitability, ease of access, and user experience.
For example, Target’s program has competitive commission rates in a variety of product categories; this makes it attractive to lifestyle and retail focused publishers.
However, Target’s cookie duration is shorter than Amazon’s; this may negatively affect long-term conversions. Amazon remains the market leader in terms of FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) and global reach; AliExpress and Walmart attract affiliates with broad shipping options and frequent sales events.
Target Affiliate program has strong EPC (earnings per click) numbers in some niches; however, Target is more strict on accepting affiliates than platforms such as eBay or AliExpress.
Overall, Target’s affiliate program is most suitable for content creators who value brand credibility and reliable payments, regardless of the fact that they do not provide the same level of flexibility or scale as Amazon’s large marketplace.
Success Tips and Potential Income
In order to succeed in the Target Affiliate Program and increase your earning potential, first develop a well-planned marketing strategy that is aligned with your target audience.
Develop high quality content that effectively recommends Target products in your niche, specifically in higher performing niches such as outdoor living and current trends in home essentials.
Consistency and conversion rates are critical to the success of content creators in the Target Affiliate Program. Therefore, pay close attention to your commission rates, payment schedules, and the length of cookies offered by the Target Affiliate Program because all of these will impact your EPC (earnings per click) and long-term performance.
To improve performance and drive conversions, use the affiliate tools provided by the Target Affiliate Program to analyze performance and adjust your strategy to better reflect what drives the highest conversion rate. By consistently driving volume sales from targeted niches and remaining authentic to your readers, you will create long-term income streams and solidify relationships with brands like Target.
Potential Drawbacks and Issues
Although the program has the potential to generate a significant amount of money, there are many potential drawbacks that users need to be aware of.
Some users have reported problems accessing their analytics in real time due to slow reporting times in the dashboard.
Users have also experienced delayed payments of commissions; these are often caused by in store purchases or rewards programs offered by third parties that produce 0% commission for the transaction.
The process for applying and being approved to join the program may be longer than anticipated for those using U.S. traffic and users have reported technical issues when navigating the backend of the platform.
The problems mentioned above can make managing multiple offers and tracking earnings more complicated for new users, and are just a few examples of the small but annoying problems users may encounter.
Additionally, Target uses an online storefront type website design to host the program and, at times, this slows down the performance of the site, particularly during updates; this contributes to the growing list of minor but troublesome problems.
Is the Target Affiliate Program Right for You?
Ultimately, whether the Target Affiliate Program is right for you, depends upon your objectives and audience. The program can be a profitable income stream if you have an established website or social media presence with an audience interested in the wide variety of products sold by Target.
On the other hand, if you are new to affiliate marketing or your niche is not aligned with the products sold by Target, you will likely experience difficulty competing for commissions and selling products.