Becoming an affiliate is a great way to earn some passive income through your website. But there are lots of different affiliate programs to choose from. How do you know which is right for you?
One option that you may be considering is Hootsuite. Hootsuite offers a solid affiliate program that’s certainly worth your consideration.
The program is best for sites that cater to an audience that cares about social media marketing. But is Hootsuite right for you?
Hootsuite’s affiliate program doesn’t offer great earning potential. You can get up to a 50% commission on the business you generate for Hootsuite. However, the company’s services are quite cheap. You will only be able to make about $3 for every referral that ends up paying for Hootsuite.
Commission Rates and Rules
These two factors are two that you’ll always want to consider when looking into an affiliate program. Commission rates are important because they tell you how much you can make.
Generally, the higher your commission rate, the more that you can make. But keep in mind that some companies’ products are much more expensive than others. Because of that, you could actually end up making more through an affiliate program that offers lower rates.
You also need to familiarize yourself with the rules of an affiliate program before joining it. Some companies place severe restrictions on the content that their affiliates can display on their websites.
You need to make sure that you’re not agreeing to any restrictions that will negatively impact your website. To do that, you usually need to take a look at a company’s affiliate partner contract. These contracts can be tough to find but are sometimes available on a company’s website.
Hootsuite’s Affiliate Program Commission Rates
Now that we know commission rates matter, let’s see how Hootsuite stacks up. The company offers an impressive 50% commission rate. You get this whenever one of your referrals signs up for Hootsuite’s Pro plan.
However, Hootsuite’s Pro plan is very cheap. It only costs about $7 per month, depending on whether the company is running any promotions. So you actually end up only making about $3 per conversion that you generate.
That’s not terrible. Especially when you consider that this is passive income. You don’t have to really do all that much to earn it. If you have a ton of site traffic, you may even be able to earn a good amount of money.
However, there are other programs that may provide a better return on your web traffic. Examples of these are included at the end of this piece.
Hootsuite’s Affiliate Program Rules
Unfortunately, Hootsuite isn’t very forthcoming about the rules of its affiliate program. During our research, we weren’t able to find any affiliate rules whatsoever.
This is because Hootsuite doesn’t really advertise its affiliate program. In fact, it’s unclear if the company is even accepting new affiliates into the program at this time.
If you wanted to learn more about the company’s rules, you would need to apply. When you do, Hootsuite will send you a contract to look over. This contract is where you’ll find what restrictions you would encounter as a Hootsuite affiliate.
Tools and Support
Hootsuite doesn’t advertise any forms of tool or support for its affiliates. In fact, the company doesn’t really advertise its affiliate program at all. So it makes sense that Hootsuite doesn’t advertise these aspects of its program either.
This may leave interested companies a bit unsure about what to expect from Hootsuite. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to discover any answers during our research either. It seems that you will need to apply to the program to see what tools and support come with it.
How Do You Join?
We need to preface this section by saying that it’s unclear if Hootsuite is accepting new affiliates. The company hasn’t stated that it’s done accepting new affiliates explicitly. And there are conflicting reports online about whether or not they are.
If you’re interested, our advice is to go through with the following steps to submit your application to Hootsuite. Applying isn’t all that difficult. And the company will have yours on file even if they’re not currently accepting any new entrants to the program.
With that in mind, read on to learn how to apply to the Hootsuite affiliate program.
Gather Your Information
The first thing you’ll want to do is put together some information about your website. Hootsuite will want to know what your website does and who visits it, among other things.
Here’s what you should have on hand before moving forward with the application process:
- The number of unique web visitors you get each month
- Your average number of pageviews each month
- The demographic breakdown of your website visitors
- The date you created your website
- Your information
Create a Free Account With Flex Offers or Commission Junction
Hootsuite doesn’t accept affiliate applications on its website directly. Instead, you need to create an account with one of the company’s partners. You can choose between Flex Offers or Commission Junction for this.
Pick whichever of these companies you like best and create a free account.
When you do, you’ll be asked to create a profile with your information. Simply input the information that’s requested when you’re asked for it. The process is as easy as that.
Submit Your Application to Hootsuite
Flex Offers and Commission Junction partner with a lot of companies that have affiliate programs. Once you have an account with them, you can apply to a wide variety of different programs. Hootsuite is one of these.
The process is very straightforward. Just navigate to Hootsuite’s partner portal and click apply. You may have to agree to a few terms and conditions, but that should be about it.
Once you’ve finished the application, your job will be done. You can just sit back and relax, waiting for Hootsuite to get back to you.
Pros/Cons
Pros
- 50% commission rate
- No minimum payout amounts
- Hootsuite pays its affiliates through PayPal
Cons
- You have to sign up for Hootsuite Pro yourself to earn commissions
- It’s unclear whether the company is currently accepting new affiliates
- Your per-conversion pay rate will only be about $3
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get started with Hootsuite’s affiliate program?
Getting started with Hootsuite’s affiliate program is pretty simple. You can just follow the instructions laid out above to do so.
You’ll need to gather information about your website. Then create an account with either Flex Offers or Commission Junction. And then use that account to apply to Hootsuite’s affiliate program.
Who can join Hootsuite’s affiliate program?
It’s unclear if anyone can join Hootsuite’s affiliate program right now. As covered above, the company is not currently advertising the program on its website.
That being said, we do know that you need a Hootsuite Pro account in order to earn commissions.
But we aren’t sure whether you need to have a website that operates in a particular niche in order to join. Hootsuite isn’t clear about that and neither are any online reviews from existing affiliates.
How much can I make with Hootsuite’s affiliate program?
You can make a 50% commission on every conversion you generate for Hootsuite as an affiliate. That sounds great. But it’s not as much income as you might expect.
Hootsuite only charges about $7.00 per month for its Pro plans. So 50% of that is less than $4. Still, there is money to be made if you have a lot of web traffic. And you won’t have to work very hard to make the money either.
What’s included with Hootsuite’s affiliate program?
Hootsuite doesn’t advertise any extras for its affiliates. Some companies offer their affiliates sign-up bonuses. Others provide helpful marketing tools and reporting dashboards.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find evidence for any of these things from Hootsuite. That’s not to say that the company doesn’t offer its affiliates any extra. Rather, you may just need to go through the onboarding process to figure out what those extras are.
What’s the bottom line? Is Hootsuite worth it?
Hootsuite may be worth it to some website operators. The program can pay you well if you have a lot of traffic. You’ll earn even more if your website visitors care about Hootsuite’s products already.
Related Programs
Hootsuite is a decent affiliate program. If you qualify, you can start making passive income with minimal effort required on your end.
However, Hootsuite isn’t the only affiliate program in the social media marketing space. There are others that you may want to look into as well. For example, consider the following options:
- PromoRepublic
- GramStacks
- Smart Engage
- Agent-cy
- Social Shark
- Little Shop for Bloggers
- Craig Hansen Consulting
Each of these companies has an affiliate program. It’s worth taking some time to consider these before accepting an offer from Hootsuite. Some of these programs may allow you to earn more money than Hootsuite does. They may also include more helpful tools and reporting features than what Hootsuite provides.