Looking for lucrative affiliate marketing niches? We’ve got you covered.
The biggest challenge facing affiliate marketers is finding a profitable niche.
Get it right and you can make lots of passive income.
But get it wrong and you’ll end up wasting tons of time, money, and effort.
In this post, we’ll give you 7 highly profitable niche ideas to consider for your next affiliate marketing project.
We’ll also show you how to analyze a niche’s potential and share a few handy blogging tips to help your affiliate marketing efforts shine.
Let’s dive in.
Do You Need a Niche for Affiliate Marketing?
Suppose you stumbled upon a blog that wrote about cat food, table saws, and wedding dresses.
What would you think?
You’d probably feel confused, have no idea what this blog was about, and question its credibility. It’s highly doubtful this blog would be an authority on subjects so vastly different.
And so, you’d hit the back button and look for a blog that focused on the topic you’re interested in.
Having a niche avoids that because it lets people immediately know they’re in the right place and that you speak their language – two critical elements for building trust with your target audience.
Now, you don’t necessarily have to concentrate on a single product or service. Many affiliate marketers have built successful businesses solving everyday problems like stain removal, lawn care, or pest control.
The bottom line: Don’t confuse people about what you’re about. Pick a niche, stay focused, and build credibility.
Our Favorite Affiliate Marketing Niches
The first potential problem you may encounter when choosing a niche is whether you’re going too wide or too narrow
If there’s any question about what you should do, go wide.
Here’s why:
Suppose you want to write about woodchippers. But calling your website Woodchipper Central limits your options in the future – eventually, you’re going to run out of things to say.
However, position yourself as a homesteading or rustic living site and you can cover a broader range of relevant topics, including woodchippers.
The lesson here: leave yourself some room for lateral expansion.
With that said, let’s dive into our picks for the top affiliate marketing niches.
1. Gaming/Esports
If you want an exciting, fast-changing industry with plenty of room to grow, the gaming niche could be for you.
A $203.12 billion industry, the gaming/esports niche is expected to grow to nearly $546 billion by 2028.
Gaming/Esports are no longer limited to game consoles or apps either. The industry also includes AR, VR, smartphones, and the Metaverse.
The affiliate opportunities are huge:
- Games
- Equipment/Peripherals
- Skills Improvement Training
- Furniture
There’s even a gamer’s dating app.
Why We Like The Gaming Niche:
- High growth
- Passionate fan base
- Always new products to evaluate/review
2. Health, Personal Care, and Beauty
Everybody wants to look and feel better. That’s why health and beauty products will always be in demand.
Ecommerce sales alone for this niche are expected to be $85.53 billion by the end of 2022 — and that’s only 10% of total US retail sales in this category. Plus, online sales are growing by double digits annually.
Repeat sales are normal in this niche. Once people settle on a favorite brand, they’ll buy it again and again.
There are also subscription boxes where people experiment with new and different products every month.
Among the affiliate opportunities are:
- Preventative health screenings
- Skincare
- Organic cosmetics
- Weight loss
Why We Like The Health, Personal Care, and Beauty Niche:
- Evergreen niche
- Frequent repeat purchases
- Hard-to-find boutique products not sold in stores
3. Home Security Systems
According to the FBI, a burglary occurs in the US every 30 seconds with an average loss of $2661.
Fortunately, home security has never been more affordable.
Home Security Systems sales in the US are projected to reach $9.14 billion by 2027 – a compounded annual growth rate of 10.54%.
Among the affiliate opportunities in this space are:
- Motion alert systems/CCTV
- Martial arts
- Video doorbells
- Gun safes
- Security doors and windows
Why We Like the Home Security Niche:
- High growth rate
- Lowers home insurance premiums
- Ultimate peace of mind product in today’s crazy world
4. Pets
The pet niche is a classical example of where raving fans meet evergreen appeal.
Pet parents will spend almost any amount of money to ensure their companion is happy and healthy.
And the size of the market proves it.
The pet market was valued at $232.3 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $350.3 billion by 2027.
Although the pet niche is insanely lucrative, it’s also ultra-competitive.
But, learning how to monitor the market for exploding product trends, and also how to capitalize on those trends immediately, helps you roll with the competition.
Here’s a sampling of the affiliate opportunities:
- Behavioral modification
- GPS tracking devices
- Pet furniture
- Pet sitting services
You can even analyze your dog’s DNA to look for genetic diseases.
Why We Like The Pet Niche:
- Evergreen niche
- Passionate repeat customers
- Products always in demand
5. Relationships
Human beings are social animals. Unfortunately, life doesn’t come with an instruction manual, and sometimes we need help figuring each other out.
Relationships are big business – like, really big. Heck, the dating market alone was valued at $7.35 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $10.87 billion by 2028.
And because relationships are fundamental to our health and happiness, you’ll find a ton of affiliate opportunities in this niche like:
- Dating
- Parenting
- Spirituality
- Bedroom advice
Want to help couples save their marriage without going through counseling? Become a Marriage Fitness affiliate.
Why We Like The Relationship Niche:
- Evergreen niche
- Many ways to monetize (ebooks, membership sites, videos, coaching)
- Very high buyer intent
6. Software/Technology
If you’re looking for a dynamic, evergreen niche that’s forever changing, software/tech is perfect for you.
Let’s look at the numbers:
The global software market was valued at $930.93 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $1493.07 billion in 2025.
Now, affiliate marketers love promoting tech because of the potential for a recurring commission.
When a new customer purchases a subscription through an affiliate link, the affiliate marketer earns a percentage of the subscription fee for as long as the subscription is active.
Recurring passive income is the golden goose of affiliate marketing, and it’s also the reason software/tech is one of the most profitable AM niches. Not only that, think of the wide array of software services available:
- VPNs
- Web hosting
- Antiviral software
- Personal productivity software
- And a gazillion other products and services
Because software is everywhere, almost any segment of this highly profitable niche offers tremendous opportunities to make money.
Why We Like The Software/Tech Niche:
- High growth
- Recurring income
- New products always coming out
7. Survival/Prepping
It’s always smart to be prepared.
Not necessarily to save you from a zombie apocalypse or WW3, but a little self-reliance never hurts – you never know when something bad is going to happen.
The disaster preparedness market will reach an estimated value of $255.19 billion by 2028.
Now, disaster preparedness isn’t just underground bunkers and canned food. In fact, you’ll find this niche offers numerous affiliate possibilities:
- Self-sufficient farming
- Food storage
- Amateur radio
Believe it or not, this niche even has subscription boxes.
Why We Like The Survival/Prepping Niche:
- Passionate fan base
- World uncertainty makes this niche popular
- Preppers buy a wide variety of related products.
How To Verify a Niche’s Potential
Because niche selection is so important, you need to take your time and do it right.
Since you’re most likely just starting out, we suggest using free tools to get the ball rolling.
Paid tools will obviously give you better data and at some point, you’ll need them.
However, since we’re only helping you weed out and prioritize at this stage, free resources will work fine.
Let’s get started.
Create Your Niche Selection Spreadsheet
Create a separate spreadsheet for each niche under consideration.
Make separate tabs for:
- Competitors
- Possible keywords (and their search volume)
- Potential sub-niches
- Monetization opportunities
And anything else you feel is necessary to help you make a sound decision.
Identify & Study The Competition’s Websites
Let’s say you’re thinking about something in the tech niche, like home automation.
Google a few of the keywords that someone looking for home automation information would use. Next, look at the competition’s sites and ask yourself these questions:
- How new are the sites? Are they up to date?
- Is the content high-quality?
- Do the sites and their content inspire trust and confidence?
Don’t let the presence of major retailers like Walmart discourage you. Instead, “niche down” and find a specific, low-competition segment within your niche.
For example, if the broader home automation niche is too competitive, niche down and focus on a specific market segment like smart lighting.
Are There Affiliate Programs in the Niche?
The best place to find individual affiliate marketing programs is through an affiliate network.
But if you notice a lack of good affiliate programs it generally means that niche isn’t very profitable.
Likewise, if the only websites in your niche are populated with poor quality, outdated content, it may be a signal that no decent paying affiliate programs exist.
What Does Google Trends Tell You?
Head to Google Trends, enter your prospective affiliate niche into the search bar and then look at the trend line and search volume.
Is the trend line going up, down, or staying flat?
What’s the number of searches for that term?
For example, I entered “garden hoses” and expanded the view to five years.
Obviously a cyclical product.
Next, we entered “drones.” Again, over five years.
Even if you aren’t a data nerd, a quick look at a trend line may spark a ton of curious questions!
For example:
Note how the trend line for “drones” stays flat throughout the year but spikes during the summer and winter holiday season. However, following 2020, the seasonal spikes in interest are less prominent.
Do these changes mean that drones are a dying fad?
Maybe supply chain issues caused by the pandemic had an impact on the industry.
Or maybe new legislation made drones less accessible.
Investigate the market and find out!
The bottom line: Use Google Trends to research niches. Not only is it a quick and easy way to filter out poor ideas and spot seasonal trends, it’s also free.
What Does Google Ads Tell You?
Before we go any further, I want to make something perfectly clear:
You don’t need to buy ads to succeed in affiliate marketing. You’re going to get virtually all of the traffic to your website for FREE via search engines and referral links.
We are ONLY using Google Ads for its marketing data.
Now, Google Ads comes in two levels:
- Unfunded (free)
- Funded
The “unfunded” version works fine for basic screening purposes.
But “funding” your account is the only way to access more detailed marketing info.
Note: As long as you don’t launch any ads, you can back all the money you used to “fund” your Google Ads account once you’ve finished your market research.
With that said, let’s dive into a quick tutorial:
Go to Google’s Keyword Planner and click on the blue Keyword Planner button.
Next, click on “Discover New Keywords.”
In this example, we entered “coffee makers.”
Note that when using the unfunded version of Google Ads, the “Avg. monthly searches” column gives you broad search volume data. A funded account gives you more granular results.
Ideally, you want to find a low-competition niche or micro niche. And yes, It’s possible for a beginner to succeed in a high-competition niche but it takes more time, effort, money, and a bit of luck, to be honest.
Next, scroll to the right for the bid data.
This bid data tells us what advertisers are paying per click.
So, how does this help us pick a profitable niche?
Well, If people are paying big money for a click, it tells us there’s a high intent to buy and therefore, a market for that niche.
Blogging: The Secret Sauce of Affiliate Marketing
Congratulations!
You’ve gone through the steps above and found a profitable niche.
Now what?
You start a blog, of course.
While blogging isn’t rocket science, it still has to be done right.
The quality and appearance of your blog is how readers will judge the trustworthiness of your business.
If you do it right and you can make lots of money online.
But if you do it wrong…not so much.
As an affiliate marketer, you’re trying to sell via your content.
You inform.
You educate.
You entertain.
Then you get the sale (ideally).
Poorly written or poorly presented content = no sales.
For an in-depth overview of the blogging process and how to make your blog successfully stand out from the crowd, check out this post.
And That’s a Wrap on Affiliate Marketing Niches
In this post, I’ve given you a list of some of today’s hottest affiliate marketing niches, ways to evaluate their potential profitability, and how to best present your business to the public.
As thorough as I tried to be, there is no way I could possibly cover everything you need to know in this relatively short article.
For a deeper dive into affiliate marketing, check out this post.
Affiliate marketing is a very lucrative and rewarding business, but it isn’t easy. It takes tons of hard work – and lots of patience.
But now that you better understand how to find and evaluate winning niches, you’re much more likely to succeed.
