Commission Junction Affiliate Review: From a User’s Viewpoint
Commission Junction Affiliate is a well-established affiliate marketing network designed to help affiliates and vendors achieve scalable, intelligent, and sustainable growth.
Commission Junction affiliate was founded over 20 years ago in California. It is one of the world’s largest affiliate networks.
Commission Junction is now popularly known as CJ Affiliate by conversant. A simple way to find products, as per your preferred niche.
Contents
- 0.1 What can you do at Commission Junction Affiliate?
- 0.2 How to Sign-Up with Commission Junction Affiliate?
- 0.3 Step-by-Step: How to Sign-up as a Publisher on CJ Affiliate?
- 1 Brands To Promote
- 2 Features
- 2.1 Amplified Engagement
- 2.2 Revenue Generation
- 2.3 Enhanced Lead Generation
- 2.4 Placement Marketplace
- 2.5 Global Programme
- 2.6 CJ Affiliate Pricing
- 2.7 What can you do as an Advertiser?
- 2.8 Commission Junction Affiliate Alternatives:
- 2.9 1. Rakuten Marketing
- 2.10 2. Fintel Connect
- 2.11 3. Impact
- 2.12 Final Review
What can you do at Commission Junction Affiliate?
You can start using this network by signing up for free.
Connecting with hundreds of affiliate programs for blog holders offered by online brands becomes easier if you sign up with CJ affiliate.
All you need to do is customize your profile with all valid data and authorized information in order to get fast approval for any affiliate program by CJ affiliate.
With Commission Junction Affiliate you can either be an advertiser and expand your brand’s reach or a publisher by partnering with well-known brands.
It’s prime time for you to realize your global growth, and what better than Commission Junction Affiliate to do so?
On Commission Junction Affiliate you can expand your business with deep global market expertise, they also assist you to identify international opportunities with the help of well-trained and influential publishers.
How to Sign-Up with Commission Junction Affiliate?
Signing up with Commission Junction Affiliate is now made easy and doubt-free.
The sign-up process takes just 15 minutes in total and you can start selling products.
As per your requirement, you can either sign up as an Advertiser or a Publisher.
There is no room for confusion, as you can see they make everything self-explanatory.
Step-by-Step: How to Sign-up as a Publisher on CJ Affiliate?
- Once you have chosen the required option, it will redirect you to the sign-up page.
- Fill in all the authentic details that they ask for, do not bluff any information as it may tarnish your relationship with the advertiser in the long run.
- The email you chose here will be the source to log into your Commission Junction Affiliate account more like a Username.
Just in case you are wondering what a ‘sign-up as an advertiser’ page looks like, I got you covered.
I highly suggest if you don’t have a website, start as a publisher. Here are three requirements that you need to meet before you sign up as an advertiser:
Own an active website.
Pay commission on sales made or leads generated. Sites should be gamble-free and not have adult content.
- If you meet all three requirements, go ahead and start minting.
- Once you have registered yourself, a confirmation email will be sent to your email address.
- Once you verify your email address, you will be redirected to the terms and conditions page.
- You need to read the policies and then only you will be permitted to select the “ACCEPT AGREEMENT” option.
- Now that you have accepted the terms and conditions, your Commission Junction Affiliate account has been created.
- You can log in to your account and complete the rest of your details.
Now, in order to activate your account, you will need to fill in the rest of the information that verifies your authenticity.
Here you need to decide on the mode of payment and connect to your blog/website. Your network profile should also be updated.
Once all these details are crammed in, you can activate your account. Within 2-3
minutes your account will be ready to use and you can start promoting products in your desired niche/category.
Brands To Promote
Commission Junction Affiliate has been acing the industry when it comes to having big brands on their advertiser’s list.
Affiliating with big brands will help you make more commission on each product you sell.
Commission Junction Affiliate has managed to select a few of the world’s best brands like GoPro, Barnes & Noble, Lowe’s, IHG, OverStock, Priceline, Office Depot, and J Crew (LOGO COLLAGE)
Adaptability
1. Dashboard
Commission Junction Affiliate has had an unchanged dashboard for quite a few years, making it adaptable for users.
They have made good updates to the workings of the dashboard though, which is liked by its users
They have designed the dashboard in such a way that it keeps your workspace uncluttered.
The dashboard looks pretty user-friendly. You can access your messages and track performance in just one place.
Sales made, leads generated, reach and impressions, and the earnings made, all come under one screen which is the dashboard.
You can also track your advertisers. The dashboard accords you with a quick ‘bird view’ of your entire account.
2. Nested Menu
They have nested most of the features in the drop-down menu to make sure it doesn’t confuse the users.
They have placed a series of settings and shortcuts in the order:
- Account Advertisers Links
- Widgets Report Mail
- Placements Insights
The nested drop-down menu ensures that your dashboard remains uncluttered and increases efficiency.
If you are someone who is already handling multiple affiliate dashboards, the color schemes must be giving you headaches already.
But Commission Junction Affiliate has made sure to use fairly muted color schemes that don’t irritate your eyes.
Tech Enforcement
1. Ad Unit
When you create or run an ad on any ad unit, you need to seek approval by the advertiser.
Running ad campaigns is often found to be a great deal for publishers, but as per the Commission Junction Affiliate policy, approval of the vendor plays a significant role.
Mostly the approval is instant, but sometimes this could become time-consuming.
For instance, if they initiate a manual review, it will take up to 2-3 days to complete the process.
Here is how you can get the HTML code for ads:
Step 1: “Get Links” tab
Step 2: Search for the advertiser
Step 3: Click on the advertiser’s name
Step 4: Apply to the program
Step 5: Wait for approval, once approved you can view the links.
Step 6: Click on the displayed ad unit you want
Step 7: Click on ‘Get HTML’, and copy and paste the code onto your website.
2. Control Panel
Commission Junction’s control panel gives you control over your account settings, email messages from advertiser representatives, reports, and advertiser offers
As you open the main dashboard, it will immediately display your performance from yesterday.
Apart from this, you can also see announcements, tasks, new advertiser recommendations, and your 3 months and 7-day EPC status.
3. Reports/tracking
The reporting feature is quite powerful, but also a tad bit confusing to understand initially. In order to pull up the right reports, you require a steep knowledge curve.
It is not an intuitive task, but once you master it, you can do wonders with the information.
This data and the ability to segment by an advertiser or website is really useful to determine your performance.
Affiliate Programs
Even though this consumes a little time, the end results are totally worth the time and effort.
To start hunting for an affiliate program that interests your liking, clicks on “Advertisers” from the menu and then search for programs either by a specific keyword or the name of the advertiser.
This method works for general searches but if your niche is specific, you can directly search for programs in that category.
Apart from this, you can even search for affiliate programs by:
Advertiser Status Serviceable area Currency Advertiser Type Language
Geographic Source Advertisers Country
Sometimes this may require plenty of time and skills, but one great thing is that you can save your searches.
When you save the searches you made, you can easily track them whenever you need them and save time on that aspect.
The UX design is a bit outdated and covers up your screen, making it confusing for the users.
That being said, you can also filter advertisers based on their profit potential.
This feature of filtering all the advertisers based on earnings will really ease the process of settling down and in turn help, you chose the right product to promote.
Widgets
You can effortlessly create your very own widgets. These product widgets will help you leverage your sales.
The ‘create widget’ option accords you with 3 different ways to create a widget that is a slideshow, collage, or grid.
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You can simply add the products that you are promoting from any affiliate program, not all the products need to belong to the same affiliate program.
Network Profile
Remember you need to complete your network profile before you join affiliate programs. Once you open the Network Profile menu, you’ll see three sections namely:
General – This is where you write your website’s description, and share its core strengths and statistics.
Promotional Methods – List down what affiliate channels you use for the promotion of products, it could be either a blog post, social media, email, or a digital marketing platform.
Documents – If you want to raise your chances of being selected as a publisher, don’t miss out on filing the required documents. Advertisers like it if you have done your homework and filled in all the details about yourself.
Filling this out will help you get the upper hand on other affiliates and help the advertisers know the kind of value you are going to bring.
Promotional Methods
You can manage all your promotional properties well with this feature.
The advertisers will evaluate you and your potential on the way you decide to formulate and lay out your plan. Don’t forget to add all the links that you will be using.
Once you decide to describe your promotional property and the value that you will be providing to your profile, you should customize it to the max.
So as to say, this becomes easy for the advertisers to identify you and will help you search for preferred products.
To further add to this, you’ll be given the following choices to make:
- Type of property – this will describe how you will be promoting products, maybe through a website, social media platforms, paid advertisements, etc.
- Naming your property – Add a name, get creative, and write a small description to grab the attention of anyone visiting your page.
- Tags – be a little smart while choosing your tags, they act as a mediator between you and the advertiser. The advertiser will search for you through tags as well, so keep the tag game strong.
Technical Specifications
Commission Junction Affiliate reinforces devices with iOS and Android. You can also operate it from your desktop, Mac, iPhone/iPad as it is web-based as well. It also supports devices with Windows.
There is a cloud-hosted deployment.
You can have assistance and support in either English language or Swedish.
If you own a small business, large enterprise, medium scaled business, or are just a freelancer, Commission Junction Affiliate works pretty well.
Features
Deep Link Generator Toolbox
Lead Generation
Deep Link Generator View through Tracking Deep Link Automation
Real-Time Transaction Monitoring Widgets
Site to Store Pay per Call
Pay for Performance
Amplified Engagement
Commission Junction Affiliate lets its users, advertisers, and publishers expand their horizons.
There is no way CJ affiliate can restrict you from choosing the devices you want to stay connected through. Your customers can have any kind of journey that you plan, helps you increase engagement.
Revenue Generation
If the fear of slow payments is pulling you back, Commission Junction Affiliate is renowned for fast revenue generation.
They provide you with different tools like deep link automation and product widgets that will leverage your revenue at a much faster rate.
This suite of tools will assist you in monetizing through content publishers. This enables you to snap into getting opportunities and scale efficiently.
Not to forget, it really does save a lot of time.
Enhanced Lead Generation
By connecting with CJ affiliates, publishers and advertisers can not only maximize their offerings and content but also reach out to more and more customers.
Reaching out to people and providing value simply means growing your empire across the globe.
Apart from formulating your relationships with customers, you and your vendor can help each other gain leads and convert them into paying customers in the long run.
Placement Marketplace
One of my favorite features of CJ affiliate is a section where both advertisers and publishers can search for content they can monetize or either promote their inventory.
This way users can review placements, monitor the results of ads, and purchase new spots.
Global Programme
CJ affiliate is a global platform where publishers and advertisers can unite and work together.
By being a member, you can promote and market different brands to audiences all over the globe.
You can reach new markets with less risk and yet earn adequate ROI.
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CJ Affiliate Pricing
Even though Commission Junction Affiliate doesn’t offer any free trials to its users, it might get a little dicey to get started.
The CJ Merchant fees look something like this:
One-Time Fee – $3,000 Deposit – $3,000
Renewal Fee – $500 CPC is 30%
A fixed $ per transaction (used in lead generation, that is $2 / transaction)
A % of the commission (anything between 20-30% of commission, with a minimum fee of $0.30 charged)
A % of the sale (2% of the sale, with a minimum of $0.30 charged)
What can you do as an Advertiser?
An advertiser at Commission Junction Affiliate is a vendor or an owner. The advertiser hires affiliates and expands higher brands reach.
With, Commission Junction Affiliate you can be assured to experience intelligent growth in scale.
You can drive more and more traffic and publishers to promote your products successfully and make money.
According to a study, if you migrate to Commission Junction Affiliate as a publisher you make 30% revenue growth in the first year and 12% year-over-year growth.
Furthermore, you can reach out to your local consumers and cross-border customers in over 240 territories and countries.
You can now:
- Get paid in 150 different currencies
- Get to connect with over 1 billion consumers worldwide.
- Get accorded with local expertise, global vision, and regional strategies to scale up your business.
Now you can leverage pioneering technology. The innovational, omnichannel, and data-driven solutions at Commission Junction Affiliate will open unlimited pathways and opportunities for you to connect with customers.
Furthermore, you can also Personalize affiliates
To leverage the value of affiliate partnerships, the affiliate personalization solution provides innovative ways to engage with customers and devise the maximum potentiality of your relationships, which helps you scale your business.
It is Fully customizable, has initial scalability, and 1:1 customer-essential solution, that will set you apart from your competition in the market.
Commission Junction Affiliate Alternatives:
If you are still looking for options that will sway Commission Junction Affiliate out of the way, here’s a list of software that can work best for you.
1. Rakuten Marketing
Rakuten Marketing was founded in 2005, and since then they’ve been soaring heights.
Affiliates and brand owners, all are accommodated under one umbrella. they have some great tools to help you scale your business.
One of the best things about them is that they have their own media platforms like Rakuten Viber, Rakuten TV, and Rakuten VIKI.
This will help you connect with customers easily through their e-commerce and digital media platforms.
2. Fintel Connect
Fintel connect is another great alternative to CJ Affiliate. They are an affiliate network that is committed to delivering affiliate marketing services in the financial services space.
They have some great financially focused marketing partners that will assist you in expanding your business. It is highly trusted and has some great reviews for the latest top-line technological products.
Furthermore, you can build profitable partnerships as well and will be accorded features like real-time campaign reporting, a dedicated affiliate marketing team to assist you, some top financial brands, and high-end tracking of affiliates and commissions.
3. Impact
The impact is an integrated end-to-end solution for managing your enterprise partnerships across the globe. It is again an affiliate marketplace that helps users interact, learn, and grow their businesses.
To add to it, Impact has some great connections that will give you a wider picture of the current market scenario.
You can now discover new campaigns, recruit highly qualified affiliates, track your business and affiliates, engage with experts, protect your program from fraudsters, optimize partner management, and last but not least contact newbies and negotiate payout terms.
Final Review
Newbie or veteran, if you are deciding to be a part of the Commission Junction Affiliate family, you need to be really very careful.
It’s a great platform for growing and connecting but if you don’t do your research well, you will be easily tricked.
The reason why so many people have negative reviews about Commission Junction Affiliate is that they have failed to do the right research about their publisher or advertiser.
Apart from this, it is a great platform.
User Ratings On Popular Software Review Platforms:
Commission Junction Affiliate Rating on G2: 3.5/5
Commission Junction Affiliate Rating on Finances Online: 4.3/5