Best Sub-Affiliate Networks in 2024

The majority of online businesses today leverage the opportunity of sub-affiliate networks to effectively reach their target audience, drive traffic, and promote their products. It’s important for brands to learn how these affiliate networks work and how beneficial they can be to their growth.

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What Are Sub-Affiliate Networks?

Sub-affiliate networks are a form of digital marketing that connects brands and affiliates to help them advertise promotional materials and earn money. Simply put, a sub-affiliate network acts as a middleman between brands and affiliates.

Although very similar to affiliate networks, sub-affiliate networks are slightly different. While affiliate networks focus on helping brands by providing services and marketing programs, sub-affiliate networks concentrate on making these services and programs available for affiliate partners on a large scale. By doing so, this type of affiliate channel allows sub-affiliates to gain access to a wider variety of brands and affiliate programs, creating a more streamlined work process for them.

How Does a Sub-Affiliate Network Work?

Sub-affiliate networks often offer several affiliate programs for a larger assortment of brand deals. Through each of these deals, the sub-affiliate partner receives an affiliate link they can use to promote the brand. Depending on the advertiser’s pricing mode—for example, if they are a PPC, CPM, or CPA affiliate program—they will pay the sub-affiliate network a commission. The affiliate channel (sub-affiliate network) takes a specified percentage of this commission and passes the rest to the sub-affiliate partner.

Why Should an Advertiser Include Sub-Affiliate Partners in an Affiliate Strategy?

As mentioned before, sub-affiliate networks can bring together a wide range of advertisers and top publishers. This is the sole incentive for many brand owners who participate in any kind of affiliate program.

The large number of affiliate partners in a sub-affiliate network makes these networks a one-stop shop for brand owners. By incorporating these networks into their marketing strategy and affiliate program, brands can acquire various affiliate partners to choose from efficiently and cost-effectively. Usually, brands use sub-affiliates because they offer hands-on, specialised services in different niches. Additionally, sub-affiliate networks create a single point of contact for brands and their affiliates and are therefore easier to manage.

Why Should You Join Sub-Affiliate Networks as an Affiliate Partner?

Sub-affiliate networks have gained popularity among top publishers and content creators in the past decade. This popularity stems from the fact that some affiliate programs can offer their sub-affiliates a wide range of advantages that other forms of affiliate marketing simply cannot. Here are the benefits of working with a sub-affiliate network as a sub-affiliate partner.

Access to Exclusive Offers

One of the main things that attracts publishers to sub-affiliate networks is the chance to work with exclusive brands. Depending on the niche of each sub-affiliate network, they usually have several brand deals that are only available on their affiliate program.

Networking with these exclusive brands enables affiliates to build long-lasting relationships with their customers and improve their future growth. By joining several affiliate programs, sub-affiliate networks can help their sub-affiliates monetize their content and create a passive income source with little to no risk.

Tiered Commission Structures

Sub-affiliate networks usually offer their sub-affiliates tiered-commissions. This commission structure helps advertisers drive sales and increase their revenue and strongly incentivises sub-affiliate partners to participate in such brand deals.

A tiered-commission structure rewards sub-affiliate partners incrementally. Sub-affiliate networks base this reward amount on their pricing criteria. For example, suppose a sub network uses the PPC, or Pay Per Click model. In that case, the sub-affiliate partner will be compensated in an incrementally increasing pattern with more clicks to their links.

Advanced Tracking and Reporting

Many sub-affiliate networks offer advanced tracking and reporting features to their sub-affiliate partners, which attracts a large number of affiliates. With the current affiliate market being super competitive, many brand affiliates look for technologies and tools to evaluate and measure their work effectively.

By utilising the technology, these sub-affiliate partners can track conversions, become aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and strategise better to impress their target audience, drive more leads, and increase their revenue. Additionally, advanced tracking and reporting can ensure fair compensation for sub-affiliates by providing hard data.

Dedicated Support and Guidance

Many affiliate partners choose sub-affiliate networks over affiliate networks because they cater more comprehensively to their publishers’ needs and wants. They provide a dedicated support and guidance system for their sub-affiliate partners.

Through these resources, the sub networks can help their affiliate partners choose the best affiliate program and brand deals that suit their unique preferences. Sub-affiliate networks can also help publishers better manage their commission payments.

The Best 4 Sub-Affiliate Networks

So far, we’ve learned about sub-affiliate networks, what they are, how they work, and why you should join one as a brand or a sub-affiliate partner. Now that we have a better grasp on the subject, it’s time to learn about the best sub-affiliate networks in 2024. Our team at Revpanda has prepared a detailed overview of 4 of the best players in the market, including their history, the services they offer, their commission rate, and their pros and cons.

Acceleration Partners

Acceleration Partners is a partnership marketing agency founded in 2007. Throughout its years of activity, this affiliate channel has won various awards for its performance, work culture, and ethics.

Acceleration Partners is currently one of the biggest players in the sub-affiliate industry and works with big names such as Target, Noom, ButcherBox, and GoToMeeting. They offer programs in diverse vertical niches to affiliate marketers, such as finance, health, B2B affiliate programs, retail, and traditional affiliate marketing services, including loyalty affiliates, coupon affiliates, and sub-affiliate networks.

Their sub-affiliate network aims to both help brands drive sales and sub-affiliate partners monetise their content on a cost-per-action (CPA) basis.

Program	Acceleration Partners
Products	Versatile
Commission Structure	$1 CPL, up to $150 for qualified sales
Payment Methods	Cheque, direct deposit

Our Verdict About Acceleration Partners

Overall, it can be said that Acceleration Partners will give you a good bang for your buck. They have a stellar history when it comes to partnership marketing, including sub-affiliate marketing. However, there might be some flaws in their campaigns and affiliate channels.

Comprehensive program management
Data analysis services
A broad range of affiliate niches
Long cookie duration

Hard-to-navigate website
Low payment frequency

ClickBank

ClickBank is considered one of the oldest partnerships and digital marketing networks today. Founded in 1998, it is a great choice for publishers and merchants, no matter their experience level or location.

With more than 276 product categories to pick from, every affiliate and advertiser has a place on ClickBank. ClickBank offers affiliate services in various niches, including, but not limited to, business/investing, health and fitness, games, e-business and e-marketing, and education affiliate programs.

Paying more than 6.2 billion dollars in commissions a year has made ClickBank’s sub-affiliate network a popular option within the affiliate marketer community.

Program	ClickBank
Products	Versatile, including health and beauty, self-help, e-businesses, home and gardening, and sports
Commission Structure	CPA and RevShare
Payment Methods	Cheques, direct deposits, wire transfers, Payoneer

Our Verdict About ClickBank

All in all, ClickBank has proven to be a great sub-affiliate network and affiliate business. Their high commission rates make this platform a good choice for newbies who don’t have a large audience to begin with. Additionally, their different niches of promotional materials make ClickBank user-friendly, and their long history in the market adds to their credibility.

Simple sign-up process
Inclusivity to different types of publishers and advertisers
Dual registration and access to the platform (advertiser and affiliate)
High commission rates

Inactivity charges
Possible fees
Refund risk

Partnerize

Partnerize was first founded in 2010 under the name Performance Horizons. It aims to provide its customers with online performance marketing technology and affiliate marketing automation. Their affiliate program works with a CPA payment model. Partnerize has its own sub network for brands and affiliates, which is one of the best in the industry.

Partnerize provides its affiliates and brands with great support and a modern partner technology platform. They create custom plans for the brands that choose to work with them and claim that they can help these brands enhance, accelerate, empower, and maximise the strategy’s effectiveness.

Program	Partnerize
Products	Major verticals including retail, travel, finance, D2C, subscriptions, and entertainment
Commission Structure	Single-tiered commissions, affiliates get paid by sales
Payment Methods	ACH, bank transfers, PayPal, wire transfers

Our Verdict About Partnerize

After winning the Best Performance Marketing Agency Award in 2023, Partnerize managed to draw a lot of positive attention to its sub-affiliate network. Although their platform may look too sophisticated for new users, many have praised Partnerize for their customisable options, responsive support team, and effective technology. This, among other reasons, is why Partnerize is an excellent option for both publishers and vendors.

Custom affiliate plans
Great support system
Reliability
Comprehensive technology for affiliates

Difficulty with platform navigation for new users
Issues with mobile view

Skimlinks

Another big name in the sub-affiliate market today is Skimlinks, which aims to help publishers by creating an automated affiliation process. That way, their sub-affiliate partners can focus on creating content that resonates with their target audience and drives traffic and sales.

Using Skimlinks, one of the most prominent CPL affiliate networks, is pretty simple: the affiliate signs up and receives a snippet of codes that turn their links into affiliate links. After that, the sub-affiliate partner gets paid based on the leads they get.

As for the merchants, Skimlinks currently has more than 20,000 merchants that sell promotional materials in different vertical categories. Skimlinks helps these merchants increase their sales with complete transparency and offers them exclusive rates.

Program	Skimlinks
Products	Versatile
Commission Structure	Merchant-based, commission rate of 75%
Payment Methods	People with a UK/US bank account: PayPal, direct deposit Others: PayPal

Our Verdict About Skimlinks

After extensive research about Skimlinks and their sub-affiliate network, our team at Revpanda gives this affiliate business the thumbs up. Skimlinks is free to join and provides great opportunities for publishers and vendors. Below, you can see some perks and drawbacks of Skimlinks.

Newbie-friendly
A broad range of products
Exclusive contracts

Vague commission information
Decreased website performance due to the specific link installation method

Bottom Line: The Best Sub-Affiliate Networks in 2024

Sub-affiliate networks act as a go-between for publishers and advertisers, reducing the hassle of direct relationships between brands and marketers. Usually, they join a bigger affiliate program so their publishers can gain access to a wider variety of advertisers to work with. Simultaneously, this helps vendors have a better selection of top publishers to promote their brand.

Revpanda, as a leading digital marketing agency, provides valuable information and insights into affiliate marketing trends and the leading affiliate networks that offer programs in various niches. If you’re interested in learning more about affiliate marketing and how you can utilise it for your online business, give our blog a visit.

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Sub Affiliate Networks FAQ

Sub-affiliate networks are intermediaries that bring vendors and publishers together in a win-win situation. They each have a large number of sub-affiliates and merchants. These advertisers and affiliate partners collaborate and earn money based on their specific niches and preferences.

Sub-affiliate networks use a commission-based model to pay their affiliates and make money. When an affiliate’s link gets the action required by the vendor, they are commissioned. However, the network takes a cut of the commission and pays the rest to the affiliate partner.

Over the past decade, digital marketing and affiliate channels have grown into one of the largest marketing methods worldwide. In the US alone, spending on affiliate marketing has increased by more than 500%. This data, in addition to the novelty and potential of sub-affiliate networks, makes them a perfect opportunity to start earning passive income.

The best affiliate network depends on several factors, such as your niche, region, and target audience. We reviewed the best sub-affiliate networks in 2024. Each network has unique perks that attract many vendors and publishers in different niches.