Nike Affiliate Program (2023)
There is no need to introduce Nike. We all know the brand, and many of us love it. As the dominant force in the sports industry, it's likely that many of you wear a Nike product at the very moment.
In this review of the Nike affiliate program, you will learn everything there is to know about the program and tips on promoting Nike products.
Nike Affiliate Program Overview
Commission: 3-7%
Cookie Duration: 30 days
Where to Join: Awin
Payment Options: Payoneer, Electronic Funds Transfer
Nike Affiliate Program
The Nike affiliate program can be joined through multiple affiliate networks. The primary one is Awin which Nike also mentions on their website.
A lot of people also join the Nike affiliate program on CJ Affiliate.
I will primarily cover the affiliate program on Awin as it has the best commission.
Nike does not specify the requirements for joining their program except that you must have a website.
They state they primarily welcome sports, fashion/clothing/shoe, or health and fitness websites.
However, don't get discouraged if you don’t have a website in one of these niches. They also mention that they have partnered with bloggers in general.
Unless you have a website with sexually explicit content, gambling, alcohol, etc., you have a chance of getting accepted to the program.
The program on Awin has a 30 days cookie duration. However, the cookie duration is just 7 days for cashback, loyalty & discount partners.
If you join the program on CJ Affiliate, you will have a 7 days cookie for all products.
On both Awin and CJ Affiliate, you can use banners of various sizes.
Unfortunately, the Nike affiliate program does not have any custom tools, like, for example, eBay.
Nike Affiliate Program Commission
The Nike Affiliate program commission is a little confusing. If you go to the affiliate program landing page on the Nike website, you will see a statement that you can earn up to 11%.
Nevertheless, if you check the main affiliate program on Awin, you will discover that the affiliate commission ranges only between 3-7%.
On CJ Affiliate, you can earn only 1%.
If you find where Nike Affiliates can earn up to 11%, please let me know in the comments. I think Nike just lowered the commission on Awin and forgot to update their landing page.
Now let's look at the higher commission on Awin in more detail.
As mentioned earlier, the commission ranges from 3-7%. If you look at the table below, you will see the differences.
The second row with the lower commissions is for cashback, loyalty, voucher & deals.
You will get a higher commission on products that are not discounted and when a customer does not use any promotional code or cashback.
If I understand correctly, you can also receive a higher commission if someone purchases a product that falls under the "Nike by You" category, regardless of whether it is on sale.
Nike by You is a service that allows you to customize or personalize Nike products.
Lastly, the Nike Affiliate program has some restrictions. If you promote any of the products below, you will not receive any commission:
- Gift Cards, Wetsuits, and Apple Watches
- Jordan products
- Products from the "SNEAKRS" website section or app
I am not sure what is meant by "SNEAKRS" section. If somebody knows, please let me know in the comments.
How to Make Money with the Program
Nike sells a wide range of clothing, shoes, accessories, and equipment. There are thousands of products to choose from across each of these categories.
However, I would recommend choosing only one category. Within that one category, start producing content around one subcategory.
For instance, you would decide to promote shoes, and your subcategory would be running shoes.
Then, you must do keyword research. You can use the 7-day free trial on Semrush.
It goes without saying that you will never rank well for competitive keywords like "Nike shoes" or ‘"Nike running shoes."
You need to target long-tail keywords like ‘’best Nike running shoes for marathon’’. These particular keywords have only around 70 searches a month which may seem like nothing and not worth the effort, but you must target multiple long-tail keywords, and then it adds up.
Be prepared that even ranking for long-tail keywords won’t be easy. Many Nike affiliates target long-tail keywords related to Nike, so the difficulty of keywords is still high.
The keywords ‘’best Nike running shoes for marathon’’ have a keyword difficulty of 36 (update: 64 in 2023)
Therefore, you should also target keywords that do not include Nike.
For example, if you were promoting just Nike running shoes, you could target the keywords "tips for running beginners."
This keyword has a search volume of 1600 and a keyword difficulty of just 16 (update: 72 in 2023 :/ ).
You could write a post around this keyword and include a tip to wear high-quality running shoes. From the post, you could link directly to Nike products, but a better approach would be to link to another post on your website that compares running shoes (transactional post).
If your visitor clicks from an informational post on your affiliate link, the chances of that visitor converting are small. Visitors who visit your post about running tips for beginners may not have a buying intent. They want to learn the tips but are not ready to purchase anything.
If your post convinces them that they need new shoes, what will they do? They would do exactly what you would do – go on Google and look for reviews on good running shoes.
So that’s why it is better to link to your reviews on your website first rather than sending your visitors directly to the product. You want your website to be where they read the reviews.
Promoting Nike has a lot of earning potential, but due to high competition, you can only succeed if you target the right keywords and optimize your articles thoroughly.
Plan an Expansion
After building topical authority in one subcategory and earning commissions, you can expand to other subcategories.
For example, besides running shows, you could also start publishing content around gym shoes.
Obviously, you don’t have to expand to other categories if you feel there are still plenty of good keywords to target and thus space for growth.
When starting with a new affiliate website, it is better to avoid registering a domain that includes your main keyword (it does not help SEO as it did years ago).
This way, you will always have the opportunity to expand. If you had the domain bestrunningshoes.com, you could still expand to the gym shoes subcategory, but your website would look like a less trustworthy source.
Join Nike Affiliate Program Alternatives
Don’t just join the Nike affiliate program but also join alternative affiliate programs.
Personally, I don’t mind wearing a Nike t-shirt and Adidas shoes, but many people are loyal to just one brand.
Visitors who land on your website through a keyword that does not include the word "Nike" may not be fans of Nike.
If you don’t include any alternatives to Nike, you may miss out on many sales.
Using YouTube for Promotion
Many affiliates promote Nike through a YouTube channel rather than a website.
However, remember that to join the Nike affiliate program, you will always need to have a website, even if you plan to promote Nike primarily on YouTube.
Video reviews are almost always better than article reviews. You can show products in more detail and be more personal in a video.
Nevertheless, ranking for Nike-related keywords on YouTube is even harder than on Google.
Also, you must purchase the products yourself to make high-quality review videos. If you do a picture slideshow of different running shoes, people will quickly click away as there is no added value.
When people search for video reviews, they want to see the product.
If you are a new Nike affiliate, there is no chance that Nike will send you products for free. Many brands send products for free to their affiliates, but only to the ones who generate a large number of sales.
Summary: Pros & Cons
Here is a brief overview of the main advantages and disadvantages of the Nike affiliate program.
Pros
- High commission rates of 7% on products not on sale and not purchased with a coupon or cashback
- 30 days cookie duration
- Thousands of products
- One of the best recognised brands in the world
Cons
- Bigger competition. It is harder to find good keywords opportunities
- You can’t earn commission on certain products
- No useful marketing tools
Should You Join the Nike Affiliate Program?
The Nike affiliate program definitely has potential. The commission is decent, and 30 days cookie duration is as well.
If you promoted Nike products with Amazon Associates, you would only earn 4% and have a short 24-hour cookie.
If you join the Nike affiliate program and promote Nike products on the official store, you can have a 7% commission if you don't promote products on sale.
The only downside of this program is that it has a lot of competition. Many affiliates promote Nike, so ranking for keywords with higher buyer intent is getting harder and harder.
However, don’t let this stop you. If you do proper keyword research, you can still be successful.
Frequently Asked Questions
The cookie duration is 30 days.
For cashback, loyalty, and discount publishers, the cookie duration is just 7 days.
I want to be part of Nike affiliate program
I would like to join en to promote Nike Affiliate program…
I need to know which large price product companies have an Aff. Program eg
Cars, aeroplanes, yachts, homes etc
There are many. Here on the blog I have covered Expedia and Booking.com for instance.
Really informative.
Thank you
I am glad you found it useful Abid 🙂
Wow this is really awesome looking forward to be an affiliate member for Nike
I’m looking for affiliate links products for my website instagram facebook YouTube
Great things start from small beginning. It is with pleasure and privilege to connect a Superb brand paramount to exemplary that has been part of my life. It would be an honour to represent and join the Nike Affiliate Program.
Very useful tips for first time affiliate marketers
Hi im looking forward to joining the nike affiliation program