How the Nike Affiliate Program Works
The Nike affiliate program allows people with an online presence to earn commission promoting Nike products. Nike partners with established publishers, including sports sites, fashion, clothing, or shoe sites, news sites, health and fitness sites, review sites, shopping directories, bloggers, influencers, and creators.
The program functions like most affiliate programs – you generate referral links and earn a commission when someone makes a qualified purchase via the link. However, it’s unclear what Nike considers a qualified purchase. The one requirement they do publish is that sales must come from US customers on Nike’s US website. You won’t earn commission from sales made on non-US Nike websites, including app environments, SNKRS, Nike’s launch site, or "get in line" releases.
Affiliates earn anywhere from 1% to 15% in commission. However, Nike offers commission incentives. The more sales you generate, the higher your commission rates. It’s unclear how high commission rates can climb or how many sales you need to generate to receive a bump.
How to Join the Nike Affiliate Program
Nike manages its affiliate program through CJ Affiliate, the world’s largest and most-established affiliate marketing network. To join the Nike affiliate program, sign up for CJ Affiliate. You’ll need basic information, like your name, country, and password.
Once you’re in, complete your profile to activate your account. You’ll need quite a bit of information, including:
- A detailed description of your affiliate promotion methods
- Information on your general business model
- Details regarding how and where you plan to promote the advertisers’ products or services
- Company details, including mailing address, preferred currency, and tax information
- Payment details, like bank account information
Then, complete the application on CJ Affiliate. You can find the application by selecting Partners in the upper navigation, then selecting Find Advertisers. Search for Nike in the left search bar, and their application will appear.
Leverage Social Media
If you aren’t leveraging social media to drive traffic to your site, you’re missing out. According to HubSpot, 16% of website traffic comes from social media.
Plus, with the advent of DM automation software like ManyChat, you can easily automate sending social media traffic directly to your site. For example, let’s say you create a guide around men’s shoes, linking out with your Nike referral links.
Create an Instagram Reel showing two to three of the products and how you’d style them. In the caption, tell viewers to comment "guide" if they’d like free access to your men’s shoe guide. With a ManyChat automation set up in the background, everyone who comments "guide" will receive a direct message with a link to the guide.
Stay on Top of Promotions
According to research from Capital One Shopping, 35% of shoppers buy more than they normally would when there’s a discount available, and 64% said discounts make them buy faster.
How does this translate to what you do as an affiliate marketer? Know when sales are coming and strike while the iron is hot. As soon as Nike begins a sale, create content notifying your audience of the promotion.
As a Nike affiliate, you’ll receive their exclusive newsletter, which contains early notice of sales. This gives you time to plan how to promote the discounts before they expire.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Do Nike Affiliates Make?
Nike doesn’t publish how much their affiliates earn. However, we can do some math to get a general estimate. The average conversion rate for affiliate links hovers around 0.5% to 1%. This means for every 100 website visitors, you’d convert 1 person. Combine Nike’s average order value of $125 to $150 with a 15% commission rate, and you’d earn around $18.75 to $22.50 per conversion.
With that data in mind, here’s how much we estimate affiliates would earn, assuming they convert 1% of visitors per month:
- 3,000 pageviews per month: $562.50 to $675
- 5,000 pageviews per month: $937.50 to $1,125
- 10,000 pageviews per month: $1,875 to $2,250
- 50,000 pageviews per month: $9,375 to $11,250
- 100,000 pageviews per month: $18,750 to $22,500
Keep in mind, these estimates factor in a 15% commission rate. You won’t earn 15% commission on all Nike products, so these estimates are likely on the higher end.
Is the Nike Affiliate Program Legit?
Yes. The Nike affiliate program is 100% legit.
Is the Nike Affiliate Program Free?
It is completely free to join the Nike Affiliate program.