The Best Affiliate Programs for Sports and Fitness Instagrammers

By VENNDY Last Update: July 26th, 2023 To: Fitness Comments

There are a few ways for fitness content creators (Instagrammers, coaches, business owners, bloggers, and influencers) to make money online via their Instagram, blog, and other channels.

As a blogger you are probably familiar with affiliate marketing as it is very popular and voted one of the top two revenue generators for publishers – second only to ads.

But if you are not blogging or have just started out, learning more about affiliate marketing is an important stage and will help you monetize your digital content.

Affiliate marketing is the process of referring readers to products, places, and services you recommend and receiving a commission if they sign up or make a purchase.

For example, items you share – like fitness gear, workout equipment, fitness apps, online courses, and more – will include a special affiliate tracking link.

This means that when someone clicks the item and buys it through your referral, you’ll receive a small commission. For readers, the price remains the same whether they use your special link or not.

But how can affiliates promote links on Instagram when you can’t link on Instagram? By using services such as VENNDY and others (referred to below),creators can set up a virtual shop of clickable Instagram posts for their bio and monetize content regardless of whether they have a blog or a website. With VENNDY you can personalize, with customized photos, each of the links to your promoted items and websites you partner with.

Here is an example of how a linkable gallery looks like:

How to create a linkable gallery to match your Instagram grid and monetize

How to create a linkable gallery to match your Instagram grid and monetize

Brands have been using similar paid services for some time, but now a few things have changed that allow Instagrammers to use referral links in order to step up their monetization game and earn commissions for driving traffic and generating sales to businesses they use and love. Here are some numbers that help explain. 

  • Over 80% of brands use affiliate marketing and are open to promotions on social media. 

Stat: An estimated 75.3% of US businesses will be on Instagram in 2020. 

  • There’s a growing demand and openness to approve creators as affiliate partners based on their quality social media accounts, even if they don’t have a website. 

Stat: Social media has proved to be an effective way not only for brand awareness but also for sales; 69% of US marketers plan to spend most of their influencer budget on Instagram. 

  • Content creators can use referrals to help consumers make better online purchases, especially in these times of quarantine and social distancing driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and the new reality of less gatherings and an anticipated growth in ecommerce. 

Stat: 70% of shopping enthusiasts turn to Instagram for product discovery.

In this blog post we’ve put together some ideas for monetizing your expertise while inspiring your followers with useful advice and recommendations.

The advantage of using affiliate marketing to create a passive source of income

Even if you are a fitness coach with no online presence, one great way to scale your business is to set up multiple revenue streams.

This means that, in addition to the work you do every day, when you exchange your time for money, you earn extra income through one or more passive income sources.

Passive income is money that you earn by creating a source of income that you build once and then enjoying its fruits without having to actively work for it.

This means that you put in a substantial amount of effort at the beginning, but this diminishes after a while and becomes fairly minor.

Some examples for passive income sources include: a blog, an online course, a YouTube channel, digital products, or affiliate marketing to earn commissions through referrals.

If you are still wondering why your business should also be built on passive income, then consider having more of a work–life balance to pursue the activities you love doing or having less stress about money, allowing you more financial growth and stability and the freedom to work at your own schedule.

Fitness Creators Beginners Guide to Using Affiliate Marketing on Instagram

Some of the links below are affiliate links. This just means that if you choose to make a purchase, we may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. This will help support VENNDY’s expenses during this free beta stage.  We are also using these links to showcase how you can use VENNDY’s tools for your own monetization through referrals. 

A beginners’ guide to using affiliate marketing on Instagram for fitness and sports creators

If you are new to affiliate marketing, you may want to check out our Affiliate Marketing Guides to learn more.

To help you get started, here are some basic ideas to keep in mind:

1.         1.   In the sections below you will find some of the best affiliate networks out there. We’ve also included some programs to give you an idea of how this works. But once you sign up and go through the lists yourself, you’ll probably recognize other brands, hopefully, based on your own preferences and experiences.

Some of the programs may not seem obvious as they are not purely related to fitness – for example, Etsy or AliExpress, both at AWIN – but you can find related products there that could be very useful in your niche.

2.         2.   When choosing the most appropriate networks to join as a creator for sports and fitness content, consider which product can convert into sales and help you earn income. The product’s price, lifespan, and demand as well as the commission paid by the merchant are just a few aspects to consider.

You would not, of course, be promoting something you don’t believe in.

Your audience should be your first priority. But your understanding of the business model that can build you a constant stream of income is almost as important.

A combination of evergreen content alongside seasonal opportunities will keep your offerings fresh and interesting.

3.         3.   Even if you are a brand-new content creator, we don’t recommend waiting until you have grown to think about aspects of monetization. Using affiliate marketing is possible even with a small following.

Sponsored posts and other means of monetization can be added at a later stage, but the advantage of affiliate marketing is that, although you may not see success and commissions rolling in right away, with the right content your recommendations with affiliate links can live forever! This is the beauty of diversifying your earnings by adding a stream of passive income.

The hard work you put in during these early stages might just start paying off later.

4.         4.  Successful affiliates don’t rely only on their community; they understand the importance of good search strategies such as #hashtags, stories, and shoppable services links to help them reach people who are looking for what they are recommending. There’s nothing like a ready to buy customer to help you make a sale!

5.         5.   As we emphasized in all of our Affiliate Marketing Guides blog posts, the number one factor in succeeding as an affiliate is to reach a point where you’re exchanging valuable knowledge.

We’ve gathered some testimonials to help you learn from real users about their affiliate marketing journey HERE.

Just before you apply:

Here are a few tips, before we dive in deeper:

  • Even if you have a nice following, that doesn’t mean that all programs will approve you. Make sure you prepare and write a short description/bio about you and your promotional methods (Instagram, Facebook, website) and have it close to hand. 

Try to personalize it and use a few keywords relevant to the brand you’re applying to. This might help you get approved for programs in a few different categories. We suggest creating two versions: a short one of up to 255 characters and a longer one with around 500 characters. 

  • As a beginner, don’t expect to be approved by all programs. Don’t take it personally; simply try. You may not be approved today, but as you grow you can reapply. By building a stronger foundation of content and followers, you are more than likely to be approved. 

If a certain program is important to you, don’t settle for "no” as an answer. You can always reply to their rejection email with some information that may make them change their mind; for example, tell them how much you love their product and how you plan to recommend it to your readers.

VENNDY’s tools can help you keep track of all your programs and products and add affiliate links as you grow. Check out this blog post to learn more about the advantages of working with VENNDY.

Just before we get into some actionable steps,

If you are new to affiliate marketing, tohelp you along, we have created a free "Affiliate Marketing Strategy Cheat Sheet” according to which you can build your "Affiliate Marketing StrategyMap.”

GRAB OUR FREE AFFILIATE MARKETING STRATEGY CHEAT SHEET AND BUILD YOUR AFFILIATE MARKETING STRATEGY MAP

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How to earn extra money online as a fitness coach6

Here are the 5 steps we recommend to help you get started: 

1. Apply to join one or more affiliate networks

As you can see below, many of the programs work with one of the big affiliate networks. You can either sign up to all 5 affiliate networks, or choose to start with only 2 or 3 – wherever you find more relevant programs that you can work on promoting.

Keep in mind that a growing number of affiliate programs work independently and have their own in-house affiliate program. 

So, if there’s a specific brand you wish to work with, simply Google their name with the words "affiliate program” and you should find it.

Here are the affiliate networks that have a good number of affiliate programs: 

2. Think of products, services, and ideas that you use and relate to

What would your readers be looking for when considering buying equipment for a home gym? What supplements can you recommend for improving body shape? Which apps can help users track their progress?  

It’s important that the affiliate products you use are relevant to the type of content you write. However, you can be creative and include other industries such as clothes, accessories, education, tickets to sports events, fitness apps, and many more.

3. Choose which affiliate programs to join

As you can see in the list below, some brands have more than one option for joining their program: some work with more than one affiliate network, while some have an in-house program in addition to the option of joining through an affiliate network. 

Workout Clothes 

Sports clothes and accessories if the easiest category to promote, especially for creators who are also fashion addicts. Yet, it is more seasonal and therefore harder to convert in the long term.

There are however brands and items that people need to renew and that your recommendation has greater value when making an order online. A good example is sports bras. It's an important and a must have item in any woman's sports wardrobe. 

Here are a few ideas for sports bras. Since your review on the product is important, clicking on the images on this carousel will first take you to a review page, then to the brand's site for shopping. In this case, the review page includes information about the brand's affiliate program:


YES, as you can see, your own custom images can be included in a shop-the-post carousel powered by VENNDY, with an affiliate link to the merchant's site, or first to the Item page on VENNDY and then to the merchant's site.  

The big brands usually pay a relatively small commission, but even then, when driving significant traffic to their sites it may add up and still be generating a nice extra income. Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Lululemon are only some examples. 

In the carousel below you can find examples of sportswear brands. Click any of these images to find details about where they host their affiliate program as well as check their site.


As brands are constantly changing their affiliate programs and move from one network to another, it is very important to have a plan for updating your affiliate links and content.

Here’s an example: GymShark, which has built a strong community using social media, affiliate marketing, and influencer marketing, used to have a program with FlexOffers. In September 2019, they introduced a new affiliate program working with AWIN. But as of now they no longer work with AWIN and their site does not indicate whether there is an active partners’ program.

This shows us that merchants are always negotiating and changing programs… and you want to keep the most possible flexibility! You want to be able to easily switch the same product to another network and easily update your affiliate links.

A service such as VENNDY can help you not only create your shoppable gallery but also track your affiliate links and update them as they change or cancel.

Workout and Fitness Apps

Due to the Coronavirus, many of us are required to stay-at-home and keep social distancing. This is why there’s a growing rise in the need of an alternative routine for exercising at home.

Exercise through online classes, fitness program challenges and mobile apps for tracking progress are some of the growing number of options out there.

But, there are also some great Instagram content creators that share HIIT cardio workout or encourage followers with daily motivation. Here are some of our favorite Fitness creators and their advice for the body and mind:


Home fitness classes, workout from home apps, running apps, fitness apps, yoga apps, apps for hikers, the list goes on and on… and the more digital products created, the more added value there is to your recommendations.

Workout from Home Apps 

Click on any of the images below to read more about the service, then visit the site.

Home Gyms

Home gyms consist of fitness equipment that helps you achieve a full-body workout such as: Bowflex Xtreme, Life Fitness, Powertec Workbench Multi-System, exercise bikes, and more.

TRX is a good solution for exercising whether in the gym, the park or from home. They can be joined through CJ, Rakuten or Pepperjam.

Another product that can be used at home or in the park is The Human Trainer.  Here are some ideas for home practices:


Fitness Equipment

Fitness equipment includes a variety of options from treadmills, weights, resistance bands, and dumbbells, focused on cardio or strength, you can share whatever works best for you.

ProsourceFit - at ShareASale 

I Sell Fitness - at ShareASale

The Human Trainer - at ShareASale

GPS fitness tracker

FitBit – at CJ

Fit Track - at AWIN

Garmin – at FlexOffers

Polar  – at ShareASale 

Yoga Equipment

Yoga Direct - at ShareASale 

Yoga Accessories - at ShareASale

ProsourceFit - at ShareASale

Yoga mats is a very popular subject. It is a great evergreen kind of product, people tend to change their mat occasionally and also are always looking to improve their choice.

Below is a collection of yoga mats we’ve gathered, as well as a carousel that will take you directly to where you can check them out.



Yoga apps

Yoga apps offer daily classes and longer-term challenges. Here are a few of them:


Chain Reaction Cycles  - offer a wide range of products from road bikes, mountain bikes, triathlon gear and BMX bikes. Can be found at AWIN

On Court Off Court - a tennis industry leader in creative tennis training tools, training aids, and practice equipment, including tennis backboards, ball machines, as well as tennis balls and baskets. Can be found at ShareASale.

Prevention and Treatment of Workout Injuries

Body Helix compression sleeves - at ShareASale

Below you can find some additional ideas for products that will enrich your content and provide additional value to your audience:


Nutrition and Supplements

Here are a few supplements programs:

Ideal Raw - at AWIN

Ideal Fit - at Awin is focused on empowering women to achieve their goals by providing high-quality sports nutrition products, expert information, and performance clothing.

Bulk Supplements - at ShareASale 


4. Promote

Promoting your content is one of the most important ways of being successful as an affiliate. What’s the point of having great content if no one reads it?

As an independent freelancer, even without a website, there are platforms that offer a quick way to start your own online destination site according to your needs. A destination site can be a website or a blog, but there are many other tools out there such as landing pages, online shops, instant websites, and Shoppable galleries like VENNDY.

It all depends on your offerings and needs!  

You can then use free social media channels, e.g., Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, to promote.


5.  Collaborate

Collaboration is a powerful business tool for companies regardless of their size or industry.

For small businesses, collaboration is key to growth as they can join forces and learn from each other, exchange ideas, increase purchasing power, and grow revenue.

This is no different for creators and Instagrammers who want to grow their business and make money online.

Here are just some of the ways that collaboration can help you grow.

Collaborate to inspire

Certain topics are better presented when brainstormed by a few people with different backgrounds and experience. Nobody knows it all, especially when it comes to personalization and people’s different taste when trying out new things. That’s the big advantage of reviews and reading other people’s experiences.

Collaborating with other creators can be powerful source of inspiration and support.

Collaborate to reach new audiences

Creators and particularly Instagrammers are often at a disadvantage when trying to promote content. This is especially true when compared to larger businesses that have the big advantage of a high ranking in search engines or using paid ads.

When users who are looking for a certain product or service are making online purchasing decisions, chances are that in the first results a Google search will show the following: 

  • One of the giant retailers (such as Amazon)
  • A comparison site which focuses on creating reviews about what searches people are making
  • A niche site that has developed expertise in the field

But when creators work together, they can join forces to create better content than others. Partnering to aggregate their knowledge, content, ideas, and social reach can diversify how and who they reach and improve traffic, reduce costs, and achieve better results on affiliate sales.

Collaborate through co-opetition

Ever heard of co-opetition? It’s what happens when two competitors come together to work on business opportunities.

Creating collaborative content with others can work when each offers complementary services or knowledge but also when working on content that requires a broader range of examples or personal experience.

Working together can also be a way to build trust when combining pieces of advice from different creators on a variety of subjects. No one uses all the treadmills or apps for tracking workout, right? 

So, collaborating with others or sharing each other’s favorite product in one collection (which is one of VENNDY’s unique features) can improve everyone’s chances of earning more. 

This is yet to be researched, but it might well be that a list of your own 20 best experiences could never be quite as valuable as the single best piece of advice given by 20 different creators.

Collaborate through referrals

It is not only you making money from referring others to businesses; you also need others to help you get your content out by referring you on.

This concept is worth further explanation.

Word of mouth is one of the most important marketing tools for any business. A survey by Alignable found that 64% of small business owners rank referrals and recommendations as the most effective way of acquiring new customers, way ahead of other strategies such as social media (18%), websites (10%), email (4%), and coupons/online deal sites (2%).

A single recommendation can have far greater impact, leading to word of mouth marketing (WOMM). Some brands use WOMM for growing sales without spending on advertising!

Referrals made by your readers or by peer co-creators have a dual impact:  they increase your audience reach and improve the chances of converting readers into customers.

This is because WOM customers already have a level of trust and confidence in your content which was transferred to them from the person who recommended or collaborated with you.

Research shows that people trust friends, family, and even strangers, more than ads

To encourage trust, consider that you are no longer trading just the time you spend researching and journaling your experiences for money, you are now also trading the value you give to your readers.

The good thing about referrals is that if you do it right, without being too pushy or salesy, your success is also the indicator of how trustworthy your audience finds you. Your name is more important than any commission and one way to protect it is by making sure you recommend only what you think can serve as a match to your clients.

Collaborate to learn

It can be enormously beneficial to learn how others are brainstorming and creating their content.

Whether it’s ideas for monetization, new affiliate programs, or other merchants – it can be professional advice on fitness and nutrition or knowledge about how they grow their social reach – there’s much to learn from each other’s successes and failures.

It is no different from joining a Facebook group or a bloggers’ gathering; only this time, collaborating on shared content can improve your offering and generate the desired outcome of more engagement and sales.

Collaborate on VENNDY

The collaborative feature in VENNDY’s collections allows you to easily create lists of places, products, and services that you either curate yourself or promote for others. You may not receive full commission for all the products you share, but you will be creating a much more comprehensive list, offering greater value, improving trust, and letting your readers choose the best options for themselves.

 

How can VENNDY help with your monetization efforts?

VENNDY is a marketplace for creators dedicated to helping you focus on creating the content you are passionate about for the audience that needs your help. If you are a business owner, blogger, influencer, coach, or service provider of any kind, with VENNDY you can easily and in just a few minutes open your own shop of recommendations and promoted items. 

Adding VENNDY’s shop tab to your Instagram bio will help you to: 

  • Link all of your Instagram images to multiple links – such as blog posts, favorite places, shoppable items, related pins, and promoted products.
  • Keep your bio link constant with one URL that matches your feed while also being customizable and independent of your Instagram feed.
  • Drive traffic from your Instagram bio to relevant pages based on your goals as an entrepreneur, blogger, content creator, and affiliate.

As mentioned above, by using services such as VENNDY and others, creators can set up a virtual shop of clickable Instagram posts for their bio and monetize content regardless of whether they have a blog or a website.  

You can sign up to VENNDY here and learn more about VENNDY’s tools here.

If you are new to affiliate marketing, you can familiarize yourself by reading the Basics of Affiliate Marketing, When is the Right Time to Start Using Affiliate Marketing, and the Best Affiliate Networks for Beginners. Our Affiliate Marketing Guides should help you better understand the advantages of affiliate marketing and get you started. To help you along, we have also created a free "Affiliate Marketing Strategy Cheat Sheet” according to which you can build your "Affiliate Marketing Strategy Map.”

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