If there is such a thing as “high-ticket” affiliate marketing, then that means there is also “low-ticket”, right?
Yes, sort of.
Actually, it’s not super easy to draw a sharp line and say “all this is high-ticket” and “all this is low-ticket”.
It’s more a matter of reasoning about the two ends of a spectrum.
There are many variables in the world of Affiliate Marketing, and simply picking a product to promote because the commission is High-Ticket is not a good strategy.
Better understand what High-Ticket means and what Low-Ticket Affiliate Marketing means, the main differences between the two paths, and how to choose which one to take.
This is exactly what I will try to do in this post.
What is HIGH-Ticket Affiliate Marketing
I have already explained in great detail what High Ticket Affiliate Marketing is and how it works. We can then borrow the definition from that guide:
High Ticket Affiliate Marketing is a type of Affiliate Marketing in which the Affiliate promotes very expensive physical or digital products for very high commissions, at least $100 going up to several thousand dollars per sale.
Here are some examples of High-Ticket products that cost a lot but more importantly can earn you a big commission:
- Kinsta: Single commission up to $500 plus a 10% recurring monthly commissions that will bring in several hundred if not thousands of dollars per user.
- eToro: single commission up to $450 per client
- Regal Assets: $30 – $100 for each qualified lead plus a 3% lifetime revenue share on an average order of $65,000, for a commission of $1,950
Some pros and cons of High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing:
- Higher commissions therefore higher ROI on the same amount of traffic
- Possibility of recurring commissions of unlimited duration
- Usually requires a higher degree of specialization in the niche
- Certain niches or programs are extremely competitive
What is LOW-Ticket Affiliate Marketing
Low-Ticket Affiliate Marketing is a type of Affiliate Marketing in which the Affiliate promote low-cost or very low commission rate products, generally producing revenue per sale of less than $10.
You may have noticed that in the High Ticket I say “from $100 and up,” while in the Low-Ticket I say “from $10 and down.”
What about everything between $11 and $99?
This is an important thing to understand. We are not discussing rules written in stone, but concepts and ideas generally accepted as such.
Some consider High-Ticket only commissions ranging from $1,000 and up.
Others consider Low-Ticket commissions of $90.
There is no set rule.
Any examples?
Think of the millions of cheap products you can find on Amazon (however, on Amazon you can also find super High-Ticket products, with commissions therefore very high), for example:
- Books with 6% commission
- Electronics with 3% commission
By promoting these products you will generally receive a few dollars or tens of dollars per sale.
Let’s now see how Low-Ticket Affiliate Marketing compares to High-Ticket, so we can understand the pros, cons, potentials and limitations.
Comparing High Ticket vs. Low Ticket Affiliate Marketing
Earnings potential
This is obviously the main difference.
Usually, High-Ticket is the option through which you can generate the most revenue, provided you have a good strategy for getting qualified traffic, because if you don’t have good quality traffic, the commission might as well be $10,000 per sale, but your revenue would still remain at zero.
The Low-Ticket option, however, is not to be discarded out of hand. Usually in this case there are higher conversion rates, fast sales cycles, and little need for specialization.
This means that over time you can promote and optimize conversions for many affiliate products, and the sum of all the various commissions can still result in good revenue.
Conversion rates
It is easy to see that if a product costs less, many more people will have less trouble buying it. So, as a general rule, the more the price of a product increases, the more conversion rates decrease.
However, it is good to introduce another concept, that of AIDA, or Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action.
AIDA describes the 4 stages that users go through from when they discover they have a need to when they decide to purchase a product or service to meet their need.
The higher we are near the Awareness stage, the harder High-Ticket products are to sell.
It’s not hard to imagine: if I have just found out I have a problem, before I buy an expensive solution I will think hard and look for a lot of info and feedbacks.
So, the closer we are to the Awareness zone, the more the conversion rates between Low-Ticket and High-Ticket will be different.
But things change the more we go down through the AIDA funnel and approach the Action stage.
In the Action phase, users have done their research and are now convinced or almost convinced that they want to buy.
Think of keywords such as “best xxx options,” “where to buy xxx,” “xxx discount.”
At this stage, regardless of whether the products are cheap or expensive, users are ready to buy, so conversion rates will be much higher.
There will still be differences between Low-Ticket and High-Ticket, but they will definitely be less pronounced.
Sales cycle length
Trying to target, in both organic and paid campaigns, users in the Action phase of AIDA is an effective strategy known by many.
Therefore, the competition at this stage is much higher, and in the case of Paid Advertising also much more expensive.
That’s why many affiliate marketers decide to work all phases of AIDA, that is, the entire sales cycle, trying to hook users right from the Awareness phase, and then gradually bring them to the Action phase.
In this case, it is good to consider that High-Ticket products require a longer and more elaborate convincing effort, compared to Low-Ticket products.
Thus, the sales cycle in High-Ticket products can be very long, while in Low-Ticket can be very short, or even nonexistent when users buy on impulse (e.g., when they simply buy because they see an advertisement on Facebook).
Specialization
If a product costs a lot of money and users need time to make up their minds, it is because they need a lot more information in order to be confident about their actions.
This means that if you want to be the one to walk them through the path of choice so that yours is the last affiliate link they will use before they buy the product, you will necessarily have to provide them with all the necessary information, on all aspects.
So with High-Ticket products you’re going to have to specialize and spend a lot more time creating content that can be really useful to users.
With Low-Ticket products you usually need less specialization.
Customer acquisition costs
In the case of Paid Advertising it is easy to understand: if keywords (in a PPC campaigns) cost more, the average cost to turn visitors into customers will be higher.
With High-Ticket products, it is obvious that advertisers are willing to pay more, precisely because high commissions can support this kind of expense.
At that point it all becomes a game of margins: the better you are at “saving” the margin, the higher the earnings will be.
This is why it can often become paradoxically more difficult to work with Low-Ticket products.
It is true that the keywords will cost proportionately less, but since the profit margins are so low (given the Low-Ticket product and the associated low commission), it can become very difficult to be able to save a piece of it.
Niches
The number of niches available for Affiliate Marketing is not fixed, but constantly changing. New niches are constantly emerging following the evolution of people’s tastes and the market.
However, we can say that there are more niches available for Low-Ticket Affiliate Marketing than for High-Ticket.
Low-Ticket products are obviously more common, and consequently in each niche you can easily find inexpensive products to promote.
The same is not true for High-Ticket products. It may be more difficult, or you may have fewer opportunities for diversification, working in the High-Ticket.
Competition
Competition is everywhere, but some High-Ticket niches are among the most competitive in the entire Online Marketing landscape.
I am thinking, for example, of the niches of credit cards or hosting services.
Generally, the lower the commission level, the lower the average level of competition, although this is not always the case.
The growth of global interest in Affiliate Marketing is driving more and more Low-Ticket niches to be increasingly competitive.
Suitability for different audiences
The more the price of a product goes up, the more the circle of people willing to spend on that product shrinks.
Thus, in the High-Ticket certain audiences may be very narrow compared to the Low-Ticket niches.
But it is not just that.
Generally, the more High-Ticket the product, the more the audience speaks the language of exclusivity, uniqueness, and personalization.
In the Low-Ticket arena, on the other hand, the audience usually speaks more the language value for money and savings.
Possibility to upsell
Usually, those who are accustomed to buying High-Ticket products, and who have therefore demonstrated a willingness to spend, are more receptive to new offers.
Thus, there are good opportunities to sell again, i.e. upsell.
Low-Ticket is also good in this case. Indeed, a Low-Ticket product or service can be an excellent entry point (customer acquisition) to then calmly direct the user to the final High-Ticket sale.
Conclusion: which one is better?
High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing is definitely the way to go to generate the highest returns on your business. However, Low-Ticket Affiliate Marketing can help diversify and support future High-Ticket promotions.
So, based on all the theory but especially based on my personal experience in Affiliate Marketing, devote the most important part to figuring out how to promote High-Ticket products, to the best of your ability.
However, don’t disdain lower value products and affiliate programs as well, expand your reach and diversify (which means protecting yourself).