CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction)

A Beginner’s Guide to CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction) in 2023

by Priscilla Tan

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Let me guess — CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction) keeps popping up on your radar, and you’re itching to sign up as a publisher.

But whoa, not so fast.

You want to know more about this affiliate program before you commit.

Those questions racing in your mind?

You need answers, stat.

“What payment methods are available?”

“Why should I join when I’m already a member of other affiliate networks?”

And, of course: “How do I start?

In this definitive 2023 guide, you’ll learn exactly that.

You’ll also discover just what it takes to earn a passive income with affiliate marketing networks and how to use the CJ Affiliate program to partner with the biggest brands in the world.

Let’s begin.

CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction): Q&A

What is CJ Affiliate?

Founded over 20 years ago in Santa Barbara, California, CJ Affiliate is one of the world’s largest and oldest affiliate networks.

It specializes in pay-for-performance programs and is part of a Fortune 500 company called Alliance Data Systems.

Yep, that’s how big CJ Affiliate is.

Free Bonus: Click here to get our “cheat sheet” for affiliate marketers delivered straight to your inbox (for free).

With an astounding track record since 1998, this massive affiliate marketing network has 15 offices worldwide and over 3,000 merchants.

Ever wanted to work with the big kahunas like J.Crew, Barnes & Nobles, and GoPro?

CJ Affiliate network is it.

How is CJ Affiliate Different From Other Affiliate Networks?

CJ Affiliate has several features to distinguish it from Amazon Associates, ClickBank, ShareASale, eBay Partner Network, and other affiliate network programs out there for affiliate marketers. Here are a few of them:

1. Stellar Real-Time Reporting

Commission Junction Affiliate is renowned for its always up-to-the-minute analytics.

This means you never have to refresh the page because you can monitor your activity as it happens.

Granted, navigating the dashboard for the first few times may feel overwhelming.

But as you spend more time exploring this affiliate software, everything becomes intuitive. You’ll also come to realize how invaluable these features really are.

With these insights at your fingertips, you know the types of affiliate products that work best on your blog and how to create content readers love.

2. Tons of Selectivity

Most display advertising networks bunch up dozens of products in one ad code — not CJ Affiliate.

As an affiliate marketer, you choose exactly which advertisers’ individual products you want to display and where.

3. Royal Treatment for Star Publishers

cj affiliate content certified program

Do you create top-notch content in your blog? Does your blog have 10K+ page views a month? If so, you want to look into CJ Affiliate’s Content Certified program.

As a Content Certified publisher, you automatically connect with over 600 brands — brands that are the cream of the crop.

Thanks to this attractive perk, you enjoy pre-approved access to advertisers for premium rates while maintaining editorial control over your blog’s content.

What are the Sign Up Requirements for CJ Affiliate?

It’s free to join the Commission Junction affiliate program.

However, you do have to be at least 18 years old and own a website to sign up as a merchant.

What if you own multiple websites? Does this mean you have to set up multiple accounts?

Not at all. Simply go to Account > Websites > Add Website.

A word of caution:

If you have a new website with little traffic, watch out. Publishers who fail to get results within their first 6 months may get deactivated.

What Affiliate Programs are Available with CJ Affiliate?

CJ Affiliate boasts a phenomenal variety of programs.

From automotive and electronics to gardening and recycling, there really is something for every blogger or entrepreneur.

commission junction products banners

When you’re on Links > Search, you’ll notice the special filters on the left, like:

  • Events: Mother’s Day, Christmas, Cyber Monday
  • Promotion Type: Sales, Hot sweeps, Hot product
  • Link Types: Banner, Text Link, Content Link

Let’s explore how this works out.

Say, you run a health blog and want to promote health equipment in your blog post, 7 Best Pieces of Equipment for Health Fanatics (Up to __% Discounts!).

With this goal in mind, you could select…

  • Category: Health > Equipment
  • Promotion Types: Sale/Discount
  • Link Types: Banner, Text Link

…and pick the ads that best fit your content.

Pretty neat.

Most offers on CJ Affiliate are cost per acquisition (CPA) — such as pay-per-sale, pay-per-lead, and pay-per-call.

Occasionally, a handful of advertisers offer pay-per-view or pay-per-click.

Placements and flat spend opportunities are also available.

Depending on which affiliate marketing program you choose, you can promote products on social media.

Tip: Review the policies of both the advertiser and social media platform before you proceed.

What are CJ Affiliate’s Payment Methods?

As a publisher, you get paid via direct deposit, check, or Payoneer (for non-US folks).

cj affiliate payoneer international payment

CJ Affiliate pays out within 20 days of the end of the month, as long as you have a minimum payment threshold of US$50 (Direct Deposit) or US$100 (Check).

Affiliate revenue from multiple programs will be put together in one account.

For international folks, Payoneer offers over 150 local currencies with zero clearing fees. Commissions are processed according to CJ Affiliate’s standard schedule.

As of this writing, CJ Affiliate doesn’t offer payment via PayPal or credit cards.

Which is it: CJ Affiliate or Commission Junction?

Screenshot 645

In 2014, Commission Junction’s parent company, ValueClick, was rebranded to Conversant.

Conversant then rebranded Commission Junction to CJ Affiliate.

As a result, people refer to the network by both names: CJ Affiliate (its official name) and Commission Junction (its name for 16 years).

In short, both names are correct.

Alright, now that we’ve gone over the frequently asked questions, let’s roll up our sleeves and tackle the ins and outs of CJ Affiliate.

Starting with:

How Do I Sign Up for CJ Affiliate?

Go to cj.com and sign up as a publisher. Fill in personal information like your name, email address, and preferred language. Click Next.

commission junction sign up

Look for the confirmation email in your inbox and click the green button ‘Create my CJ Publisher Account’:

cj affiliate sign up email

You will then be directed to the Publisher Sign Up Form. Fill in your details and click ‘Accept Terms’ to complete registration.

After sign up, you’ll be immediately directed to your CJ Account Manager, a dashboard that housed important details like your network stats, performance summary, and messages.

First, click Account > Network Profile. (Note: you need to complete this profile to join affiliate programs.)

cj affiliate network

You’ll see these 3 sections in the Network Profile:

  • Website description (e.g. Share your website’s strengths and relevant statistics.)
  • Promotion methods (e.g. What affiliate channels do you use to promote advertisers? Is it a blog post, email, social media, or other digital marketing platforms?)
  • Documents (e.g. Do you have a media kit? This is optional but raises your chance of being selected.)

Complete these 3 sections to show advertisers the value you bring and how you amplify their reach with your audience.

Think of it as your cover letter.

The Network Profile is your chance to stand out amongst the sea of publishers.

Next, click Account > Administrative Settings to edit your payment and tax information.

cj affiliate payment tax information

Edit Payment Information and select if you want to receive money online via direct deposit, check, or Payoneer.

Then, edit your Tax Information. CJ Affiliate requires all publishers to submit their tax forms for payout.

US:

  • W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification and Certification

Non-US:

  • W-8BEN Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding
  • Certificate of No United States Activities

Contact your tax advisor or visit your country’s IRS website if you have questions.

Power tip: Remember to submit a new tax certification if you change your country or business type to receive continued payment.

How Does CJ Affiliate Work?

You should at least have a basic understanding of HTML, as you need this skill to insert the tracking code in your website.

If HTML is completely foreign to you, visit w3schools to pick up this new skill.

To find advertisers within your niche, click Advertisers > Category.

cj affiliate advertisers

Before you start joining affiliate programs, let’s break down what these 3 columns mean.

cj affiliate network earnings epc

The first column, Network Earnings, shows how an advertiser performs on CJ Affiliate.

See that green bar? It’s based on the volume of commissions paid out to publishers like you.

The longer the green bar, the better it is. This indicates the advertisers are actively paying commissions, which is a great sign.

New accounts are labeled “New” for their first three months.

The second column, Earnings per click (EPC) measures how many visitors you can drive through your site that will generate sales for advertisers.

During this 3-month and 7-day period, if there are less than 1000 and 100 clicks respectively, N/A will be displayed.

To view more details about the program, click on the advertiser. It tells you important information such as the affiliate commission rates, policies, and referral period.

cj affiliate program terms

Click the green ‘Join Program’ button in the third column to submit your application. During this stage, you may be required to accept the terms and conditions.

Many advertisers use automatic rules to accept or decline applications, whereas some review manually.

Responses can take from a day to a few weeks, so you may need to be patient.

Now… advertisers on CJ Affiliate are notorious for being picky.

If your website — knocks on wood — gets rejected, don’t be disheartened. Move on to the next CJ advertiser. Who knows, they may be a better match for your blog.

Upon approval, click Get Links.

Power tip: If you pick banner, flash or text links, hover over the icon to get a preview of the ad. You can see how it will appear on your website.

Next, click the Get Code (</>) button:

cj affiliate get code

There are 4 choices to choose from:

  • HTML
  • JavaScript
  • Click URL (for search engine promotion, aka Google and Bing)
  • Image URL (for products)

If you want to customize your code (e.g. open in new tab), only customize it via the Get Code interface on CJ Affiliate. Remember to update it. If you don’t, your changes will not take effect.

You’ll notice several advertisers’ codes include different click domains or additional parameters. Do not modify them.

Affiliate Commission Junction will not take any responsibility if publishers modify and make a mistake with the codes.

If you want to modify them or have questions about the code, contact the relevant advertiser (not CJ Affiliate). You can do this in your dashboard: Mail > Messages > Compose.

After you finish customizing, copy the entire code:

cj affiliate grab code

…and paste it into your web page.

If you select HTML, make sure you’re on Text editor mode before you paste it.

Need to refresh your memory? Here’s a handy guide on how to use WordPress’s Block Editor.

cj affiliate paste code website

Voila, you’re done.

To verify your tracking code, go to Reports > Performance Reports.

Adjust the filters as you see fit. Let it run for a while. If your CJ affiliate link is reporting clicks or impressions, it’s tracking.

Power tip: Watch out for invalid links on a daily basis, as offers expire or advertisers may get deactivated.

On your Tasks list, look for a “Review __ click(s) from invalid links”.

And keep a close eye on your notifications. You will be notified if a link or ad isn’t working.

If you’ve ever read a CJ Affiliate review, you’ll notice there have been numerous cases where publishers are promoting links even when advertisers have already left the program.

Don’t let this soul-crushing situation happen to you.

It’s a huge waste of time and effort.

Final Tips to Make it Big on CJ Affiliate

Your website needs a ton of targeted traffic to start earning commissions.

Typically, it takes three to six months to start seeing results.

Affiliate marketing is a patience and stamina game⁠ — and CJ Affiliate is no exception.

Bloggers who have found success recommend this: create your blog’s content around the product. Select the products you trust and love. From there, brainstorm lead generation and content ideas for new customers.

For example, Riley Adams of Young and the Invested is an affiliate of tax preparation software, TurboTax. Take a look at how he shapes his content around the product:

commission junction products content

You can do this in any niche.

Check out how Jo-Lynne Shane, a fashion blogger and Content Certified publisher at CJ Affiliate, does it in her holiday gift guide blog post:

commission junction products content

You can also do this on your blog resource page. David Alexander of Mazepress added affiliate links in the email marketing and social media tools he recommends to his readers:

commission junction products cornerstone content

Moving forward, you want to make monitoring a habit, as your best-performing affiliate marketing programs signal the type of products and content your readers want.

Your most successful affiliate programs don’t just earn you passive income.

They also inspire new blog post topics and business ideas you’d never thought of.

CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction): An Affiliate Network Trusted by Advertisers and Publishers Alike

Have you decided if CJ Affiliate is a good fit for you?

If you’re just starting out in the blogging scene with only a few hits a day, it probably isn’t the right time to join CJ network.

But if you’re a blogger with an established audience?

Or an entrepreneur with high-quality traffic on your website?

Then yes.

CJ Affiliate could be the yin to your yang.

With its superior reporting and the opportunity to work with the world’s most recognized brands, this affiliate network shouldn’t be missed.

Sign up today as a publisher and try it yourself.

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Priscilla Tan

Priscilla Tan is a freelance writer for SaaS and WordPress companies. She specializes in long-form marketing blog posts that live and breathe the life of customers. A Smart Blogger Certified Content Marketer, her works have been spotlighted on places like Forbes, Inc Magazine, and CNBC Make It.

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Written by Priscilla Tan

Priscilla Tan is a freelance writer for SaaS and WordPress companies. She specializes in long-form marketing blog posts that live and breathe the life of customers. A Smart Blogger Certified Content Marketer, her works have been spotlighted on places like Forbes, Inc Magazine, and CNBC Make It.

26 thoughts on “A Beginner’s Guide to CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction) in 2023”

  1. Well, this is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a marvelous job!

    Reply
  2. I would recommend affiliate Marketer to build an email list first then try to build the relationship through email then its easier to sign up for affiliate networks like CJ and constantly bring sales to them with ease. because at that moment you have already earned the subscribers trust.

    Reply
  3. Hello Priscilla,

    Most important what I like about it – CJ network is very simple to operate and you need to simply sign up for a free account and start exploring the dashboard.

    You have taught very nicely about this and simple to learn from scratch.
    Thanks for exploring your innovative ideas with us.

    With best wishes,

    Amar Kumar

    Reply
  4. Hello!
    First thanks a lot for this valuable info.
    Wanna ask if it is necessary to have a website?? do a FB page with 10K+ likers work??
    Thanks!

    Reply
  5. I’m impressed. Best practice is generally to build a website based around a topic and then promote a few products from an affiliate network (like CJ).

    Reply
  6. Hi Priscilla, Does one need the tax ID to be completed before the link works and is reported on the performance tab?

    I’m not seeing my clicks register on the reports tab and wondering if that is the issue.

    Reply
  7. Once you join CJ as an affiliate publisher, do you have to join each advertiser again to receive commission? I want to use APIs does that mean I will have to join all the affiliates separately?

    Reply
  8. What is the difference between “corrected amount” and “publishers commission” in commission junction ?

    This term found in Reports -> Transaction Section .

    Reply
  9. Hello! Will this work in a personal account and not under the company? I think it is asking me to give the company information so they can give me the tax before I can withdraw my money. Please answer, thanks!

    Reply
  10. Wow, this was a well written good blog post. I have visited CJ in the past to add to my Affiliate programs to promote on my Parenting blog but didn’t quite understood how CJ works. But after going CJ another go and I feel confident to get started and just got approved for my first affiliate. Thanks

    Reply
  11. What a sensational guide here. Being selective with CJ makes it powerful because clarity gives you a sense of purpose with your affiliate campaign. When you have the option to choose specific products and to promote in clear spots of your desire, readers sense your clarity and your affiliate income increases.

    The trick is to get clear in mind. From there, success will find you as you follow simple, practical tips as you’ve shared here.

    Reply

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