MasterClass Affiliate Program Review
MasterClass has been getting more and more popular in the past few years, especially for anyone who’d like to learn creative skills. Some of the educators employed by the platform are extremely well-known, with writers like Margaret Atwood or singers like Christina Aguilera being some of the biggest names.
If you already run a blog or website about creative endeavors and you’re looking to monetize it, you’re probably searching for new ways of doing so. Well, if that’s the case, you may be interested in the MasterClass affiliate program.
MasterClass affiliate marketing can help you increase your passive income. In this review, we’re looking at everything you should know about it — from the earnings you can expect to whether it’s self-run or if it works with a separate affiliate platform.
MasterClass Affiliate Program Review
What is MasterClass?
MasterClass is a brand that belongs to Yanka Industries Inc. and it can only be defined as an online education platform. There are a wide variety of pre-recorded courses that students can check out, but there are live tutorials and webinars available, too.
What we have to note is that most of the educational materials that can be found on this website cannot be considered interactive and that there is only a limited number of support for the students in the way of Skype conversations and in person.
If you want to become an affiliate for MasterClass, you should know that there are several ways of you promoting the company’s services and products. In this sense, courses can be purchased separately at a fixed fee of $90 but there is also the option of individuals getting an annual membership.
From what we’ve noticed, the annual memberships tend to cost less and can be used by several different people.
The most basic one is now priced at $15, the Duo plan costs $20 per month while the Family one, which is considered to be the best value for users, will set you back $23 per month. Naturally, all of these plans are billed annually.
What makes the difference between these plans is the number of devices the courses can be viewed on. With the basic plan, you get one account and the ability to view the education materials strictly on one device.
The Duo one allows usage for two devices while the biggest one available, which costs $23 per month, can be used by as many as six devices — that’s probably the reason it goes by the name of the Family plan.
Another aspect that makes recommending MasterClass to your audience somewhat easy and convenient is that there is a 30-day money-back guarantee. The site is very straightforward in terms of the instructions that users need to follow to get their money back in case they feel like MasterClass is not the best choice for them.
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Joining the MasterClass.com affiliate program
Unlike many of the other companies that use affiliate marketing to reach out to new potential customers, MasterClass does not manage the program by itself. That means that you have no ability to apply on the brand’s own website.
However, when it comes to what platforms you can use to join the program, you’ll be surprised that it is actually available on so many of them. And unlike what we’ve found out about other options, this one doesn’t have different commission rates depending on the affiliate network you use.
At the time we are writing this article, the MasterClass affiliate program is available on the following platforms:
- ShareASale
- SkimLinks
- FlexOffers
- Acceleration Partners
It goes without saying that the best-known network out of the four that we listed above is ShareASale. It’s one of the most widely used ones by affiliate marketers, so you may have heard of it before or may already own an account with them.
We will note that ShareASale used to be heavily focused on affiliate programs involving the purchase of actual physical products; the brand has branched out to digital ones somewhat recently.
In any case, the fact that when it comes to affiliate marketing, MasterClass doesn’t have and manage its own program is beneficial — since you are not going to need to check out stats on dozens of websites on a regular basis.
The network’s and brand’s representatives will get back to you in less than one week, so you will find out whether or not you have been accepted into the program. If your site is good-standing and you use decent marketing practices, there’s no reason to worry in this sense.
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Earning as a MasterClass affiliate
This is the part that you’ve probably been waiting for. So, is the MasterClass affiliate program a lucrative one? We’d say that it definitely seems so.
The commission rate you can receive is a fixed 25% on all of the sales that are made through your affiliate links. That includes the yearly plans and the courses bought individually by your referrals.
We couldn’t help noticing that the preferred marketing method that MasterClass seems to have in terms of how you can promote the brand or the courses is content marketing. So, if you create posts about educational platforms or courses you’ve maybe enrolled in yourself to learn new skills, you’re good to go.
As for the tracking cookie, it lasts for one month. Anything else related to other information you should know about, such as how you are going to be paid, is mostly managed by the network that you will use for promoting this educational platform’s services.
To make a simple calculation of your potential earnings, let’s look at the individual course first and then see the annual plans. Suppose someone gets a course for $90 and you’re paid a 25% rate, then that means that your earnings will be $22.5.
If someone gets the annual membership now priced at $180, your earnings will be $45 off the bat.
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Pros and cons to using MasterClass affiliate marketing
One of the first advantages to using this company for diversifying your passive income would have to be the fact that it is so well-known. Just a couple of years ago, it didn’t used to be so popular, but given what’s been happening in the world beginning with 2020, it’s definitely become reputable.
The fact that there is a 30-day money back guarantee in place for customers who feel that they are not getting enough value is reassuring, too. You can actually use this information when promoting MasterClass to your audience so that they are less wary when it comes to enrolling into the courses.
Additionally, the fact that you can join the program through four different affiliate networks is another benefit that we have to note here. This is not very common and let’s face it — it can be very convenient for you to use the same platform for checking the stats on several different affiliate programs that you have joined.
When it comes to the cons, we’ve noticed two significant ones. The 30-day cookie could have slightly been better and although it might not take as long for people to convert as it would if you were to recommend lesser known brands to your audience, it’s still relatively short compared to that of other programs.
The second con would be the fact that the commissions are not recurring. That means that even if someone gets two yearly plans or renews their subscription, you are not going to be paid a single cent.
In the end, using your MasterClass affiliate link here and there in your content still seems like a pretty good idea. After all, there are more benefits than disadvantages, and the company seems to treat its affiliates decently — a reason why we couldn’t find any negative reviews about the program.
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How do other affiliate programs compare to MasterClass?
If you are passionate about education and you’d like to promote programs that can help people take their skills to a whole new level, here’s a list of alternatives in case you don’t find the MasterClass one to be a good match for you.
We’d just like to note that not all of the platforms listed below have the same features as MasterClass. The reason we’re saying this is that MasterClass largely focuses on using well-known experts as their educators. You’re probably not going to find Selena Williams or Natalie Portman on any of the following websites.
They also have unique categories of classes, in that while you can find plenty of science and tech ones on other educational sites, few of them are going to be related to writing, sports, music, acting, or even food.
Coursera
This one is by far one of the best-known educational platforms in the world right now. Ever since its creation in 2012, the site has gathered a multitude of users across the world. While most materials are free, getting a certificate is most definitely not, so that’s where people will spend their money.
The cookie lasts the same 30 days that you will come across on multiple affiliate platforms, so there’s no surprise in this sense. However, the commission rates can vary from 10% to as much as 45% depending on the value of the certificates or courses that people enroll in.
We’d also like to add that this program is available on two networks — Rakuten LinkShare and Skimlinks, so you can use the one that best suits your needs.
Udemy
If you feel like your audience would resonate with purchasing courses specifically in the science and tech field, such as design and programming languages, Udemy should be a good fit for you as an affiliate marketer.
We did a separate review of the program and we suggest that you give it a read if you have the time. But what you should know is that you can find it on several different networks, whether that be Sovrn, Rakuten, or Awin.
The commission rates tend to vary largely from one platform to the next, but the average is 15%. The courses themselves are not cheap, with some of them being priced well into the hundreds of dollars.
The downside with this one is that the tracking cookie lasts for just one week.
LinkedIn Learning
Yes, LinkedIn Learning does have an affiliate program and from what we gathered about it, it seems to work through Impact Radius. The commission rate you can expect with this one differs on the type of product that your audience purchases through your affiliate link.
As an example, if someone gets the monthly subscription, you will be paid a fixed $40 commission. For individual courses, your earnings will be a 35% share of whatever they are priced at.
The cookie duration is pretty much the standard for lots of other affiliate programs out there, meaning that it lasts for 30 days.
Skillshare
Although it may not be the best educational affiliate program that we showcase here as an alternative to MasterClass, Skillshare is a pretty good choice simply because of its convenience and ease of use.
It now has approximately 50,000 courses available on the platform and it functions on a monthly subscription-based model. Unfortunately, because the plans are very affordable, your commission rate is going to be just $7 per signup.
On the upside, even if your referrals get the free trial, you’ll still earn your $7. The cookie lasts for 30 days.
The Princeton Review
This one is quite different in that the platform can be used for online tutoring with actual educators. The site itself is designed depending on what people are looking to achieve, whether that be improving their grades when they’re in a specific class or if they want to study for a particular exam.
As you can imagine, online tutoring does cost some money and it’s also likely to be more expensive compared to pre-recorded online courses.
As an affiliate, you can make 8% on every purchase made through your affiliate links with a cookie of 45 days (so better than that which many other affiliate programs have to offer).
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Craig Campbell
I am a Glasgow based SEO expert who has been doing SEO for 22 years.
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