What is Commission Junction (CJ.com)
CJ.com is an affiliate network. They work between affiliates and advertisers to:
- Form new collaborations
- Negotiate commissions
- Create terms of service
- Provide tracking (link tracking and call tracking)
CJ Affiliate was founded in 1998 in Santa Barbara, California as a solution to help create partnerships between advertisers and publishers. Over the last 20 years, they’ve grown, and now have 15 offices across the world. CJ.com is a part of a fortune 500 company called Alliance Data Systems that includes CJ Affiliate, Epsilon, and Conversant.
With a full team of engineers on staff, CJ.com continues to develop new technology to improve affiliate performance tracking, and to improve advertiser and publisher collaborations. The result of affiliate collaborations between publishers and advertisers is:
- More sales
- More relevant solutions to promote
- Higher lead quality
- and overall, more money!
Features of the CJ Affiliate Program
CJ Integrated Toolbox for Publishers
The interface at CJ Affiliate may take some time for you to get used to. However, its publisher toolbox is full of handy tools to help your track your earnings, manage activities and increase conversion.
All publishers can see information on individual advertisers and their performance on the site, which is useful when deciding which products to promote. You’ll also notice that CJ provides an extremely useful product catalog where you can find all of the information you need about whatever it is that you’re marketing. Thus, you can always be sure that you’re publishing the correct information, and it’s all saved for you in one convenient file.
Once you start making sales, you’ll get a flexible report on your overall performance and commissions. The interface lets you click around quite a lot, giving you the ability to build your own customized report on performance information.
CJ Real-time Monitoring
All of the transactions and tracking are done in real-time. This means that you can see exactly what your affiliate marketing campaigns are doing at this very moment. No need to refresh the page or come back later to see what’s happening!
This feature gives you greater adaptability, allowing you to constantly tweak and adjust your marketing tactics to see better results—and to see them take effect right away.
Other competing affiliate programs aren’t quite so immediate in terms of results reporting, so this is a big plus.
CJ Mobile Solutions
The tools within CJ Affiliate’s Mobilized package make it much easier for the modern affiliate marketer to track, test and optimize their mobile and app conversion on smartphones and tablets, iOS and Android alike. Now you can see what going on with on-the-go customers, then optimize for the right people.
This is a boon for advertisers and publishers alike.
These tracking tools show the most vital information regarding mobile web actions, app downloads, app engagements and any actions taken by customers within mobile apps. All in all, this integrated app tracking helps reward publishers who drive new downloads or customers within an advertisers’s app.
CJ Deep Link Generation and Automation
By integrating a single line of JavaScript into your website, affiliate links can be generated automatically. This can drastically remove the amount of time you’d spend clicking around and adding things manually.
Not to mention, these deep links can be easily generated through CJ’s Bookmarklet, which you can install in your browser and utilize as you’re surfing the net.
These two tools join forces to make deep linking much more efficient, saving precious time.
CJ Customizable Product Widgets
CJ product widgets are available as slideshows, collages or grids, and they’re all extremely customizable.
This allows you to adjust the details of each product widget on their site, thus ensuring that readers see the right products and that you’re describing those products faithfully.
The fun doesn’t stop after the creation of these widgets, as you can customize and move products in and out, depending on what’s right for your audience at any given time.
CJ Affiliate Benefits
CJ Enhanced Engagement
With CJ Affiliate, publishers and advertisers alike can identify opportunities to expand their horizons in multiple devices. This lets them offer enjoyable customer journeys no matter which device their audiences prefer and keeps them engaged.
CJ Faster Revenue Generation
CJ Affiliate provides users with tools like Product Widgets and Deep Link Automation that let them increase their revenue at a faster rate. This suite of tools let them leverage their sites and monetize them through content publishers. This not only let them save time, it also allows them to tap into opportunities and scale faster.
CJ Boosted Lead Generation
CJ Affiliate offers users the means to reach out to more customers. By joining the network, publishers and advertisers can connect with each other to maximize their content and offerings. While the platform facilitates the forming of relationships, it is up to the two parties involved to help each other gain leads and convert them into paying customers.
CJ Placement Marketplace
CJ Affiliate has a section where publishers and advertisers can post and promote their inventory or search for content they can monetize. This aspect of the network enables users to review placements, purchase new spots, and monitor the results of those ads.
CJ Global Platform
With CJ Affiliate, publishers and advertisers can rest assured that they are working with a global network. By tapping into this solution, they can market and promote their brands to audiences all over the world. They can reach new markets with minimal risks yet expect adequate ROI.
CJ Payment Timeframe
Affiliate commissions are paid on a net 30 basis, so you’ll receive payment for your referrals roughly 30 days after the purchase takes place.
Payments are scheduled for the 20th of each month for locked commissions earned, and it’s then a case of waiting for your check or direct deposit to show up.
This usually doesn’t take any longer than 7 days.
CJ Payment Methods
You can choose to receive payment via check or direct deposit:
But you can also be paid into a Payoneer account through ‘CJ International Payments’.
The only thing that’s missing is a PayPal option, but not every affiliate needs or wants that these days.
CJ Payment Threshold
Affiliates must generate at least $50 in commissions before they can receive a payment.
Pros of CJ
- You get some seriously big brand names to promote
- Simple and intuitive interface
- CJ affiliates enjoy a wide selection of link creation tools
- You can also “sell” ad placement space on your site
- They pay like clockwork every single month
- One of the oldest affiliate networks out there
Cons of CJ
- Their affiliate program filtering system is bass ackwards
- It can be difficult to find programs to match certain niches
- They’re no longer the dominant force they were
Final Verdict
Commission Junction, aka CJ Affiliate, is one of many affiliate networks out there that can help you monetize your website. It works similarly to Shareasale where you sign up with advertisers and publish links on your site. They can’t help you create a website so if you don’t already have a site, check out my number one recommendation where you can get two free websites along with free support and training.
Have you checked out CJ Affiliate/Commission Junction? How is it working for you? Please be sure to leave your comments below. I’d love to hear about your experience.
