VKontakte launches an affiliate program – it replaces the advertising network and will start working on February 1, 2021. Content creators will get more earning opportunities.

The calculation of payments will change: coverage will no longer be the only evaluation criterion. The rules for selecting communities for the affiliate program have been updated. Those who are already participating in the advertising network do not have to reconnect – everything will happen automatically.

Read also: How to make money on VKontakte

What is the VK affiliate program

The VKontakte affiliate program allows you to monetize the community: you get money for viewing ads by users. Everything happens automatically – there is no need to process applications and manually place ads on the community wall or communicate with customers.

Updated payout calculation

In the VKontakte advertising network, only the reach was taken into account. In the new program, the system has become more flexible, and for those who take into account new factors in their publications, payments can grow by 50%. Now, several additional criteria will affect earnings at once.

Factors allowing to increase income from a group in VK:

• attracting an audience from external resources: websites and other social networks;
• the content should be interesting both to community subscribers and to those who see the posts in recommendations or from friends;
• native publication formats: uploading video to the VK player, instead of linking to a third-party site, text formatting in the article editor.

Factors negatively affecting income:

• plagiarism in the community;
• violation of VKontakte rules;
• boost the number of subscribers and reach.

Differences from ad network rules

The VKontakte affiliate program is designed to open up more opportunities for creators of high-quality content.

Restrictions on topics (clause 2.5)

The focus of the new program is content creators. VKontakte added to the list new topics of communities that will not be able to participate in the affiliate program:

• ads;
• sale of goods, works, services;
• communities of educational organizations;
• official communities of government bodies and government agencies.

Change of subject or name to one that does not comply with the rules for the last year (clause 2.8).

If over the past year the name or topic of the community has changed to those that do not comply with the rules, then it will not be connected to the affiliate program.

Correct indication of sources (clause 10.1)

First of all, the author should make money on his content. VKontakte will check if administrators follow the rules for indicating sources.

How to correctly indicate authorship:

• put a clickable link to the author or the source community;
• in the “Source” field, indicate a link to the entry from the wall of the primary source community or to the author;
• clickable mention of the author or write his nickname – in the second case, you will need to provide a link to the post on the wall.

No violations (clause 10.2)

The program includes only those who play by the rules. Any violations – not only in the advertising part, but also, for example, in the field of copyright or maintaining the page – will negatively affect the connection to the PP. At the same time, if you run the page in good faith, but have stumbled a couple of times and have already corrected, this will not prevent you from becoming a member of the program.

Description of the project (clause 10.3)

Engage your audience. If the community has a description of its activities, then it has more chances: users will immediately understand what content is waiting for them on the page. Therefore, participants in the VKontakte partner program must have information about the project in any of the following forms:

Content content (clause 10.4)

Pay attention to the posts you make in the community. The affiliate program can successfully monetize communities that benefit their audience: entertain, educate, inform.

Unique content of good quality (p. 10.5)

VKontakte encourages communities that offer subscribers something new and of high quality: they come up with memes themselves, choose a non-standard presentation, share their creativity. Creating original content on a regular basis is a lot of work and should be appreciated.

No duplication of content that was previously published in the community or communities belonging to one administrator or one network (clause 10.6)

Subscribers don’t like seeing the same content, even if it’s original content. Therefore, you should not publish them again and again in your community or replicate them in other groups and on public pages. Please note that we are talking about regular duplication. If you drew a comic once, and after a while post it again, this is quite justified. The main thing is not to frequent.

How will the transition to the new affiliate program be carried out?

Before connecting to the affiliate program, VKontakte will analyze all the community content: name, topic, pinned entries, description, cover, etc. They will check the content, compliance with the positioning of the community and the correct indication of information sources in publications. In addition, the community cannot be monetized if it contains bullying, clickbait, unfair advertising, or fake news.

Those who are already connected to the ad network: On February 1, your community will automatically join the affiliate program – then payments will begin to be calculated in a new way. Also on this day, VKontakte will begin to check whether the participants comply with the updated rules. If not, the page will be disconnected from the program. Have time to eliminate violations or make sure that they are not there.

Those who are not yet connected: If your application for connection is currently being considered or you are just going to submit it, then your community will be checked according to the new rules. You will become a member of the affiliate program from February 1.

How to connect to the VK affiliate program

1. Apply for connection to community management – in the “Monetization” section.
2. Click on the “Connect” button.
3. You will be redirected to the website of our partner SocialCentrum. Log in with your VK account.
4. In the “Affiliate Program” section, click on the “Connect” button next to the name of the community.
5. Your application will be sent for verification. The decision is usually made within a few days.
6. When the application is approved, go to the Monetization section in Community Management and enable the affiliate program.