Discord is the communication platform of the 21st century, providing an open and convenient space for like-minded people to share ideas and form partnerships. But apart from being an awesome tool, the success of Discord hinges on ways for users to monetize their communities. That’s where NordVPN comes – as of May 2021, the popular VPN provider has launched a Discord partnership program.
So, what exactly is this NordVPN-Discord partnership, how does it work, and can you use it to make some cash? Let’s find out.
What’s the deal with Discord partnerships?
A few months ago, the news of Microsoft planning to obtain Discord for 10 billion dollars circulated online. For some, it was no surprise, since Microsoft has been steadily moving deeper into the video game industry. However, others have never heard about Discord.
Well, Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging platform built around community servers. Launched in 2015 as a means of communication for video game players, Discord has 140 million active monthly users as of this moment.
The topics have also expanded beyond video games to connect people with interests as disparate as politics, crypto, or entertainment. For instance, Mythpat, a music hosting server, currently has nearly half a million members!
Unlike many others, Discord does not make money by monetizing Ads. Rather, it runs on a freemium business model: anybody can use Discord for free, but if you want premium features like bigger uploads, better streaming quality, and custom emojis, you’ll have to pay $99.99/year (or $9.99/month) for Discord Nitro.
Discord server owners can use this tool to improve their servers and then monetize them. Since Discord server rules let you promote other services, a lot of people are using this as an opportunity to gain a steady income. Advertising on a discord server is one way of doing that.
Businesses are also seizing the moment, and just recently, NordVPN launched a Discord partnership program to help server owners make money while promoting their services.
What is the NordVPN Discord partnership program?
The Work From Home era has seen a huge boom in the Virtual Private Network market, and NordVPN has been one of the biggest benefactors. Consistent growth has also paved the way for various partnership and affiliate programs: YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok users have all found ways to promote VPN services.
Meanwhile, Discord has largely remained an untapped market for VPNs – for no good reason. Social media is great at getting people in one place, and one way or another, this creates opportunities to introduce a service or open up new promotional opportunities.
Hence, a few weeks ago, NordVPN launched their Discord partnership program, with two primary goals:
- introduce NordVPN to Discord communities and build their user base
- help Discord server owners monetize their channels
This program is aimed at Discord server or bot owners. Server owners can use their vast social network to launch successful promotion campaigns, and bots can reach numerous popular channels.
How do I make money using this partnership?
Selling NordVPN via your Discord server is fairly straightforward. First, you should register for the NordVPN Discord partnership program on their webpage.
Upon starting a partnership, you will receive all the information about the contract and an introduction on VPNs, NordVPN, as well as tips and tricks on how to build a good Discord server.
NordVPN provides up to three free accounts to giveaway on the server. This can be a good opportunity to both attract new people to the channel and introduce NordVPN in an engaging way. After that, it’s what you want it to be, but your best bet is to tailor your promotional message to your community.
Last but not least is the payout. For a new 2-year, 1-year, and 6-month subscription, partners will receive 40%, which is up to around $35. The commissions for a plan renewal are at 30% of the price, and you can get a 100% commission for a 1-month signup (however, this is the most expensive plan, and the payout is better for long-term commitments).
For social media marketers and Discord server owners, this is an interesting new way of making money. It remains to be seen how this model will compare to ad-based monetization, however, or how the rates will change in the future.
