Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, and a merchant's affiliate marketing strategy is the process they use to discover and partner with websites similar to yours in order to promote their business, products, or services.
You are responsible for promoting the products of others in exchange for a commission.
Generally speaking, it is a very simple way to use your niche to promote products and services across a larger sector that you do not provide yourself; rather than spending your own money on inventory, you sell someone else's inventory for a commission.
Affiliate marketing is a model of advertising that has acquired a lot of popularity among online businesses, including many of the biggest brands, due to its heavy emphasis on performance. It encompasses all forms of online advertising and exists at the intersection of all other forms of online marketing.
Whilst it is fairly simple to add a relevant link to your website, podcast or social media post it is also useful to understand the terminology.
How it works – the basics
Someone visits your site and clicks on the unique link the merchant has specifically provided you.
Your visitor lands on the merchant’s website.
Your visitor purchases the product.
You receive a portion of that sale as commission.
The merchant knows the sale is coming from your link and not from someone else’s, as you will have a tracking link that is unique to your business. This tracking link is a unique link given only to you by the merchant and is used to track all the traffic you send (and sales you make) via your website or other promotional channels. Even if the buyer returns later to the merchants site to buy, the tracking link will still allocate the relevant commission to you.
A tracking link is like any other URL but contains a unique string / parameter for your profile. When you join an affiliate program, you get your tracking link from your affiliate account dashboard.
There are many ways for you to join an affiliate program. You can:
Join an affiliate marketplace like Clickbank, Commission Junction, Flexoffers or the eBay Partner Network
Join a direct affiliate program. Websites that sell products online, such as Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba offer affiliate programs. When you sign up for their free affiliate programs, you gain access to their affiliate dashboard, where you can find your unique tracking link.
Search google for ""Name of Your Niche" Affiliate Program" to find businesses offering affiliate programs in your niche; you should also search for ""Name of Your Wider Market" Affiliate Program"
Affiliate Terminology
Affiliates. Publishers (you!) who join an affiliate program.
Affiliate Marketplace. This is a marketplace where you can find many companies offering affiliate programs for their product(s). There are many affiliate marketplaces like Clickbank, CJ, Flexoffers or the eBay Partner Network. They act as a central database for affiliate programs in different niches.
Affiliate Link. A unique tracking link offered by your affiliate merchant to track the progress of your affiliate promotion.
Affiliate ID. This is like an affiliate link. Sometimes, affiliate programs offer a “unique ID,” which you can add as a suffix of any product page (example: productpage.com/AffiliateID).
Payment Mode / Method. Different affiliate programs offer different methods of payment. Common payment modes include a direct transfer you your account and PayPal as well as others.
Affiliate Manager. When you join an affiliate program an affiliate manager will be set up to you. You should always build a good relationship with your affiliate managers as they will help you get increased commissions on certain items and also give you a heads-up about new offers.
Commission Percentage / Amount. The amount or percentage of commission you will get for every sale via your affiliate link. Many companies offer a fixed percentage of the sale amount (for example, 30%), while others provide fixed rates per sale (say $25).
Affiliate marketing is applicable across the board, and any online business can operate an affiliate program. The primary focus of affiliate marketing is the actual consumer action that took place; it is always a win-win situation for the merchant, if they make a transaction, they pay a commission, but if they do not, they incur no expense. Most merchants only compensate affiliates for registered and confirmed sales; fraudulent, duplicate, and other ineligible actions are disregarded.
If you are unsure, use a search engine to determine what your competitors are doing. Using any major search engine with the keyword phrase "your product> affiliate program" is likely to make your decision significantly simpler.
The affiliate model is compatible with all forms of marketing, including display, contextual, video, and social media advertising, as well as search engine marketing (SEM) and email marketing.
Affiliates with excellent niche-specific content construct content-rich websites and monetize them by embedding merchant links within the content. Links could include banners, widgets, text links, video, and links to products, among others. A content affiliate may promote a merchant using a variety of methods, including in-text links, auxiliary ads, banner sections, and even a product selection.
Consider the following if you wish to generate affiliate income through content:
Create content that has a high search volume. Before you begin writing about any topic, you should investigate its search volume.
Discuss news, events, issues, problems, and solutions pertinent to your niche.
Compose detailed and sincere product evaluations.
Do not compose a dishonest review in order to sell a product; doing so is a short-term strategy for reducing the credibility of your content.
Write for a larger audience.