Affiliate marketing is emerging as one of the most common methods for eCommerce brands to promote their business. It is also a multibillion-dollar industry that is creating new opportunities every day. To leverage revenue for your business irrespective of the industry a comprehensive guide for Affiliate Marketing is crucial.
WHAT IS AFFILIATE MARKETING?
It is quite simple enough, Affiliate Marketing is a process of promoting and selling another brand’s goods or services for a commission. The commission can be a percentage of the sale or can be a fixed price.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Affiliate marketing works as a sales model where brands pay a third party to promote or sell their product and services. As already mentioned it is quite simple but there are a few moving bits and pieces to grasp when it comes to this type of marketing. Brands generate affiliate programs and provide unique referral links for affiliate marketers to promote or sell. Brands track the leads or the sales that are coming through the affiliate marketer’s link.
Whenever any user goes through the affiliate link that is on the marketer’s page or site, a cookie is stored on their browser. The cookie indicates the brands whenever there is a purchase happening and by whom it’s happening, it lets the affiliate marketer earn a commission. If even the user only clicks on the link and doesn’t make a purchase right away the marketer earns the commission.
TYPES OF AFFILIATE MARKETING
There are three categories of affiliate marketing,
- Related: This is a type of affiliate marketing where marketers recommend services or products within or related to their industry or niche. It helps marketers to create an appeal and influence their existing audiences with whom they already have credibility. There will be no requirement to put in any extra effort other than doing some basic research.
- Unattached: When marketers promote a brand’s products or services that are not related to their niche or industry and don’t possess any prior experience it is considered as unattached affiliate marketing. This type of marketing often includes links in PPC ads. This option works when marketers want to generate money in a quick manner with less effort and work.
- Involved: This type of affiliate marketing indicates that the promotional product or services are used by the marketers and this process helps the marketers to connect with their targeted audiences in a deeper sense. This type also helps to maintain credibility with the audience.
BENEFITS OF AFFILIATE MARKETING
When used smartly affiliate marketing has a lot of benefits to offer.
- Affiliate marketing is a low-risk marketing strategy as the marketer’s work is only to promote and sell the product or the service to their audience. There is absolutely no requirement to create, produce or store anything. The simple work of joining a brand’s affiliate program, getting the link and promoting will be it. In case any brand affiliation doesn’t work out, just simply move on to the next one.
- Apart from promotion and content creation, when the groundwork of keeping the traffic flowing to the site is established, it can generate money anytime which makes affiliate marketing a passive income without directly participating in the transaction process.
- There is no tension for customer support in affiliate marketing which provides flexibility and freedom for marketers to work on their business aspect whenever and however they desire.
