What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing can be an extremely effective way to grow product sales or make money online. This type of marketing tactic has been responsible for creating a lot of wealth, for both companies and entrepreneurs.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the process by which an affiliate earns a commission for marketing another person’s or company’s products. The affiliate simply searches for a product they enjoy, then promotes that product and earns a piece of the profit from each sale they make. The sales are tracked via affiliate links from one website to another.

How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?

Since affiliate marketing works by sharing the responsibilities of product marketing and creation across parties, it manages to leverage the abilities of a variety of individuals for a more effective marketing strategy while providing contributors with a percentage of the sales that are created.

In order for this to work, you do need 3 different parties must be involved:

* Product Creators and the Seller - The product creator or seller, which can be a large company or an individual entrepreneur, they're responsible for having a product or service to sell. The product can be a physical object, software, or a service. By having an affiliate marketing program, the creator wouldn't have to be involved in the marketing. That doesn't mean the creator won't market their own product or service, but they will have an army of affiliates promoting the product/service.

* Advertiser or Affiliate - Usually referred to an advertiser or publisher, the affiliate can also be a solo entrepreneur or a company - they promote the seller’s product to potential consumers. The goal for affiliates is to promote the product/service to persuade consumers to buy it - ideally they would try to show how valuable and beneficial it can be to their audience. When the consumer buys the service or product, the affiliate then receives a percentage of the sale.

* Consumers - Consumers play an important role in the buying process, as well as the whole affiliate model. When consumers buy a product or service, the seller and the affiliate share the profits. Without the consumer, the affiliate marketing model is incomplete.

Should I Build An Affiliate Marketing Program?

While building an affiliate marketing program is a challenge, it can be very lucrative for you and others involved. Affiliate marketing can be a great pillar in your overall marketing strategy. Think about this:

It Gives You An Army Of Marketers Promoting Your Service Or Product

Affiliates want to join your program to earn revenue, so they will need to promote your product/service to their audience. They don't benefit unless they're making sales, so you know they'll put in the effort to achieve just that. If you can get dozens of affiliates promoting your work, your service or product can take off quick. Since a lot of affiliates create content, it's a great way to get your product/service to the masses.

It Doesn't Cost A Lot Of Money To Start An Affiliate Program

While a lot of marketing tactics cost a lot of money to get started, affiliate marketing doesn't cost you anything. Well, you may have to build a program through code, but outside of that, it's very cost-effective to start.

Now, if you're looking into getting started as an affiliate marketer, good news, you can get started for free. The majority of affiliate programs don't cost anything to join, so if you're looking to make money online, it's a great place to start.

Everyone Likes Making Money

Affiliate marketing is attractive for sellers as well. A lot of people do affiliate marketing full-time, they make great money too. However, even if you're working a 9-5 job, you can add an income stream by doing affiliate marketing. Most of the biggest brands in the world have affiliate marketing programs, so if you're wanting to become an entrepreneur and work from home, affiliate marketing can give you that opportunity.

If you plan on launching an affiliate marketing program, you shouldn't have a problem finding affiliates to join. You'll want to make sure your subscribers and audience know you have a program, so be sure to list it on your website and share it via social media.

Affiliate marketing is a methodology where third-party media buyers drive potential customers to an advertiser's product or service — on behalf of the advertiser.

Affiliates can: purchase media at scale to generate sales; create unique marketing materials — separate from the advertiser's materials — to target different consumers; and market a product or service in new geographies.

Want to read more about the basics of affiliate marketing? PDMI member DFO Global has you covered with this evergreen infographic that breaks down the components of affiliate marketing, how affiliates get paid, potential challenges, and more.

Click here or on the image below to access this infographic today.

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