Did you know the average affiliate marketer makes $65,000 a year? That’s a huge amount. But how do these people make so much money from small cuts of sales?
Even though numbers of marketers are rising around the world, it’s still profitable. And that’s because everyone has something unique to bring to the table. So, without further ado, let’s delve deeper into affiliate marketing and its role in the world.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
The definition of affiliate marketing can vary. But for most, it’s a type of online advertising that involves promoting businesses and products. You earn commission when referring customers to their website, often through social media links.
How To Do Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing itself is a quick and easy process to execute. Yet, it often requires a long-term strategy that requires much work and commitment.
That said, suppose you are already writing content or an influencer on social media. It would help if you didn’t have too much difficulty swapping your links out.
Here are the different parties in an affiliate marketing campaign:
The Seller Offering the Commission
You’ll be familiar with this party because we’ve all seen them before. These sellers include big companies such as Apple and Nike or small businesses.
When you click their ad, you’ll see a pop-up window asking whether you want to join their affiliate network. Once you agree, you’ll get paid whenever someone clicks your link and buys their product.
The Publisher aka Affiliate
If you’re curious about making money from affiliate marketing, then this is about you. The publisher broadcasts content with the relevant links provided by the seller.
The Consumer
The consumer is the person who sees your content, clicks the link, and then buys the product. That could be anyone – friends, family, colleagues, or strangers.
For these people, their online shopping experience is no different from any other. The aim is to make it as easy as possible for the consumer to buy a product while you get the commission from the sale.
Affiliate Marketing Process and Procedures
Each company has its processes to follow. Some programs accept anyone onto them, while others need strict vetting checks.
That said, here is the basic how-to:
1. Sign up for an affiliate program
2. Create a unique URL for every post/article you write about a particular topic
3. Add this URL to all relevant articles
4. Write quality content
5. Promote your article via social media channels
6. Wait for visitors to come to your page
7. When they click on your link, they’ll go to the optimized website, where they can complete their sale.
How Do Affiliate Marketers Get Paid?
There are many different ways affiliate marketers get paid. Here are a few examples:
Pay per Click
In PPC advertising, advertisers pay each time someone clicks on their advertisement. You might think this sounds like gambling, but it isn’t. Advertisers set a budget and only pay when someone clicks on their advert.
Cost Per Sale
With CPS, affiliates earn money once a customer makes a successful transaction. In return, they will usually take a small cut of the total amount spent.
Commission Based
This method pays based on sales volume rather than actual transactions. It works best for products that sell themselves. If you promote something that needs some form of human interaction, this may not be suitable for you.
What Affiliate Marketing Websites Exist?
There are many different types of affiliate marketing programs out there. Some offer a range of products, while others specify with one intent. But here are some popular ones:
Amazon Associate Program
Amazon’s Affiliate Program allows you to promote any item sold through Amazon.com. Suppose someone buys something using your link. Then you receive a percentage of the price as compensation.
ShareASale
ShareASale’s Program pays you based on how much traffic you send to its partner stores. It also offers referral bonuses if you sign up new members who buy items through your link.
Commission Junction
CJ Affiliates has been around since 1999 as one of the pioneers of affiliate marketing. They offer several different affiliate programs. These include text-link ads, banner ads, video ads, mobile apps, and more.
What are the Benefits for Businesses?
It seems strange that businesses would give away a huge share of their profits for extra sales. But it makes more sense than you think. Take the example of a small start-up.
Imagine an audio company that makes one type of headphone. They have a profit margin of $50 per headset, but don’t have the cash flow to execute a $500,000 marketing campaign.
So instead, they approach bloggers and influencers. They do so either with free headsets. Or headhunt those who have talked about the product without commission.
For each sale, these influencers get $20 of the $50 profit margin. But sales triple. Thus, instead of a $50 profit, the takings are now $90 ($30 x 3) for the same amount of effort by the business.
Don’t Take It to Heart if You Are Rejected
Not everyone gets accepted for every affiliate marketing program. Companies want to make sure they’re staying on brand and reaching the right audiences. If they see someone irrelevant pushing a sale for money, that can result in a bad customer experience.
That said, don’t take it to heart. It might be that you don’t have enough followers or enough traffic to your website. Build on their feedback and apply again in the coming weeks and months.
Affiliate Marketing Is Profitable
If you’re looking into starting an affiliate business, then look no further. Whether you’re already generating high-quality content or not. Affiliate marketing is a very rewarding experience. You can share your passion and hobby for sharing useful content with the world!
So if you need support with affiliate marketing, get in touch with TFG Media today!
