Affiliate Marketing
All you need to know
What if there is a way to earn money without breaking the midnight oil and grinding all the time? Passive income, wherein you can get successful income stream without much effort, is probably everyone’s dream!
This is what Affiliate Marketing tries to address. Affiliate marketing is an industry that is becoming more and more sought-after nowadays—this is the process of earning a percentage when you promote a product of a certain individual or company.
1.Affiliate Marketing: How it works
If you want to be an affiliate, all you have to do is search for a certain product (of course, one you can be passionate about), and promote it. With every purchase made, you get a commission trackable through affiliate links.
There are three important components for affiliate marketing to be a success—the seller or product creator, the affiliate or third-party publisher, and of course, the consumer.
1.1.The seller and product creators
The seller could be an entrepreneur or a big company and is considered the merchant that has the product (could be in the form of products or services) needed to be promoted.
1.2. The affiliate or publisher
The affiliate could be an individual or an enterprise specializing in marketing sellers’ products. These are the ones responsible for marketing the goods and services of vendors to ensure consumers are encouraged to purchase them.
There are a lot of ways for affiliates to market the product. Nowadays, we have social media, wherein consumers can be directed to the affiliate link and check the merchant’s website.
Once a consumer buys the product, the affiliate gets a percentage of the revenue made from the sale.
Affiliate marketers must keep in mind that they should disclose their relationship with the retailer, and that they are getting a percentage off the sale. They can do this through putting disclaimers to establish transparency that can help consumers arrive at informed decisions when it comes to buying the affiliate product.
1.3. The consumer
These are people like you and me who buy the product, the ones that affiliate marketers need to target.
Want to continue reading later... download the article now!
2.Benefits of becoming an Affiliate Marketer
2.1. Passive income
Everyone of us dreams of earning money anytime, anywhere, while we sleep. With affiliate marketing, you can get passive income with continuous returns. You will earn even long after you have finished the work!
2.2. Flexibility
Affiliate marketers are usually content creators, and for these individuals, flexibility is key to success. With just a computer and an internet access, you can pursue a career on this field—one that will fit any schedule you desire!
2.3. Valuable partnerships
Working as an affiliate can not only get you additional income stream but it can also widen your network and potential for strategic partnerships. This is a great way to find connections and new people that can open more opportunities for you.
3.Is affiliate marketing worth it?
According to a study by Statista, the affiliate marketing industry is estimated to grow from $5.4 billion in 2017 to $8.2 billion by 2022. Granted that it requires only low costs, the high growth figures only mean that affiliate marketing is definitely worth pursuing—it’s great value for money indeed.
5.How to get started?
Before you get into the business of affiliate marketing, it’s important to know how to authentically connect with your audience—this is the very first step you need to take. Experts at Shopify note that failure to do this could mean failure in affiliate sales conversion.
Begin with a marketing platform you’re most comfortable with, then create high-quality content. With high-quality content, you can have loyal and engaged audience that could turn into purchasing customers
To pick one, you need to ask yourself:
- What platforms do you use the most?
- Which platforms do you understand best?
To give you an idea, experts at Shopify noted that the common platforms affiliate marketers use include:
- Blogging
- TikTok
- Pay per click (PPC)
Once you have decided on your chosen platform, you can easily follow these steps to become an affiliate:
- Determine your audience – This helps you assess the right products to market
- Find your products – The products must be what your audience really wants
- Talk to a product expert – This can better improve your credibility with your audience
- Create a product tutorial – This helps you authentically connect and engage with your audience
- Build an email list and look for relevant search terms – This can help you market the product easier and on a wider scale
- Set your distribution strategy – This can help you further target the right niche audience
- Try offering a bonus – This can encourage your audience to purchase the product you’re promoting
- Take note of all legalities – This can keep you safe from all transactions
6.A perfect case study: An Overview of Amazon’s affiliate marketing program
If you want an effective way to begin your journey as an affiliate marketer, one company that offers an amazing program to get you started is Amazon.
The Amazon Affiliates program helps aspiring affiliate marketers monetize their traffic. These marketers—usually influencers or content creators—market the items on their sites to their followers.
These affiliates are given a unique link upon signup. Potential buyers clicking the link would then be directed to the Amazon website. These affiliates will earn a commission if these customers buy the promoted products, or even other products within a day of clicking the link.
It would also be interesting to note that Amazon pays its affiliates well. In fact, according to a report by worldwide employment website ZipRecruiter, the national average salary for an affiliate is $55,434 per year. The top 1% of earners make between $111,500 and $121,000, while the lowest 10% earn between $16,500 and $26,000.
Shopify experts noted that affiliates can take advantage of the many benefits of Amazon Affiliate’s program. These include: partnering with the world’s biggest and most trusted online marketplace, being paid by direct deposit, check, or Amazon gift cards; wide range of products to market; and the program’s centralized and easy-to-use features.
