What is affiliate marketing and How to Get Started?
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular methods available as of now to make money online. If you are interested in earning money as an affiliate marketer, you need to be aware of the basics. Continue to read and we will share all the basics that you need to be aware of affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is where you promote a product or a service offered by another entity to a new audience with the objective of securing a commission or a reward. The best thing about affiliate marketing is that you don’t need to own a product or a service. You just need to promote something, and you can get guaranteed returns based on sales or leads you generate.
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What are the key components of affiliate marketing?
Now you have a basic idea of what affiliate marketing is all about. While keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at the key components of affiliate marketing.
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- Merchant
Merchants are the product creators. They include brands, sellers, creators, vendors, and even retailers. Big companies such as Amazon and Dyson are perfect examples for merchants. Among merchants, you can find solo entrepreneurs as well as Fortune 500 companies.
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- Consumer
Consumers are the people who purchase products. Affiliate marketers make products visible to consumers and promote them in an appealing way. For example, affiliate marketers find a pain point of consumers and create a useful article providing solutions for it. Affiliate product URLs will be included in the article. Consumers who get tempted based on the reviews will go ahead and click on those affiliate URLs to purchase products. This would complete a sale and generation of affiliate commission to an affiliate marketer.
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- Affiliate marketers
Affiliate marketers are the middlemen between merchants and consumers. They promote products or services obtained from merchants to consumers. For all the hard work they spend, commissions will be offered in return. These commissions can either be flat-rate commissions or percentage commissions. It varies depending on the affiliate network that they use.
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- Affiliate network
An affiliate network is a platform that encompasses all entities mentioned above. Merchants will make their products available on the platform, where affiliate marketers can generate and access their unique affiliate URLs. Then the affiliate commissions and all other trackings related to the affiliate URL will be stored within the affiliate URL. Commission calculation will happen within the affiliate network as well. At the end of the month, affiliate marketers will be able to access their accounts in the affiliate network and proceed with withdrawing their earnings. digitalocean, bluehost, GetResponse, Vultr, and ActiveCampaign are some of the perfect examples of affiliate networks available out there to consider.
Top 10 high-paying affiliate programs in 2023:
- Semrush
- Commission: Up to 40% recurring
- Cookie duration: 120 days
- Payout method: PayPal, wire transfer, check
- Minimum payout: $50
- SiteGround
- Commission: 60% on first sale, 30% recurring
- Cookie duration: 30 days
- Payout method: PayPal, wire transfer, check
- Minimum payout: $50
- Liquid Web
- Commission: Up to 75% recurring
- Cookie duration: 90 days
- Payout method: PayPal, wire transfer, check
- Minimum payout: $100
- Bluehost
- Commission: 60% on first sale, 35% recurring
- Cookie duration: 30 days
- Payout method: PayPal, wire transfer, check
- Minimum payout: $25
- Hostinger
- Commission: 70% on first sale, 35% recurring
- Cookie duration: 30 days
- Payout method: PayPal, wire transfer, check
- Minimum payout: $10
- HubSpot
- Commission: Up to $1,000 per sale
- Cookie duration: 90 days
- Payout method: PayPal, wire transfer, check
- Minimum payout: $250
- GetResponse
- Commission: 33% recurring
- Cookie duration: 180 days
- Payout method: PayPal, wire transfer, check
- Minimum payout: $50
- Fiverr
- Commission: $15-150 per referral; or $10 + 10% recurring for 12 months
- Cookie duration: 30 days
- Payout method: Your preferred method
- Minimum Sales Threshold Before Payout: $100
- Teachable
- Commission: 30% recurring
- Cookie duration: 90 days
- Payout method: PayPal, wire transfer, check
- Minimum payout: $100
- Shopify
- Commission: 10% on first sale, 5% recurring
- Cookie duration: 90 days
- Payout method: PayPal, wire transfer, check
- Minimum payout: $25
How does affiliate marketing work?
Let’s take a look at how affiliate marketing works based on an example. You can sign up with Amazon as an affiliate marketer. Then you can select products on Amazon as an affiliate marketer. Amazon will generate and provide a unique URL for each affiliate product you promote. This URL will be used to track your affiliate commissions as well. You can create a blog sharing reviews of products that you promote as an affiliate marketer. Then you can generate traffic to the blog.
People who go through your blog will read the content you share and click on affiliate URLs of products that they are interested in purchasing. If someone commits to buying any of those products, you can secure a commission. Likewise, you can continue to make money even when you are sleeping.
How to Get Started with Affiliate Marketing
Types of Affiliate Marketing
- Pay-Per-Sale (PPS): The most common type of affiliate marketing, where the affiliate earns a commission for every sale made through their affiliate link.
- Pay-Per-Lead (PPL): The affiliate earns a commission for every lead or sign-up generated through their affiliate link.
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC): The affiliate earns a commission for every click on their affiliate link, regardless of whether or not a sale is made.
- Two-Tier: The affiliate earns a commission for sales made by other affiliates they refer to the merchant’s affiliate program.
Affiliate Marketing vs. Other Online Business Models
Affiliate marketing is just one of many ways to make money online. Here are some other popular online business models:
- E-commerce: Selling physical or digital products through an online store.
- Dropshipping: Selling products without holding inventory by partnering with a supplier who handles the shipping and fulfillment.
- Online Courses: Creating and selling educational courses on a specific topic.
- Blogging: Creating a blog and earning money through advertising, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing.
FAQs
The amount you can earn through affiliate marketing varies depending on several factors such as the commission rates, the products or services you promote, and the size and engagement of your audience. However, some affiliate marketers earn six or even seven figures per year.
While having a website can make it easier to promote affiliate products and build a relationship with your audience, it's not always necessary. You can also promote affiliate products through social media, email marketing, and other channels.
To find the right affiliate programs for your niche, look for programs that offer products or services that align with your audience and have a commission structure and cookie duration that works for you. You can also use affiliate networks or simply search for "[your niche] affiliate program" on Google.
To promote affiliate products without being spammy, focus on providing valuable content and building a strong relationship with your audience. Incorporate affiliate links naturally and transparently, and avoid constantly bombarding your audience with promotional content.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing presents an exciting opportunity for individuals to generate passive income online. By understanding the fundamentals of affiliate marketing and implementing effective strategies, you can build a successful affiliate business. Remember to select a niche you are passionate about, produce valuable content, drive targeted traffic, and continuously optimize your efforts. With dedication and perseverance, you can achieve financial freedom through affiliate marketing.