affiliate marketing

The term affiliate marketing refers to the concept whereby a merchant/distributor who is the advertiser appoints one or more advertisers who generate traffic or leads to the merchant’s website, in order to generate increased sales. These advertisers, which are commonly known as affiliates, are paid based on the performance measure or the signups or direct sales generated by them, depending on the terms decided upon.

The affiliate marketer promotes the products/services of the client merchant through various websites, blogs, posts, articles, etc. directing traffic to the merchant’s website, who then pays a commission or remuneration to said merchant. There could be thousands of affiliated merchants for a website whose motive is to generate visitors to the website that are potential to lead to sales for the website.

Such a marketer makes use of analytics tools to keep track of the types of links and posts that generate actual sales.

How affiliate marketing works

A merchant wanting to reach a broader base of internet users and buyers may hire an affiliate, who could be the owner of multiple websites or email marketing lists with a wide network. He then communicates and promotes the products offered on the e-commerce platform to his network. It deploys text and/or link banner ads on its multiple websites or via email to its clientele. Advertising can be in the form of articles, videos, images, etc., which are used to draw the attention of the audience towards a service or product.

A visitor who clicks on one of these links or advertisements on the affiliate site will be redirected to the e-commerce site. If you end up buying the product or service, the eCommerce merchant credits your account with the agreed commission, which could be 5% to 10% of the product’s sales price.

Marketers become affiliates in a number of ways including:

1) By signing up for retail or e-commerce sites. Shopify, for example, has a program that allows sellers to earn commissions on new buyers.

Survey existing customers to learn their favorite products or services, and then contact those businesses to ask about those programs. For example, a small business marketing consultant might become an affiliate of an email list distribution service. The marketer receives a unique URL. They share that unique URL in social media ads, posts. When the potential buyer clicks on these URLs, the merchant pays you.

2) Search online for products that are relevant to the seller’s site and that appeal to the target audience. Most companies that offer such programs indicate this with a related link or a “Partners” link at the bottom of their site’s home page.

3) Look for potential affiliate products in program managers including Commission Junction, ClickBank and ShareASale.