Affiliate marketing is an emerging Internet marketing technique in which an advertiser delegates responsibility for the execution of marketing activities to numerous independent partners. In this case, the amount of remuneration depends on the effect of the campaign. Affiliates, motivated by commission remuneration, bring potential customers to the website of the affiliate program owner. Thanks to affiliate marketing, you can earn independently on a blog or website – you do not have to wait for a brand that wants to cooperate with you. Affiliate marketing is also a great option for entrepreneurs who are thus able to expand the brand’s reach and gain a new group of trusted customers.
It all started from a meeting… Learn some basic history of affiliate marketing
The first affiliate programs were established in the USA in the mid-90s. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is considered to be the father of affiliate marketing. In 1996, Bezos met a woman who wanted to sell books about divorces on her website. The entrepreneur then came up with a method of “linking” her website to Amazon.com, in return for which he charged a commission on the books sold. The program consisted in placing banners on their websites, leading to specific products.
Affiliate marketing is now popular all over the world. Even though it’s hard to say how many affiliate programs there are, some affiliate networks, like MyLead, offer over 3000 of them.
So who exactly can become an affiliate marketer?
Anyone who has their own internet communication channels, such as a blog, website, a social network account, or access to any online forum, can become an affiliate marketer – a publisher. However, those who are able to conduct affiliate activities professionally earn the most. Why? Because people like that analyze data, know how to use available tools, know channels of traffic acquisition and know how to monetize their online actions.
It’s also worth mentioning that one of the most popular traffic sources when it comes to promoting affiliate programs is social networks. That means that you don’t have to own any kind of website or a blog to be successful in promoting affiliate programs.
Note: if you do want to create your own blog or use the one you’re already running, it’s not recommended to be focusing on banner advertising. Why? Because it may make your website look trashy. Use hyperlinks within substantively valuable thematic articles (e.g. reviews, original statements, etc.).
To start your journey with affiliate marketing, all you need to do is register on one of the platforms operating on the market. Before joining, make sure that the network offers programs from your favourite category, has a functioning support system and has users who can verify that the platform is trustworthy and reliable. MyLead is an affiliate network with over 250 thousand registered users from all over the world. It offers over 3000 affiliate programs from 15 categories and free monetization tools that make the whole process of earning even easier.
The vast majority of networks settle accounts with publishers in the CPS (commission for sales), CPA (commission for user actions on the advertiser’s website), or CPL (commission for obtaining contact details of a potential customer) model.
In a broader perspective, the most important aspect when choosing should be stability and credibility. One of the advertising formats most frequently chosen by affiliates is a product widget with a mini-price comparison, presenting the offer from many stores cooperating with the network. This solution is especially recommended for bloggers – they get a ready-made tool with high efficiency, additionally matching the aesthetics of the blog. Thanks to the mini-comparison, the recipients know the price and availability of the product, and the presence of many stores makes the message more credible and unobtrusive. Later, you can get to the point, which is the selection of programs that you want to advertise.
“I want some coin already” – how to start making money from affiliate marketing?
First of all, you should have an idea for your business. It is worth creating a well-thought-out strategy so that the selected programs fit into the category of your portal or any other place on the Internet that you want to use as a promotion space. Matching the advertising message to the content offered on the website is the basic step in earning money through affiliate networks. The chance that readers will decide to buy just because you have included the link in the post is rather negligible.
If you know the target group well, it will be easier for you to offer specific products. Content should be created in such a way that it is useful for the user – this will increase the chance that they will be interested in the advertised products, which will translate directly into sales results.
If you want to be successful at affiliate marketing, you need to commit. Track offers trends, look for special offers, contact your network’s support team if you have any doubts… In order to use affiliate marketing effectively, you also need to expand your knowledge of internet marketing – it is worth getting interested in topics such as content marketing or native advertising. Having that in mind, choose a platform that offers guides and tutorials. For instance, the aforementioned MyLead offers an industry blog and a YouTube channel.
Summing up…
While using affiliate programs may seem difficult at first, don’t give up. High-quality content, credibility, regularity, and a committed community are key factors that will influence the effects of your affiliate marketing activities. Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest forms of earning online, which anyone can try without having the funds to start. It’s a good idea to partner with an affiliate network and create a blog or social media profile. Soon, you’ll see how easy and enjoyable generating passive income online can be.