Affiliate marketing refers to the instance in which sellers receive commissions for promoting other people’s or company’s products to the extent that customers complete a purchase due to the seller’s marketing. Ideally, this can be a nearly passive form of income for many seller thanks to simple revenue sharing; sellers can promote other products and earn income from successful sales.
How does it work?
1. Recommend a product or service to your customers.
2. Some of those people purchase the product or service based on your recommendation.
3. Get paid! You will be paid a commission for those sales.
Who are the players involved in affiliate marketing?
1. Advertiser/Merchant/Seller: A company or individual who is selling a product or service and seeking to have that product receive more attention through alternative marketing methods.
2. Publisher/Affiliate/Affiliate Marketer/Associate/Partner: This is the seller or company that promotes the product of another person or company, to their customers or followers.
3. Customer: The individual who buys the product or service they saw via the affiliate’s marketing efforts.
Affiliate Marketing Best Practices
Affiliates are most successful when they promote products that match the interests of their followers or subscribers. Additionally, it is advised that sellers only promote products you are familiar with to ensure a high-quality product from a reputable seller.
Affiliate marketing is not necessarily as simple as it sounds. Affiliates need to invest in tracking and metrics, as well as trial and error and comparison tools. Be wary of joining too many affiliate programs until you’ve become comfortable and successful.