AFFILIATE MARKETING

 What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a form of pay-for-performance marketing where an affiliate sells items on behalf of a merchant at an agreed price or percentage of the sale.

It's a great form of advertising for eCommerce stores , since funds are only exchanged after a sale is complete, but it works for all business models out there.

As long as you have a product to sell , or can find a product to promote, you can engage in affiliate marketing.

What makes this form of marketing stand out is that it benefits everyone involved. As for customers, they can find products they might not have found on their own and get endorsement from someone they (presumably) trust.

While on the marketing, merchant, and network side (more on that later), everyone gets a piece of the sale .

What are relationships in affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is about relationships forged between people . The customer-affiliate relationship needs the same foundation as the affiliate-merchant relationship: strong trust, fair terms, and transparency.

By the way, transparency is not just a suggestion. It is a legal requirement in the United States.

In the most basic version of affiliate marketing, there are three parties involved:

The client (audience)

The affiliate (promoter)

The merchant (owner)

Here's a great visual overview of the affiliate marketing sales cycle:

With affiliate marketing making up 16% of all ecommerce sales , this cycle represents the primary process from an affiliate's point of view.

First of all, the affiliate finds a product and connects with the merchant behind it. The affiliate and merchant then agree on a certain commission rate – either a flat fee or a percentage – when the affiliate makes sales on behalf of the merchant.

Affiliates then promote the product to their audience, often using a special link to track your sales and referrals . After the transaction is complete, the merchant delivers the commission.

Wash, rinse and repeat throughout the life cycle of the affiliate.

If you prefer visual learning, here is another view of the process:

What are affiliate networks?

We have been dodging this topic until now for a reason.

Well, for two reasons:

Affiliate networks, in our humble opinion, are not the best option.

They are not necessarily viable for smaller companies.

Affiliate networks fit between the affiliate and the merchant, adding a third party to the sales mix 

In many ways, they make life easier in affiliate marketing. Networks connect affiliates with products they might not find on their own and give merchants a vast database of potential partners to work with.

But, as you can probably guess, that comes at a price .

The terms of their affiliate program are subject to network policies, and you can expect a significant portion of your out-of-pocket change to go towards your monthly maintenance.

Most of the big brands are part of an affiliate network. Rakuten Marketing and ShareASale are two particularly popular examples.

For example, Walmart uses Rakuten Marketing for its affiliate program.

How can I join?

OK, we've talked a lot about the people involved in affiliate marketing, but we've saved the best person for last.

So let's talk about how to fit into affiliate marketing.

If you're a blogger, you have options . The larger your audience, the more opportunities there will be.

But it doesn't have to be too big. In fact, an audience on the smaller side puts you in the realm of "micro-influencers," and companies love micro-influencers .

Micro-influencers offer better engagement and cost less than larger-scale influencers.

Naser Alubaidi, the growth marketer behind Venngage, says this very well:

“In the past, affiliate marketing was limited to influencers who have a large audience reach. However, thanks to social media, and specifically Instagram , Snapchat , and Twitter , anyone can be an affiliate (and influencer).”

That said, you still need some measure of influence.

You can build yourself up in a year, as the example we looked at earlier demonstrated, but you could be in the game for five years and never make an iota of affiliate income if you haven't identified and researched your niche .

Narrowing down on your niche should be the next step after creating your WordPress blog .

Here is the summary.