You’ve probably been hearing a lot about affiliate marketing but you are bothered by questions like How do you become an affiliate marketer and how does affiliate marketing work?
So, what is Affiliate Marketing all about?
Affiliate marketing is the process by which you promote a business product through your affiliate link that people can click on to take them to the product that’s offered in return for commission earned on the sale generated.
How does it work?
Affiliate marketing consists of three parts;
We have the seller or merchant who represents the business that has an offer that needs to be marketed to customers. The affiliate or publisher represents the publisher that markets the offer (this is you when you embed affiliate links on your website). The consumer is the one that purchases the offer. The merchant is the one who gives each affiliate a link so they can trace down a sale to the specific affiliate.
The most common type of tracking is via a cookie.
When an affiliate link is clicked, a small file called a cookie is stored on the user’s computer. When they purchase a product or service, the merchant would know they were referred by you.
How are affiliates paid?
Affiliates earn money through commissions based on the products gotten by their customers.
There are 3 different commission models for affiliate marketing.
They include;
- Pay-per-click: The major aim of the affiliate here is to drive traffic to the merchant’s website. They make use of affiliates to garner more attention from potential customers just enough for them to want to know more. The affiliate gets paid whether or not the customers bought their product.
- Pay Per Sale (PPS): This is the most common commission model. Here the affiliate earns a commission only when a sale is made.
- Pay Per Lead (PPL): If the affiliate’s link results in a qualified lead, they receive a commission. The affiliate’s objective is not only to get the lead to follow the link but also to perform the desired action whether it’s signing up for a trial, joining the email subscribers list, or purchasing a product.
What steps should I take as a complete beginner?
- Find your niche
Put in mind that you have a lot of competitors when you start your affiliate marketing journey. To have a larger audience, make sure your content appeals to a particular niche be it beauty, automobiles, or any other sector. This helps you build a focused audience and help you rank higher. Choose something you are interested in and be consistent with whatever you are putting out there.
- Choose and establish your platform
Most of the information we consume is usually brought to us by the platforms we are part of or the platforms we frequently visit. The platform where you showcase your content is as important as the content you are putting out for people to see. Most times, choosing a platform is dependent on the content you are putting out. The most popular medium affiliate marketers use is blogging. To start your blog, you can join a blogging platform or build a website. For video content, people make use of Youtube, Tiktok, and more. Social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are widely used for business and marketing nowadays.
Again, be consistent with what you put out there to build a wider audience base and gain more clicks on your affiliate link.
- Join an affiliate program or network
Another way to increase your customer base is by joining an affiliate program. Thankfully, most of them are free and you have access to a variety of brands. You also get extra bonuses and have access to a reliable payment method.
- Create optimised content
You need to create content that would not only appeal to potential customers but would be visible to everyone. Don’t blindly put out low-quality content; you need to make use of SEO to rank high in search engines and put out high-quality content that people can vouch for. Some content ideas you can make try are product reviews, personal blogs, resource pages, and product comparisons.
Note that you always have to be honest about the content you put out as a lot of people are relying on you.
Affiliate marketing serves as a good source of income but don’t expect to get a very high income at the beginning. Focus on putting out good content, network with people, and be consistent. If you are interested in enrolling in an affiliate program, Affilbase is a good affiliate program you can join to start your journey.