What is Affiliate Marketing?

What do influencers, blogs, podcasts, and websites have in common? They can be considered affiliate marketing. We are exposed every day to affiliate marketing, and we don’t even notice. Affiliate marketing is integrated so easily into our lives that it is now one of the most natural types of marketing. 

‍

If you are a marketer, a soon-to-be influencer, if you want to promote your product with little to no money, or if you just want to find out if affiliate marketing is worth it, then we’ve prepared the complete guide to find out the secrets of affiliate marketing. 

Affiliate marketing is a type in which a third-party publisher promotes a company's product or service and gets paid a percentage of the sales based on performance. This marketing technique is specific to digital marketing because the internet is an oasis of opportunity and different brands. 

‍

Affiliate marketing is a revenue-sharing marketing strategy. Revenue-sharing is used by companies that pay other persons a commission or give them testers for products to help them build awareness and reach certain KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). 

Key components: merchant, affiliate, and consumer.

‍

Usually, the key groups that participate in a sale are the merchant and the consumer. Affiliate marketing is different; a new person comes into the picture. There are three key actors in affiliate marketing: the merchant, the affiliate, and the consumer. But what is their role?

‍

Firstly, the merchant. A person owning a handmade atelier or even a big chain store can play the merchant role. A merchant is an entity that sells something, no matter how big or small. The merchant also has a goal in mind, a KPI that needs to be achieved, and then the second role comes into play. 

‍

An affiliate is a person who promotes the product or service the merchant sells. They can be Social Media Influencers, YouTubers, bloggers, or even simple people like you and me. Influencers, YouTubers, and bloggers, which means known people, can be directly contacted by the brands. Still, in case that doesn’t happen or for people who don’t have a large audience, there are affiliate marketing websites that connect the affiliate to the brand. In this article, we will reveal the best affiliate marketing websites.

‍

Third, the consumer is a person who was convinced by the affiliate promotion, which lead to conversion. The merchant uses the affiliate to reach its specific target audience. 

Affiliate marketing is used by merchants to reach the target audience of an influential person, a target audience that is typically harder to go for them as a company. This is a technique used to make the promotion easier to digest for the consumer who is fed up with all the ads seen every day. 

‍

The ads made by the person they follow and appreciate are more enjoyable. The rate of trust the people put in the opinion received from people they know is significantly higher than in regular paid online ads. 

‍

Affiliate marketing makes the ads feel more relatable; the affiliate is a person they can easily feel connected to and a person who gives them filtered information tailored to their preferences. According to a study by Nielson Scarborough in the 2021 Nielson Trust in Advertising study,  71% of respondents trust the opinions and reviews of influencers. 

‍

But how does affiliate marketing work? The process of integrating this technique into your marketing strategy can be narrowed down to four key steps:

‍

1. From the Merchant's Side 

‍

Make your strategy: Determine the product you want to promote, then set your objective. This step allows you to define your KPIs. These are the numbers you plan to achieve with this promotion. Also, the KPIs allow you to see if the activity is successful and if it can be done again. 

‍

Find the perfect affiliate: You should choose wisely the person or website with which you associate your brand. They must have the target audience you plan to reach; they must fit your brand values and personality. They must be believable so that the information they share doesn’t lose its credibility.

‍

Provide the materials needed: You must provide the product to the affiliate. They need to test it and see how it works, the good and the bad. This is going to give it more credibility and make the promotion relatable. You must also provide information and support or educate the affiliate about your company.

‍

Monitor the process: You need to track the performance to see if your audience's reactions to the new brand ambassador are positive or negative. You can also manage the community and interact with them.

‍

2. From the Affiliate’s Side

‍

Choose a product or service to promote: Imagine the brand you want to collaborate with and how it will be to do it. Contact them directly; they may be on the lookout for an affiliate, too.

‍

Sign up for an affiliate program: Multiple platforms can help you find the brands that want to collaborate. You can check the list of websites you can use down below in our article.

‍

Promoting the product or service: After you’ve found the brand, you will receive a brief. A brief is a list of demands for the brand, what you should deliver, what to avoid, etc. Follow that and promote the dream product.

‍

Earning your share of the sale: An affiliate is paid in relation to their performance, but if you are passionate about it, you can grow and be performant.

‍

Benefits of Affiliate Marketing

The benefits differ depending on which side of the affiliation process you are on. We’ve mentioned some of them throughout this article, but there are more aspects you can benefit from. 

‍

If you are a brand, this type of marketing helps you have more reach because you use a target base your affiliate has already.  This type of marketing can help you with SEO because creates backlinks. Backlinks are links from one website page to another and help a brand be more trustworthy. Another benefit is building credibility and trust.

‍

From the affiliate’s side, the benefits are a low-cost start, passive income potential for someone who has another principal, and a stable job. This kind of activity is beneficial for someone who needs flexible working hours because this type of marketing is usually done from anywhere, anytime. 

If you are considering using affiliate marketing, you have three options: unattached affiliate marketing, involved affiliate marketing, and related affiliate marketing.

‍

The first one is unattached affiliate marketing. This is the one with the lowest commitment. In this case, the affiliate has no connection to what they are promoting. Usually, it is used in pay-per-click (PPC) marketing campaigns because you just put the link; it does not require any effort and is also the least effective one.

‍

The second one involves affiliate marketing. The affiliate knows the product or service really well; they’ve tested it more than once, and they use it regularly. They can promote the business from their own unique experience. That way, no one else can promote it in the exact same way. 

‍

They use their tone of voice and personality and know how to talk to their community. This is the most natural way to promote something; it doesn’t feel forced, and people can relate and start conversations with the affiliate.

‍

The third and last one is related to affiliate marketing. This one is a mix of both. This is when an affiliate promotes a brand they have never used before, but the target is perfect. If the affiliate influences the desired target, they could be a match.

If you’ve ever seen the life of an influencer and thought that you could do it too, you can. So, how do you start affiliate marketing with no money? You can do it even as a beginner.

‍

First of all, find a niche. This works hand in hand with your passions. Think about something you are passionate about and what brands you want to collaborate with. Now that you have a general idea of what you want to promote, think about a specific part of that. For example, if you want to work with products for pets, your niche could be exotic pets and, more specifically, parrots. 

‍

Secondly, decide what affiliate websites you will join and what social media platforms you use to promote the brands.

‍

Third, target the audience. You can create content that is not related to any brand but about the niche so that you can build the community. Follow people who do similar things to you and be inspired by them to create more. Identify the right keywords for your audience and incorporate them into your content. You can do that by anticipating what your audience might search for and giving them the answer.

‍

Finally, create content for the brands. You can create content with your phone; you don’t need to invest in equipment initially. The pictures and videos you take can be edited with free apps you can download on your phone. Engage with the audience, answer product questions, and share your experience with the brand.

‍

This is briefly how to start affiliate marketing with no money. You can do everything with what you already have; no need for fancy lights, professional cameras, or expensive software. You might want to invest in those too after a while so the content you present is qualitative, but at the beginning, everything you need is in your pocket.

‍

Create a Successful Strategy with Traction Keys

Are you ready to take your business to new heights through ongoing collaboration? Our dream team focuses on building a successful affiliate marketing strategy that can improve help your business growth. Whether you’re looking to launch your business or rebrand your existing company, we provide top-class solutions that will set you apart from your competition.

Contact us today to get a personalized quote for your business needs, and let’s start building the path to your next level of success together!