Welcome to the world of affiliate marketing, where all you need to make money online is a website, and you don’t have to create your own products or provide a service.
Most likely, on a daily basis, you encounter a website that advertises a product or service offered by another company. This can be due to exceptional quality deserving praise, but more frequently it is a result of affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing offers a great opportunity to generate additional income for a website, blog, or social media channel. In this form of marketing, the promoter receives payment when a visitor clicks on a promotion and completes a conversion or purchase. It can be likened to the earnings of a social media influencer through sponsored posts or promotions.
There are numerous opportunities to earn a significant amount of money through affiliate marketing, and several programs are available to assist you in achieving this. Within this article, we will begin with the fundamentals of affiliate marketing and gradually progress, enabling you to initiate your journey in the affiliate industry.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing allows your company, website, or blog to generate income by endorsing another company’s product or service.
After a web visitor clicks on a trackable link from your end, they will be redirected to a third-party landing page or website. If the visitor takes any action on that page, such as making a purchase, providing their contact information, or completing a specific task, you, as the affiliate partner, will receive a commission based on that click, lead, or sale.
How does affiliate marketing work?
When considering most affiliate programs, it is important to think step by step and be mindful of the stakeholders involved in the process.
- The advertiser: The brand or company that wants to sell a product or service.
- The affiliate or publisher: The website that drives traffic to the advertiser’s website.
- The affiliate network: In simple terms, this is the software that tracks traffic and sales.
- The consumer: The person who visits the affiliate’s website, clicks a link or banner and buys the product from the advertiser.
In any affiliate program, the crucial factor is the link utilized for monitoring activity. It is vital to make sure that your link is traceable and distinguishable so that you receive payment after the transaction is completed. A spreadsheet or UTMs (a code snippet attached to a link) are indispensable tools to assist you in assessing performance and overseeing revenue by keeping a record of all your links.
Why should you do affiliate marketing?
There are two reasons why you should give thought to engaging in affiliate marketing:
1. Low-cost and low-risk
When starting a business, one must consider the risks and expenses involved, such as upfront costs for products, employees, equipment, rent, and more. However, with affiliate marketing, all that is needed is a website. In case of failure, you will have only invested some time and a small amount of money.
2. Easy to scale
A typical salesperson is limited to selling products from a single company. On the other hand, as an affiliate marketer, you have the opportunity to promote products from multiple companies and receive commissions for each one.
Which companies are best for affiliate marketing?
When you become a member of an affiliate program, you can enjoy benefits like having a dashboard where you can keep track of all your activities, access to analytics, creative assets for showcasing, as well as the opportunity to have access to new content and exclusive offers for your audience.
We want to concentrate on the top affiliate marketing programs that can assist you in generating revenue as there are numerous programs available. The prime illustrations include:
Amazon Associates
With its status as one of the largest and most prosperous platforms, Amazon offers a vast array of products, allowing for seamless integration with your content. Their Associate program presents commission opportunities ranging from 1 to 10 percent, with the clothing and luxury beauty segments being particularly lucrative.
Shopify
Shopify has nearly 2 million merchants across various categories, making it an excellent platform for affiliates to explore. It offers all the necessary tools for setting up an online store, including management tools, analytics, and payment options. The commission for affiliates is incredibly generous, reaching up to 200 percent for monthly subscriptions if the referred merchant remains active for two months. Additionally, if a referral signs up for a Shopify Plus account, affiliates receive a substantial $2,000 payment.
Clickbank
Clickbank is an affiliate marketplace that provides a wide selection of categories (such as arts, games, parenting, self-help, and more), making it relevant to a variety of content. Two methods of earning commission exist: revenue share (revshare) and CPA (Cost Per Action).
Fiverr
Fiverr’s affiliate program is a prime illustration of a freelance marketplace. By becoming an affiliate, you receive a dashboard to oversee and track campaigns, along with creative assets to advertise their services. Depending on the services you promote, affiliates can earn a commission of up to $150 for each new customer or up to $1,000 per sale.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is a new company in the email marketing field that focuses on providing assistance with email management and creating landing pages for creators. Its affiliate program is designed to encourage subscriptions, offering a 30 percent commission for each paid referral or webinar subscriber.
Wix
Wix is a highly popular web hosting platform that offers a $100 reward for each premium payment made through your affiliate link. Additionally, the company supplies you with creative materials, such as banners and landing pages, to facilitate driving traffic from your site. However, to receive payment, you must accumulate a minimum of $300 in earnings, as payments will only be made once this threshold is met.
Affiliate marketing tools
When engaging in affiliate marketing, tools are beneficial companions that enable you to complete your tasks more efficiently and effortlessly.
The following are a few affiliate marketing tools that we recommend:
- Ahrefs — All-in-one SEO tool that’ll help you research keywords to target, audit your website, research your competitors, find content ideas, and more.
- Rank Math — WordPress plugin that ensures your pages have optimal on-page SEO.
- Google Search Console — Find and fix technical errors on your website, submit sitemaps, see structured data issues, check your Core Web Vitals, and more.
- Google Analytics — Provides crucial data and analytics for your affiliate website.
- Thirsty Affiliates — Keep track of your affiliate links, see statistics to know which links are getting the most clicks, and prevent others from easily copying your website and swapping the links with their own affiliate IDs.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing can be a profitable and fulfilling profession, as evidenced by the ability to choose your own schedule and the products and brands you wish to endorse. The potential for significant rewards is attainable for those who dedicate the required time and effort. It is our aim that this blog equips you with everything necessary to begin your journey in this field.
