Why Do Affiliate Marketing?

With more companies going digital, the need for affiliate marketers is on an all-time high. The beauty of this side hustle is that there are so many ways to do it and you can do it anytime, anywhere. When you find a business with an affiliate program, you can apply to it and you’ll be given a link.

When you’ve got your affiliate link, you can share it via social media or any other means. If anyone uses your link to make a purchase from the business you applied to, you’ll get a commission.

Other affiliate marketers take it to a higher level by actively marketing the products through their blogs or websites. The affiliate link will be embedded in their content and they’ll earn a commission whenever someone makes a purchase.

Companies use affiliate programs to drive their sales and you get paid for helping out with marketing. It’s a win-win for everyone. In addition, you learn some neat marketing tricks which can come in handy in other ventures.

You need a good online presence and a substantial following to succeed at affiliate marketing. The more followers you have, the more people you can market to. There’s no age limit for doing affiliate marketing so anyone can do it. Although, some brands or companies may have their own restrictions regarding who can join their program and what you need to have to qualify.

It’s harder to succeed at affiliate marketing if you have no experience in marketing or navigating social media, blogging, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and all that.

Three groups of people are involved in Affiliate Marketing; The Merchant, The Affiliate Marketer, and The Consumer.

The merchant puts a product out on the market, whether it’s a physical object or a service. An affiliate promotes that product or service, highlighting it’s value or usefulness to consumers through several channels. These may be social media, blogs, or websites.

If a consumer buys a product after hearing about it from an affiliate, the affiliate gets a commission of the sale. The affiliate’s commission is included in the retail price, so this program doesn’t affect the consumer and everybody wins.

There are 3 ways for an affiliate to make money.

Pay per sale
This is the option we described above where the affiliate gets paid a portion of the revenue for every sale made through their marketing efforts.

Pay per lead
With this program, affiliate’s “lead” consumers to the merchant’s website where they either fill in a contact form, sign up for a free trial, subscribe to a newsletter, or any other desired action. That is called lead conversion and the affiliate will be paid for each converted lead.

Pay per click
This considers web traffic. The affiliate’s job in this case is to engage the consumer to the point that they proceed to the merchant’s site. The merchant then pays the affiliate for the increase in web traffic.

What We Like?
It’s easy and even fun if you find a product you like
Doesn’t require much capital to start
You can learn the job as you go
You’re your own boss

What We Don’t Like?
Saturated market
If a consumer googles the product instead of buying it through your link (even after hearing about it from you), you won’t get a commission.
Converting leads and getting a sale can be difficult

How Much Can You Make
How much you make depends on the merchant’s affiliate program and what they offer. According to glassdoor.co.uk, the average affiliate marketing salary is ₤25,720 per year. This will vary with the type of affiliate program and how many of them you join.

Conclusion:
With affiliate marketing, making money online is a real possibility. And you don’t even have to make jewelry from teeth (or anything else for that matter) to sell online and earn some bucks! If you want to know how you can get started on affiliate marketing, check out the links we have.

Pros:
Easy way to make money (once you get the hang of it)
You can work with any merchant from any industry as long as they have a product or service you can promote
You control how much you earn (based on how much work you do)

Cons:
Require substantial knowledge of online marketing practices
Earnings are low and not always guaranteed