Affiliate marketing is becoming an increasingly popular way to generate passive money online. It’s become a popular approach for e-commerce brands to promote their products and services, with 79% of online companies using affiliates. As more people shop online, affiliate marketing has become even stronger. It is the simplest way to make money online as you do not need to manufacture your products, nor do you need to sell anything. All you need to know is how to recommend a product or service for you to earn.
In this guide, you will learn the basic strategies and tactics needed for starting a successful affiliate marketing business and generating passive income streams. Later, we’ll look at five profitable affiliate programs to join and start earning.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is the process of receiving a commission for advertising another person’s or company’s products or services. You choose a product or service that you like, market it to your target audience, and receive a percentage of the profit for each sale you make. In short, you help the company generate sales and you get a share from the sale. The best thing is that you don’t have to spend time and money creating your products. Furthermore, you don’t have to deal with the hassles of shipping and customer support.
Affiliates include people like content creators, bloggers, YouTubers as well as social media and email marketers. Affiliate marketing was estimated to be around $12 billion in 2020 and is expected to skyrocket in years to come making it a strong tool to earn passive income. Your main responsibility as an affiliate is to link prospective clients with the items or services they require.
How does affiliate marketing work?
When you sign up for an affiliate program, you will receive a unique affiliate link. This link has a unique URL that records the sales you make. To generate leads, promote your affiliate program’s products or services on social media platforms or personal websites. When someone clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase, you will receive a commission. The commission rate varies for every affiliate program, but it is usually a percentage of the sales price.
Types of Affiliate Marketing
Unattached Affiliate Marketing:
Unattached affiliate marketing entails promoting products that are unrelated to your business, website, or blog. Despite your status as an affiliate, you lack the appropriate knowledge and skills to recommend or advise on the items. You promote the product using advertising channels such as Google Ads or social media ads, earning commissions via the pay-per-click model. This sort of marketing might be time-consuming because you must conduct research and understand what your target audience needs. It will also take a long time to gain the trust of your target audience for them to purchase your products.
However, if done effectively, this type of affiliate marketing can result in substantial payments.
Example: You can promote a fitness supplement or fitness-related material, or you can promote a hosting company and its web hosting services. You are not required to use their services or products to be their affiliate. All you need to do is post banners or links on your website.
Pros of Unattached Affiliate Marketing
- Can lead to a high payout after building trust
- You don’t promote the products actively
- You don’t have to be present or have authority to promote a good or service.
Cons of Unattached Affiliate Marketing
- You must build trust with your audience
- You cannot recommend or advise on the product
- Generating sales is a major bet!
Involved Affiliate Marketing
In this sort of affiliate marketing, the affiliate has a stronger relationship with the products they represent. As an affiliate, you may have previously used the product or are presently using it and can safely recommend it to your target audience. You endorse the product in your content as part of your life, not in a banner advertisement. As a result, you are an expert who serves as a reliable source for your audience. Involved affiliates participate in activities such as webinars, seminars, and speaking engagements to increase product awareness. This type of affiliate marketing needs more effort and time to establish trust, but it is likely to yield higher returns in the long run.
Example: A fitness influencer recommends the sportswear brand he wears every day. The influencer will give all the positive reasons to choose the brand from his point of view.
Pros Of Involved Affiliate Marketing
· You can build a relationship with your customers.
· You promote what has been tested and approved
· Trust results in higher payouts
Cons Of Involved Affiliate Marketing
· You must be very conversant with the recommended product
· A slight mistake can tarnish the reputation of the affiliate
It is more tedious compared to others
Related Affiliate Marketing
In this type of Affiliate program, you promote products related to your specialization but you might or might not use the products yourself. Related affiliate marketing makes your job easier because you already have an established audience that is aware of your business. They trust your recommendations and can easily buy products through your affiliate links.
Example: If you blog about gardening, you might recommend a gardening supply store to your audience. Although you don’t use their products, it will make sense for your readers to purchase from the store because it is related to your content.
Pros Related Affiliate Marketing
· If you have already built trust it’s easy to sell
· You collaborate more with the merchant
Cons Of Related Affiliate Marketing
· Requires a lot of work to build trust
· If you promote a wrong product you will lose your audience’s trust.
5 tips for Affiliate Marketing Success
1. Select your programs wisely.
Before joining any affiliate network, you should conduct your research because it will affect your earnings potential. You should conduct a study on topics such as;
Variety of products: Make sure the vendor you choose offers a diverse choice of products in your chosen specialty.
Reputation: You should confirm that the company providing the product or service has a good reputation and is dependable.
Payment policy: You should also evaluate the payment procedures used by your chosen program. Recurring payments stand out because they allow you to keep earning as long as someone purchases through your link.
2. Understand and Prioritize Your Audience
Always consider the demands of your target audience when selecting items or services for affiliate marketing, and choose things that provide actual value and in which you believe.
Promoting products without delivering value to your audience might result in disinterest and loss of trust. Give preference to developing relationships with your target audience and providing them with useful material and recommendations.
3. Offer Incentives And Discounts
The majority of the time, you will be advertising a good or service that people can readily obtain from any other retailer. As a result, discounts entice buyers by making the offer more appealing.
But keep in mind that in affiliate marketing, your conversion rate matters significantly more than your commission level. Your audience of satisfied customers who believe in and even support your recommendations will grow as you increase the number of conversions.
4. Track and analyze your progress.
You need to keep on checking your progress to know which areas you need to polish up or maintain. Use analytics tools like Google Analytics, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to monitor critical metrics like traffic, conversion rates, and income. Analyze your statistics regularly and make changes to your content, promotional techniques, and targeting to improve your outcomes.
5. Stay Updated on Industry Trends
A newbie in affiliate marketing must keep up with the most recent strategies, trends, and industry best practices. To remain on top of things, follow well-known affiliate marketers, sign up for company newsletters, and take part in online forums. This will enable you to modify your tactics and hold onto a competitive advantage.
Furthermore, you’ll probably be able to take advantage of at least some of the fresh marketing strategies that are developed regularly.
Examples of affiliate marketing programs
Chic Me Affiliate Program
Chic Me affiliate program is a fashion affiliate program that allows you to earn by promoting women’s clothing to your audience. The company supplies stylish and affordable women’s clothes. They have a wide range of products and new arrivals every day making sure your audience is spoilt for choice. Their clothes are sold at prices 50-80% lower than local stores. They offer a commission of 12% within a cookie duration of 30 days. They have a strong social media presence which increases the company’s trust hence more conversions.
Expedia Affiliate Program
Expedia affiliate program is a travel affiliate program where you can earn by promoting flight tickets, hotel stays, transfers, and other travel services to their audiences. You have higher chances of earning as Expedia partners with over 2.9 million properties, 500 airlines, dozens of cruise lines, and thousands of car rental companies, which you can recommend your audience to earn. Affiliates earn 3.5% commission for vacation packages, 6% for hotel bookings, 5% for car rentals, 7% for activities and ground transfers, and £0.90 for flights. The cookie duration varies depending on the destination.
Filmora Affiliate Program
Filmora affiliate program is a software affiliate program that rewards affiliates for promoting their multimedia and creative software products. Filmora is a video editing program created by Wondershare The program is managed by ShareASale, CJ Affiliate, Rakuten, LinkConnector, and MyCommerce. They offer a commission of up to 30% with a cookie duration of 30 days.
Coursera Affiliate Program
The Coursera affiliate program is an online education affiliate program where you can earn by promoting over 4000 of their courses. Coursera is a popular online learning platform that offers courses from some of the world’s most prestigious universities and organizations. They offer a wide range of courses so you can target a wide audience. They offer a commission of 20% to 45% per sale, and the cookie period is 30 days. Affiliates get dedicated assistance and also get a monthly affiliate newsletter.
Hostgator Affiliate Program
Hostgator affiliate program is a web hosting affiliate program that allows affiliates to earn by promoting their hosting services and other tool including a terrific website builder for bloggers and small businesses. Their commission is performance based with affiliates earning $65 – $125 per signup. HostGator is a well-known brand so you will not have a hard time promoting them. Hostgator hosts around 2 million websites. They offer a 60-day cookie duration.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn passive income as you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Before signing up for any affiliate program, consider the level of commitment you are ready to make and determine what will benefit your audience the most. Also remember to create valuable content, promote quality products, and plan your marketing strategically. Be consistent, track and analyze your progress, and stay updated on the industry trends. So, no more procrastination, go ahead and start affiliate marketing, best of luck!